FUE vs FUT for young person

[HairEnthusiast101]

10 minutes ago, John1991 said:

"At least three of the best doctors (Konior, Shapiro, Josephitius) in the world (both who do FUT and FUE, so no ulterior motive) have agreed that FUTwill yield more than 2,000 to 3,000 more hair grafts in a lifetime if you max out a strip first. For most people who are stabilised on medication at a lower Norwood (no higher than Norwood 4), those extra grafts probably aren't needed needed, especially if they have an normal donor or beard hair to use."  Z

If this is true - and I have no reason to believe it's not - then any person like OP in there early/mid 20s, who, by definition, can't know how much loss they will have, should start with FUT.  Pretty much period.  End of story.  Everything around hair transplants - and life in general - is about playing the most favorable odds.  You come on this forum to find a quality surgeon so the odds are in your favor that you have a good procedure.  Why wouldn't you also then play the odds of 2-3 thousand extra grafts on the chance that you lose more hair than you're expecting to lose?  This is of course excluding those who truly can't have a strip taken due to scalp laxity issues.

Agree of course. I’ve always understood the gauge of preserving the donor and in my mid 20s HT is still a pretty early thought but was curious if fut vs fue would yield a massive lifetime difference especially because even if finasteride may have stabilized me a bit now it doesn’t mean it will stabilize me forever. The biggest issue with fut first is scarring potential. Some people(myself included) just have poor healing physiology and due to this is those 2-3k grafts worth having a wraparound hypertrophic scar from ear to ear? That is the hardest thing to know. 

[New_Barnet_Please]

2 hours ago, John1991 said:

"At least three of the best doctors (Konior, Shapiro, Josephitius) in the world (both who do FUT and FUE, so no ulterior motive) have agreed that FUTwill yield more than 2,000 to 3,000 more hair grafts in a lifetime if you max out a strip first. For most people who are stabilised on medication at a lower Norwood (no higher than Norwood 4), those extra grafts probably aren't needed needed, especially if they have an normal donor or beard hair to use."  Z

If this is true - and I have no reason to believe it's not - then any person like OP in there early/mid 20s, who, by definition, can't know how much loss they will have, should start with FUT.  Pretty much period.  End of story.  Everything around hair transplants - and life in general - is about playing the most favorable odds.  You come on this forum to find a quality surgeon so the odds are in your favor that you have a good procedure.  Why wouldn't you also then play the odds of 2-3 thousand extra grafts on the chance that you lose more hair than you're expecting to lose?  This is of course excluding those who truly can't have a strip taken due to scalp laxity issues.

“End of story”

Not end of story at all. I’ve no idea if that’s true - but even if it is in the vast majority of young people with medication and carefully managed donor FUE will be absolutely fine. Without having a chunk of your scalp chopped out in a big operation and an ear to ear scar for life. Anyway each to their own, if people want to go that route then fine but I dislike the statements which would lead other young people down something that isn’t needed. So to anyone who hasn’t had a HT yet I’d say be sure to consult with top doctors outside the US who have a great deal of experience in delivery amazing FUE results and ask about this before making your mind up. Cheers.

Edited August 25, 2022 by New_Barnet_Please