FUE vs FUT for a female hairline

[redpanda]

I'm a 29 year old woman with a naturally high hairline. Kind of like a NW2. Otherwise I have lots of long thick hair. I guess I'll need maybe 3000 grafts.

 

After being bothered by this for most of my life (and teased at school) I've finally decided to take the plunge and get a HT. I'm just trying to decide between FUE and FUT. Cost and distance are no object.

 

Obviously I want to have most natural looking hairline I can get and I've read that FUE offers that. But the idea of having my head shaved is sooo scary. I mean the idea of a woman getting a hair transplant is unusual enough, but then have my head shaved as well? Maybe that's just too much.

 

On the other hand the hair will grow back in a year (obviously not to length I have now) where as a FUT scar will be there for the rest of my life. Also I don't want a hairline full of 2's and 3's or full of coarse hairs because the surgeon couldn't get enough FUT.

 

I don't have a problem with having a visible scar since I'm never likely to have short hair, but the numbess worries me.

 

I should also add that I've looked into a scalp advancement surgery, but I really like my high forehead and mainly that's for ladies who don't. So it's really down to either FUE/FUT.

 

So confused!

[gillenator]

If finances are not an issue for you, then I would definitely recommend FUE because of the concerns you have regarding the strip scar, etc.

 

In addition, with FUE, a skilled surgeon can cherry-pick the softer donor hair FUs to use in building your new hairline, including the nape hair which is much softer or of thinner caliber.

 

Also, if you have a wider hair color to complexion color contrast, then the thinner caliber hair will add a definite aesthetic appeal compared to the hair taken from the occipital zone which is more coarse for most individuals. In other words, the hair shaft diameter from the main donor zone is typically thicker in texture as compared to hair taken from other areas of your scalp like the parietal zones.

 

Obviously, we all want the most natural appearing result as possible. Just be sure to choose the best FUE surgeon that you can who has experience working and rebuilding female hairlines. You definitely want to ask which areas the FUE surgeon would take (cherry-pick) your donor FUs from.

 

Be sure to discuss the level of desired density in your new hairline because that is a huge part of producing a natural appearing hairline along with acute angulation that matches the native hair that you already have there. Too much or too little density can cause eye drift.

 

It has to look like the new regrown hair was always there to begin with. Proper angulation and density is critical for any HT patient looking to rebuild or construct a lower or new hairline.

 

Good to see you are doing your research!

[redpanda]

Hi Gillenator,

 

Thank you for very helpful reply.

Another option might be to do it as a two stage procedure with FUT first (maybe 2000 gafts) and then a second FUE (maybe 1000 grafts) to fine-tune the hairline. If I can get the number of FUE grafts down to 1000 I'd probably only need a partial shave. That would be way way better than having to shave my entire head which I really don't like at all.

 

Thanks again!

[gillenator]

Your welcome redpanda. I really don't think your case would require your scalp to be shaved down in the recipient area.

 

If you do go with FUE, then only a small area or several small areas in the donor zones will need to be shaven to extract your FUs. Then the upper tier layers of hair length can hang over and cover the extraction areas just like the way FUHT does.

 

Although I do not know what your proposed recipient area looks like, the graft count sounds a bit high?

 

But maybe not because many of your grafts will need to be singles so hard to say yet you know your case and yes I agree that you will ultimately need or want more than one pass to get the density at the level you want it.

[GreatPelo]

Let's slow down and start from the beginning.

 

First, the difference between FUE and FUT is only the harvesting method...nothing else is different. So as far as a natural looking hairline, that will depend on you choosing the right surgeon and team who will make your experience and results great. The FUE does not deliver a more natural result...it's the perfectly imperfect work of the surgeon, making the slits in the right angles, and the techs inserting the grafts correctly that will result in a natural looking frontal hairline.

 

Second, the fact you're female and odds are you'll never wear a GI JANE hairstyle (military short), the linear scar will never be seen and you'll even forget you have one. Also, FUE leaves scarring...dot scars. So if you've read FUE leaves no scarring, it's not accurate. I think FUE is a great method of harvesting and you do have that option, but you will pay a great deal more. The questions will be: is it necessary??

 

Third, how do you know you need 3000 grafts? Have you visited at least 2-3 hair restoration specialists yet? If not, depending on doing research online in order to find all the answers to your questions can result in a great deal of frustration. Make sure you visit hair surgeons who only do hair in order to get solid recommendations. I don't recommend you go to a plastic surgeon or other who offer a plethora of services, including hair restoration. They will not be as experienced as a hair doctor who has specialized in hair for many years. Please take your time and do your homework.

 

Best of luck!

[Mickey85]

Fue allows for the surgeon to selectively target and cherry pick any type of graft he/she wants.if they want lots of coarse, multi-hair grafts for a thick mod-section, that is within his control. If he wants fine single hair grafts for a natural hairline, he can activly target those. The hair located in the strip zone if the most coarse and often does not resemble natural hairline hair. Fue allows the surgeon to harvest from a greater area which contains more varied grafts than strip does. Grafts are different caliber, texture, etc. The exact quantity is also within the surgekns control. If they need 1000 fine single hair grafts for a natural hairline, the surgeon can target those. With strip, it is all down to whatever is in the strip zone. The difference between strip and fue is not jist the harvesting method. There is a plethora of difference between the two and i believe fue can give a more natural result.

[chrisdav]

Fue allows for the surgeon to selectively target and cherry pick any type of graft he/she wants.if they want lots of coarse, multi-hair grafts for a thick mod-section, that is within his control. If he wants fine single hair grafts for a natural hairline, he can activly target those. The hair located in the strip zone if the most coarse and often does not resemble natural hairline hair. Fue allows the surgeon to harvest from a greater area which contains more varied grafts than strip does. Grafts are different caliber, texture, etc. The exact quantity is also within the surgekns control. If they need 1000 fine single hair grafts for a natural hairline, the surgeon can target those. With strip, it is all down to whatever is in the strip zone. The difference between strip and fue is not jist the harvesting method. There is a plethora of difference between the two and i believe fue can give a more natural result.

 

I agree with you in theory about this but in practice I disagree.

[Mickey85]

I agree with you in theory about this but in practice I disagree.

 

Hehe, I understand. I don't mean that strip can't give a natural appearance, but that FUE can(has the ability to) give a more natural result. Doesn't always happen of course. Alot of it is dependent on the surgeon, their knowledge, skill, experience etc.

[1978matt]

Oh no, not another Strip v FUE debate;)!

 

I agree with Chrisdav as I've not noticed any discernible difference in naturalness between the two methods.

 

I think once you get into the 500+ FU territory there is more than enough 'hair' to pick and choose which ones to use in the hairline (for strip). I can see the merits of small FUE touch ups though for improving a previous surgery.

 

A strip will be made up of thousands of hairs of differing thickness. It's how your own hair grows so I can't find a logical reason why these natural variances would cause a hairline to luck unnatural. Unless of course someone made a conscious effort to group them according to exact size + erroneously putting the thickest ones at the front hairline.

 

Anyway, that's my ramblings on the subject...

[chrisdav]

I agree that using FUE you can choose the exact amount of grafts you would like and the type of grafts used.

 

However, I would say from the amount of before and afters I have seen, I could not distinguish between the two and I have probably seen the best hairlines online with FUT. The problem with FUE is I don't think there are enough surgeons out there who are really good with FUE. There are a small group and their names get mentioned frequently.

 

That said, I have not met loads and loads of patients in person to compare them side by side as although photos and videos are good, it is not as accurate as seeing someone up close. Gillenator will have a better idea than I have as to what looks most natural in person meeting lots of patients.

Edited July 22, 2014 by chrisdav

[Mickey85]

I do believe FUE can give more natural results. This is a Feriduni patient who had strip first(top pictures) and FUE later(bottom) to refine the hairline. You can see the thicker caliber hairs at the very front of the hairline in the strip-only result but in the second FUE result, much finer hairs are evident.

 

[chrisdav]

Mickey,

 

I get what you are saying and I agree with the idea in theory but you cannot generalise with one result. There maybe sufficient hairs when a strips taken for it to be a non-issue and equally there may not be and you are correct. I don't know as I am not a surgeon of how people's proportions of hairs they take from the back differ from person to person.

 

You need to have met loads of patients really in person to make a proper comparison.

[Mickey85]

I can understand that Chris, I'm just stating that with strip it is often up to chance, where with FUE it is more of a controllable factor. That's all I know not all FUE results look more natural than strip results and vice versa, but the "ability" for a more natural result is more likely with FUE in my opinion.

[gillenator]

FUE does allow for cherry picking of grafts that have a softer texture/caliber such as the nape neck area where taking a strip would not be advisable in that part of the neck. And most FUs in the nape area are single hair bearing.

 

Chris is correct in that strips do provide an assortment of FUs that vary in both number and texture. Yet what I have observed is that individuals that have a high degree of coarseness tend to have very coarse hair in the main donor area, the occipital zone, more so than any other donor area of their scalps.

[Mickey85]

FUE does allow for cherry picking of grafts that have a softer texture/caliber such as the nape neck area where taking a strip would not be advisable in that part of the neck. And most FUs in the nape area are single hair bearing.

 

Chris is correct in that strips do provide an assortment of FUs that vary in both number and texture. Yet what I have observed is that individuals that have a high degree of coarseness tend to have very coarse hair in the main donor area, the occipital zone, more so than any other donor area of their scalps.

 

Agreed. It is the general consensus that that 'strip zone' often contains the coarsest hair of the donor and generally of a thicker caliber. Not an absolute rule but certainly quite common.

[redpanda]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to thank everyone who's replied to this thread and give you an update. I've emailed some coalition doctors and the consensus is about 2500 grafts. That's less than I thought. So yay!

 

I'm really leaning towards FUE because I looked at the inter-operative photos for FUT and they look really scary. I understand that FUE leaves scars too, but is recovery easier than FUT? I guess that's my question for anyone who's had FUE. Was there a lot of pain or numbness in the donor area? Money isn't really a factor - hopefully I'll only need to do this once.

 

Thanks again!

 

Redpanda

[britboy]

F u e

[1978matt]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to thank everyone who's replied to this thread and give you an update. I've emailed some coalition doctors and the consensus is about 2500 grafts. That's less than I thought. So yay!

 

I'm really leaning towards FUE because I looked at the inter-operative photos for FUT and they look really scary. I understand that FUE leaves scars too, but is recovery easier than FUT? I guess that's my question for anyone who's had FUE. Was there a lot of pain or numbness in the donor area? Money isn't really a factor - hopefully I'll only need to do this once.

 

Thanks again!

 

Redpanda

 

Well, for 2500FUE you will probably have to sport a Miley Cyrus hairstyle for a while.

 

I've not had FUE but one of the common post op issues I've heard is itchiness in the donor area. Hardly any complain of pain since that can controlled by the meds.

[gillenator]

IMHO, donor area pain post-op is much less with FUE than FUHT for the obvious reasons, all other factors considered being equal.

 

But really, it depends in how large either procedure would be and how invasive. Let's compare. Let's say the graft count is the same, 2500 grafts. With FUE, there will be at least 2500 individual extractions. There could be several more depending how skilled your surgeon is at extracting the FUs intact without transecting them.

 

But to harvest 2500 grafts via a strip excision, the proposed strip would no doubt run across the entire back side of the occipital zone with both sides of the scalp sutured shut. Sound more invasive? Sound like possibly more post-op discomfort? Then once the strip zone heals, there is a long linear scar remaining.

 

If you heal well and the surgeon is competent, then the strip scar should come out thin and won't be noticeable as long as you never intend to wear your hair length buzzed real short. Obviously you would never do that as most females will never buzz cut their scalps. However, some men do.

 

Depending in how diverse and spread out the extraction zone will be to harvest your 2500 grafts, FUE extraction sites tend to close up nicely if the punch sizes are smaller (less than .75mm - 1mm). There are salves and ointments that your surgeon will probably recommend that you can apply to the extraction sites to facilitate the healing process.

 

Lastly, 2500 FUE is not a large procedure anymore. If you were having over 4000 FUE done, then the level of invasiveness goes way up IMHO and so does the amount of corresponding scarring. Still, there is no strip scar.

 

Now, I myself had 4 separate FUHT procedures in my lifetime totaling 6900 grafts. FUE was not even available for my first 3 procedures yet I still chose FUHT for my fourth and last procedure. Why? Because I already had the ear-to-ear strip scar and I don't like the buzzed cut look, never did. So I don't worry about my thin strip scar. Plus, I could not afford FUE even if I did want that option.

 

My head was buzzed during my entire time in the US Marines at the tale end of the Vietnam War so when I finished my hitch, I grew my hair out down to my shoulders...

 

There are many guys who also don't like short hair styles and many of them go with FUHT for the same reasons that I did.

 

Yet you stated that $ is not a factor so if I were you, definitely go with FUE and also for the other reasons that was stated in previous posts.

 

Sincerely wish you the best in your upcoming procedure Redpanda and keep us in the loop...