Follicular Hair Extraction (FUE)
What is Follicular Unit Extraction?
Follicular unit extraction, or FUE, is a procedure in which naturally occurring follicular units of 1 to 4 hairs are removed – one at a time- from the donor area for transplantation to an area needing hair. Unlike strip harvesting, which is performed with a blade and leaves a fine scar where the incision is made, follicular unit extraction uses a punch-like scalpel that leaves small circular holes that are approximately 1 mm in diameter. The holes generally heal with a barely perceivable scar easily camoflauged by remaining hair. The extraction sites do not require suturing and are left to heal on their own.
The extracted follicular units may be transplanted whole or divided into smaller portions. One and two hair follicular units play a useful role in filling in frontal hairlines, while multiple follicular units work well in the mid-scalp and crown where more density is required. Transplantation involves placing the units into small apertures in the skin and the tissue underneath.
Candidates for FUE
FUE hair transplants are a good option for some types of patients including those who wish to avoid having the linear style donor scar of traditional follicular unit hair transplants, or have had several FUT procedures already and have tight skin and decreased donor hair availability. Patients with a small amount of hair loss or who require smaller sessions may also be good candidates for FUE hair transplants.
While many patients are good candidates for FUE, some are not. Grafts can be extracted successfully from many patients, but other patients may sustain damage to hair follicles during the extraction process. For this reason, it is important for Dr. Friedman to determine the suitability of FUE for each patient.
Follicular unit extraction has both advantages and disadvantages when compared to the more common FUT hair transplantation. To learn more about these pros and cons, and to determine if you are a suitable candidate for follicular unit extraction, please contact our office to schedule a no cost consultation and evaluation that can be performed either online or in our Scottsdale office.
Other Procedures:
