Manual extraction vs micromotor FUE

[cleavingmarauder]

Looking for some advice on which method is the best. I'm Norwood 5 and have been quoted around 4000 grafts. I'm aware the procedure will take longer for the manual method, but don't mind if the results are better. 

[Berba11]

One is not better than the other. What matters most is the skill of the person doing the extractions.

[duchaine]

was going to open a similar thread.
Some experts suggest that motorized extractions can damage hair follicles.
Is it true?
 

[Rahal Hair Transplant]

@cleavingmarauder,

The answer is, it depends.  The truth is, most surgeons typically get good at using one single tool and stick with it.  While some surgeons prefer motorized punches, others prefer manual.  At Rahal Hair Transplant, we often use a combination of manual and motorized punches depending on the patient and which tool seems most viable for their skin type.

That being said, both manual and motorized tools can be used quite efficiently and produce very healthy grafts.  But a tool is simply that, a tool.  How efficient a device is largely depends on the skill and experience of the surgeon and his staff using it.

As an example, give a child a hammer and a nail and they will likely end up hurting themselves.  But a skilled and experienced contractor can build a house with it.

Our clinic has become quite efficient at utilizing both manual and motorized tools and feels that both are sometimes necessary to produce the best grafts. But mastery of both types of punches have come from many years of experience performing exclusive FUE.  This is why I always tell people to select a surgeon based on their proven ability to produce consistent, excellent results. Details such as which tool or device they use, while important, only matter If the surgeon/clinic has proven themselves over and over again with outstanding patient results.

Best wishes,

Patient Advocate - Rahal Hair Transplant

[jjalay]

The results wont be better with the manual extraction. It has mostly to do with the doctor who handles the tools and his experiene.

[BackFromTheBrink]

I can say that with manual extraction my recovery was far quicker than with motorized. However, they were with different surgeons so it's difficult to know which made the difference.

[Doron Harati]

@cleavingmarauder

Short answer is all about the skills of uour surgeon, not about the gear.

I myself a drummer musician and we always say, it's about the gear, it's up the skills of the drummer, you can give a drummer or guitar player a top notch drum kit, Fender Start, Stratovarius and he won't keep the beat, but if you give a drummer a 500$ kit it will sound great if he's a great player.

That debate of manual vs motorized punch isn't relevant anymore, it's true the motorized punch was an issue in it's early days, and yes cheap hair mills use the generic cheap stuff with untrained staff without a real MD surgeon usually.

At HDC clinic we stopped using manual punch and moved fully to motorized punch with very high survival rate and be able to do 6000+ grafts sessions in a single visit which isn't possible with manual punch.

I myself had 4 HTs, unfortunately my 1st experience was in 2018 in the Turkish hair mill Arenamed, they botched me with 5000 grafts in 1 day awful surgery with motorized generic punch in most barbaric brutal way, then I had 3 great repair procedures at HDC clinic in Cyprus, in 2019 Dr. Maras punched me 2500 grafts with manual punch, in 2021 Dr. Maras punched me more 2500 grafts with motorized punch, and last month I had small enhancements procedure of 1446 grafts, this time Dr. Christina did me the motorized punch, and my donor still very preserved without overharvesting or overscarring due to the grear hands of the doctors that had to approach me with small sessions due to the damages I had in Turkey.

So patients with healthy strong donor can have 5000-6000+ grafts sessions with us using motorized punch and still preserve the donor, it's depending by choosing the right punch head for the patient, punch with gaps and not too deep.

Edited November 20, 2023 by Doron Harati