Which surgery has the best results with regards to density? FUT OR FUE ?

Dear Confidencerestored,

Thank you for posting this question. The simple answer is that there are advantages and disadvantages to both methods. It depends on your age, sex, and goals for your hair loss. It is NOT the method of the hair restoration surgery that will determine your results. It is the dedication, experience, talent and passion of the hair restoration surgeon and his team of technicians that will be the sole determinant of your results. It is performed differently at every clinic. No two centers or surgeons are the same. I would look for a surgeon with actual certified training in surgery. The board certificate in “hair restoration surgery” requires zero surgery training, and should not be considered as such. Look for one with a board certificate in a field accredited by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). These include plastic surgery, otolaryngology, etc. Also, look for a surgeon who has dedicated his career to the field of hair restoration surgery, and has a long track record of success and contributions to the field. I would avoid a surgeon who only offers one or the other of the two techniques, and certainly avoid a surgeon who does all sorts of cosmetic surgery and recently added “NeoGraft” or “FUE” to his or her long list of services. This person is most certainly not an expert in the field. The results of a hair restoration surgery are permanent, and your research will pay off in the long run. I hope this information is helpful to you.







Kind Regards,







Ken Anderson, MD, FISHRS

Hello,Density is one of the most critical factors after hair transplantation.  Early on you may not be able to fully determine your density.  Density depends on various factors including the number of hairs  per cm squared, the thickness and vibrancy of hair, direction and design of hair.  Techniques for density vary from surgeon to surgeon.  In my office, we utilize a specialized technique that allows for optimizing density and found it to be helpful.  
Best,
Dr. Anil Shah

When it comes to attainable density, it should not matter which of FUT or FUE you chose. It is more to do with the quality of the grafts used which is affected by the skill of the operating doctor.

FUE or FUT is just a harvesting technique.  It has no bearing on "density" or how close your grafts are place.However many doctors would say FUT (strip) grafts will usually give you better growth.  

FUT(strip or linear) and FUE are different methods to accomplish the same thing and that is harvest donor grafts.Density is dependent on the number of grafts that are being transplanted into a given area and their distribution (how close they are to one another).I recommend a consultation with an experienced Hair Restoration surgeon to determine how many grafts you need and which method is best for you.

Either process can give you a good hair transplant density. The bigger deciding factor between the two is generally more geared towards recovery time, surgeon skill, and your surgeon's recommendation based on your needs.

Our
office does both FUT and FUE technique. 
With respect to density, that depends on the goals set before the
procedure during the initial consultation. 
In our office, we design a hairline, enhance the temporal peaks and
recreate the whorl in the crown to give the most realistic appearance
throughout.  Lastly, dense packing of
grafts is achievable by either method.

Both FUE and FUT can give terrific results when done well, and both techniques can yield poor results when done incorrectly. This greatly depends on the skill of your surgeon and his team and how well your doctor has mastered his technique. FUE when performed correctly, in the hands of a highly skilled and experienced doctor can yield just as highly as FUT.

Both methods give wonderful results if you are in professional hands and its just a matter of having a less invasive surgery or not.Nowadays FUE method has more increasing demand than FUT Method but FUT is still necessary to harvest more grafts

FUE will allow you to have better results for the following reason:

With the FUT procedure they extract a strip of your scalp and they already calculated how many follicles they can obtain from it. The problem is that they will be limited in quantity to what the strip contains and you also have to consider that not all the follicles from that strip will be optimum to be transplanted due to the different quality of hair you find on it. Recovery time is longer and you will end with a visible scar.

When doing an FUE transplant, the Doctor selects each follicle. The hair is not obtained from just one strip but it can go anywhere in your donor area. This allows us to select the best follicles available to be transplanted. The recovery time is way less than with the FUT; and of course, we avoid leaving the big scar that you will get from the Strip Procedure (FUT). The average scar from a FUE procedure is hardly visible to the human eye.

I hope this helps you decide