FUE Cost Per Graft

[moses0324]

With FUE being around for a while (not new technology), more docs performing the procedure...how much are the top docs getting per graft. I have seen $8-$12...Does this still remain true?

[Thehairupthere]

Yes that price still stands true for most who perform the FUE procedure.

[Michael5577]

I really don't know why anyone who's focused on results would want FUE, when it's more expensive AND results are worse. Is it the fear of pain and longer recover time?

[moses0324]

nope...i like to wear my hair short. with the strip it requires at least a #3 in my opinion to cover the scar. also modern day fue does not yield that much less than the strip. i hear fue has success rates in the 85% area.

[uselessgomez]

I'd say it can range from $5-12.

 

The yield and is lower and there's a higher transection rate. The absense of a linear scar makes it worth it IMO if the results are within an acceptable range. I would personally accept an 80% yield if I got a better-looking donor area with no scar.

[moses0324]

i must also add..i only want my temples restored which is about 1200 grafts. the strip is impractical for so little grafts needed. i would only consider FUT for 2500 to 3000 grafts.

[Michael5577]

nope...i like to wear my hair short. with the strip it requires at least a #3 in my opinion to cover the scar. also modern day fue does not yield that much less than the strip. i hear fue has success rates in the 85% area.

 

Any top doc will give you a scar that's practically invisible unless somebody analyses your head up close. Dr. Feller who does a lot of FUE puts the number at 75%, if I'm not mistaken. In any case, the failure rate is unacceptably high in my opinion and what you do get in terms of grafts isn't as strong and healthy. In my judgement, FUE is crap.

 

CORRECTION: the 75% doesn't come from Dr. Feller.

Edited January 4, 2011 by Michael5577

[Sparky]

Any top doc will give you a hardly scar that's practically invisible unless somebody analyses your head up close. Dr. Feller who does a lot of FUE puts the number at 75%, if I'm not mistaken. In any case, the failure rate in unacceptably high in my opinion and what you do get in terms of grafts isn't as strong and healthy. In my judgement, FUE is crap.

 

75% is ridiculously low, I speak from experience, my yeild is deffo higher but I went to one of the best at fue. I personally think the opposite to you, cutting a 30cm steak out of my head is crap. You may get more scarring from fue, but on my head not one of them is visible. The strip scar however is visible hence I had it fue'd.

[uselessgomez]

I don't agree with much of that.

 

First, I read these boards quite a bit and I've done a lot of research for possibly getting my own work done. I've never seen Dr. Feller commit to a yield %. He just says, like most doctors, that it's consistently LOWER than strip. For some people it might be a lot lower, others a little. Judging yield can be a complicated and difficult thing to do.

 

There's some clinics that hype the FUE technique no question about it. IMO there's also some people who hype the newest donor closure methods for strip. "Practically invisible" are words that are just as misleading and disingenuous as the worst FUE hype.

 

The reason for getting a HT differs from one individual to the next. But the end result people are hoping for is a cosmetic IMPROVEMENT. For someone who wears their hair shorter, needs a lower number of grafts, or who may be at risk for a widened scar, FUE is not crap, it's possibly the only option. If it were crap, then many top docs wouldn't perform it.

 

The key is to weigh the pros and cons in the individuals case and be REALISTIC.

[Sparky]

I don't want to sound like an only fue champion, but I've had both and think fue is better, my opinion and thats that.

[Michael5577]

75% is ridiculously low, I speak from experience, my yeild is deffo higher but I went to one of the best at fue. I personally think the opposite to you, cutting a 30cm steak out of my head is crap. You may get more scarring from fue, but on my head not one of them is visible. The strip scar however is visible hence I had it fue'd.

 

I'm sorry, if you're results-oriented FUT is still the way to go.

 

90%-95% is not an accurate number for "consistent" yield in my opinion. It is lower, unfortunately.

 

Even the most meticulously performed FUE will result in consistenly lower yields compared to strip. Why?

 

Because there are three traumatic factors that play a roll in any and all FUE procedures:

1. Torsion

2. Traction

3. Compression

 

If a particular patient has "tough" physiology and the surgical team are skilled and experienced- then you can have a 90-95% growth yield. Unfortunately, there is no way to know what the physiology of a particular patient is until you've actually done an FUE and seen how it grows.

 

An honerable clinic will stop an FUE procedure if the number of failed extraction attempts becomes a high percentage of total attempts.

 

Now, in regard to yield with FUE, and this is what caught my attention to this thread. I would say survival is on the average lower then 90-95%. I believe at the leading clinics with strip today waste with dissection is approx. about 5%, survival of the 95% that is transplanted approx. 90-100%. While, FUE with a skilled extractor the transection can be quite low again maybe only 5%, but the survival of what is transplant without transection is more like 75-100%. We believe even if the graft has been dissected cleanly as Dr Feller mentioned, the means of extraction even when there is no transection: torsion, traction and compression are still placed on the graft. Plus, the unit alone is a more delicate unit and not as hearty as strip graft. Focus, patiants and skill of the extraction minimizes these fore mentioned forces but they are still present.

 

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/158557-what-actual-fue-yield-rate-please-3.html

[Michael5577]

I don't agree with much of that.

 

First, I read these boards quite a bit and I've done a lot of research for possibly getting my own work done. I've never seen Dr. Feller commit to a yield %. He just says, like most doctors, that it's consistently LOWER than strip. For some people it might be a lot lower, others a little. Judging yield can be a complicated and difficult thing to do.

 

There's some clinics that hype the FUE technique no question about it. IMO there's also some people who hype the newest donor closure methods for strip. "Practically invisible" are words that are just as misleading and disingenuous as the worst FUE hype.

 

The reason for getting a HT differs from one individual to the next. But the end result people are hoping for is a cosmetic IMPROVEMENT. For someone who wears their hair shorter, needs a lower number of grafts, or who may be at risk for a widened scar, FUE is not crap, it's possibly the only option. If it were crap, then many top docs wouldn't perform it.

 

The key is to weigh the pros and cons in the individuals case and be REALISTIC.

 

"Practically invisible" are words that are just as misleading and disingenuous as the worst FUE hype.

 

The tiny line behind my head IS "practically invisible" (unless you scrutinize my head with a magnifying glass) and I don't shave my head that close anyway.

[Michael5577]

There's a reason why masters like H&W don't do FUE and crappy guys like Armani do nothing but FUE. That being said, I don't want to imply that one cannot get good results with FUE, I'm just saying that the odds with FUT are better.

[moses0324]

Michael5577,

 

your view point is very biased as some of the top docs in the world perform fue (feller, true, dorin, etc). i am sorry but i would rather have tiny dots for scars than a 9 inch long scar. like i said, any hair shorter than a #2-#3 clipper is highly visible with fut. with fue the hair can be buzzed to #1 without noticeable scarring. in the event you dont like the outcome of surgery shaving back down is an option. if you dont like the fut result, you are more or less stuck.

 

like it has been said, there are pro's and con's to both. one obvious pro to fut is success rate. while thats great its not for everyone. like i said. i wont have my head carved up for 1200 grafts. it doesnt make sense.

 

i would beleive a %80-%85 success rate. it depends on the doc and patient. everyone has different experiences with each. just leave it at that and dont be so opinionated.

[Michael5577]

your view point is very biased

 

Of course it is, I believe FUE is crap. That's just my opinion. Good luck with your FUE, though.

[Sparky]

You didn't need 3 posts in a row to say all of that.

 

I believe strip is old technology, as I've had both I can say that fue is better, you can't knock fue until you have had it. Most docs don't do it because it requires more time and skill than strip.

 

I'd rather be bald than have my strip scar, but that can't be changed, if fue had been about in 1998, I wouldn't have my strip scar now.

If I hadn't of had fue into my scar, then if needed, I would have another strip taken, but only by Dr Rahal or Dr Bisanga.

 

I could find your strip in seconds no matter how small it is, you wouldn't find my fue scars, even under extreme magnification.

 

Don't start comparing H&W to Armani, Armani can't do fue and we all know that, but he was good at strip, because its easier. I've seen massive strip scars from all the good surgeons so it's no definate that you will get a pencil thin scar, more the exception than the rule.

 

From what I've seen, and I've seen a lot, the masters of fue (Armani not inc) can get the same yeild as strip.

 

This subject as been beaten to death, instead of trying to put people off fue, just look it up using the search function. FUE is here to stay.

Edited January 1, 2011 by Sparky

[scar5]

Strip gives the best results. Unfortunately, we know what that includes:).

I would happily take a 10% more transection with FUE if I could start again.

Remember that your average strip session will lose you all the hair which is in resting phase (telegen) inside the strip. (about 10% of your strip hair will go in the bin. That is a significant secret of the strip industry that wiki-leaks will never find) Strip follicles have more fat around them which helps.

 

Good points Sparky and useFULgomez

[scar5]

Oh, and to the original poster.

Yes, I think that is generally accurate viz-a-viz price range.

Tech-Mech approach is usually cheaper. (Tech using a machine to extract.)

 

you can do cheaper however, Turkey? India? China? Price is variable and it is often hard to get posters to tell you what they paid. So read between the lines!!

[hairthere]

Fue and strip, performed by top doctors, both have their merits. Typically fue works best for small to medium size sessions, or when a patient wants to buzz their hair ultra short. The downsides are slightly less yield, higher cost, and less donor availability. There are also fewer quality doctors performing fue, and NOT EVERY PATIENT IS A CANDIDATE FOR FUE. Strip is better for maximizing your donor, higher yield, lower cost, and more quality surgeons perform it.

 

I have had both types of surgery done: strip for a megasession (3200 grafts), fue to address temple points (400 grafts). In terms of recovery fue is much easier. But I am doing another strip megasession in February because I want to get maximum amount of grafts.

 

Saying one surgery is better than another makes no sense; both have their place, and both can yield great results if done by a great doctor.

[Michael5577]

I already had a FUT megassession and a scar, so in my case it made sense to do another FUT.

Scar5, do you have a source for the10%?

[Michael5577]

FUE is crap:

 

(Link removed by moderator)

Edited August 2, 2013 by David - TakingThePlunge

[OtherSyde]

With FUE being around for a while (not new technology), more docs performing the procedure...how much are the top docs getting per graft. I have seen $8-$12...Does this still remain true?

 

I couldn't find a newer thread about this, this post was from three years ago. Has anyone had any FUE recently who could offer a realistic insight to current pricing?

[TakingThePlunge]

I'm going to say that today's FUE prices are more in the range of $6 to $10 in most places. This is less in some countries.