FUE or Follicular Unit Extraction is a method of removing hair follicles from the donor area (back and side of the scalp where hair will not shed throughout the patient’s life).

In FUE hair transplantation, the surgeon removes each follicular unit one by one, using a micro-punch with a diameter ranging from 0.7 mm to 1.1 mm. There are many types of staples and ways to use them (manual staples, motorized staples, sharp, blunt, etc.) and all of them can offer good hair transplant results in experienced hands. It is the skill and experience of the surgeon that makes the big difference. There is even a robot that assists the surgeon in the process of removing the FUE.

FUE hair transplantation differs from the Classical Technique, also known as the Strip procedure or FUT (Follicular Unit Transplantation) because in FUT, a strip of scalp is surgically removed from the donor area and the follicular units are prepared outside the body by technicians using a microscope. . After the scalp is closed, a linear scar remains in the donor area. With FUE, the follicular units are removed one by one, so there are no incisions and no linear scars, instead there are many punctuated scars. It is important to say that FUE is not a traceless technique, only linear trace.

Follicular units can be one, two, three of the four hairs clustered in each unit. This is very important for the success of the transplant because this is the natural way the hair grows. These follicular units are very similar in FUE and FUT.

Achieving a natural appearance from your transplant depends on many factors such as front hairline design, good density, transplant direction, and the use of appropriate follicular units in each location. This can be achieved with both FUE and FUT procedures.

Regarding scarring at the donor site, FUE often leaves multiple (hundreds or even thousands) punctuated scars less than a millimeter in diameter. Done properly, you can barely see them even in a short haircut, but if you shave your head completely you will see many white spots.

The old “plug” look is long gone due to newer instruments used. Old staples are 0.5 cm or more in diameter, while in FUE the diameter of staples is usually less than 1 mm. Just enough to cut through the skin around the follicular unit. In this way, the transplantation with FUE has the same natural results as the Follicular unit transplantation with the strip. With the old staple technique, each staple took 15 to 20 hairs together, giving it the “baby hair” characteristic that is definitely a thing of the past.

FUE procedure usually takes more time than FUT. The duration of FUE surgery varies according to the experience of the surgeon, the rate of intake and patient characteristics. The procedure can take anywhere from a few hours to remove 200 grafts to correct a scar, to a surgery over two consecutive days for a mega-session of 2,500 to 3,000 grafts.

Donor site healing changes rapidly. All incisions heal in two or three days as there are no stitches to be removed. The healing of the implant itself is similar to the FUT technique: the hair starts to grow about 3 to 4 months after the surgery and grows 1 cm per month.