What Is The Difference Between The Woods Technique and An FUE Hair Transplant?

Years ago I used to read about the Australian doctor, Ray Woods. But now it seems he has vanished, or at least off the internet. My question is how does the technique he performed differ from FUE?
- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Dr. Woods technique is essentially a form of FUE as far as it is known. He had never revealed to the medical community or the public, the tools or technique he uses. He does describe isolating, extracting, then placing individual follicular units but the details concerning tools and technique have never been described by Dr. Woods. From information obtained from the internet a number of years ago, at that time he did place the grafts in small holes or incisions made by small needles and performed up to 600 grafts a day. If more grafts were required, multiple days of surgery were performed.

I am not aware of any changes in his technique over the years. Techniques do evolve and most physicians who keep up with current techniques adapt over time. Read more

Help Me Understand The Truth About FUE Hair Transplants

I’ve been trying to research my hair transplant options and I’m starting to get really confused. According to what I read on the internet, FUE is the new state of the art hair transplant procedure to have. I read that it is noninvasive and leaves virtually no scar. However when I speak to so-called FUE experts who perform this type of hair transplant they all try to talk me out of it claiming that it is somehow an inferior procedure. I’m confused, these hair transplant surgeons all claim to perform FUE on their websites, but when I speak with them they try to talk me out of it. Can someone explain to me why this is the case and in truth FUE is the way to go these days?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

FUE is a new and exciting technique of hair transplantation, but it is not for everyone. FUE should be thought of as an adjunct to strip surgery, and not its replacement. And lets be clear about this, FUE is most certainly an “invasive” procedure. In some respects it’s even MORE invasive than strip. There is NO such thing as “non-invasive” surgery; and FUE surgery is certainly no exception. Read more

Concerned About Scar Stretchback - Should I Have An FUE Hair Transplant or a Strip Procedure?

The one thing that I keep reading about is the possibility of having a large or stretched scar from a strip hair transplant. I am seriously considering a hair transplant but this gives me pause. FUE would seem to solve this problem but I have not seen results that match strip hair transplants. Can scar stretching be prevented somehow and are there any new techniques to address this issue.

This is a good question. We believe that the scarring from FUE is under reported as we have seen numerous cases where the scarring from FUE is quite evident even with less than a shaved donor area. While the scarring we have seen with direct visualization has been fairly common we also find that the sub dermal scarring from FUE is even more prevalent when we are removing a donor strip on a patient that has undergone a previous procedure using FUE.

Wide donor scarring, or “stretch back”, is not common in our practice and is rarely seen. This is because we take measures during our strip excision to help prevent this from occurring. Read more

SAFE System FUE Hair Transplant, What Do I Need To Know About This Hair Transplant Procedure?

I have been researching hair transplants for about 3 years and have visited with eight different surgeons and seem to learn something new every time. I am 34 years old and have been losing hair in the front and a little in the crown for 3 years. Since taking Proscar for one year, my hair loss seems to have stabilized.

I would go forward with a hair transplant, but I fear getting the procedure may be more detrimental to my looks than just going natural. I see a lot of bad hair transplants and my main concern is that even if I choose a qualified doctor, what can I expect in future? I would rather have the ability to shave my head than have very thin transplanted hair. Ultimately, I would like to do something about it and my solution would be to get a transplant using SAFE fue technique which promotes low transection rates and minimal scaring. Even if I lose a significant amount of hair due to shock loss, I would have at least doubled the thickness with transplanted hair. And in the future, if I don’t like what I see, I can always cut my hair fairly short.

My question to you is, are there any known unknown variables I need to consider if I undergo this FUE technique.

Thank you for your letter. I would first like to say that qualified hair restoration surgeons can provide a result that appears perfectly natural; this should not be major area of concern if you pick the right surgeon. Examine the surgeon’s portfolio looking at patients with hair characteristics similar to yours, talk to his/her patients, and examine a patient if possible. This will give you a very good idea of the quality of their work.
Read more

Difference Between FUT (Strip Method) and FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction)

What’s the difference between the Strip method and FUE (follicular unit extraction) for getting the donor hair?

First and most importantly, I make sure my patients understand the greatest limit to any hair transplantation is that there is a fixed and limited amount of good genetic hair that we can transfer to the balding areas.

With that in mind, I explain that no matter how experienced the surgeon, when I remove the donor area with either method, I am removing it blindly (i.e. – I can not see under the skin until after the donor tissue is removed). The problem is that I can not see if the follicles have been damaged or transected until after it’s been removed. So it’s best to have as little tissue as possible exposed to any device removing the tissue.

With the strip method, we minimize the amount of donor area being exposed to the risk of damaging hair follicles while obtaining the donor hair. With F.U.E., the patient no longer runs the risk of having a linear scar on the back of their scalp, but there is a significant increase in the amount of surface area being blindly dissected and with that a significant increase in potential damage to the hair follicles.

While I use both methods to obtain donor hair, I make sure the patient understands the risks and implications of both and I help the patient make an educated decision.

Paul J. McAndrews, MD
Senior Medical Advisor, IAHRS