What would you recommend; Strip method vs. FUE technique for hair transplant?

I was an engineer working with Dr. Rassman in 1998 (before I became a doctor) .  My work involved a concept of a robot which would use a special optical sighting system to align the hairs for an automated FUE. This work became U.S. Patent 6572625 that we licensed to the ARTAS robot.  Similar technology from our U.S. Patents are used in the NeoGraft.  I perform FUE in my practice with my hybrid FUE instruments, ARTAS, or even NeoGraft.  My point is that I am very familiar with the FUE, ARTAS, NeoGraft, and all forms of harvesting hair follicles.Many doctors push FUE or Neograft or ARTAS claiming "no scar" or "minimally invasive". Many doctors dissuade patients from strip surgery asking "why would you want a big scar".The focus should be on RESULTS. Not how a doctor takes out the grafts. In terms of graft quality between FUE (ARTAS, Neograft) versus Strip, the Strip harvested grafts are generally better (which means better results).  The exceptions are the doctors with unskilled staff, then the ARTAS grafts will be better.From a donor scarring perspective, if you are ever going to shave your head or cut your hair really short, you should probably get the FUE.  That is it.  If a "line scar" scares you, then get the FUE.  Just remember a 4000 graft FUE scar is like having a collective open wound hole the size of a baseball on the back of the head. There is nothing minimally invasive about that. I also perform Scalp MicroPigmentation (SMP) and fix horrible FUE scars routinely.  These is nothing "scarless" about FUE.  I have performed surgery on Dr. Rassman and his family members using the strip technique.  The linear scar on Dr. Rassman is a pencil thin line you probably will have a hard time finding.  The point is, a strip surgery scar is not as terrible as the Internet makes it out to be. The focus should be on Results. A bad hair transplant result from FUE or Strip is like Herpes.  You'll carry it with you for life.

Both FUE and strip harvesting are excellent methods of obtaining grafts from the donor area. FUE is good for patients with tight scalps (which may be due to multiple prior strip surgeries) or for those who wear their hair very short (buzz-cut length). Strip harvesting is good for patients who wear their hair a bit longer and have good scalp laxity. Both techniques will produce excellent results if performed by an experienced hair transplant surgeon. With regard to FUE, once the donor hair is extracted, it will not grow at the donor site anymore. Rather, these extracted follicles are being transferred into the recipient site to grow there. In order to prevent the donor area from appearing thinned out, the extractions should be spread out over the entire donor area. Whether FUE or strip is performed to obtain donor hair, the result at the recipient site is the same. Thus, either method is good for adding density at the crown. If the grafts are precisely placed at the recipient area with great care, there should be no damage to existing hair follicles. The surgery is performed under high-power magnification in order to allow precise graft placement at the recipient site. In order to determined if hair transplant surgery is appropriate for you, and to learn more about the various surgical options, a proper physical exam is necessary.

With Follicular Unit Extraction, tiny punches are used. Therefore there is no linear scar. And patients can choose to wear their hair as short as they would like. With strip surgery, hair grafts can only be extracted from the donor safe regions on the lower part of the scalp or the sides. However, this is where hair tends to grow the thickest. Using these follicles may not produce the most natural looking results, particularly in areas like the hairline edge where hair is naturally much finer.Neither method will necessarily produce better growth than the other. Yield will mostly depend on how the follicles were selected and handled. This requires experience and skill on behalf of the surgeon. Therefore, it would be most important to carefully evaluate the past work of doctors you are considering.