HAIR TRANSPLANT:

FOLLICULAR UNIT TRANSPLANTATION (FUT) FOLLICULAR UNIT EXTRACTION (FUE) / FOLLICULAR ISOLATION TECHNIQUE (FIT)

Follicular Unit Transplantation is a modern hair restoration technique wherein the hair is transplanted in groups of 1-4 hairs - exactly as it grows in nature. In a properly performed follicular unit transplants, the results will mimic the way hair grows in nature and will be undetectable as a hair transplant.

Some patients require only one session. Other individuals however, require more depending on their personal goals and extent of their hair loss. If more than one session is needed, hair will be thickened gradually so that your hairline is restored in the same pattern that it grew prior to its loss.

A good surgeon combines an artist's eye for detail along with knowledge and experience of advanced medical procedures. Skilled surgeons have mastered the methods of full, mini, micro and single follicular grafting. Minigrafting is used to describe transplant grafts containing four to five hair follicles. Micrografting and single follicle grafting are ultimate in natural hair replacement process. Proper angulation in graft placement and a variety of graft sizes is the signature technique used to create your natural hairline. The donor hair may be obtained by the old strip method or Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) /Follicular Isolation Technique (FIT).

What does FIT /FUE / FUT mean?

Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) and Follicular Isolation techniques (FIT) are similar methods of obtaining or removing follicular units from the donor region (occipital area) for Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT). In both techniques, individual follicular units are harvested directly from the donor area, without the need for a linear incision. In this hair restoration procedure, a 1-mm punch is used to make a small circular incision in the skin around the upper part of the follicular unit, which is then extracted directly from the scalp. The development of FUE /FIT techniques decreases the risk of scarring formation.

For patients considering FUE only, the AHRC medical staff will ensure that the patient understands the advantages and the disadvantages involved in the FUE before undergoing the procedure. In young patients, androgenetic alopecia may still be highly affected by hormones, hence, their alopecia is still in its active state. These patients may not be good candidates for FUE since in FUE, the donor hair follicles harvested are taken from areas other than the occipital area which are influenced by androgens and therefore produce less permanent hair follicles. Not all patients are candidates for FUE. AHRC hair surgeons do not use this technique for larger sessions and in patients with especially poor donor quality for fine hair.

The current indications for FUE are as follows:

• - A small area that needs to be done, to fill in a small defect such as a scar and to increase a small area from a previous transplant
  - Use of body hair from any place on the body, other than scalp
  - People who may either shave their head in the future or want to wear the hair high and tight
  - Those who do not want a linear scar
  - Patients who do not want to go through a big session and would rather do multiple smaller sessions over a longer period of time
  

Special applications of Follicular Unit Hair Transplantation (FUT)

• - Camouflage of scar from cleft palette reconstructed and scalp scars as a result of accidents and poor healing after an aesthetic surgical procedure
  - Correction of sideburns after Face-Lift Procedures
  - Restoration of eyebrows, eyelash, mustache, beard, temporal peak
  - Restoration of armpits, chest and pubic hair