There are two basic methods of hair transplantation; FUT and FUE.
FUT is an old method that has almost completely been abandoned in current day practices. This procedure involves a strip of hair being removed from the back of the neck or head that is 2 to 3 cm in width and 8 to 10 cm in length. The follicles are then individually removed from the strip and transplanted into areas that have experienced hair loss. The procedure takes place in the operating theatre. The area where the strip is removed is sutured. The first reason for the abandonment of the FUT method is the appearance and dissatisfaction caused by the size of the strip at the back of the head or neck. In addition, individually removing the follicles is a difficult and time consuming task, which reduces the possibility of success the longer the hair follicles spend outside of the body.
Currently, FUE is the preferred method in almost every country. There are different procedures developed based on this basic method. Unshielded FUE, Robotic Hair Planting, Micro FUE, Percutan FUE are some of these different applications.
The hair follicles in the FUE technique are removed individually using a tool called a micro punch from the firm area behind the neck and head. Since there is no incision like in the FUT technique, there is no scarring. The grafts obtained may have 1-2-3 or more hair tresses on them. The grafts collected by the FUE technique are first divided into groups of one, two, three or more in a sterile environment. The grafts are then transplanted into the balding area.
Ideally, an average of 3000-3500 and maximum 4000 hair grafts are transplanted in one session. Transplanting over this number will greatly reduce the success of procedure. Grafts may be single, double, triple or multiple. On average, 1 hair graft is calculated as 2 or 4 strands of hair. That means 3500 hair grafts, is approximately 8400 strands of hair. A single session may not be enough for patients who have experienced a lot of hair loss. In such cases, 2 sessions may be required.