FUE vs FUT is a popular discourse in the hair transplant field. With many new technologies appearing in the industry, it can be hard to make the right and informed decision. In this article we’ll break the FUE vs FUT discussion into a number of points to help you understand how they differ. 

General Hair Transplant Procedure Overview 

To understand how the techniques of hair transplantation differ, you have to become familiar with the general overview of the procedure. Techniques vary in how the steps take place more than the process itself. Of course, you should note that a hair transplant requires local anesthesia so you will not feel any pain or discomfort during the process. 

1- Extraction

Extraction is the first step in a hair transplant procedure and it involves removing healthy hair follicles from suitable donor sites. Donor sites are places of hair growth that are not affected by hair loss and they can be a great source of hair-loss resistant follicular units. 

2- Channel Opening

Channel opening takes place in areas of hair loss. Generally, your doctor will use a micro-blade to make small incisions on the recipient site. It’s inside these micro openings that your doctor will implant the new hair follicles. 

3- Implantation 

After opening channels on the recipient site, the doctor will then individually place the follicular units into the openings completing the procedure. 

FUE vs FUT: Hair Transplant 

The procedure of a hair transplant differs between an FUE and an FUT. FUE is short for follicular unit extraction and follows a modern approach that minimizes scarring, speeds healing, and produces very natural results. This is because extraction of grafts takes place on the scalp directly using a micro-punch to individually harvest hair follicles. 

On the other hand, an FUT stands for follicular unit transplantation and involves a very intrusive extraction step. To collect hair follicles with the FUT technique, your doctor has to remove an entire strip of skin from your scalp. This leaves behind a wound that requires stitching and causes scarring. Later your doctor dissects the strip into individual grafts. 

So in simpler words, FUT has a higher risk for complications, causes visible scarring, and requires a lot of aftercare to prevent infection. 

FUE vs FUT: Scars 

FUT is generally a much older technique than FUE and does not meet modern standards of aesthetics. In an FUT hair transplant, your doctor does not individually extract hair follicles directly from your scalp. Instead, this technique relies on removing a strip of skin from the scalp and then extracting hair follicles from it. 

This is a very intrusive method that requires stitching, which in turn leaves behind a linear and visible scar. 

The FUE technique on the other hand is far more simple and straightforward. Instead of removing a strip of skin and then dissecting it, the FUE directly extracts hair follicles from the scalp. This happens via a micro-punch that won’t leave behind visible scarring. 

FUE vs FUT: Techniques and Variations 

Because FUE is a more modern approach, there are variations of it. For instance, we have the Sapphire FUE technique which uses sapphire blades to open channels on the recipient site. The characteristics of Sapphire give the tool a sharper edge with a pointier V-shape end. 

This makes the channels that your doctor opens in the recipient site smaller, minimizing scarring to an extreme as well as speed up the process of healing.  

FUT scar and archaic technique make it unsuitable in comparison to modern techniques such as DHI hair transplant and Sapphire FUE. 

FUE vs FUT vs DHI 

DHI is another modern technique that varies from FUT as well as FUE and its variants. In a DHI hair transplant, the process of opening channels and implanting the hair follicles can occur in one step. Using a special pen-like instrument, your doctor will load individual hair follicles into a pen and use the device to simultaneously open the channels and implant the follicles into them. 

This makes for a shorter procedure time and smoother overall process. 

Contact Us

To learn more about FUE vs FUT, you can directly ask our medical specialists at Primemed, a Canadian-owned hair transplant clinic in Turkey. We’ll get in touch with you directly to address all your concerns.