Follicular Unit Transplantation

The Miracles of Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT)

Gone were the days when hair transplants cost more than a sedan and multiple sessions that take weeks or even months of follow up procedures and maintenance consultations. No more hair plugs and uneven hair lines, no more comments and staring. The wind is blowing at your direction and FUT is here to stay.

This relatively new and advanced technique offers you the best satisfaction that no other hair transplants technique can possibly rival. In the right hands, I won't even call it a minor procedure as doctors now offer entertainment like videos and movies while they do wonders to your hair and it's darn affordable too! (thanks to the internet) Hey, what else can you ask for? It's your head anyway and you should deserve the best!

What is Follicular Unit Transplantation?

Follicular Unit Transplantation is a new hair restoration procedure where hair follicles from the donor dominance area are removed in its naturally occurring groups of 1-4 hairs. This group is also known as a Follicular Group. There are two ways to extract this group, the more common way is from removing a single donor strip from the DHT resistant area or directly using a very new process known as Follicular Unit Extraction (see more below).

This procedure is different from the rest because it enables the surgeon to plant the hair that mimics your natural hair line. In good hands (and eyes), almost no one can tell you have been through a FUT even from close up.

Another advantage of FUT is that surgeons can now insert individual follicular units into very small areas. By inserting each group individually, it

• Reduces damage to the skin to the minimum
• Creates different levels of natural density
• Allows faster rate of recovery as fast as a few days
• Leaves very minimal scarring or visible surgery marks

To properly dissect the hair follicle groups, a stereo microscope, a powerful optical device is used to properly remove non hair bearing scalp around each follicular unit. This accurate and tasking process ensure the hair follicles itself are not damaged and the grafts are kept as small as possible.

Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE)

FUE or sometimes known as FOX Procedure is a new way of extracting hair follicular groups to complement with Follicular Unit Transplantation. Please don't get confused with FUT and FUE. FUE is mainly a part of the whole FUT procedure which replaces the standard strip incision.

While the most popular way to extract donor hairs are by cutting out a strip at the back of your head for transplant, FUE is the newest and less invasive method as it uses a special round scalpel that punches holes into each follicular unit and removing it. If you are worried about visible scarring from strip incisions, this additional procedure is an alternative. However the latest strip incisions techniques are often undetectable.

As Follicular Unit Extraction is time consuming, surgeons are only capable of removing 500-600 follicular groups per session compare to 1000-2000 units for strip incisions. Therefore, you might need revisits for a few extra sessions. At the present moment, not every surgeon that is well versed with FUT has mastered this new technique. So the choice is yours, it's best to discuss with the surgeon about FUE as an option whether you are suitable for it. Do remember, additional procedures like FUE might costs more than a standard FUT procedure.

Follicular Unit Transplantation Pre-Operation Procedure

Most of the clinics that offer FUT usually follow the same basic procedures and steps. However, you might notice some minor differences but the modus operandi is practically consistent.

Most surgeons will identify FUT as an outpatient operation, as it will usually take 4-7 hours per session, you can directly go back to work after the operation.

When you arrive, your surgeon will usually brief you about the whole procedure and how the operation will take place. This is the best time if you have any questions to ask the doctor before he begins. A good doctor will tell you everything that you need to know. Remember to take a pre-operative photo before starting if you doctor forgets (highly unlikely). I guess that is the most important thing you should do.

Before the operation begins, your doctor will give you some mild anesthetics to relax. Most good clinics also offers video or television to keep you occupied during the whole process.

Basic Steps of the Follicular Unit Transplantation

Once you are relaxed and ready, the surgeon will start with what he does best. These are some of the basic steps of Follicular Unit Transplantation.

1. Your doctor will make a mark at the back of the scalp usually 1-2 cm wide and up to 27 cm long and anesthetized the donor area.
2. The marked area will be removed with a blade incision and closed immediately with self dissolvable stitches.
3. The donor strip will be carefully dissected to individual follicular units with the help of a stereo microscope. This process requires team work and skill and is done carefully to prevent damage to the hair follicles.
4. Tiny incisions in the size of pinpricks are made up to 5000 of them all over the balding area.
5. The dissected follicular units will be inserted individually to the incisions based on the angle and direction of your natural hair line. These incisions are so small that usually there won't be any bleeding or blood supply disruption.
6. The newly transplanted hair follicles will usually heal rapidly and any redness will usually clear up within a week.

That's it! A few simple steps and you will gain your hair back. That is how far new hair transplant technology has gone over the few decades. You probably can go back to work immediately after the hair transplant.

PART 3 ARE YOU SUITABLE?