The pros/cons of FUE. Myths dispelled.

[romanino]

Hello Mickey,how are u? Hope u doing good...

I just want to thank u for all your work on this thread,u really really knowledge me about lot's things that I didn't even know.

You help me to choose my Dr. for my repair, I'm 7th day post op now and everything seem to be find...

Thank u again,love and lot's respect...!!!

[Mickey85]

Hey there Romanino, thanks for much for the kind words, I really appreciate it. I hope all goes very well with your repair Thanks again my friend.

[Patriot34]

Very informative and a nice addition to this site. I believe there is a need for FUE in the hair transplant community. But I am still against having FUE done for large sessions with patients who are genetically predisposition for significant future loss. Even with medication patients will have future hair loss if genetics are against them. For this reason the thinning of the donor area will become very problematic with future surgeries. A FUT scar can be concealed with FUE down the road and does not impact the donor area thickness with the exception of the linear scar that is typically minimal and not visible.

 

With a young patients who first go for a FUE and then determine that they can't slow the genetic hair loss down and need additional sessions then the FUE method will leave them looking mangy in the back of their head.

 

Great write up and there is a lot of factors to consider when choosing FUE and FUT, but for me the genetics factor is probably the most important. Don't ever let a doctor steer you one way or another if they haven't so much as tried to ascertain what your genetic predisposition is to MPB.

[GreatPelo]

Patriot34,

 

If you were in front of me I'd give you a "high five" my friend. You are SPOT ON with this issue. Too many doctors are jumping on FUE and applying it to every patient, no matter what age or future pattern of hair loss. I think it's their attempt at using the "latest technique" in order to attract patients, putting marketing before patients' needs. Big mistake for some patients down the road.

[Mickey85]

Very informative and a nice addition to this site. I believe there is a need for FUE in the hair transplant community. But I am still against having FUE done for large sessions with patients who are genetically predisposition for significant future loss. Even with medication patients will have future hair loss if genetics are against them. For this reason the thinning of the donor area will become very problematic with future surgeries. A FUT scar can be concealed with FUE down the road and does not impact the donor area thickness with the exception of the linear scar that is typically minimal and not visible.

 

With a young patients who first go for a FUE and then determine that they can't slow the genetic hair loss down and need additional sessions then the FUE method will leave them looking mangy in the back of their head.

 

Great write up and there is a lot of factors to consider when choosing FUE and FUT, but for me the genetics factor is probably the most important. Don't ever let a doctor steer you one way or another if they haven't so much as tried to ascertain what your genetic predisposition is to MPB.

 

Thank you for liking my thread, it is much appreciated

[Paulygon]

excellent article..

An interesting point was that that after FUT "The natural flow has been eradicated". Although I wasn't aware of that; it simply is not a concern for me. Is that a concern for anyone else?

[Mickey85]

excellent article..

An interesting point was that that after FUT "The natural flow has been eradicated". Although I wasn't aware of that; it simply is not a concern for me. Is that a concern for anyone else?

 

Thanks for the kind words The change in linear flow of the donor was and still is a concern for me. Partly because of the negative cosmetic impact when the donor is cut short and partly because all this information was not made public by those in the know(clinics). Patients were getting strip surgery done without being fully informed by surgeons of the potential and intrinsic ramifications of strip surgery which I feel is very wrong. FUE is not flawless by any chance but I do feel it has many less drawbacks than strip. My opinion.

[ontop]

This is a dam good read....

[Mickey85]

This is a dam good read....

 

Thank you for the kind words

[Lateatnight]

Hi Everyone,

i'm new in this forum. Actually in all the Hair Loss forum. It's not so easy to admit i'm balding.

 

I'm considering, obviously an ht with due procedure. Or better, one day i'm pro fue, one day i'm pro fut, but really don't want that smiling scar.

 

Ok, let's cut to the chase, i found this topic very informative about fue or not fue, so i'm asking if a procedure in two day of 5000 uf would be ethical? I'm a norwood 3v.

 

Thanks in advance for your all advices

[GreatPelo]

Hi Lateatnight,

 

Pictures would help a great deal. My question off the bat is how can you be a N3V and need 5000 grafts??? Did you go to a consultation with a doctor and he/she recommended 5000 grafts? Please give us more info...

 

Thanks!

[Lateatnight]

Hi Lateatnight,

 

Pictures would help a great deal. My question off the bat is how can you be a N3V and need 5000 grafts??? Did you go to a consultation with a doctor and he/she recommended 5000 grafts? Please give us more info...

 

Thanks!

 

Hi,

yes i forgot to mention that i got that number from a surgeon, actually one of the tops, but previously another one, this time a fut specialist, recommended me 3500 uf strip, and that left me very confused. Isn't 5000 too much?

[GreatPelo]

5000 is a huge surgery. Many doctors would rather split the surgery into 2 sessions in order to protect the grafts as they are split and prepared. Too much time out of the body increases the chances of them not taking. I think the forum will help you more if you're able to supply pictures and more info (your age, are you taking any medical therapy (propecia/minoxidil), etc.)

 

The biggest recommendation I can give you is take your time and do your homework!

[Mickey85]

Hi,

yes i forgot to mention that i got that number from a surgeon, actually one of the tops, but previously another one, this time a fut specialist, recommended me 3500 uf strip, and that left me very confused. Isn't 5000 too much?

 

5000 grafts for a norwood 3v??? Who is this surgeon? 5,000 grafts is most of an average person's eligible donor before noticeable thinning occurs and you are only a norwood 3V? How old are you and are you on medication to prevent hairloss(Proprecia, Rogaine etc)?

[Lateatnight]

5000 grafts for a norwood 3v??? Who is this surgeon? 5,000 grafts is most of an average person's eligible donor before noticeable thinning occurs and you are only a norwood 3V? How old are you and are you on medication to prevent hairloss(Proprecia, Rogaine etc)?

 

Hi,

so i'm not the only one thinking that 5000 uf in two consecutive days are too much.

I'm 40, and i'm taking propecia. From what i've been told by a doc, i have a very good donor.

 

I'm uploading some photos.

[eyebrowqueen]

If FUE is optimal for eyebrow reconstruction then why do all the top surgeons - Shapiro, Rahal, Epstein, Hasson & Wong, etc. recommend FUT? I have not found one doctor who will do an eyebrow transplant using FUE. They all concur that FUT has a higher growth rate. Furthermore, they say that because only a small amount of grafts are needed (ie. 500) the scar would be so small and completely undetectable for someone with long hair. If hair were taken from the nape via FUE or body hair such as the legs, wouldn't it leave little spotty scars which would be visible on the legs or on the nape of the neck if you wear a pony tail. It just seems that the consensus among all the top transplant surgeons is that FUT is the gold standard.

[Questionmark]

If FUE is optimal for eyebrow reconstruction then why do all the top surgeons - Shapiro, Rahal, Epstein, Hasson & Wong, etc. recommend FUT? I have not found one doctor who will do an eyebrow transplant using FUE. They all concur that FUT has a higher growth rate. Furthermore, they say that because only a small amount of grafts are needed (ie. 500) the scar would be so small and completely undetectable for someone with long hair. If hair were taken from the nape via FUE or body hair such as the legs, wouldn't it leave little spotty scars which would be visible on the legs or on the nape of the neck if you wear a pony tail. It just seems that the consensus among all the top transplant surgeons is that FUT is the gold standard.

 

I really don`t know why anybody would favor FUT when it comes to eyebrows. At first, too many grafts have to be extracted by the method for this purpose. Secondly, you will have the large scar. Most importantly, the surgeon via FUE can cherrypick finer hairs to give the most natural appearance of the eyebrow.

 

There indeed are threads about eyebrow transplants via FUE on here, you just have to search for "eyebrow FUE" in the search box.

[Mickey85]

I really don`t know why anybody would favor FUT when it comes to eyebrows. At first, too many grafts have to be extracted by the method for this purpose. Secondly, you will have the large scar. Most importantly, the surgeon via FUE can cherrypick finer hairs to give the most natural appearance of the eyebrow.

 

There indeed are threads about eyebrow transplants via FUE on here, you just have to search for "eyebrow FUE" in the search box.

 

Pretty much this. Those surgeons who recommend strip over FUE for eye brows are not confident with their ability to perform FUE. It is wrong in my opinion to recommend a more invasive procedure for such a small number of grafts, especially because FUE has the advantage of targeting the finer grafts in the donor.

[Mickey85]

I have not found one doctor who will do an eyebrow transplant using FUE.

 

Come back to me when you speak to Lorenzo, Bisanga, Umar, Feriduni, Mwamba, Reddy, Maras, Hakan, Demirsoy, De Reys, Erdogan, Bhatti, etc. You know, actual leaders in FUE.

[s2thoudriver]

Not sure what makes them leaders Mickey, maybe you just mean leaders on this forum. Anyway, the points you've made about the procedure recommended here are correct, no surgeon of any decent standard would recommend FUT for 500 grafts of eyebrow work.

 

Not in 2014 anyway. 2004 yes.

 

To put it simply... FUE has moved on, anyone still doing strip hasn't.

[Mickey85]

Not sure what makes them leaders Mickey, maybe you just mean leaders on this forum. Anyway, the points you've made about the procedure recommended here are correct, no surgeon of any decent standard would recommend FUT for 500 grafts of eyebrow work.

 

Not in 2014 anyway. 2004 yes.

 

To put it simply... FUE has moved on, anyone still doing strip hasn't.

 

Hey there, I do believe guys like Lorenzo, Bisanga, Erdogan, Feriduni, Maras etc are the leaders of FUE as they are the among the elite that perform it. I don't believe guys like Lindsey, Feller, Arocha etc are in the same league at FUE(my opinion).

[s2thoudriver]

Ah right, gottcha, you believe they are the leaders.

 

There are plenty of other surgeons not on this forum who have been practicing FUE for years.

 

Agreed, Lindsey, Feller etc are strip surgeons and behind the pack when it comes to FUE. I'm sure as more and more surgeons evolve into more refined FUE processes and patients avoid the old strip method more and more, they'll no doubt do more FUE.

[GreatPelo]

s2thoudriver,

 

Although I agree that FUE has its benefits, making a statement like "To put it simply... FUE has moved on, anyone still doing strip hasn't" is going overboard. So you would recommend FUE to a NW5 and above who has limited donor and is going to be further limited by scarring up his donor area with dots scars all over? This can even make his donor area look difused........

 

I think that was an overzealous statement if you ask me.....

[s2thoudriver]

GreatPelo

 

I'm sorry you feel it is over zealous, but I stand by it.

 

Anyone NW5+ I would say should either have FUE is they have a healthy donor, or FUE with BHT in the crown if additional strong donor is required.

 

Strip shouldn't be required at all these days and tbh, taking a wide strip out of a NW5+ scalp to try and maximise graft numbers will increase the risk of scar stretching even more.

 

With regard to FUE scarring 'dots'.. I would question what size punch I'd being used, or the skill of the surgeon, if these are evident.

 

I have zero 'white dots' after 2,800 FUE 2 years ago.

 

Regards

 

Rob

[GreatPelo]

All FUE leave dots....skin pigmentation on FUE patients proves it. There's a great article by a very respected HT doctor that covers how FUE doctors are using this method on ALL methods and what a huge mistake it is. FUE is good...but not for everyone....same for FUT. To umbrella FUE for everyone is irresponsible.