What Is The Difference Between The Woods Technique and An FUE Hair Transplant?
Written by Bradley R. Wolf, MD on April 8, 2008
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.
I suggest anyone who has questions about Dr. Woods and his technique view his website and contact Dr. Woods directly.
Bradley Wolf, MD
Member, International Alliance of Hair Restoration Surgeons
Member, American Hair Loss Association
To date, all FUE is essentially the same. That is, the follicular bundle is first targeted. Then the doctor scores around it with a punch or punch like tool. Then a forcepts is used to grab and pull the graft free of the lower layers of tissue that anchor it in. In theory, that would be it and all would be well. However, reality places certain limitations and obstacles in our way.
No matter which “form” of technique used, the current day FUE practitioner must subject his FUE grafts to THREE major detrimental forces:
1: Torsion (twisting)
2. Compression (Squeezing)
3. Traction (pulling)
If not for these three destructive forces, FUE would have replaced strip surgery as the mainstream method of surgical hair restoration in 2002. As it is, however, none of these harmful forces are present during strip surgery and so this method maintains it’s supreme dominance and remains firmly intrenched as the industry standard.
Nevertheless, I believe the future of FUE is still glaringly bright. As more and more doctors start incorporating FUE into their practices for non-megasession procedures its credibility continues to grow. Indeed, FUE has already found its rightful place in the pantheon of accepted medical procedures.
As the poplularity and demand for FUE grows, research and development will follow, and the revolutionary changes required to launch FUE into the mainstream will be invented.
Dr. Alan Feller
Feller Medical, PC
Great Neck, NY
http:www.fellermedical.com
info@fellermedical.com