FUE vs FUT vs SMP

[el guapo]

Hey Guys

 

Not sure this is the correct section in the forum for this post so please let me know if it not.

And I'm sorry for the long post but I felt this needed some background to put my thoughts into perspective.

 

I've been reading this forum for over 10 years now, following every new technique and doctor with great interest. I started back in 2003 at the age of 25 after loosing hair since I was 18. I fell for all the stupid gimmicks including sticking my head into a helmet with laser lights that obviously did nothing to slow my hair loss but quite a lot to shrinking my student sized wallet. Lotions and pills did little to slow down the inevitable and over time they became worthless as the effect wore off.

 

After researching for about three years and traveling to meet surgeons and meeting patients I decided that hair restoration was simply not good enough and I was not mentally ready anyway. The results back in 2005 were mostly average and most patients seemed to regret their decision to go down the HT route. Having said that, some clinics like Hasson & Wong were already then producing great results but they were an anomaly.

 

So I shaved my head, decided I liked it and I moved on. My confidence grew and I soon realised that most women don't give a crap about your hair or lack thereof. They only care about confidence which I simply faked until I had it. I went from shy and introverted guy with a bad comb over and my sexual encounters limited to autoerotic visits to the mens room to a bald guy with attitude. After shaving I had some really hot girlfriends and life was great...

 

Over the years I checked back on this site sporadically. Although I was happy with a shaved head I still wouldn't mind hair : )

 

However, I still didn't see anything new worth risking and no real medical progressions were made in the battle for hair-loss.

 

Until the 2014 world cup. Seeing the Dutch player Sneijders new hair shocked me. It was perfect and clearly a HT of sorts considering he had considerably less hair the year before. I immediately did some research and realised he had his work done by Dr Gho, they guy who previously earned the distinction of being the number one laughing stock of the hair loss industry. I checked his website which is still a master study in deceptive advertising with less than honest before and after photos.

 

But there was hope so I started my research from scratch again and after being back for about a month I have come to the following conclusions regarding available procedures.

 

 

FUE

Fue has come some way since its early days ten years ago. Back then all FUE sessions were small (1000 or so) and the punches were way to big often causing massive dot scarring. FUE mega sessions these days are common and the punches much smaller. However the results are unreliable at best. The giant sessions combined with the smaller extraction tools seem to cause major uncertainties with several patients getting little or no growth at all. Just reading on the FUE results section of this forum is a big deterrent for FUE in my opinion.

 

FUT

Still the best for consistent results. However the scarring in the back of the head is a big no-no for me personally, especially since you will most likely get to a point where your hair loss has progressed to the point where no HT in the world can help you. Then you'd want to shave but I wouldn't want a big scar in the back of my head as a dead give away.

 

SMP

This is interesting. Ten years ago I remember laughing at the idea of head tattoos. And back then they did look awful many times, disfiguring some patients for life with no hope of redemption. But the results I have been seeing recently are impressive. Temporary SMP from Malena Lardi especially look perfect in photos but still kinda hard to maintain with such quick fading. The more temporary solutions from HisHair look great as well but Im unsure of the long term implications. Im also a bit unsure of how undetectable this really is on very close inspection as I haven't seen it in real life yet. If you are someone who likes the look of a shaved head but prefer the illusion of hair - this is potentially a viable solution and one that I may consider personally.

 

FUE + SMP

Still to few results to gauge but the concept is good and some early results look promising. The SMP can help camouflage the shortcomings of limited donor hair and the FUE hair help create a 3D appearance which SMP lacks. And of course the SMP can be used to cover up any FUE scarring. Im hoping for more results on this double edged sword approach and may potentially consider it.

 

Dr Gho

As mentioned above its hard to take this guy seriously. His previous work was sub par to say the least with sometimes zero results and his website is still full of deceptive photos using the old wet hair + flash trick to cover up any short comings. However, if Sneijders result in fact was a result of Gho's hair cloning technique this could in fact be what we have all been waiting for. (For those of us with thick wallets at least)

 

Anyways, sorry for the long winded post. Would love to hear your thoughts.

[Mickey85]

Any photos of your hairloss situation? I personally recommend anyone who really wants surgical hair restoration to explore(not undergo, but explore) FUE as a first avenue of surgical intervention. I would consult with surgeons who are adept with FUE and provide it the majority of the time and see what they say. If you are not deemed a candidate for FUE, then strip may be considered. My opinion. In regards to Dr Gho... the jury is still out. It has been almost 3 years(?) since his technique came to fruition and so far, no solid and conclusive results of donor regeneration/doubling. Just some average and below average results.

 

I have a whole thread dedicated to the advantages/disadvantages of FUE and strip in my signature.

[el guapo]

Hi Mickey

 

Thanks for the reply.

I have read your post on Fue vs FUT and its well researched and informative. God work.

I did look into FUE myself back in 2007 but was discouraged by the scarring. I did meet with Bisanga in person who advised me that I was an OK, but not great candidate due to my thin hair. Its blonde though which could make up for it.

 

I would never ever get a strip procedure done. You can never shave your head and hair loss will always continue at some point leaving you with few options down the track.

 

I have opted out of FUE for a few reasons

 

1) Poor yield. Im a NW 4-5 so would need maybe 5000 grafts for decent coverage. FUE megasessions are notoriously unreliable going by results on this forum. Some are happy, some are satisfied but most receive poor growth. To ensure better growth I'd have to do up to three separate sessions over several years.

 

2) Ugly duckling face. Going around for 3-5 months looking like hell is not appealing in my opinion. I cant stay away from work that long.

 

3) Scarring. Although some patients have very minimal scarring a 5000 graft session would leave me potentially with a very awkward looking head. Not worth it. I like to keep my hair very short so its too risky.

 

The only potential HT option I can see working is the FUE + SMP option. A thin but consistent coverage filled in with SMP may work. And as you say Gho is still not reliable. I have no money problems and could easily plow 200K into a treatment if I thought it would work but I don't.

 

I have not uploaded any photos and Im not sure if it would help. I'd say NW 4-5 with thinning in crown and front. Some hair left in the middle.

 

Cheers

 

El G