Hair Restoration Europe
Valued Member
FUE is now a long-established hair transplant technique but over time there has been a growing tendency by some to want to dumb down the fact FUE is a surgical procedure and or aspects and consequences of the procedure assuming to play down the medical aspects or make it appear more appealing and simpler to perform.
Three random quotes from three websites just pulled off a search, it took 6 clicks to find three quotes
1. The hairline is natural-looking (no linear scar).
2. FUE Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) is a NO Stitch, NO Scar technique
3. FUE is a minimally invasive procedure that leaves almost no scarring.
The problem with these quotes?
1. There is no correlation between the hairline looking natural and not having a linear scar
2. It may be no stitch but it is not a no scar technique
3. almost no scarring is incorrect, every punch made will leave a scar
FUE uses a cylindrical instrument to punch around the outside of a follicular unit (FU), it is then extracted to leave a small open wound initially. The wound heals superficially with a scab like any cut on the body would as part of the healing process. Over time the wounds heal and the skin pigment settle, this can vary dependent on the application of the punch and the natural skin healing characteristics.
A scar is a mark left on the skin after a wound has healed, every wound will leave a scar, and every punch made into the skin will leave a scar, the size of the scar can depend on the punch and technique and skin characteristics.
How visible will the scarring be?
Hair length can be a large factor of course because with a little hair length, the coverage hides the scalp and so hides any scarring. The shorter the hair is cut the more likely the scarring will be visible.
The skin healing and the harvesting pattern can play a role then in how visible or obvious the scarring is, along with the number of follicular units removed. The tighter the extraction pattern is going to remove more FU in a smaller area leaving larger or closer situated hair-less areas, scars. Therefore, the more grafts the more scarring, the tighter the extraction pattern and the chance of it being more visible. 1500 grafts can be spread around the donor from side to side and pro rata with an educated pattern of extraction only make a small change to the overall average hair density around the donor. Double the extraction, 3000 FU, and the pattern becomes tighter and harder to manage not over harvesting areas.
This does not take into consideration any miniaturisation of hair in the donor or any transection caused when punching or extracting the FU ´s.
The skin and hair characteristics, lighter skin complexion against darker hair colour, the contrast is going to be higher than light skin complexion and blonde hair colour so making the punch marks blend more with the surrounding skin. On a side note but illustrating the point, the high contrast is actually used with the scalp pigment treatment, the contrast of the pigment gives the look of hair, and ironically whereas a low contrast helps with a hair transplant a high contrast helps with scalp pigment treatment.
Three random quotes from three websites just pulled off a search, it took 6 clicks to find three quotes
1. The hairline is natural-looking (no linear scar).
2. FUE Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) is a NO Stitch, NO Scar technique
3. FUE is a minimally invasive procedure that leaves almost no scarring.
The problem with these quotes?
1. There is no correlation between the hairline looking natural and not having a linear scar
2. It may be no stitch but it is not a no scar technique
3. almost no scarring is incorrect, every punch made will leave a scar
FUE uses a cylindrical instrument to punch around the outside of a follicular unit (FU), it is then extracted to leave a small open wound initially. The wound heals superficially with a scab like any cut on the body would as part of the healing process. Over time the wounds heal and the skin pigment settle, this can vary dependent on the application of the punch and the natural skin healing characteristics.
A scar is a mark left on the skin after a wound has healed, every wound will leave a scar, and every punch made into the skin will leave a scar, the size of the scar can depend on the punch and technique and skin characteristics.
How visible will the scarring be?
Hair length can be a large factor of course because with a little hair length, the coverage hides the scalp and so hides any scarring. The shorter the hair is cut the more likely the scarring will be visible.
The skin healing and the harvesting pattern can play a role then in how visible or obvious the scarring is, along with the number of follicular units removed. The tighter the extraction pattern is going to remove more FU in a smaller area leaving larger or closer situated hair-less areas, scars. Therefore, the more grafts the more scarring, the tighter the extraction pattern and the chance of it being more visible. 1500 grafts can be spread around the donor from side to side and pro rata with an educated pattern of extraction only make a small change to the overall average hair density around the donor. Double the extraction, 3000 FU, and the pattern becomes tighter and harder to manage not over harvesting areas.
This does not take into consideration any miniaturisation of hair in the donor or any transection caused when punching or extracting the FU ´s.
The skin and hair characteristics, lighter skin complexion against darker hair colour, the contrast is going to be higher than light skin complexion and blonde hair colour so making the punch marks blend more with the surrounding skin. On a side note but illustrating the point, the high contrast is actually used with the scalp pigment treatment, the contrast of the pigment gives the look of hair, and ironically whereas a low contrast helps with a hair transplant a high contrast helps with scalp pigment treatment.
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