What is hair transplantation with FUE Technique?
Hair transplantation with FUE technique is one of the types of treatment for hair loss caused by male type baldness, various diseases and the use of various drugs. The FUE technique, which stands for
Follicular Unit Extraction, is one of the oldest techniques used in hair transplantation operations. The FUE Technique, has a much more advanced strategy than the hair transplantation technique where hair follicles are 1.5 cm thick and 15 cm long cut strips are taken from the donor area.
The day of operation is decided after the patient is examined in detail and it is certain that he / she is a suitable candidate for FUE. On the day of operation, after shortening the patient’s hair, the drawing is performed, the donor area is anesthetized by local anesthesia and the procedure begins. The hair follicles are removed from the donor region, which is usually the neck, by means of a special extraction device. Tissue fragments (grafts) that contain single, double, triple or quadruple foci are collected carefully. The follicle collection lasts about 3 hours. In the case of grafts kept at room temperature, hair follicle deaths begin to occur within 2.5 hours. For this reason, the grafts are held in Hyposol fluid to prevent hair root deaths. Hair follicles kept in hyposol can survive for up to 6 hours. After the collection of healthy follicles, the process of hair transplantation begins. The area to be planted is anesthetized by local anesthesia and the canals are opened with a depth of 3 mm where the roots will be planted After separation of the collected follicles from the tissue pieces, they are placed in the previously opened canals. After the transplantation process is completed, donor area is closed with medical dressing and the hair transplantation with FUE process is completed.
How long does the hair transplantation process with FUE technique take?
FUE technique is classified as a surgical operation. Hair transplantation procedures using Fue technique last about 6-8 hours.
Does it hurt to use FUE technique to transplant hair?
During the operation, the patient is under local anesthesia and does not feel any pain. The process is very comfortable for the patient. As no incision is performed, it is not possible to leave any traces in donor or transplantation areas after hair transplantation with FUE technique.
Does Hair Transplantation with FUE Technique work?
One of the important points in hair transplantation operations with FUE technique is the choice of a physician to perform the operation. Many people choose people for their transplantation are not competent enough because they are more affordable. This situation brings many risks. During hair transplantation by people who aren’t qualified enough, your hair follicles may be damaged during collection, which prevents adequate hair follicle planting. If the channels in which the hair follicles are to be inserted are opened with the wrong angle, the operation may result in an unnatural look for the patient. In order to avoid serious infection problems, possible complications of the hair transplantation and a natural look after the operation, it is of great importance that hair transplantation is carried out by an expert doctor and team.
Canal-root adaptation is one of the factors seriously affecting the success rate of hair transplantation. If the canals are very small and the roots are large, the hair roots will be damaged during the placement and new hair will not grow from most of these roots. Besides the fact that canals are larger compared to the hair roots can cause tissue damage and the risk of permanent scars, as the hair roots will not be correctly angled, the end result will look unnatural. The depths of the canals are very important as well as their depth. Canals superficially opened hinders the hair roots from reaching under the skin and thus prevent them from efficient feeding. For canals larger than it should be; a nutritional problem occurs for the hair follicles, as the nutrient veins under the skin will be damaged. The fact that the hair follicles that are planted cannot be fed properly creates an obstacle to the production of new hair.
FUE Hair Transplant is a surgical operation that is demanding and needs utmost care. If performed by a qualified physician, you can have healthy hair that you can use for life. Hair in the nape area is the healthiest and the most durable hair found in the human body. The main reason for the nape region being the general donor site is the long life of the hair grown in that region. When the roots taken from the nape area are transferred to their new places and adapted, there won’t be repeating hair fall offs. Hair transplantation with FUE technique ensures that you have healthy hair for a lifetime and do not experience permanent shedding in the same area.
How much hair can be planted with FUE technique?
Using a FUE technique, graft intake counting between 3000 and 4500 and transplantation can be performed in a single session lasting 6-8 hours. For higher counts of hair follicle planting, two consecutive sessions should be performed. If there is a demand for more than 4500 grafts, this should be reported to your doctor in the preliminary interviews and the plantation process should be planned accordingly. Thus, more than 4500 grafts can be harvested efficiently without experiencing root death. Otherwise, your planting session will be planned in one session and graft collecting will be planned accordingly. In this case, you will need to wait 6 months for more root planting.
Follicle calculation
As mentioned earlier, the grafts collected for transplantation contain different numbers of follicles (hair follicles). The hair roots that grafts contain vary between 1 and 4. For example; in a 3000 graft hair transplant, if the grafts are bilateral; at the end of process, the patient receives 6000 hair follicles. This number can reach 9000 in case the grafts are trilateral and 1200 if the grafts are quadrilateral.
Does Hair Transplantation with FUE Technique look natural?
The most important factors that determine the naturalness of hair transplantation are the correct opening of the channels, the correct placement of the roots and the design of the front hairline. These 3 factors are related to the physician and the team’s expertise and competence If the frontal hairline iss designed correctly and the canal and root placement is done with the right angle, there is no reason why hair transplantation operation will not give results other than natural looks. When the transplanted follicles complete the growth process, the hair that is transplanted is completely indistinguishable from the hair which did not see any process or operation.
What are the Advantages of Hair Transplantation with FUE technique?
- No incision or suture is performed in the FUE technique.
- It doesn’t cause excessive bleeding.
- The recovery process takes a short amount of time.
- Gives very natural results on the grounds that the process is performed by expert people.
- It is a high quality transplantation strategy.
- Planted hair can be used for life and no fall off is experienced again in the same area.
After the hair transplantation operation with FUE technique
The first 48 hours for hair follicles transplanted to their new location with hair transplantation operation is a critical process. The reason why the patient is given two day hair washing restriction, and the fact that first wash is done by the experts is tied to the fact that the first two days is a critical stage for the patient. 8-9 days after planting, the roots are mostly become accustomed to their places, but they are likely to be displaced by hard intervention. On the 13th day, the roots begin to fully conform to the surrounding tissue, and at the end of 2.5 months the perfect fit is completed. After the integration phase is completed, the shock spill process begins. In some people, shock spill may occur in the first month, while in some other people it may occur in the third month. The process of this hair fall off, which lasts for about 2 weeks, is the process of shedding the hair strands transplanted with hair roots. After these hair strands are shed, the hair roots begin to produce new and permanent hair. Hair transplantation process starts to reveal its true result after 6-8 months and reaches maximum result after 10 months.
How long after hair transplantation with FUE can haircut be done?
With the FUE technique, it is possible to start shaving with scissors (by not touching the head skin) after 1 month from hair transplantation. For 6 months, use of instruments such as razors and shavers that produce pressure on the head is not recommended.
Things to look out for before hair transplantation
- You should inform your doctor in detail about your medical history during the preliminary interview and examination.
- If you have medicines that you regularly use, you should inform your doctor about the medications you have and the way you use them.
- Aspirin and similar blood thinning drugs should be discontinued 310 days before the operation
- To prevent the risk of bleeding, alcohol consumption, green tea and vitamin E consumption should be stopped 3 days before the hair transplantation. The amount of caffeine and nicotine consumed should be minimized.
- Exhausting exercises such as cardio, bodybuilding etc. should be avoided before a week of the operation.
- On the day of the hair transplantation, chemicals such as hair gel and salt should not have been applied and hair should be washed.
Things to look out for after hair transplantation
- After hair transplantation, some edema formation occurs in transplanted and donor areas. It would be useful to keep your head as high as possible to get the edema out of your body faster.
- The medication prescribed by your doctor after the hair transplantation, the lotion and shampoos recommended by your doctor should be used without delay.
- When sleeping, the patient should sleep on their back, a traveling pillow or rolled towel should be placed under the neck.
- During the first 48 hours, any contact with the planted area should be avoided.
- For the first 3 days after the operation, aspirin and similar blood thinning drugs should not be used.
- The patient should rest for 3 days after the operation. Severe and heavy work should be avoided.
- The transplanted area should be avoided from contact with the sun. If you need to go out; you can wear a soft hat made of soft fabric without restricting your head too much.
- A lot of water should be drunken. Tea, coffee and cigarettes should not be consumed during the first 3 days.
- Alcohol should not be consumed 3 days before and after hair transplantation. Using alcohol triggers the risk of bleeding.
- After the first wash, it should be washed with plenty of water for 15 days, once every day.
- Over the course of 15 days, hairy or buttoned clothing should be avoided in order not to damage the donor and transplanted areas.
- Sexual intercourse is not recommended for 2 weeks after the operation.
- Sea, pool, sauna and hammam carry risk of infection for hair transplant patients. To prevent this risk, such activities should be avoided for 3 weeks.
- Only towel drying should be used after a couple of months following the operation.
- After 6 months of hair transplantation, all kinds of hairdressing services can be taken.