This hair transplant technique has been used since 2004. Currently, this method of transplantation is the most advanced in comparison of those used and has considerable advantages compared to the techniques used previously, FUSS and FUT.
FUE is a method in which an existing follicular unit is extracted of your scalp. In FUE hair transplants, an instrument called a micro motor is used to make a small circular incision in the skin around a follicular unit, separating it from the surrounding tissue. The unit is extracted directly from the scalp with tweezers, leaving a small open hole, which will heal a few days after the end of the intervention.
FUE has become the procedure of choice of patients worldwide for the following reasons:
- The hair transplant recovery using the FUE technique is very fast
- The FUE treatment does not cause pain and hardly generates post-surgical discomfort. The average recovery time is 8 to 12 days.
FUE technique
How does the treatment work?
Through harvesting, individual follicular units containing 1 to 4 hairs (also called grafts) are removed from the patient’s donor area (nape and lateral) under local anesthesia. In the extraction procedure a micro surgical extraction instrument, with dimensiones comprised between 0.7 mm and 1.0 mm in diameter, is used to extract the follicles. The extracted follicles are deposited in a special solution maintained at a stable temperature between +4 or +10 degrees to simulate the state of the scalp where these follicular units reside.
Subsequently, the selected transplant area is anesthetised and the channels, in which the follicular units previously removed will be placed with the help of microsurgical forceps, will be open.. These follicles or grafts are transplanted in the selected areas by depositing them in the open channels.
The amount of grafts needed for the patient is determined by the doctor during the consultation done before surgery. The duration of a FUE procedure may vary depending on how many follicular units are needed. In general, the entire operation lasts from six to nine hours.
Process
Hair transplantation using the FUE technique is a minor surgery performed under local anesthesia. You will be awake and able to talk to the doctor and his team during the procedure.
1-Extraction of follicular units:
- Local anesthesia is injected into the scalp of the donor area and subsequently the estimated number of follicular units are removed one by one from this area.
- The extraction is performed carefully following a dispersion pattern to minimize the visual decrease in the density of hair in the donor area.
2-Opening of the channels:
- Afterwards, the recipiet area is also anesthetised and numerous micro-incisions are made with a slit designed specifically for this procedure. In our case, we use a sapphire slit.
3-Transport and deposit of the grafts:
- Once the channels are open, the grafts are placed in these incisions with the use of surgical forceps.
After hair trasnplant by FUE technique
3-4 hours after the end of the procedure the effect of the anesthesia disappears, both the donor and the recipient area will feel a little tense and sore, but this feeling passes quickly and returns to normal within a few hours. In addition, the medication provided helps to alleviate the discomfort.
Sometimes the area suffers swelling, something that is completely normal. In addition, the operated areas of the scalp will have a more reddish color than usual for a few days. In a few days, this redness will disappear and everything will return to normal.
Transplanted hair begins to grow from the day of the surgery, and it is between week 2 and 8 that the implanted hair will fall. This is a normal process and is due to the so-called “shock loss”. The hair falls out but the transplanted follicles remain in the place where they have been implanted.
Around the third month after the procedure, the hair grows normally from the root of the hair following a growth pattern similar to that of your native hair.
The hair in the frontal area will grow in 6 or 8 months and the hair in the superior area will grow in 8 or 12 months. The final results in the crown area are achieved between month 16 and 18 due to the weaker blood circulation in this area.
If the doctor has transplanted a very depopulated area, this may occasionally cause the temporary fall of some of the patient’s native hair. . Subsequently, these will grow back normally.
Once you have undergone a hair trasplant using the FUE technique, the results are permanent. While the initial transplanted hair will fall off a few weeks after the treatment, it will grow strong and healthy again.
The best candidates for hair transplantation
It is important to understand that all hair transplant techniques use the patient’s own existing hair. The goal of surgery is to relocate the existing hair in the donor area as efficiently as possible.
Candidates to perform this type of procedure must have healthy hair growth in the back (neck) and lateral of the head, as these areas serve as donor areas. Donor areas are the places in the head from which grafts are taken.
To determine if you are a suitable candidate to undergo this procedure, at FueClinicTurkey, we consider:
- Number of grafts needed to meet your expectations
- Donor Hair Density
- Hair texture
- Future hair loss projections