How are international clinics/surgeons able to take 5k+ grafts without destroying the donor?

[didit07]

One of the biggest gripes stated about international surgeons are that they will destroy donor area since they are willing to do mega fue sessions. This logic makes sense to me however in the review section there  is  constant stream of people who had mega sessions with fantastic looking donor areas.

 

Why are north american doctors so hesistant to do bigger sessions?

[giegnosiganoe]

I think places like ASMED usually reject candidates if they have weak donors, so that is why most people you see here are able to tolerate it pretty well.

[Gabreille Nelson Mukhia]

Usually when a large number of grafts are harvested for an individual, it is extracted from the beard as well. Since beard has a good survival rate too. For someone with a good scalp donor and beard donor, it is easily possible to cover even a Grade VII grade bald scalp. Needless to say, the expertise and skill of the doctor and the performing team dictate the whole procedure.

[lakes9925]

some get lucky and some dont

[Melvin- Admin]

In other countries, technicians perform the extractions, not just one, but several- this allows the clinic to extract thousands in one sitting. In the US, it is illegal for technicians to extract grafts. That’s one big difference, and to answer your question, if you have a huge mega session and you get no growth, you’re pretty much outta luck. 

[Louisjams]

1) Results posted are often cherry picked.

2) Lots of overharvested men out there.

[didit07]

2 hours ago, Louisjams said:

1) Results posted are often cherry picked.

2) Lots of overharvested men out there.

This is applicable to us patients and surgeons as well

[FuriousGeorge]

10 hours ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

In other countries, technicians perform the extractions, not just one, but several- this allows the clinic to extract thousands in one sitting. In the US, it is illegal for technicians to extract grafts. That’s one big difference, and to answer your question, if you have a huge mega session and you get no growth, you’re pretty much outta luck. 

Just for clarity, is “extraction” is defined as once the strip has been taken out, they extract the follicles from the tissue? Or is extraction something different like taking the strip out entirely? 

I also am curious about this, as a popular Canadian clinic in this forum has quoted me 2k+ above all other of the top rated US clinics here and since it will be a while before we can go to them, trying to figure out why the major difference. 

[DrTBarghouthi]

This issue really comes down to the regulations in place and to the "ethical" ethos of the clinic. Harvesting more than 3000 follicles in one session of FUE is overly exhausting- to everyone working. So the main issues to look at in such scenarios is the out of body time of the grafts and the comfort of the operators. It is usually difficult to have more than 2 or 3 technicians during the implantation phase. Therefore, even large numbers will have to go back in using the same number of technicians in all clinics. It is therefore unquestionable, that 4000 or 5000 grafts will take few hours more per day. It is convenient for the client and the clinic (to maximize their turnover), but it might not be the best practice for graft survival. 

Ofcourse, we are assuming that they actually harvest such big numbers. I do see personally a lot of cases where clients are told that 5000 grafts will be transplanted, when in fact 2000 were harvested and divided into singles and doubles. This is ofcourse an ethical problem which is quite hard to fight because it is simply built on lies. 

[Melvin- Admin]

Great points