Fact Check: 75% of hair transplants today are still done using FUT?

[mavigo]

Hey guys, 

The first surgeon I went with at Holt Hair Restoration did FUT on me because he insisted it was the better procedure. I totally regret FUT, it hurts a lot more than FUE and leaves a grizzly scar. 

But the surgeon touted that FUT is still the gold standard, since it only takes hairs from the "safe zone" and is quicker to extract than FUE. He also went on to say that 75% of procedures in the world today are still strip. Is this true?

 

FUT is basically out in the US but what about the rest of the world? 

 

https://holthair.com/strip-method/

Edited January 14, 2023 by mavigo

[Curious25]

I would be very surprised if 75% of  transplants carried out in 2023 are FUT. 

[Gatsby]

Surgery is consumer driven. FUE is the far more preferred option (though not necessarily the best option) and as a result that's what the vast majority perform today.

[deeznuts]

FUE is probably the "gold standard" these days but you might value different things such as cost...

Do a search for FUT verse FUE.

[Marlo]

Laughable statement. Anyone who has any insight into hair transplants would tell you that there are more FUEs performed. 

Edited January 14, 2023 by Marlo

[Gramatik]

In the past most clinics that used to do FUT, but now they have stopped this method and they just focus to evovle their technique in FUE. So there is no doubt that the majority of the hair transplans is done with the FUE method at this moment.

Edited January 14, 2023 by Gramatik

[HappyMan2021]

In the vast majority of cases I would say NW3 (or even potentially NW4) and below, there is no reason to ever need FUT. 

One exception of the top of my head though is say you may only be a NW3, but still have a crap donor, so the doc would want to do FUT to still utilize as many grafts as possible. 

Of course, I feel like in Dr. Holt's case this is baloney. 

Bad doctors stick to what they know best, even if it goes against the contemporary gold-standard treatment. Maybe for one reason or another Holt has a lot more experience with FUT instead of FUE, and he spins that to be "FUT is still better than FUE"

Edited January 14, 2023 by HappyMan2021

[mavigo]

Apparently I have a massive donor area of ~12,000 - 14,000 grafts (before the Holt chopjob). 

He definitely tricked me. He is not good at either method so I suppose I should be "thankful" that I didn't insist on him using his ARTAS abomination and went with his "best", it could've been much worse. 

Here is some more disinformation: "Given the time-consuming and tedious nature of this procedure, a hair restoration physician is often limited to transplanting 500 to 1000 follicular unit grafts in one day." 

https://holthair.com/artas-system-f-u-e-procedure/

The site also explains why Dr. Holt does not do manual FUE:

"He has a lot of experience in this area, but is very open about the drawbacks of an FUE procedure done by hand by an experienced Doctor. He won't do much more than 400 grafts, as with the hand method, a Doctor will experience fatigue and declining accuracy after about 400 grafts. That's why he added the ARTAS System FUE Robot to our arsenal, the very best FUE Procedure possible for larger procedures. (500-2000)"

https://holthair.com/

I would say is "accuracy" is questionable in all aspects of hair transplantation but I was the real knucklehead to see him. You live and you learn. 

[shiba1985]

on the global scale i would say it is the opposite. 75% of transplants are being done as FUE and 25% as FUT. 

Also there are patients that are better served with FUT, that are being misguided into getting an FUE and vice versa. 

Unscrupulous doctors. 

[A Fue Good Men]

Sounds like BS. Maybe that statistic was accurate 15 years ago but nowadays fue has definitely gained popularity. FUT still has its place though IMO

[Zoomster]

I’d say FUT is as low as 5% globally nowadays….that’s my hunch ..when Victor Hasson washes his hands of FUT ..enough said .

[Rafael Manelli]

Holt is a mess. Holt is a waste. Holt is a big fat mistake.

[Rafael Manelli]

And that statistic is baloney. His source is he made it up.

[mavigo]

On 2/6/2023 at 8:18 PM, Rafael Manelli said:

Holt is a mess. Holt is a waste. Holt is a big fat mistake.

Well said. 

[Rahal Hair Transplant]

@mavigo,

I honestly couldn’t tell you statistically how many FUT procedures are being performed over FUE procedures. What I can tell you however is that FUE is the procedure of choice for most hair transplant patients for many reasons. Firstly, in skilled surgical hands, FUE is just as viable and can produce Crowfield on par with FUT. Secondly, healing time is faster and thirdly, it illuminates the linear scar associated with FUT/strip.  

This is why many surgeons including Dr. Rahal has switched over solely to FUE and frankly, his FUE procedure is outstanding and even rivals his previous FUT procedure.  Not only is growth healed on par with his previous FUT procedures but patients can wear their hair cropped exceptionally short on the side the back of the scalp with essentially no signs of visible scarring.  In fact, Dr. Rahal uses a scientific algorithm to determine how many grafts a particular patient possesses over the course of their lifetime to be use safely without showing signs of scarring and yet produce phenomenal growth yield.

Another advantage of FUE is that surgeons/clinics can cherry pick the flick in the units to be used for the hairline or other parts of the scalp creating the best and most cosmetic and aesthetic appeal.

For example, take a look at the hairline that I have presented below of a recent Dr. Rahal FUE Patient. The one I’m about to  present this week is one of the best results I’ve ever seen, hands-down. So stay tune for that as well.

VIDEO

 Photos 

Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant

 

Edited March 6, 2023 by Rahal Hair Transplant

[Melvin- Admin]

Unfortunately, this doctor must be looking at statistics from 2005. The ISHRS, the largest organization with the largest number of independent hair restoration physicians worldwide, released its 2022 census statistics. It's actually the opposite 75% of men chose FUE, and 21% chose FUT. Surprisingly even women chose FUE over FUT. 

 

 

 

[mavigo]

Dr. Holt's website does not cite the information but it is clearly outdated; yet it's 2023 and it's still up on his website. I cannot stress that FUE is the better method in my opinion. The texture of an FUT scar is weird and it visually looks horrible (obviously). Your hair has to be quite long to cover it up. Nobody should have to go through an FUT unless it's when the (reputable) physician determined it was the better option. @Melvin- Moderator Thanks for sharing these helpful statistics.