Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT)

Are you looking for a more permanent solution to your thinning hair, bald spots, and receding hairline? You may want to consider a FUT hair transplant as a solution. As you well know, a hair transplant’s goal is to restore hair to areas of the scalp with limited or absent growth. To achieve lasting results, you may be required to have follow-up hair transplants combined with a nonsurgical hair loss prevention regimen including finasteride, Minoxidil, topical compound solutions, laser hair therapy, vitamins, and supplements.

Aging and genetics can contribute to hair loss, thinning hair, and bald patches, but they can also happen because of underlying medical conditions or trauma to the scalp. Some people who encounter hair loss issues choose to have a hair transplant to help them look good and feel good about themselves.

In the 1990s, hair transplant results looked unnatural and provided a plug-like appearance. In recent years, hair transplant doctors began transplanting individual hair follicles, also known as follicular units, or micro grafts to produce natural-looking results.

Unlike nonsurgical hair replacement choices such as wigs or plugs, hair transplants produce a permanent, natural-looking solution that doesn’t require any ongoing maintenance. It only takes a day to complete, and you can go back to your regular activities within a few days.

At the Long Island Hair Transplant Center, we offer a follicular unit transplantation (FUT) technique as a simple clinic-based hair transplant procedure that serves to restore your receding hairline.

The unique aspects of each hair transplant technique are constantly progressing, and even the most skilled and experienced hair transplant doctors are expanding their knowledge of the fast-paced environment of the hair restoration industry. Our Long Island Hair Transplant Clinic employs different tools and techniques to produce natural-looking results for your hair loss needs.

What Is Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT)?

Also known as the strip procedure, follicular unit transplantation (FUT) is a hair restoration technique where hair gets transplanted in naturally occurring groups of one to four hairs (called follicular units). These small units allow the hair transplant physician to securely implant thousands of grafts in a single session, which increases the effect of the procedure.

Considered an advancement over conventional hair transplant procedures that used larger grafts and often created an unnatural look, well-performed FUT results follow the way hair grows naturally. Over the years, FUT has been the most frequently used procedure for hair restoration, although FUE has emerged as a procedure of choice.

During a FUT hair transplant surgery, our hair transplant doctor cuts a strip of skin from the back or side of your head and extracts individual hair follicles. These follicles get inserted into the thinning and balding areas of your scalp. It works efficiently at covering a receding hairline caused by male pattern baldness.

Follicular unit transplantation (FUT) allows the hair transplant to look natural. Since hair naturally grows in follicular units of one to four hairs, using these naturally occurring units in FUT makes sure that each graft will be similar to the surrounding follicular units. When transplanted follicular units start hair regrowth after a transplant, results will appear natural.

Hair transplants can be an excellent option for people who experience hair thinning and hair loss. It may not be a permanent solution to thinning hair, but for many people, it can help recover one’s self-esteem and self-confidence by restoring the hair’s fullness and density.

Typically, using natural follicular units for hair restoration can be complicated. At Long Island Hair Transplant Center, our team of skilled and experienced hair restoration experts can help you achieve significant results. Our distinguished hair transplant doctor Dr. Barnard and Clinician Daniels have a specialty focus on follicular unit transplantation (FUT) procedures. We believe this specialization allows them to achieve high growth rates and improved success rates.

How Does Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) Work?

When performing FUT, our hair transplant doctor cuts a strip of skin from your scalp from the back of your head. The actual size of the strip follows from the number of follicles required to cover thinning hair or bald spots, which usually doesn’t exceed half an inch wide and 4 to 6 inches long. After cutting a strip of skin, the individual will remove individual follicles and reinsert them into your scalp.

Dr. Barnard or Dr. Golio perform FUT hair transplant surgeries that take between four and eight hours to complete. Generally, it’s quicker than FUE surgery, so you’ll most likely stay awake throughout the surgery with local anesthesia that numbs your scalp.

Your FUT procedure will follow this process:

The hair transplant surgeon removes a strip of skin in the donor site on your scalp.

Initially, we determine the thinning areas (recipient site) that you want to restore to help you achieve the most natural-looking hairline possible.

Next, the team prepares the hair from the back of your head (donor site) by shaving the area and saving the surrounding hair.

After administering local anesthesia to numb the donor area, our hair transplant specialist removes a strip of skin in the donor area that includes your permanent hair follicles.

Once the surgeon has removed the donor hair, the individual sutures the area and conceals the area with the surrounding hair.

The surgeon prepares the follicular units for transplantation.

Our hair restoration staff prepares the donor hair by trimming or dissecting the donor strips into follicular units containing one to four hair follicles. In the meantime, while the units are prepared for transplantation, you can read, take a nap, watch a movie, or relax.

The surgeon positions the follicular units.

Once the follicles are ready for transplantation, our doctor makes tiny incisions on your scalp for each follicular unit, giving enough attention to each unit’s location, angle, and depth to ensure natural-looking results and optimize the density and coverage of thinning areas.

Your procedure comes to completion.

After the surgery, our clinical staff will provide instructions on managing your donor and recipient sites, together with medications for any discomfort you might experience.

The day after your hair transplant surgery, you might experience some soreness, tightness, or numbness. However, most patients can return to work in just a couple of days.

A week after your surgery, any swelling and redness should disappear. When three months pass after your procedure, you may experience hair regrowth. After six months, you should notice significant new hair growing in your scalp. Final results can take up to a year.

FUT Offers the Ability to Conduct Large Hair Transplant Sessions

The follicular unit transplantation (FUT) procedure allows a hair restoration specialist to transplant a large number of grafts in each session:

The hair transplant can occur quickly so that the patient can go back to his or her daily routine soon after the surgery.
Physicians can harvest a larger number of grafts.
FUT protects the donor site by decreasing the number of times incisions occur in the donor area.
Extracting large numbers of grafts provides sufficient one- and two-hair grafts to create a soft frontal hairline and enough three- and four-hair grafts to provide a full head of hair.

Who Is a candidate for a Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) procedure?

FUT transplants require you to have enough donor hair on your scalp to use as a graft. Men with androgenetic alopecia (male pattern baldness) make the best candidates for FUT. In men, this baldness usually appears in the Norwood pattern or an M-shaped hairline with hair loss at the temples. On the other hand, women with this condition typically experience the Ludwig pattern, which causes thinning along the hair part or at the top of the head.

If a medical condition like a thyroid disorder or alopecia areata is causing you to lose your hair, FUT surgery won’t likely be an option.

Consider the following conditions that also make you a good candidate for FUT hair transplants:

Age: FUT is commonly performed on patients ages 25 and older since hair loss patterns are less predictable in younger people. No upper age limit exists as long as one is in good health.
Diagnosis: Men with the Norwood pattern of hair loss respond better to hair transplants.
Hair thickness: Patients with increased hair follicle density typically achieve better coverage.
Area of balding: FUT effectively treats hair loss at the front and top of the head.
Hair color: Patients with hair color similar to their skin color commonly make better candidates since they have less color contrast.

Potential Side effects of Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT)

FUT hair transplants are generally safe when conducted by a qualified and experienced hair transplant physician. However, some possible side effects can happen even with successful hair transplants.

Infection or Bleeding

Hair transplants involve making cuts or incisions in the skin. With any incision, there is a risk of infection or excessive bleeding.

FUT Scarring

The FUT method usually leaves a long, linear scar where the doctor removed a strip of skin on the scalp. This scar may fade after some time. However, it may become evident if you wear your hair short.

Pain and Swelling

Some patients may experience pain as they go through the process of healing and some swelling in the head and face as the skin heals. The doctor can provide you with pain relievers to help with this pain and swelling.

Shock Hair Loss

Donor hair effluvium is also known as shock hair loss. It occurs when transplanted hair falls out within two months after the procedure. However, hair almost always grows back within four months.

FUE Versus FUT: Which Is More Effective?

When it comes to FUE versus FUT procedures, the most common question is about the efficacy of the hair transplant procedure. While FUE transplants can be just as effective as the conventional FUT method (with graft survival rates of 90%), no research has shown one procedure is better than the other. Both methods are effective for extracting follicular grafts.

Some say that the FUT procedure provides more high-quality grafts as the hair transplant doctor can separate the high-quality follicular units with less risk of damaging them.

You can have a more extensive session with FUT versus FUE, and the graft survival rate and density are generally superior to that of FUE.

FUE is better for those who want less evident scars after the surgery when it comes to limitations and side effects. FUE scarring is less obvious because scars are small and scattered throughout the scalp. They are usually small and round, while FUT scars are long and linear. Furthermore, scars from FUT are localized and much larger, making them more noticeable.

FUT Hair Transplant Cost

The cost of a FUT hair transplant is comparable to the FUE procedure.

Several factors can determine the hair transplant cost:

The amount of hair transplanted: Most clinics charge by the number of hair follicles being transplanted, but some clinics offer a fixed price.
The hair transplant doctor: The cost of the procedure varies among clinics and the experience of the hair transplant physician.
The clinic location: Clinics in some cities may charge more for FUT hair transplants
The travel expenses: If you have to travel for your surgery, you should also consider the travel expenses

We offer transparent pricing at Long Island Hair Transplant Center. We also deliver affordable FUT hair transplants starting at per graft. With that, you can optimize the value for your money because we offer minimum pricing for FUT hair transplants.

Why Conduct a Follicular Unit Transplantation With Us?

Now that you fully understand the follicular hair transplantation procedure, schedule an initial consultation with one of our clinical staff today to determine whether FUT is the right solution for your hair loss.

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