Hair transplantation is a surgical reconstructive technique whose objective is to partially or completely restore hair esthetics in men and women who suffer or have suffered from alopecia.
What techniques are there?
There are two different types of techniques, although they have variations. The strip technique or FUSS (Follicular Unit Strip Surgery) and the FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction) technique. It is important to emphasize that one technique is not better than the other, in fact there is a myth that the result of one is better and it is not correct. The result in the area receiving the hair is the same. What is the difference then? How we collect the hair we are going to transplant.
Where is the hair to be transplanted extracted from?
Usually we extract the hair from the occipital area, which is "immune" to the miniaturization process. The strip technique (FUSS), consists of removing a piece of skin (a line of occipital skin) and trimming and taking the hairs that infiltrate the frontal area or the middle area.
On the other hand, in the FUE technique the patient is shaved (there are variations) and each hair is taken separately and then introduced into the area to be transplanted. That is to say, in the FUE technique there is no need to make any kind of suture because each hair is extracted separately and no scar is visible afterwards.
Doctor, what is the right technique for me?
You have to keep in mind that one of the techniques involves shaving an area of hair, so it is not surprising that 99.99% of women choose the strip technique or FUSS. As for men, it is a more evenly balanced percentage as some people do not mind going to work for several weeks with a shaved area of hair and others do.
There are other factors that may incline the patient and the trichologist towards one of the options such as the size of the transplant. Usually the strip technique for medium sized transplants (2,000 follicular units) is faster than FUE. Not only that, but the postoperative period is also simpler.
As you can see, one technique is not better than the other, but each one has its pros and cons. It is important to see which one adapts better to your lifestyle and postoperative period.
I tell you all the details about the pros and cons of the FUE and FUSS technique in this video.
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