Does An FUE Hair Transplant Get The Same Yield As a Strip Procedure?

[ Video Response Below ] After reviewing your materials I’ve made the decision to have a hair transplant, but now my biggest dilemma is whether to go with FUE or the strip harvesting method. I’m really struggling with this. I think I will need at least 3000 grafts to make a dent in my Norwood III pattern of hair loss, so I know a strip is probably the best way to go, but I’m very nervous about being one of those people with a bad strip scar. Does FUE really get the same yield as strip? Also, am I being paranoid about the scar?

Thank you for your help in this matter.
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Thank you for your question regarding your dilemma of whether to have hair restoration utilizing strip surgery or FUE to obtain the grafts. Unfortunately, you may have heard conflicting information on this topic from either patients or physicians, due to either a lack of knowledge about either procedure, or due to a commercial bias. I am going to try and give you some information that may help you sort the facts and make a decision that is right for you.

You are not alone in your fear about ending up as one of those people you have read about with bad strip scars. But, lets take a step back, ignore the hype and look at the two procedures. Read more

Is 24 Too Young To Have a Hair Transplant?

I’m 24 years old with what I would consider to be severe hair loss in the
front of my scalp. I’ve read that being under 25 might make me too young for a hair transplant. I am currently taking finasteride and have stabilized my hair loss. Am I really too young to have a hair transplant? I just want to look like myself again. Justin
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This is a great question. I have a lot of patients between 18 – 26 that ask the same question. I really feel there is no specific age to make someone an appropriate candidate for hair transplantation. I think it depends on many different factors, including your age, the amount of hair loss you have, the pattern of hair loss, your maturity level, and your expectations. Maturity level is important because you have to be realistic and understand that whatever we do, or whatever any hair transplant doctor does at this age is permanent. Whatever results you are going to have, has to look good now, at age 25 or 26 and has to still look good when you are 40 and 50 years old.

You also have to understand that if you do the strip procedure, which most patients are doing at this time, you are going to have a little thin, fine scar in your donor area and you may have a slight limitation as to how short you can cut your hair in the back.

View Dr. Charles’ Full Video Response: Read more

A Previous Hair Transplant Resulted In Several Ingrown Hairs - Can I Get Rid of Them?

Several years ago I had a hair transplant done by a hair restoration group in Virginia.  The results were abysmal and I now have continuing problems with in-grown hairs. For example, I have three of them now. These in-grown hairs are unsightly and very painful and they take a very long time to heal.  No one there ever told me that this would be a possible outcome of the surgery.

Is there anything that can be done to get rid of them?  Do I have any legal recourse?

Thanks for your help.
Fred
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Hi Fred

Thank you for your question.
In order to find a solution to this problem, it’s important to arrive at a diagnosis.

(1) Are you noticing bumps in the skin which fill up with whitish or yellowish material and then “pop?”
(2) Are these bumps small like pimples or large like cysts?
(3) After they pop, does a hair appear where the bump used to be?
(4) Do they always appear in the same place or can they appear all over your scalp?
(5) Do they only occur in the transplanted areas or do they also appear in the non-transplanted areas? Read more

Hair Transplant and Propecia Concerns

I’ve seen some promising results from the follicular unit hair transplant  I received in late February 2009. However, I’m concerned that the Propecia I am taking has been a contributing factor to a recurrence of the mood disorder that I’ve been treated for during the past year. Regardless of whether or not the Propecia is the actual culprit here, my question is this: What are my options if I find that I cannot continue on the Propecia? I had about 2,500 grafts in my crown and hairline areas. It seems likely that if I don’t continue on the Propecia –which it seems is the only drug with much hope of stopping my hair loss — then I will become seriously disfigured as my natural hair recedes past the point of the grafts. I don’t think additional procedures will help in this case, it seems like they would make things worse. Thanks for your reply, Scott
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Dear Scott:

Thank you for your letter. The good news is that it is likely that you will continue to get more hair as the transplanted grafts continue grow over the next 2-4 months.

There have been sporadic reports of Propecia causing some mood alterations but the problem is that they occur so infrequently that it is unclear if the medication is in fact the cause. If by discontinuing the medication your problems resolve it in fact may have been the Propecia. The other possibility is that it may just be slight changes in the expression of your underlying mood disorder. Read more

Looking For Hair Transplant Scar Repair In Miami

I had a hair transplant when I was 20 and would prefer now to just have a buzz cut. I have a straight scar in the back of my head that is very thin but if I buzz my head it will definitely be visible. My doctor did not take the extra step of stitching or cutting the skin so hair would grow through the scar. Is there anywhere in the Miami area, where I currently live that I can go to get the scar fixed to become hard to see? - Patrick
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First of all Patrick, you bring up a very good case in point as to why young men (those under the age of 25 or so) should not be readily treated for their hair loss with a transplant procedure. Certainly, anyone at that age, I am going to recommend the most conservative approach, most likely Propecia, possible laser light therapy, and conservative follow up. For those men under the age of 26 or so, FUE is essentially the only procedure I would consider, for it does not leave the problem of a visible donor site scar.

With your donor site scar, I have found that the first step should usually be the excision of the scar with plastic surgery closure. While there is no guarantee that this will improve the appearance of the scar, it makes sense to try this first, for it does have a reasonable chance of scar narrowing, and perhaps if there is enough laxity, for the allowance of hair growth through the scar using the HITS (trichophytic) technique. A variety of techniques can be used for scar revision- most commonly it involves the use of deep sutures to help hold the tissue together, with superficially placed skin sutures as well. Read more

Is There An Ideal Season For Receiving a Hair Transplant?

Is there any ideal season for doing hair transplant, like summer winter? Some of my elders are advising to do a hair transplant in the winter season. I need your expert advice. -Hafeez
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Dear Hafeez,

The ideal season depends mostly on you and the procedure you choose.

Hair loss has a tendency to accelerate in the winter months. We usually see an increase in surgery patients in the fall and winter. As you know, some animals tend to retain more hair in the winter months and have more shedding in the warmer months. With humans, we tend to see more shedding in colder months.

Perhaps this is why we perform more surgical solutions in the winter than in the summer. Perhaps it is because people want a more active life style in the summer.

This leads me toward my recommendations. You are the one who will determine when to have a hair transplant. It will depend on your lifestyle. If you can wear a hat and can get out of public scrutiny in the winter, the winter will be better for you. If the summer is better for a more secluded life style, then have the procedure in the summer. Read more

A Previous Hair Transplant Left Me With a Large Scar - Can This Be Repaired?

I had a hair transplant back in 2001 that left me with an unsightly scar in the back that goes practically from ear to ear. I have to grow my hair at least two inches to cover it, and when it’s wet it look horrible. I’d like to see if this could be corrected. What should be my next step and can this be accomplished?
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There is always hope that a less than ideal donor scar can be improved. The best method for correcting an unsightly scar in the donor region will depend on several factors including: 1) the width of the scar; 2) the location of the scar with respect to how high or low it was placed in the donor region; 3) the elasticity of the surrounding scalp; and 4) the baseline follicular-unit density in the region immediately adjacent to the scar.

There are two basic modalities available for correcting the scar. One can undergo a scar revision at which time the scar is excised and the remaining incision is meticulously repaired. An open scar revision like this will depend on the width of the scar and the elasticity of the surrounding scalp. A tight scalp may preclude this option since there needs to be some redundant scalp available to stretch into the defect which is left following removal of the scar. Tension is one of the single greatest contributors to the creation of a wide scar following a strip harvest procedure. You will have a high risk for developing another wide scar if the revised incision is closed under tension. Read more

What Is The Estimated Hair Transplant Cost For a Norwood 3 or 4 ?

I am between a 3 and a 4 on the Norwood scale. I know it’s hard to give a price without seeing me, but I am asking for an estimate that will give me some kind of idea what I can afford.

Thanks in advance,
Terry
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Mr. Terry,

As you might expect, meeting a patients expectations depend on many factors with regards to their current state and end goals. Many men depending on age could be very happy with as little as 3000 grafts (esp is you are more of a stage 3 than 4), but I would not be surprised if you came back in at a later date and add another 1500 grafts.

In addition to your pattern hair color, quality and curl can have significant benefits or detractions with regards to your overall happiness. So many factors go into achieving ones desired goal that it can be hard to say what you might spend. But I suspect it would cost somewhere between 10K-15K to produce and nice end result. Read more

Hair Transplant Repair: Can I Have My Old Hairline Grafts Removed and Placed In The Scar Area?

I had a transplant in 1995 that I am unhappy with. It left me with a strip scar and frizzy hair. Now all I want to do is to be able to buzz my hair short. I’ve had the scar partially filled in with FUE, and am satisfied with the result. Now I would like to remove the old hairline grafts, splice them, and have them transplanted into the scar to camouflage it some more. Also the old hairline grafts have caused cobblestoning, so this needs to be repaired (I guess with the removal it is?). Is it possible to achieve what I am looking for?
Many thanks,
Adam
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It is definitely possible to correct the appearance of unsightly grafts that are too big or that have been placed with poor direction, angle, depth or location. Unfortunately, many of these repair cases require multiple sessions to achieve maximum improvement since there is often a limit to how many grafts can be removed at any one time. There are several options available for removing the offending grafts. Follicular unit extraction techniques may be used to remove smaller grafts or to selectively reduce the density within a plug graft. Thinning out a large plug can improve its appearance by making it look less “pluggy”. Large grafts that would not benefit from thinning with follicular unit extraction may require complete extraction with a standard skin biopsy punch. The punch is used to first core out the offending graft from the recipient site. The residual defect is then sutured closed or left to close via secondary intention healing, i.e. leaving the wound open and letting it close down on its own. Read more

Concered About Thinning and Irritation On Hair Transplant Donor Scar

I had a transplant about one year ago to hide a scar from a brow lift. Unfortunately, the scar is still very visible, but what I’m most worried about is the dramatic thinning of my hair along the donor scar line and below it. In fact, right now, I have an irritation, the second one in a month, that is about an inch wide. This one burns and appears infected. My doctor thinks it was just an ingrown hair, but I’ve never had one like this ever! Could I be having thinning hair and irritations because of my hair transplant. Will it stop? Is it likely my hair will ever regrow what I’ve lost since the hair transplant?
-Susan
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As for your donor area, it does sound like you have local infection and inflammation at the site.  This could have started, as your doctor said, with an ingrown hair and may have spread to the surrounding area.  It could also be what doctors call an “inclusion body” like a stitch that did not dissolve and is instead working it’s way towards the surface.  Read more

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