First of all, the idea of a hair transplant surgery is to remove donor follicles from the back or sides of the scalp. The donor follicles are then transplanted to thinning or balding areas in other parts of the scalp. It is merely a technique to redistribute hair follicles from one area to another.

Traditional hair transplant is performed by removing a strip of hair bearing skin from the back of the patient's head, hence the name STRIP procedure. This procedure is very invasive and quite traumatic to the patient. It leaves a permanent strip excision scar across the back of the patient's head, much like a smiley face. Sometimes some doctors refer this technique as FUT or FUHT. Please be careful not to confuse FUT or FUHT with FUE, the difference is night and day. FUT stands for Follicular Unit Transplant, FUHT stands for Follicular Unit Hair Transplant. Both means the old strip technique and the fact that the patient will have to live with a quite visible linear scar across the back of his or her head for life.

The beauty of FUE is that it avoids all the problems inherent with the old STRIP technique. FUE stands for Follicular Unit Extraction. It is minimally invasive when compared to the old STRIP procedure. FUE does not leave a permanent visible linear scar in the patient's head. In summary, it is a technique that requires NO KNIFE, NO SCALPEL, NO STITCHES, and leaves NO VISIBLE SCARRING. Fast healing and patient friendly.

See illustration below

Traditional Strip Excision With STRIP technique, the trauma to the donor site is tremendous. The donor area is closed using stitches or staples which cause a lot of damage to the donor site. Return visits are required for suture removal. The scar has a tendency to stretch or widen over time which means repair work may be necessary.

FUE Hair Transplantation The above shows what the donor site looks likfe after a FUE procedure. High magnification of the donor area immediately after the donor hairs extraction. The small wounds which remain do not require stitching and leave no visible scars. Donor site heals faster and barely visible after healing.

Remember, FUE is a donor harvesting technique. While it is vastly different from the old technique, it does not affect how the donor follicles are transplanted to the recipient or balding area during the hair surgery.