FUE
The FUE technique involves extracting healthy hair grafts along with their tissue and transferring them to the bald areas. A hair graft can contain 1, 2, or even 4-5 hair strands. The FUE hair transplant method provides a permanent result. When performed with professional planning and an experienced team, it permanently solves alopecia. As a result, the implanted hairs will grow for a lifetime.
🔸FUE Hair Transplant Procedure
FUE hair transplant consists of 3 basic stages. To achieve a successful and natural result after the procedure, all three stages must be performed by an experienced hair transplant team. The operation should be conducted under the supervision of a specialist doctor. The stages of FUE hair transplant are as follows:
Extraction (harvesting) of grafts from the donor area
Canal (incision) opening in the recipient area
Implantation of the grafts into the canals
1st Step: Extraction
Harvesting of the grafts can be performed with two different techniques: FUE and FUT. Follicular Unit Extraction involves removing the grafts one by one. In the FUT method, hair grafts are removed as a whole strip of skin.
The extracted grafts are preserved in a special solution to keep them biologically alive. They can survive in this solution for around 3-5 hours.
2nd Step: Opening of Canals
Canals are small incisions in which the extracted grafts will be placed. These canals have nearly a 0.1mm larger diameter than the punches used to extract the grafts from the donor area. There are 3 types of incisions:
Lateral Slit: Performed with special metal blades, these incisions are made at a small angle to provide a natural look.
Percutaneous: Performed with special micro-needles. It is harder to perform than the lateral slit, and does not provide a significant advantage in terms of natural look and density.
Sapphire FUE: Similar to the lateral slit method, but the incisions are made with sapphire blades instead of metal ones. Sapphire blades are smoother and thinner, which allows for better healing and less trauma.
Incisions are the most important part of hair transplant. These canals determine the direction and the density of the implanted hair. Therefore, to achieve a natural look, the incisions should be made according to the patient's characteristics.
3rd Step: Implantation
Implantation is the third and final step, where the harvested grafts are placed into the already-made canals one by one.
Micromotor FUE
When a patient has a wide recipient area, a higher number of grafts is needed to provide sufficient coverage. Micromotor devices with a 0.5mm diameter, capable of rotating at high speeds, have been developed to extract more grafts in a short period of time. Nowadays, most hair transplant procedures are performed using this micromotor device.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of FUE hair transplantation with a micromotor?
Since very small punches are used in micromotors, there is almost no scarring in the donor area when the operation is planned correctly. Many more grafts can be extracted in a short time compared to the manual method. However, if the micromotor is used by inexperienced staff, it is inevitable that hair grafts will be damaged during extraction. Misuse can lead to permanent damage to the donor area.
🔸FUE Hair Transplant Comparison
FUE hair transplantation is the most commonly used method today. The reason for its widespread use is that it can extract up to 7000 grafts. Very successful results are obtained with the FUE hair transplantation technique, which is suitable for almost every Norwood scale. You can examine the comparison of FUE hair transplantation with other hair transplant methods below.