Types of Hair Transplant Available
There are several different kinds of hair transplant techniques. Many clinics work with FUE and FUE IM, which are sophisticated hair transplant methods performed without requiring the need to use a scalpel or stitches. With FUE, micro instruments are utilised to move hair follicles from one place to another, one at a time. FUE bears the characteristics of being minimally invasive and is now often preferred by patients. There is another type called FUT which is commonly used too.
Characteristics of the FUE Method are:
- Positioning every hair graft one at a time in the correct direction and at an optimal angle in order to reach a balanced density that matches the natural hair growth of your remaining hair.
- Building high hair density from hair that is still present.
- Achieving balanced and harmonious hair density.
- Painless procedure before and after.
- A fast recovery time.
- Only a small amount of scarring, so your head is not affected.
Modern hair transplant techniques provide a genuine appearance by looking just like natural hair. FUE offers greater hair density too through the use of microsurgical techniques which allows for the transplanting of hairs one at a time. How much hair is available will depend on the supply in the donor area of hair follicles. Healthy follicles are found in donor areas where there are only plenty available.
What is FUT Transplanting?
During Follicular Unit Transplanting (FUT), the follicular units which are made up of up to 4 hairs are dissected with great care from the strip which has been removed from the donor area. Any surplus tissue is removed from the grafts and the skin too. The grafts that contain the follicular units are organised into groups which have about 4 hairs. The area that is donating the hair is concealed with absorbable sutures or staples.
The sites where hair is needed are prepared by the specialist hair transplant surgeon. He or she uses an instrument which resembles a hypodermic needle to make perpendicular slits on the recipient sites. The correct preparation of the sites is crucial as it affects the final outcome of the transplant which includes the new hair’s angle and determines the distribution and density too. The specialist is particularly careful in considering the current hair so as to avoid having to cut or adjust its length. As long as the natural hair is left as long as possible it means that it can be used to conceal the area that has received the transplant.
As soon as the transplanting has been completed for that day the position of each graft is double checked to ensure each of them fit accurately with the angle of the hair. Once the job has been completed, the graft’s position will be checked again for accuracy.
Usually, FUT hair transplant clinics use a local anaesthetic for FUT hair transplants and in a single day many follicular unit grafts can take place. Once the procedure has been completed, washing the hair can begin again in a couple of days.