Follicular Unit Strip Surgery hair Graft Versus FUE Hair grafts : Almost everyone suffering from inherited pattern baldness can be successfully treated with hair transplantation. Results of hair transplantation are usually most dramatic when the procedure is performed on individuals with advanced degrees of hair loss. Hair transplantation differs from skin grafting in that grafts contain almost all of the epidermis and dermis surrounding the hair follicle, and many tiny grafts are transplanted rather than a single strip of skin.

Follicular Unit Strip Surgery Hair Graft Versus FUE Hair Grafts

The follicular unit hair transplantation method is the most popular because it offers a natural appearance and recreation of normal hair growth. Hairs on your scalp naturally grow in one to three hair groups in a single unit, and these follicular units are left intact when they get implanted in a recipient area. Thus since this type of graft leaves hair in their natural state of one to three hairs, the transplant will look more natural and undetectable. This procedure has evolved over time, becoming more refined and minimally invasive with smaller and smaller graft incisions.

The traditional method of transplantation is called follicular unit strip surgery (FUSS) also known as follicular unit transplantation (FUT). In the Follicular Unit Strip surgery or FUT method a strip of hair bearing flesh is removed from the middle of the back and sides of the head. The hair from the strip of flesh is then cut to extract the follicles which are then transplanted into the balding area.

FUE is a recently developed hair transplantation procedure. In FUE hair transplant method, a small punch like instrument of <1.5 mm is used to score the hair follicle individually from the donor area. This is then moved to balding areas. The wound that results is a tiny puncture wound which typically heals with cosmetically insignificant signs. This it is linear scar free, stitchless and minimally invasive.

Many surgeons prefer to use strip surgery because it is easier and faster to perform. Keep in mind, however, that this procedure is a lot more painful and will leave a linear scar on the scalp. A strip surgery patient is typically less able to keep a shorter haircut when compared to an FUE patient. Strip surgery also has a limited donor source since you can only take donor hair from the middle of the backside of the scalp, whereas FUE can utilize hair from every non-balding area on the head. Additionally, in selected patients, some hair restoration surgeons can use this method to extract hair from non head areas in a procedure loosely called body hair transplantation (BHT). Adding body and beard hair to the donor supply increases the donor pool vastly. When researching hair transplantation, be sure to research the experience of the doctor in either FUE or FUSS. Either method could go wrong if performed improperly. When you have decided on having FUE, beware of clinics that would want to convince you to switch to strip surgery for no genuine reason.

At DermHair Clinic in Los Angeles, Dr. Sanusi Umar does not perform strip surgery and is one of the few hair restoration doctors in the world who prefers FUE over strip transplants. A board certified dermatologist, he specializes in the Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) type of hair restoration. He calls his advanced version of FUE UGraft, a procedure he pioneered. Using UGraft advanced FUE, Dr Umar has restored severely bald individuals to the degree not feasible using the traditional FUSS strip surgery. He achieves this by using the expanded donor pool of head and non head hair. He has also repaired some of the worst botched hair surgery results in the world. These are cases that have been written off as impossible repairs. For more information, please contact DermHair Los Angeles hair restoration clinic at (310)318-1500, or do free online consultation.