Max lifetime FUE supply

[Silemani]

Hello,

 

 

I was wondering if anyone could enlighten me as to the number of grafts you can have via fue without noticeable scarring with a close cropped head, i.e. not shaved to skin but a number 2 guard.

 

 

is 5,000 feasible?

 

im a norwood 5/6 but dont know if i can commit to a FUT

 

 

BW

[GNX1]

well, some people have lots of singles vs. doubles and triples and donor zone plays a role as well. tough to say. also, the size of ur head and how many grafts required will dictate how many grafts you will need to fill in the balding area.

 

thickness of ur donor hair as well as density like MPB stated plays a role and of course ur own bodys ability to heal plays a role in scaring as well as what size instrument is used to extract the donor hair. many variables.

 

not all NW5 or NW6 patients have the same size head either. therefore, some may need less hair to cover their blading areas and other may need more. NW is just a classification. if ur head is the size of a basketball vs. vollyball you would need more hair to cover the balding area.

 

you also have beard and body hairs that can be extracted. have you considered beard or body hair?

[scar5]

My density is down to 30 grafts/cm in some overharvested areas, still not noticeable in terms of scarring. Just damn thin.

 

Search Youtube for big FUE results. See Injertocapilar (Jose) etc.. Plenty of 4,5,6000 fues being done now. Scarring is not a problem with a clinic like Jose's as far as I can see so far but I trust no one. Anyway and they routinely do big jobs. On the other hand, places like Bisanga insist on really conservative ratios of extraction and some like Feller insist that all FUE is ONLY good for is small jobs, if it is good at all. This of course has half the community thinking it must be true.

 

If you are a NW5?6 think carefully about design. U might not wanna go for the traditional strip design - thick wall of hair at front , thinned out behind, forces you to grow long partly also to cover strip scar, unless you don't mind the thinned out look. I always figure you want 10% more grafts if it is FUE to account for the thinner harvest, but I could be wrong. In fact I hope with each passing day, I am more wrong about this.

 

I think 5000 is def possible. Of course, you want to avoid the kind of shotgun effect that Jotronic and co. wheel out to routinely scare away potential FUE clients. So small punches are a must. I think most clinics use smaller ones these days.

[the B spot]

If you are a NW 5/6, you should understand your coverage area and what look you are after. You could probably have a nice soft hairline, and some low density coverage, with an open crown with 2500-3000 grafts. Anything you get from your donor area after that would be icing on the cake.

 

This approach is a nice, safe, long-term choice for a couple of reasons.

#1. You get your hairline back, without a scar

#2. You can wear a short cut without any issues.

 

I think when you are a NW 5/6 your looking at 5k+ grafts to really make difference, and in many cases you are frontloading the hairline/front half and using low density amounts in the crown, so it really depends on what you personally are willing to undertake.

 

It would be great if you could post some photos of your head and donor areas....you will get some good advice i'm sure.

 

Jason

[jfables]

Hello,

 

 

I was wondering if anyone could enlighten me as to the number of grafts you can have via fue without noticeable scarring with a close cropped head, i.e. not shaved to skin but a number 2 guard.

 

 

is 5,000 feasible?

 

im a norwood 5/6 but dont know if i can commit to a FUT

 

 

BW

 

I've had about that amount done. Your donor hair is gonna look noticeably thin at that length although most people won't notice because they are not looking carefully at the back of your head. The scars are not the issue at that length. A 1 guard will for the most part, hide 1mm & .9mm punch scars. If you get punches smaller than .9mm you should not have noticeable scarring but the probability of lower yield increases.

 

I advise you to meet patients in person and not rely on the opinions on the forums of whiny 20 year olds with practically full heads of hair who adamantly defend FUE even though they have never had it. They will tell you FUE in the right hands will get you the 5,000 with the donor you want. Well, then see those patients of the "right hands" in person before you decide to book.

[jfables]

If you're a NW 6 why do you want to have a HT to keep it short at a 2 guard? Ht hairs don't look so hot when cut short. It's better to just keep your hair short and do nothing.

[GNX1]

 

If you're a NW 6 why do you want to have a HT to keep it short at a 2 guard? Ht hairs don't look so hot when cut short. It's better to just keep your hair short and do nothing.

lol.... if you dont know what ur talkn about then say nothing cause you sound ignorant!:rolleyes:

[jfables]

lol.... if you dont know what ur talkn about then say nothing cause you sound ignorant!:rolleyes:

 

You sound like you think you know things. Have you had a HT? Have you seen any in person?

 

When ht hairs are cut short they do not look natural in most cases because these hairs are thick and healthy and the empty space between each hair is more noticeable. No dense packing can duplicate nature. When a guy is losing his hair, the hairs on your hairline & frontal third are miniaturizing (hair shafts are thinner) but there are still many of these hairs next to each other. When a ht is cut short it looks thin even if you had 3,000 grafts packed into your hairline. The density can't mimic nature and the ht hairs are too thick to be a part of a sparse hairline (evident by the short cut). If you have light hair and skin this will not be very obvious because of less contrast (See Wesley Sneidjer). To be honest most people won't notice what I'm talking about because everyone is absorbed with their own lives & problems, but if you look carefully you will notice something is off.

[Jotronic]

Scar5,

 

I don't appreciate being labeled as someone that "wheels out" bad FUE scarring to "scare" patients. You can't name more than twice I've posted bad FUE scarring in the past two years. The only two times I have were because someone on a forum, including this one, asked to see bad FUE scarring.

 

Let me explain a simple fact as to why Dr. Lorenzo, who happens to be a friend of mine, can perform these large sessions of FUE routinely without showing excessive donor thinning. It's because he primarily works on Spanish patients and Spanish patients (as well as a few others), by genetics, have a significantly higher than average donor density than most other nationalities. I know this because we have had a massive amount of Spanish patients travel to our clinic over the past ten years and the majority of these patients were in the upper levels of how many grafts we've been able to move in one procedure. The higher one's density, the more grafts can be removed without visible evidence of surgery. This applies to both FUE and strip.

 

In reality, 5000 grafts via FUE is not practical for most people. The donor area will not look so thinned when kept very short but once one tries to grow their hair longer then the lack of density can become more apparent. Everyone is so concerned about what the donor zone looks like when cut short but few realize that in some cases they should be concerned about growing it longer.

[GNX1]

To be honest most people won't notice what I'm talking about.

I agree.

[jfables]

gnx1, you're an interesting person.

 

Again, have you had a HT? Have you seen patients in person?

[the B spot]

Hey Joe.....hope you are well my friend.

 

Anyway, like just about everything, the reality of things is somewhere in the middle. If you opt for FUT-there are some potential risks and downsides. If you opt for FUE-there are some potential risks and downsides.

 

However, stating someone can get 5K FUE grafts out of a persons donor is extreme, in my opinion. Dr. Bisanga correctly limits density reduction because he is ethical and he understands that taking out a lower percentage of donor is the correct approach. Joe is 100% correct regarding Spanish patients, who generally have amazing, deep diving donor, which can yield impressive amounts of grafts.

 

Again, as a 5/6 the reality is your results with FUT are possibly fantastic, but more than likely you will have limited donor---and even with 5-6K grafts will likely yield a thinner result than desired, will leave a scar, will almost assuredly require 2, maybe 3 sessions to accomplish. Certainly, each patient is different, but a person is a 5/6 for a reason...because they have lost quite a bit of hair.

 

My point in all of this, is one has to be accepting of the reality of the hair situation...if you have average density and are a 5/6 and wear short hair, then a couple of FUE sessions will likely meet your goals, establish a hairline, create some density and turn back the clock a bit.

 

If you have average density, want to wear your hair longer, are accepting of the reality of your situation and limitations of hairtransplantation, then FUT is probably the best option. Getting into a top clinic like H&W is an absolute must.

 

 

Jason

[Mickey85]

I think with average density you could get 4,000 grafts fairly easily. Anymore than than and you will compromise how short you can shave down. A grade 1 would certainly not be guaranteed, not that is ever is but you don't risk the chance of a scar stretching like with FUT. If you have above average density than you can go higher. There are FUE exclusive Doctors in Spain, Turkey and Belgium who continually push the bar in terms of what can be achieved via FUE. I certainly don't believe that Dr. Lorenzo gets the results he does purely because Spanish patients tend to have thicker donor areas. What about the Turkish/international patients that Dr Erdogan regularly performs on? Or the Norwood 5s and 6s that Dr De Reys performs on? It's all down to YOUR density.

[jfables]

I think with average density you could get 4,000 grafts fairly easily. Anymore than than and you will compromise how short you can shave down. A grade 1 would certainly not be guaranteed, not that is ever is but you don't risk the chance of a scar stretching like with FUT. If you have above average density than you can go higher. There are FUE exclusive Doctors in Spain, Turkey and Belgium who continually push the bar in terms of what can be achieved via FUE. I certainly don't believe that Dr. Lorenzo gets the results he does purely because Spanish patients tend to have thicker donor areas. What about the Turkish/international patients that Dr Erdogan regularly performs on? Or the Norwood 5s and 6s that Dr De Reys performs on? It's all down to YOUR density.

 

I had maximum donor density and have had around 5,000 FUE. My donor looks thin at 1 guard through 4. It's certainly not eye-catching like a strip scar. It looks more like I'm going bald in the donor area as well, like a diffused thinner.

[Mickey85]

I had maximum donor density and have had around 5,000 FUE. My donor looks thin at 1 guard through 4. It's certainly not eye-catching like a strip scar. It looks more like I'm going bald in the donor area as well, like a diffused thinner.

 

Hmmm interesting. Were large gauge punches used? Donor being visible at a guard 3 or 4 is very strange...

[jfables]

Hmmm interesting. Were large gauge punches used? Donor being visible at a guard 3 or 4 is very strange...

 

What are you basing "strange" on? The beautiful donor shots posted by clinics on internet forums?

 

Don't get me wrong. It doesn't look horrible, but certainly thin. A 1 guard is the worse. As the hair grows longer the less thin it looks. I don't stress over it, but considering some of the guys here obsess over the donor I would imagine some of them would stress out if they get work done.

 

This has nothing to do with punches. Half of mine were .75mm - just basic math: Less hair = thinner hair.

[wrapper]

as a 47 year old norwood 6 patient I felt I had no choice but to try and maximise my donor area using strip, if I was was to achieve the results I was hoping for, then after maximising strip turn to fue, I didn't think it possible at my level of loss to for fue only, I have now in the last 12 months had 2 strip surgeries (5800 grafts total), jan2012 and dec2012, in 18 months time I plan to have fue, in my opinion if you are willing to risk the scar and put up with the inconvenience/pain then for a norwood 5/6 this is your best option, yes I am worried about my future scar but the difference in my appearance has for me made it worth the risk and I can always have fue in the scar if it is a problem, after my first ht my scar was almost invisible obviously having it reopened for a second ht may change this but things are healing up well for now, have shock loss though which is a pain, I don't have a clue how many grafts I can get from fue after having 2 strips but do feel in my case I have chosen the best option, I am also on a trial drug called anapril which is normally used for lowering blood pressure and heart problems as it may help with the healing of my scar, only been on it for 3 weeks since my 2nd ht and have to keep the clinic informed of it's results but worth a try as I'm obviously worried about my scar, anything that may help in this area would be beneficial to anyone having strip surgery.