Other Hair Restoration Surgical Procedures

I’ve been watching videos and reading about partial FUE which is being offered as a procedure to help restore hair. It seems like something that might be worth trying out. But I just want to know if this is actually real and why more people are not opting for this procedure

Vic. T

Hair multiplication through partial FUE seems like some type of scientific miracle until the facts are further examined. Most people assume that each hair follicle only grows one hair shaft. In this scenario, when one or more hairs actually appears in the recipient area while the donor hairs remain in tact, it may appear that multiplication has taken place.

However, in reality, hair follicles can produce more than one hair shaft. Partial FUE is explained as the use of tiny punches between 0.5-0.6mm. Therefore, it is possible to remove a smaller sub group of the initial hairs present using these diameters. Once inserted into the recipient area, it may appear that new hair was created. But in fact, the actual number of hairs on the individual’s head has stayed the same. Therefore, hair multiplication did not take place.

In an actual Follicular Unit Extraction procedure, the entire follicular unit is used. This may consist of anywhere between 1-4 hairs, or even more. Logically, it is easy to see how using a full follicular unit graft would result in better coverage compared to a partial follicular unit graft in the recipient area.

Also hair transplant practitioners can only using visual cues on the surface of the skin to make decisions on how to position the punch. Therefore it is difficult to accurately know exactly what the punch is doing below the skin. Removing a small subset of a follicular unit may incur damage to the remaining hair in the donor area as the video below illustrates [4:02]. This probability of this risk is more than 50%. Therefore, this type of damage will result in a very depleted donor area as well, compared to a regular Follicular Unit Extraction procedure.

There are actual cases of patients who have undergone partial FUE procedures, only to be horribly disappointed with the hair restoration results. In such situations, the use of body hair grafts can provide the extra resources needed to fill in the sparseness with the depletion of the head donor hair.

I had a strip surgery many years ago which left me with a large scar. I want to wear my hair short. But I am afraid that the scar will show. Is there a way to make the scar look less noticeable than it is now? Fred D.

Fred D.

Many patients have been able to sport extremely short styles, like buzz cuts through revision surgeries that use Follicular Unit Extraction. With FUE, tiny punches are used to individually remove natural groupings of 1-4 hair follicles from the surface of the scalp. These grafts can then be inserted into the scar tissue.
From the patient’s point of view, it is important to understand the factors that make the strip scar so noticeable. Therefore, strategies should aim to address these issues in order for the results to be successful.
First, the strip scar does not have hair growth. This can be referred to as a line of emptiness. Scar tissue is basically thickened collagen fibers. It develops as a form of healing to fortify the skin after it has been injured. However, hair will not naturally grow in this tissue environment. This is where the grafts harvested using Follicular Unit Extraction can be quite instrumental. Covering the line of emptiness with hair will make this linear area look like the rest of the head.
A second variable that causes the scar to be noticeable is that it is often a different color from its surrounding area. Strip scars are usually white or pink. They are even more noticeable in patients with dark hair. One technique that can reduce this effect is to inject tattoo ink into the area which is a similar color to the hair.
Those who have already undergone strip surgery procedures do not have to feel like they have to wear their hair long for the rest of their lives. These techniques offer patients a much greater range of options for their personal style.