Introduction
Hair Transplant is the procedure in which hair follicles are harvested from the donor area mainly back of the scalp and then transplanted to the bald area or the recipient area. The transplanted hair grows in a natural way as the original ones and thus a bald person gets his hair back. If the science of hairline design is followed during the procedure, this will give an absolutely natural look to the person.
Hair Transplant Stages in FUT
Marking of the strip area – After taking the density of the donor area from the safe zone ( occipital area), calculation of the required grafts is done and the area is marked. We usually prefer to take long strip with less width (1 to 1.5 cm).
Anesthesia- Hair transplant is done under local anesthesia. The patient is fully awake during the procedure. After giving local anesthesia to the skin of the scalp the remaining procedure is almost Pain-free.
Strip Excision- Strip of the skin is excised under all aseptic precaution. Suturing is done and a dressing is applied.
Slivering – This long strip is divided into small slivers, usually one hair graft thick. This is known as slivering. These slivers are then sent for graft dissection.
Graft dissection is done under the stereomicroscope- A healthy graft is a pear-shaped with a small amount of fat under the bulb. A graft may have one to four terminal hair with one or two vellus hair.
This is known as “follicular unit”. These follicular units are kept in graft holding solution and are now ready for implantation.
Implantation of grafts is done in the premade holes by “No touch to Root technique”. This is the last step of the procedure. After giving instructions, the patient can go home.
Advantages of FUT Hair Transplantation
A most important advantage of FUT is the grafts which are taken by the strip are from the “safest zone of the donor area”. Also called as the sweet area. The grafts taken from this zone persist for a longer period of time.
We can combine FUT with the FUE to cover higher grade of baldness.
Shaving is not compulsory in FUT, only the area from where the strip is taken needs trimming. On the back, the strip area will remain under cover of remaining hair from the very first day of hair transplant.
Difference Between FUE and FUT Hair Transplant
In FUT Hair Transplant you get a linear scar which is almost invisible (trichophytic closure) while there is no linear scar in FUE Hair Transplant. But multiple small circular scars are given after extraction of follicles using the circular punch. If the quality of Punch is good these circular scars are almost invisible.
In Hair Transplant, by FUE we can harvest body hair follicles while it is not possible in FUT Hair Transplant. This is the greatest advantage of Hair Transplant by FUE. Now a day it is very common to harvest follicles from beard and chest and we are getting a good hair transplant result even in grade VII patient by the combination of FUT and FUE, or FUE and BHT.
Hair Transplant by FUE is also a very good procedure for a small number of follicles to be transplanted like for beard, mustache, Cleft lip scar, burn scar and for successive stages of hair transplant.
In FUT Hair Transplant strip harvesting follicle dissection is done under direct vision using magnification so chances of follicle damage are very negligible. While Hair Transplant by FUE is a blind technique of harvesting follicles It is the expertise of surgeon which determines the rate of follicle transection.
Previously it was said that in FUT Hair Transplant more number (more than 3000) of follicles can be harvested in one sitting while this may not be possible in Hair Transplant by FUE, But in recent times we can even harvest 5000 follicles by FUE from the scalp, beard, and chest.
