Which one is better – FUE or FUT ?

There are many hair transplant doctors who promote FUT as better technique but slightly more painful in post op period. They try to justify that by posting video on YouTube showing you no scar after FUT in their technique.

Most of dermatologists are not well versed with surgical methods , they only learn FUE because cutting , stitching is not part of their training . So most of them are biased with FUE as they don’t know FUT at all . They never tell that they are not able to do FUT , instead they promote FUE as latest Method with less pain in post op period. Some plastic surgeons are biased with FUT Technique and they promote it extensively as better method than FUE.

Before answering the most frequently asked question Let me summarize both techniques and then take questions one by one

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FUT Technique

In FUT technique a strip is taken from the donor area

Above picture tries to explain FUT Process in which we first harvest a skin strip from donor area. It creates a wound in donor area . Which we covers by pulling the upper and lower edges of wound and apply stitches.

It very complex topic to understand for normal patients but i will try to answer most queries about it

Is Graft damage rate in FUE more than FUT ?

Yes Damage rate in FUE is more than FUT. In inexpert hands damage in FUE can reach 30 – 50 % also. But in expert hands it varies from 2 – 5 % . The in experienced surgeons damage 30 – 50 % extra donor area to harvest same number of grafts. SO FUE requires really a expertise and You should do FUE only with selected highly trained doctors.

Never go to a clinic where graft extraction is done by assistant or technician.  But in really expert hands the volume of hair is much more in same number of FUE grafts even if you get 2 – 3 % damage. Reason is thicker grafts in FUE as we can select graft before harvesting it . In FUT we cannot select graft so their average thickness is less than FUE grafts.

Is FUE is not from safe donor area ?

Safe donor area is defined a around 7 cm height area where hair are relatively stable until your old age. FUT utilizes just 1.5 cm height. FUE utilizes 5 – 7 cm height. So a Standard FUE procedure of 3000 grafts is also from safe donor area. Request your surgeon to remain confined to safe donor zone.

Is FUT result better than FUE ?

Suppose we are doing 3000 grafts by FUE and 3000 grafts by FUT . Then FUE result will be having better thickness and better volume than FUT. The reason is that when we do FUE we tend to choose better grafts in term of hair thickness and number of hair per graft. In FUT we cannot control the thickness of graft and average number of hair per graft.

In Microscopic hair transplant ( MAGP ) the specificity of FUE is further enhanced due to Microscope use. And graft will have more thickness and more average number of hair per graft. Because of these reason FUE or MAGP will yield better result in same number of grafts . If we want to obtain same result with FUT , we will have to do 20 % more grafts than FUE to gain same volume.

Can trichophytic closure prevent scar formation in FUT technique ?

Answer is No. Trichophytic closure is done so that one or two row of hair grow inside the FUT scar So that it can be hidden if it is not broad. If the FUT scar is broad then trichophytic closure will also not help much.

Is it possible to do FUT without scar ?

You cannot prevent scar formation in FUT but its width will be minimum if strip is taken after assessment of donor area skin laxity and width of strip is less than 1.5 cm . If you have been shown a FUT donor area after 6 -7 months of Hair transplant without scar , then insist to see that patient photo after 2 – 3 years .

Does the life of FUT graft is more than FUE graft ?

No . FUE grafts taken from safe donor area will have same life. If FUE graft is taken from unsafe donor area then its life will be lesser than FUT graft.