FUT + FUE Dr Cooley

[Dr. Jerry Cooley]

This patient wanted extensive coverage and to be able to wear his hair short. We performed FUT first: 3,935 grafts (8,126 hairs); one year later, we performed a much smaller FUE session of 1,201 grafts ((2,444 hairs) to fill in more on the top as well as any areas of the strip scar that might show with short hair. In total, we did 5,136 grafts (10,570 hairs). He is shown one year after the last procedure.

[KD2020]

Hi Dr. Cooley,

 

I had a FUT with you back in April, and at that time, I said I wanted to get as much as I could as I hoped it would be the last one I would do (because I really don't know how much more could be done, given the two 500 graft procedures I had back in the 1990's). If at some point in the future I wanted one more procedure, would you recommend FUE or FUT for my situation?

[Dr. Jerry Cooley]

Great question. In my practice, helping a patient decide on FUE vs FUT involves weighing several factors. Most of my patients wear medium length hair and place a premium on being able to get back to work in a week, and since we generally don't shave donor or recipient, this is very realistic. If my patient wears their hair very short anyway and wants to avoid any chance of a noticeable linear scar, then FUE is the best bet. For someone who has had prior procedures, scalp laxity is a big factor. Minimal scalp laxity may push us toward FUE. On the hand, if you healed well from the last procedure, and have decent remaining laxity, another strip FUT would be the way to go.

 

And maybe when everything from this procedure grows in, you'll be satisfied with the results and you'll forget about your hair and this will be a non-issue! Good luck.

[KD2020]

Thank you for the detailed thoughts / insight. Tomorrow will be 8 weeks post op. Hopefully, following the typical expectation timeline, in 4 more, I'll start seeing growth. I also hope that before that, I may see some of the shock loss hair return from dormancy (usually 2.5 months post op?).

 

Thanks again-