Can FUE surgery damage your donor area???

[forlife]

If Fue is done on someone and they are not pleased and say would want to go back and get strip done for more volume,coverage whatever. Can the fue method damage donor hair for future strip procedures???

[forlife]

If Fue is done on someone and they are not pleased and say would want to go back and get strip done for more volume,coverage whatever. Can the fue method damage donor hair for future strip procedures???

[Smoothy]

I dont think so, but there could be a possibilty because of the extreme trauma with existing hair that's not removed as well as potential shock loss. If you have enough donor, strip would be the best way to go because you get more FU in one session and less trauma.

[arfy]

First, I would suggest NOT choosing a totally inexperienced doctor for FUE (or any other procedure, for that matter). The more experience the doctor has, the less likely you will damage your donor area.

 

If you have FUE done and decide later that you want a strip surgery, it will have a small (small!) impact in your total yield from strip (remember that FUE takes grafts from a large area, not highly concentrated in the strip zone). I'd guess maybe a couple hundred less grafts from a subsequent strip (100 or 200 less). In other words, instead of getting 2000 grafts from your strip, you get 1800 or 1900. That is strictly a wild guess. It's not like you are paying for strip excision grafts you didn't harvest, so there is no financial penalty. (I saw one guy claim you've "paid twice" for your grafts under this scenario... that is not correct).

 

All in all, there is not a big problem with getting FUE and then opting for strip later, in my opinion. I haven't heard any logical reasons why this isn't possible, for those who choose to change directions this way.

 

Discuss this scenario with your FUE doctor and see what he says.

[KenEastCoast]

What exactly is FUE. I've heard it mentioned but I'm not sure what it is all about. Why is there so much talk about it?

[arfy]

FUE = Follicular Unit Extraction, it is a relatively new and relatively rare way to harvest the grafts. Only a small handful of doctors are currently doing it, but there is a good amount of interest in the technique. Some people think it is an exciting advancement in technique, while some other people are more lukewarm on it.

 

With FUE the grafts (follicular unit micrografts, the most desirable type of graft) are moved one by one, from the donor area. Compare this with the typical way to harvest grafts: by removing a donor strip of scalp, which is divided up into small grafts. FUE does not use a donor strip.