Here’s some good news for those looking to get a hair transplant done. Modern hair transplants involve the transplant of intact hair-follicular units from the permanent hair-bearing areas of the scalp, beard and the body to the bald/balding parts of the scalp. These follicular units comprise intact hair roots. After transplant, these go into an initial dormancy phase, and then, the hair regrowth in the transplanted area takes between 4 to 10 months. The transplanted hair can then be cut or even shaved; and it keeps growing till the person’s ripe old age.
There are two different ways of extracting the donor hair to be used for transplant. But, before that, it is important to know the difference between both the methods, so that one can choose which method best suits him.
- The strip FUHT
- The stitchless FUSE/fue.
In strip FUHT method, a hair-bearing strip of the scalp tissue is taken from the back and sides of the scalp. The strip wound is then closed using stitches/surgical staples. The hair above the suture covers it. The advantage of this method is that this is a fast procedure and about 4,000 to 5,000 follicular unit grafts can be transplanted in a single day.
However, the disadvantage of this is that it is a more invasive process. The surgical suture necessitates the use of medication for a few days after the procedure. In addition, the suture wound will be visible if the hair is buzz cut or shaved.
In the stitchless FUSE/fue method, follicular unit grafts are extracted one by one utilizing tiny surgical instruments. The resultant wound is very small and heals by itself in a few days. There is no need of any sutures. The advantage of this method is that since there are no sutures, there is no suture scar. The patient can buzz cut his hair in the donor area without any telltale suture line being visible. And, if you like to keep your hair very short, this method will suit you.
Being a less invasive and stitchless procedure, pain medications are not required. The post transplant period is much more comfortable.
In addition, FUSE enables the extraction of hair follicular units from the beard and body donor areas (something that is not advisable with a strip). This greatly augments the donor hair availability in suitable patients, thus enabling more complete hair restorations. The disadvantage of this method is that it is necessary to buzz cut the scalp donor area to enable follicular unit extractions. For some individuals, this may not fit in with their social commitments.
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