FUE Hair Transplant

FUE Hair Transplant in Leeds

The FUE hair transplant method is the most modern technique in hair transplantation. It involves extracting DHT-resistant hair follicles from the patient’s donor area and transplanting them into the recipient area. Patients prefer this method as it’s minimally invasive, leaves no linear scar and has a quicker healing and recovery time in comparison to the FUT method.

Some things to think about with the FUE method are:

• It’s technically demanding – an experienced doctor and team are essential
• Overharvesting the donor area can cause permanent damage
• Density is limited by the donor area supply and quality of hair available

What is the Follicular Unit Extraction Method?

The FUE method is a modern and more refined approach to hair transplantation when comparing against the FUT hair transplant method which was the first method to be used. When done correctly, the FUE method ensures a natural transplant result without the “pluggy” appearance.

The differentiating factor between FUE and FUT is the donor area harvesting method. FUE extracts individual grafts from the donor area one by one, so it leave no visible scarring in comparison to the FUT method. In comparison, the FUT method involves excising a strip of hair, suturing the area, and then dissecting follicular units under a microscope.

The benefit of FUE over FUT is the less noticeable scarring and the lack of scalp tightness which is more common in FUT procedures due to skin suturing. However, FUE has some drawbacks which include performing large surgeries effectively. This is because of the nature of the procedure being very manual, patients may need multiple-day sessions to achieve significant coverage.

Whilst FUT has historically served its purpose, the FUE method offers patients better results and a more discreet surgery.

How Does the FUE Procedure Work?

The FUE procedure works by using a very small 0.75mm – 0.85mm punch machine that acts like a hollow drill in order to extract grafts individually from the patient’s donor area. At Hair Transplant Leeds, the surgeon is responsible for performing this part of the procedure whilst the team of technicians are involved in pulling out the extracted hairs with medical forceps and placing them in gallipots that contain saline solution to keep them in a safe environment whilst out of the body.

This process is repeated multiple times and the surgeon has the job of selecting the most suitable grafts that will be appropriate for the recipient area. The technicians are responsible for separating the grafts and grouping them into singles, doubles, triples and so forth so that a plan can be made post extraction. The technicians are also responsible for separating doubles to singles and so forth at the request of our doctor depending again on the recipient area size and location as hairlines generally have 2-3 rows at the front of single follicles to give a natural look and doubles and triples the further back towards the mid-scalp to give more density.

The surgeon is then responsible for planning the incision phase and administering the incisions to the recipient area. They will be responsible for the number of incisions required to the recipient area as well as the depth, direction and angulation. This sets up the “blueprint” so to speak ready for implantation of the extracted follicles into the incision “pockets” that have been made by the doctor.

The whole process can take from 5 to 9 hours depending on the surface area size of the recipient area, the donor area supply and graft quality as well as some patient variables such as number of breaks needed, level of bleeding and comfort/adjustment and so on. No surgery is the same so extra time maybe required for anything unaccounted for/miscellaneous.

How Much Does FUE Cost?

The cost of an FUE hair transplant in Leeds will vary based on certain variables. The simple one is the size of the surface area of the recipient area which will determine the graft count. Whilst we don’t go by a strict graft number to price ratio, we based the price on the surface area size knowing from experience the rough graft count. Other variables that influence the price are:

• Who is doing the surgery? We operate on a doctor-led approach
• How many surgeries are there on the day? We operate on a 1 patient per doctor per day policy.

These as well as other variables are discussed in further detail in our pricing page. A rough guide is:

1. A 1000 graft hair transplant would cost roughly £4,000.
2. A 2000 graft hair transplant would cost between £5,000 – £5,500.
3. A 3000 graft hair transplant would cost between £6,500 – £7,000.

Aftercare and What to Expect

We provide aftercare follow ups to all of our patients at the 2 week, 3 month, 6 month and 12 month intervals to assess their progress. We also have an aftercare portal area for the first 2 week period to explain everything to do with spraying the saline spray on the recipient area, how to sleep, when to wash and how to wash as well as other useful info in video format.

What a patient can expect in the year following their transplant is:

1. After the 2 week healing period will come the shedding phase where the newly transplanted hair falls out. This is perfectly normal and happens to 99.99% of patients where the follicles fall from “shock loss” but will grow back again over time. This happens at the 3-8 week period typically.
2. After this shock loss or “ugly duckling” phase is near the end, patients will see initial growth coming through. This is typically at month 3-4.
3. Patients will get a better idea of what’s to come at around month 6-9 as this is when most patients can see more density and growth coming through.
4. Finally month 12 is when we see the final results come through for most hair transplants. Crowns can take a bit longer to show their full results but that happens at around month 18.

It is really important to follow the aftercare instructions to make sure that the first 2 weeks are a success in healing and then it’s a case of making sure that you take care of your newly transplanted hair with your regular washing routine and consider hair loss medication if you are noticing other signs of thinning elsewhere as a FUE hair transplant will restore hair in the area that has lost it, but it will not prevent any further hair loss from happening.