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BHR Clinic Patient Advisor
A sometimes overlooked fact is that the surface area of the scalp remains the same with FUE BUT the amount of hair on that surface is reduced and lowers the density.
Because FUE doesn t cause a linear scar it doesn t mean no damage can occur. Even when using small punches 0.75 or 0.8mm the pattern the follicular units are taken is very important, if taken all in a small area it will reduce the density compared to the surrounding areas, it will cause more obvious hair less areas and potential scarring, also possibly cause the surrounding hair that is left to be traumatised and miniaturise.
It is important to try to make use of the entire safe zone when selecting FUE grafts and not isolate an area and remove. FUE can be used with great effect to fill scar lines from Strips and because the number of grafts needed can be small it is still important to try and spread the extraction. A downside for some with FUE is having the shave the donor, so it s common for people to ask for partial shaving, grow their hair a little longer and just have a band of hair or patches shaved that can be hidden under hair while it grows back. While this is possible the surface area should still be relative to the density so when a few hundred are removed the density loss is very minimal.
The problem with partial shaving is when the number of grafts needed is bigger, and then it is important to use the entire safe zone and not just remove from a small area. This can create an imbalance in the distribution of the hair on the scalp resulting in effecting the healing laxity of the skin and cause over harvesting in isolated areas, results in the donor potentially being too thin for further extraction even from a relatively small number being removed.
It s also easier to harvest only from the back of the scalp, around the occipital area, around the sides the angle and direction of the hair changes so more time is needed when extracting, more changes in body position to ensure no grafts are transacted when being punched, generally it is harder. As the back generally has a higher density anyway and is easier to extract from it s not uncommon to see even with 2000 plus grafts only the back being used and the sides left. This will cause obvious scarring in the back, over harvesting and make even a Strip procedure difficult because of the density loss.
Here are a couple of examples of uneducated extraction patterns, over harvesting in a small area and the effects it has. If the pattern had been spread more for the number of grafts removed and performed well it could have been possible to shave with no obvious signs of extraction, but as it is in these examples it is obvious.
Because FUE doesn t cause a linear scar it doesn t mean no damage can occur. Even when using small punches 0.75 or 0.8mm the pattern the follicular units are taken is very important, if taken all in a small area it will reduce the density compared to the surrounding areas, it will cause more obvious hair less areas and potential scarring, also possibly cause the surrounding hair that is left to be traumatised and miniaturise.
It is important to try to make use of the entire safe zone when selecting FUE grafts and not isolate an area and remove. FUE can be used with great effect to fill scar lines from Strips and because the number of grafts needed can be small it is still important to try and spread the extraction. A downside for some with FUE is having the shave the donor, so it s common for people to ask for partial shaving, grow their hair a little longer and just have a band of hair or patches shaved that can be hidden under hair while it grows back. While this is possible the surface area should still be relative to the density so when a few hundred are removed the density loss is very minimal.
The problem with partial shaving is when the number of grafts needed is bigger, and then it is important to use the entire safe zone and not just remove from a small area. This can create an imbalance in the distribution of the hair on the scalp resulting in effecting the healing laxity of the skin and cause over harvesting in isolated areas, results in the donor potentially being too thin for further extraction even from a relatively small number being removed.
It s also easier to harvest only from the back of the scalp, around the occipital area, around the sides the angle and direction of the hair changes so more time is needed when extracting, more changes in body position to ensure no grafts are transacted when being punched, generally it is harder. As the back generally has a higher density anyway and is easier to extract from it s not uncommon to see even with 2000 plus grafts only the back being used and the sides left. This will cause obvious scarring in the back, over harvesting and make even a Strip procedure difficult because of the density loss.
Here are a couple of examples of uneducated extraction patterns, over harvesting in a small area and the effects it has. If the pattern had been spread more for the number of grafts removed and performed well it could have been possible to shave with no obvious signs of extraction, but as it is in these examples it is obvious.