FUE and FUT Hair Transplant Skills Differences

Hair transplant has been applied more than 20 years. Over the years, new methods are introduced and this operation is now highly popular. When hair transplant surgery was first introduced, FUT method was applied in every surgery. Over time, this method is replaced by FUE hair extraction method. Additionally, new hair implanting methods are introduced as well. Main objective of all these new methods is to eliminate scarring, increase patient’s comfort during surgery and reduce healing period.

What Is FUT Hair Transplant?

In FUT (follicular unit transplant) method, a hair strip is collected from donor region. This strip has hair roots that will start to grow in transplanted area. Then, this strip is subject to a certain process to extract hair grafts. Hair grafts are implanted to hair loss area. Donor area needs stitching and this leaves a mark or a scar on donor area.

What Is FUE Hair Transplant?

In FUE (follicular hair extraction) method, each hair graft is collected one by one with special micro motor punch devices. Since hair roots are extracted with these special tool, there is no need to stich the donor area. After extracting hair roots with this technique, a suitable hair implanting technique is selected. Implant technique is selected based on number of grafts required in the operation. FUE hair extraction can be combined with different implant techniques. Sapphire and DHI are among most popular hair implant techniques.

Difference Between FUE and FUT Hair Transplant

Currently, FUT hair transplant is rarely preferred by doctors. This is an old method that causes significant scarring. FUE hair extraction method does not cause scarring. Also, healing period of FUE is much shorter than FUT method. Therefore, almost all doctors choose FUE method. However, in some cases, FUT might be the only option.

Another difference between FUT and FUE is how long hair grafts stay outside the scalp. In FUT technique, hair grafts extracted from hair strip are kept in a special solution. This solution removes the tissues surrounding the hair roots. But this process increase exposure time of hair grafts. With more advanced methods such as DHI, this duration is significantly shorter in FUE extraction method. For this reason, FUE offers more advantages over traditional FUT method.