Which Type of Hair Transplant Is Right for You?

Thinning hair and baldness are matters that many men and even some women confront. They can be due to aging, genetics, disease, or other causes. Whatever the reason, for some who face this, it affects confidence, self-esteem, and social life.

For many, a hair transplant has become a permanent, affordable option. It’s a surgical procedure that delivers better, longer-lasting results than other options such as wigs, toupees, and topical applications do by transplanting healthy hair follicles to other areas and stimulating new hair growth.

Types of Hair Transplants

When you meet with your surgeon for a consultation, you’ll learn that there are two different types of hair transplant procedures from which to use: Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) and Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT). Understanding what each one involves and who the ideal candidates for them are will help you choose which one is right for you.

FUE Hair Transplants

In an FUE transplant, there is a part of the scalp called the donor area. Individual follicular units are harvested via microscopic circular incisions in the donor area and transplanted to the thinning or bald area. The extractions are random so that there is no concentrated thinning in the donor area.

FUE hair transplants can be performed manually or robotically. With the robotic approach, the doctor determines how much hair will be harvested and maps out the donor area. Then an ARTAS robot, guided by the doctor, with incredible accuracy and precision performs the harvesting and transplanting.

Benefits of the FUE hair transplant include high graft quality with natural-looking results, no pain either during or after the procedure (thanks to local anesthetics), a short recovery time, and minimal scarring in the donor area (there will always be scarring from a hair transplant, but since the donor areas are typically ones with healthy hair growth, scars are usually covered).

Patients who have minimal hair in the donor area or a soft scalp are good patients for FUE hair transplants, as are those who are experiencing thinning hair or balding at the top or front of the head.

FUT Hair Transplants

By contrast, the FUT hair transplant involves removing a long, thin strip of tissue from the back of the scalp. Then the doctor removes and transplants individual follicular units. After that, the doctor closes the wound, leaving just a single linear scar that’s very fine.

Natural-looking results is one of the main benefits of the FUT transplant. Another is a fairly short recovery time (typically 10-12 days), though it is longer than the FUE recovery time. There is also a higher rate of follicle survival, and if subsequent sessions are required, there won’t be any additional scarring.

Patients with significant thinning around the crown area and patients looking for maximum fullness from a hair restoration are strong candidates for FUT hair transplants.

Which Type of Hair Transplant Is Right for You?

Both FUE and FUT hair transplants deliver natural-looking, long-lasting results. Neither is inherently better than the other.

Really, the better type of hair transplant is the one that’s right for the individual based on circumstances and goals.

If you think you might be a candidate for a hair transplant, let’s schedule a consultation at ZMD Hair. Dr. Zandifar is an experienced, double board-certified specialist in hair transplantation and restoration. He’ll help you decide which procedure is right for you and will answer any questions you have so you’ll know what to expect from the procedure and the recovery process.

Schedule a consultation today!