FUT 3500 or FUE 3000?

[hairyharry]

I'm sure the topic of "FUT vs FUE" has been posted many, many times. My question is a bit different.
I've met with two awesome HT surgeons.

• Both are recommended by the International Alliance of Hair Restoration Surgeons.
• Both are highly recommended by folks on this forum.
• Both have awesome online photos with very natural results.
• Both are about the same price.
• Both are within driving distance for me.
• One does FUE and the other recommends FUT.

I'm 59 years old and will likely not get additional surgeries so my expectation is I want to reconstruct my hairline and most of my crown.
The doctor who recommends FUT has given me an estimate of 3500 follicles and the doctor who does FUE 3000 follicles.
As I mention above, they are roughly the same cost.

I understand the pros and cons of both FUT and FUE so what I'm looking for are actual experiences with both and recommendations for which surgeon to go with.
Considering all other things are pretty much equal, except one does FUE and the other FUT.
Will 500 follicles make a lot of difference?
Is there any risk of nerve damage from the FUT incision?

Thoughts?

 

 

[JDEE0]

Was going to ask you to post some pics to be able to give any sort of answers to your questions, but I had a look at your profile and saw that you did in a previous post that I actually commented on and I remember.

Firstly, can you provide the names of the two surgeons you have consulted with so members here can give a more accurate opinion of their skill? It's a good sign if they're highly recommended by people on here, so I'm sure they're decent, but that would be helpful.

When you say online photos, this is great and all, but if they're all/majority clinic posted then ultimately they aren't super useful. Large amounts of patient posted results (from beginning to end, without the poster knowing how it was going to turn out) on this and other forums like it are what you should be looking for mostly as clinics often cherry pick their best results and post only them. Maybe they only post 5 percent of their results every year, with these being the best outcomes.

Price and distance shouldn't be major factors, I mean if the Dr's are both elite then great, its a plus that they're on your doorstep, but don't choose based off of geographical location alone. 

Lot's of good Dr's only do FUE these days, so this doesn't mean too much really, and looking at your photos, I can see why one has recommended FUT as you are around a NW5 so it would give you more lifetime grafts. It's impossible to say if all is equal if we don't know who the docs are, but generally the answer is no as every surgeon is different; some surgeons can get away with using less grafts and have similar results to another who used more. With that being said, if they're both very elite doctors, then things should be fairly equal in terms of results whichever you choose as they should both have similar levels of skill. No two will be the same, but it should be close if they're closely matched Dr's. 

500 grafts can make a difference, depends how they're used, rate of survival, where they're placed etc, but in any case its not a huge amount so its not going to be the difference between full coverage and sparse coverage, no. The only thing I will say is that, judging by your photos, I doubt you'll get any substantial coverage of your whole top with one 3-3500 graft procedure as you are a NW5.

You say you only want the one surgery, so if you're adamant about this you'll either need to accept one of two things; focusing on either the hairline or crown (I imagine it would be hairline, obviously) for decent density and coverage, or accepting low density and sparse coverage across your whole top. I would accept the need for two surgeries if I were you; one for the frontal third of about 3500 grafts and then another for the crown with what you have left about a year later. If you absolutely won't do this and are only willing to have one procedure, then I would go and have a mega session via FUT with Hasson and Wong of 5000+ grafts in one go, or the same via FUE with Eugenix in India. 

[1978matt]

With FUT the doctor calculates the size of strip necessary to yield the desired number of grafts.  If it's 3500 they will get on average 3500 x 2.2 hairs total.

With FUE they can select certain size grafts to obtain more hair in less grafts.  It's not uncommon to see an average of 2.6-2.8 hairs per graft.

So basically there should be no real difference in result between 3000 FUE vs 3500 FUT.

Edited August 15, 2021 by 1978matt

[Britanium]

If you want to max out your donor supply then I would be starting out with FUT. Maybe you could consider Hattingen they are doing some really good mega sessions. But yes H&W also do bigger FUT sessions with fantastic results. 
Or you could even consider a combo session of FUT/FUE, Bisanga does particularly well. Lots of options. I wouldn’t get to hung up on graft numbers, it Varys so much between clinics let alone the different procedures! 

[Britanium]

And yes I would be interested to know the clinics you have been consulting with. 🙏thanks 

[hairyharry]

The two surgeons I'm considering are Jerry Cooley and Michael W. Vories