Is FUT Still Better Than FUE For Advanced Hair Loss?

[Melvin- Admin]

Thank you to @Zoomster and @HugoX and @Dr. Felipe Pittella for allowing me to share these case studies. 

[hairman22]

fut will be gone in 2 years imo

[John1991]

Fair video.   I think I'd prefer a stretched scar that can be covered to a moss-eaten FUE donor.  Also,  I don't think that finding a few exceptional FUE proves FUE is as good on average, though, as you stated, it does prove it can be done as well in competent hands.  I've never really understood the desire people have to have very short hair, but for those that do I totally get why FUE is a must.  And I also understand not liking the thought of having a strip of scalp taken from your head - it's definitely unpleasant for a few weeks afterwards more so than FUE.  I think the cost means FUE wouldn't have been an option even if it's really what I had wanted - I'm only willing to afford roughly half a car for vanity, not a full car.

[Buck Naked]

Is it still true that you can get more grafts over a lifetime by having FUT and then FUE? I heard that FUT is also better for finer hair. Is that true too?

[civic]

I think FUE will be the standard soon, i read some research where good argument was made showing FUE allows for cherry picked grafts, doubles or triples, in FUT you are limited to what the given strip has. Also, with advancement in beard grafts, 300 of beard in crown area gives greater illusion of density than 400 hair grafts as beard hair is typicaly 2x thicker. FUT has a risk of permanent nerve numbness in strip area.

Edited June 15, 2022 by civic

[Melvin- Admin]

1 hour ago, John1991 said:

Fair video.   I think I'd prefer a stretched scar that can be covered to a moss-eaten FUE donor.  Also,  I don't think that finding a few exceptional FUE proves FUE is as good on average, though, as you stated, it does prove it can be done as well in competent hands.  I've never really understood the desire people have to have very short hair, but for those that do I totally get why FUE is a must.  And I also understand not liking the thought of having a strip of scalp taken from your head - it's definitely unpleasant for a few weeks afterwards more so than FUE.  I think the cost means FUE wouldn't have been an option even if it's really what I had wanted - I'm only willing to afford roughly half a car for vanity, not a full car.

That’s a fair point. I think for someone who doesn’t wear their hair short FUT is definitely a good option. 

[Melvin- Admin]

2 hours ago, hairman22 said:

fut will be gone in 2 years imo

I sure hope not, though it is sad to see excellent strip surgeons stop doing FUT. I think there should be options for hair loss sufferers, especially since FUT is cheaper in the US. 

[Melvin- Admin]

1 hour ago, civic said:

I think FUE will be the standard soon, i read some research where good argument was made showing FUE allows for cherry picked grafts, doubles or triples, in FUT you are limited to what the given strip has. Also, with advancement in beard grafts, 300 of beard in crown area gives greater illusion of density than 400 hair grafts as beard hair is typicaly 2x thicker. FUT has a risk of permanent nerve numbness in strip area.

I believe that FUE has already become standard. I’d be curious to see the ISHRS statistics for last year. But the last time I saw over 60% of all surgeries were FUE in 2019. 

[BurnieBurns]

The advancements in FUE are pretty mind-blowing and surely a preferable option many candidates, however there I believe there will always be a minority of patients who FUT is still in their best interest.

In my case, I don't wish to use beard grafts, I have retrograde alopecia that shrinks my donor area, I have significant area to cover, adequate scalp laxity, and no desire to wear my hair short. Without FUT my goals would be a little more challenging.

[Melvin- Admin]

12 hours ago, BurnieBurns said:

The advancements in FUE are pretty mind-blowing and surely a preferable option many candidates, however there I believe there will always be a minority of patients who FUT is still in their best interest.

In my case, I don't wish to use beard grafts, I have retrograde alopecia that shrinks my donor area, I have significant area to cover, adequate scalp laxity, and no desire to wear my hair short. Without FUT my goals would be a little more challenging.

Absolutely, very valid points. I do feel it’s in all of our best interests to still have the option of FUE. 

[Z--]

22 hours ago, Cantstandya said:

Is it still true that you can get more grafts over a lifetime by having FUT and then FUE? I heard that FUT is also better for finer hair. Is that true too?

I think this is a really important question, and while I think the video was informative and helpful, I do think it was missing this analysis, which I think is the biggest selling point for FUT. Shapiro (up to 3k+ more lifetime grafts) and Konior (up to 2k+ more lifetime grafts) seem to believe that is the case. H&W disagree and I think there's a video with their views on this (Eugenix & Pitella harbor this view, I think). 

I suppose the answer to this for now is which grouping doctor you trust more. Personally, I think the rational for FUT -> FUE yielding more grafts seems logical, though there's always the risk that the hairs under the FUT are no longer usable, which results in waste, so that's something to consider too.

[Gramatik]

FUT is a little bit old fashioned method. I believe surgeons will stop doing fut in some years, and focus more on evolving their FUE skills. FUE is the future, while fut is the past.

[Gatsby]

I think FUT excels when it is combined with FUE as some clinics are performing this combo. It allows for incredible coverage obtained over a two day or so procedure. I don't believe that one is better than the other alone but certainly FUE has evolved as a stand alone procedure and is incredibly target specific in the harvesting of grafts. Patient demand no doubt now dictates which practice is more common.

[MaximumMM]

@Melvin- Moderator thanks for the video. In my case I'm Norwood 6, have a donor capacity of roughly 5.5k and have good density in occipital area/average scalp laxity.

Do you think I will be able to meet my goals with FUE or should I consider FUT/FUE combo?

I'm struggling to understand how much I could increase my donor capacity by using FUT.

Edited August 17, 2022 by MaximumMM