What is Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE)?
FUE makes it possible to transplant individual hair follicles without a scalpel, without the excision of a strip of skin and without the need for stitches. The hair is selected from a donor area, for example the back of the head or the body, and extracted under local anesthetic. The grafts are then removed one by one with each graft encapsulated in a small cylinder of skin. The surgeon then makes tiny incisions in the recipient area and determines the thickness and direction of the new hair. The grafts are then inserted, again under local anesthetic. The transplant looks entirely natural and the new hair is as strong and healthy as it was before being transplanted.
FUE is a relatively new technique whereby individual 1-3 haired follicular unit grafts are removed from the donor area at the back of the scalp, 1 at a time, using very small 1.0 mm circular punches. The benefit of this technique is that the traditional scalpel used in taking out a donor strip is not used. The resulting hole when a 1mm punch is used is so small that the hole does not need to be sutured and will heal with a very small scar. Some physicians market this procedure as , ‘Scalpel – less and scar less’. This is misleading since a scalpel is used, not a straight linear scalpel as is used in the more traditional strip excision method, but a circular scalpel (biopsy punch), in stead. The skin is still cut and a scar is still made. It is just a very small scar. To be fair, the scar from the traditional scalpel is also very small, if done properly. A benefit of FUE is that there is the possibility of shaving the hair on the scalp right off, if the patient wants a shaved head at so
