A: Please see the Bernstein Medical – Center for Hair Restoration website as it explains Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) and Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) in detail.

In brief, with FUT, follicular units are obtained from the microscopic dissection of a donor strip that has been removed from the back of the scalp. In FUE, the doctor attempts to remove intact follicular units directly from the scalp via a small round instrument called a punch.

Ultra Refined FUHT (Follicular Unit Hair Transplantation) is term that Pat Hennessey uses on his Hair Transplant Network. It refers to using very tiny recipient sites, carefully dissected follicular unit grafts, and large hair transplant sessions in FUHT procedures.

A: In general, FUT will give you more hair since, in FUT, the best hair from the mid-portion of the permanent zone of the scalp (also called the “sweet spot”) can be utilized in the hair transplant.

With FUE, since only the hair follicles are extracted and not the surrounding bald skin, if too much hair is removed, the donor area will begin to look thin as hair is removed. This will limit the amount of hair that can be harvested.

Although in FUE additional areas of the scalp can be utilized to some degree, this will generally not compensate for the inability to access all of the hair in the mid-permanent zone and the total amount available for the hair restoration will be less.

A: The first paper on Follicular Unit Hair Transplantation was published by Dr. Bernstein and Rassman in 1995 in the International Journal of Aesthetic and Restorative Surgery. The title of the paper used the abbreviated name Follicular Transplantation. The longer name “Follicular Unit Transplantation” was formalized by Bernstein et. al. in the paper “Standardizing the classification and description of follicular unit transplantation and mini-micrografting techniques.” This paper appeared in Dermatologic Surgery in 1998.

Follicular Unit Extraction derived its name from Rassman and Bernstein’s publication “Follicular Unit Extraction: Minimally invasive surgery for hair transplantation” that appeared in Dermatologic Surgery in 2002.

A: Follicular Unit Hair Transplantation, called FUT for short, is a procedure where hair is transplanted in the naturally occurring groups of one to four hair follicles. These individual groups of hair, or units, are dissected from a single donor strip using a stereo-microscope. The area where the donor strip was removed is sutured closed, generally leaving a thin, fine, line scar.

In Follicular Unit Extraction, or FUE, the individual units are removed directly from the back or sides of the scalp through a small round instrument called a punch. There is no linear scar. There is, however, scarring from the removal of each follicle. Although the scars of FUE are tiny and round, the total amount of scarring is actually more than in FUT.

In addition, since in FUE the bald skin around each follicular unit is not removed, the total amount of hair that can be removed in FUE is substantially less than in FUT. This is because if one were to remove all the hair in an area, it would be bald. In FUT, the intervening bald tissue is removed along with the follicles in the strip.

The pros and cons of each procedure can be found at the end of the Follicular Unit Extraction page of the Bernstein Medical – Center for Hair Restoration website.

A: The combination of Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) and Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) used the way you are suggesting does make sense and is actually how I originally envisioned the two procedures to work together.

The camouflage of the donor scar will probably never be necessary, but if it is desired, it should be postponed until after the last FUT procedure. FUE will make it possible for most people to wear their hair very short.