Q: Hello Dr. Mohebi, I had a strip procedure a month back for 1500 FUs on the front/middle section of head. While I wait for this results, I was thinking if I can have a FUE procedure for crown and hairline enhancement, so that my recovery will be well utilized. I may be wrong. Could you provide your recommendation/suggestion? Thanks. A: In short the answer to your question is yes.  However, there are some qualifying factors and conditions for this consideration. When performing a ‘Strip Method’ FUT surgery it is possible to also perform and ‘FUE’ follicular unit transplant immediately following the first surgery. Actually the two types of procedures can be performed in the same session; as long as the FUE grafts are being placed in different recipient areas.. If you need to restore hair in the same recipient area as a previous hair transplants procedure, then I recommend a minimum wait of 5-6 month from the first hair transplant procedure. The reason for this is that we need to see outgrowth of hair from the first procedure. The visibility of the new hairs allows us to be able to place new hair in between them and to avoid placing a new hair graft on top of the old ones.

Celebrity FUE Transplant offered at US Hair Restoration is a type of FUE transplant in which we remove hair units individually without the need to shave the entire back of head and transplant them one at a time. This outpatient procedure that takes not more than 3-4 hours allow the person to maintain his/her hair look with no obvious sign of surgery. The process is more gradual because we limit the number of grafts to four to five hundred at a time. That is exactly what most celebrities prefer and choose. They enjoy the benefit of a gradual transformation with minimal interruption to their eventful lives.

What Non-Shaved FUE Procedure Can Offer?

1. No down time
2. No shaving
3. Minimal pain and discomfort

Of course this new approach is not limited to celebrities only. It is for anyone who wants to enjoy the benefit of a healthy head of hair with minimal downtime. Whether you opt for a single procedure or our unique Celebrity FUE Hair Transplant we are certain you will like the new you after our hair restoration procedures.

Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) and Slap Micro Pigmentation (SMP) could be both used to minimize the visibility of the scalp scars after a strip hair transplant procedure.  At US Hair Restoration, we offer both these techniques.  However, there are pros and cons to each that the patients need to know before proceeding with the procedure.

FUE for Scar Revision

FUE transplantation into the donor scar: Left side - Intact scar, Right side - FUE grafts transplanted into the scalp scar

Since the extraction of individual follicular units (FUs) is done individually it is perfect for the small procedure of revisioning a hair transplant scar from a previous hair transplant. The surgeon can extract a small number of grafts from the permanent zone and artistically and strategically place them in the scar. This process of using FUE uses hair to obscure and blend the margins of the scar to the surrounding scalp.

SMP for Scar Revision

SMP to minimize donor scar visibility after hair transplantation - Picture is taken immediately after the SMP procedure

Scalp Micro-Pigmentation is the process of using special pigments and fine needles to create the shade of stubble or shaved hairs on the scalp. SMP utilizes dermal pigments that match the patient’s hair color. Used in scars like FUE it can artistically applied revises the margins of the scars. This revision results in the obscuring or blending of the scars margins to the surrounding scalp.

SMP vs. FUE for Scalp Scar Revision

choosing FUE rather SMP for revising the scalp scar has to do with the type, location and size of the scar.  It also has to do with the patient preferences.  If patients are willing to keep it very short or they want to completely shave it.  It is good for the patients to educate themselves with pros and cons of each technique in order to make a more informed decision.

FUE and SMP

FUE and SMP are two methods that can also be used in conjunction with one another to revise a hair transplant scar. Recommendations and the preference of the surgeon most often provide the best results. These modern advances in scalp scar revision are performed in Los Angeles leading hair transplant centers like US Hair Restoration.

Q:

Who makes a good candidate for FUE? Are the cost’s higher than with other techniques you use?

A:

An FUE transplant is best suitable for those who have not experienced a tremendous amount of hair loss and are not expected to advance any further to a higher stage of hair loss. The ideal candidate for an FUE would be someone who falls under the category of a class III on the Norwood scale. A class III patient is one who has not experienced miniaturization on a large area of scalp and has no prior family history of advanced balding. Also, an FUE patient may require several procedures in order to restore their hair, as opposed to just one.

You also asked about the price of a FUE hair transplant.  The cost of FUE transplant is twice as much of the cost of a hair transplant with the strip method per each graft.

Los Angeles is known as the Mecca of Stars and celebrities. From Beverly Hills, Malibu, Pacific Palisades, ‘The Valley’ and the county the faces of film, television and stage can be seen in cafés, markets and the like. The professions of celebrities demand that they maintain a great self image. So, there is no wonder hair loss becomes an even more important issue for many in LA.

US Hair Restoration of Beverly Hills and Los Angeles are leading hair transplant centers.  US Hair Restoration has been serving celebrities as well as people of all walks of life to improve their self image and appearance.  The advent of follicular unit extraction hair transplantation has thrust our Southern California hair restorations to the forefront by taking the newest of Follicular Unit Extraction hair transplant procedures and establishing a method that allows public figures to restore their hair without intruding on their demanding schedule.

Renowned surgeon Dr. Parsa Mohebi has developed an innovative process to transform celebrities’ hairlines without interruption of their busy public schedules. Of course any one can take advantage of this least invasive method of hair restoration. The results are natural and proven because it is your own hair.

Celebrity FUE Transplant involves having the follicular units to be removed individually. There is not surgical incision for removal of a strip of scalp.  Unlike other FUE transplants there not a need to shave the entire back or the thinning area of head. This outpatient procedure that takes not more than 3-4 hours allow the person to maintain his/her hair look with no obvious sign of a surgery. The process is more gradual because we limit the number of grafts to four to five hundred at a time. The transformation is also more gradual and undetectable. That is exactly what most celebrities prefer and choose. The celebrities enjoy the benefit of minimal interruption to their eventful lives and not a drastic change in their appearance.  Each person may need to repeat this procedure a few time based on the extent of the balding area or the desired density.

Of course this new approach is not limited to celebrities.  Celebrity FUE transplant is for anyone who wants to enjoy the benefit of a healthy head of hair with minimal downtime and scarring. Whether you opt for a single procedure or our unique Celebrity FUE Hair Transplant we are certain you will like the new you after your hair restoration process.

Many times patients ask us if we did a certain celebrity’s hair transplant.  Of course the answer is always: “we could not tell you even if we did”.  We are pleased at our distinguished list of celebrities and executives who have advanced their self image with hair restoration and hair transplant surgery through our Beverly Hills and Los Angeles hair transplant centers.

However, for some celebrities we can say for sure we did not perform a hair transplant.  One of them is Jerry Seinfeld.  I am personally a big fan of Jerry. Enjoy his stand up and still laugh at his syndicated series on cable. Recently, I could not help but notice the change in his hairline in a posting for his Vegas stand up show and in other PR images.

I guess noticing significantly receded hair lines comes with the profession. I asked myself, why a celebrity like Jerry Seinfeld has not taken advantage of the permanent natural look that modern medical hair transplants provide.

Today’s hair transplants are done seamlessly. They are virtually undetectable to most people including their personal stylists.  People who are known for their great hair are especially benefiting from taking action through early hair restoration intervention eliminating the gradual change that concerns many people.

Psychological studies clearly demonstrate that most people feel better having a good head of hair. Today’s hair restoration advancements means a natural, proven and permanent solution is an option in which many people can benefit.

At US Hair Restoration, we are proud that we have helped many celebrities with their receding hairline or overall thinning of hair. They now can continue to take advantage of their youthful hairline in their lives and carriers.  What makes celebrities special is that a hair loss that might be considered normal variation as of maturation of hairline for others can be a life changer for their careers.  We have done full hair restoration surgeries for celebrities or used an innovative approach that allows them to continue working with little interruption in their lives while restoring their hairline gradually.  We call this novel technique: “Celebrity FUE Transplant”.

Recipient sites are the very fine incisions made in the balding scalp to receive the follicular unit grafts extracted from the donor hair of the permanent zones of the scalp. Hair transplant surgeons utilize variation in technique when making of these sites during hair transplant surgery.

The use of ‘premade sites’ and the termed ‘stick and place’ have been used harmoniously in hair transplant surgeries for years.  In our practice at US Hair Restoration centers we primarily utilize pre-made sites rather than stick and place. This is because in our perform a substantial number of ‘Gigosession Hair Transplants’ and the use of stick and place would unnecessarily prolong the procedure; while also increasing the duration in which grafts are out of the body. Recently, we have started to making recipient sites even before removing the grafts in many of our hair transplants (strip and FUE). We do this for two important reasons:

1. Making the sites before hands minimizes the time that grafts have to stay out of body and technicians can start implanting grafts as soon as we are done with removing the grafts (in FUE cases or strip procedures).
2. There are some evidences that an incision (wound) that is made a few hours earlier contain more growth factors and would healing associated cells than a fresh wound.  So we can assume that the process of healing is already started by the time we are inserting the grafts. This can accelerate the healing of the transplanted grafts. (1)

It is important to recognize that the best hair transplant surgeons incorporate surgical techniques and procedures that are best suited to the success of a particular patients surgery.

1. View Reference Here

FUE Hair Transplant Update – 2012

Hair transplant technology has made strong advancements over the past decades. The latest technology of hair restoration makes medical hair transplant procedures an option for most men from all walks of life. Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) is a method in which hair follicular units are removed individually rather than taking a strip of the scalp and dissecting it into follicular units.

FUE transplant has been around for over 10 years along with strip hair transplant surgery.  Each one of these procedures has their own advantages and disadvantages. The truth of the matter is there are many hair restoration centers which may promote one method vs. the other, strictly because they are capable of performing it.  They may lean towards recommending FUE hair transplant as oppose to strip follicular unit transplantation.

Who is a good candidate for FUE transplant?

If performed correctly, FUE transplantation is a great solution for some hair loss sufferers, especially those with minimum hair loss or those trying to avoid a linear scar on their scalp.  We also use FUE for people who suffer from significant pain or other donor complications with previous strip procedure, and those with violated donor area for which removing more hair through strip is impossible.

Why strip hair transplant is still more popular?

Most of hair transplant surgeries in America are still done through strip (FUT) for many reasons.

•  Strip hair transplantation gives liberty to the surgeon to maximize the quality and viability of the hair follicles.  We anticipate some number between 1-5% as the highest for a trans-section of hair follicles.  This is because the grafts are all harvested under 3-D magnifications with stereotactic microscope.
• In FUE cases patients may have a high transection rate, meaning that some of the grafts are cut or damaged in the process of graft harvesting and may never grow into healthy hair.  The transection rate might be very low in most people, with an average of 0 to 10%. However, in some people it might be significantly higher based on their hair’s characteristics. For example, people with curly hair are at higher risk of transecting their hair grafts even with current techniques. A FOX Test could be done in for people that we expect high transection rate.  The FOX test can determine the patients who are not good candidates for FUE procedure.  The FOX test is a small FUE transplant that determines the levels of a transection before the actual FUE transplant.
• In FUE Transplantation, we can harvest – 1500 to 2000 grafts in one session.  Sessions larger than that may keep hair grafts outside of body for a long enough period of time to jeopardize the grafts’ survival. US Hair Restoration Centers in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles has conducted studies that lead to better determination of how long a graft can be viable inside scalp after punching and before completely extracting them.
• These days, we have several methods, such as trichophytic closure, to minimize the visibility of the strip transplant linear scar.

Undecided between FUE transplant and strip FUT?

At the end we recommend you to do your homework before choosing one way or another then find a good hair transplant doctor who is capable of offering both these techniques.  He or she can walk you through your best options.

 Why have an FUE Transplant Procedure for Hair Restoration?

Mohebi Medical, US Hair Restoration centers are leading clinics in hair transplants. Their southern California offices receive questions daily via phone or online regarding the latest advancements and technologies in hair restoration. Parsa Mohebi, MD an internationally recognized leading surgeon and researcher in hair restoration leads the medical team at the clinic. We receive calls almost daily regarding hair restoration through hair transplantation.  We are often queried regarding Follicular Unit Extraction [FUE] hair restoration surgery.

FUE Hair Transplant

There is a lack of clarity for some people regarding FUE and FUT hair transplant surgeries. Mohebi Medical, US Hair Restoration centers specialize in performing both types of surgery for hair restoration. Though Strip Method, a form of FUT hair transplants is by far the most common surgery performed; FUE procedures offer certain advantages.

FUE hair transplant surgery is a form of hair restoration. This medical procedure should absolutely be performed by a Board Certified medical doctor. FUE stands for Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE.)  FUE is a method to remove hair follicular units individually. The other method used in modern hair restoration involves taking a strip of the scalp and dissecting it into follicular units. FUE is a particular type of FUT hair restoration surgery.

Based on a patient’s consultation and microscopic scalp evaluation, and FUE hair transplant may be deemed the best choice. At our Los Angeles based centers we do not have a preference for a type of hair transplant surgery. Mohebi Medical maintains a patient centered practise Doing what is best for the patient.  FUE transplants are great solution for some people.

FUE transplantation is a viable solution for many hair loss sufferers, especially those with minimum hair loss or people who really want to avoid having a scar on their scalp. FUE is also a good choice for people who suffer from significant pain or have low pain tolerance. There may be other specific medical reasons base on a person’s medical history that makes FUE transplant the best choice for them. At times we choose FUE to correct issues arising from poor surgeries done elsewhere.

Below are some more facts regarding FUE hair transplant surgery:

FUE transplantation, we may harvest up to 1500 in one session.

• FUE procedures for patients needing more grafts than 1500 should be done in another session.
• FUE allows for donor hair to come from other areas of the body; this is helpful when scalp donor hair cannot yield the number of grafts needed.
• FUE is a great choice for other cosmetic options such as restoring eyebrows and hairlines
• FUE transplant are an optimum choice for scar revision in the scalp when most often only a limited number of grafts are needed.
• The cost of FUE is higher since it is more labor intensive and requires more specialized artistic skill.

In properly considering and FUE transplant, it is recommended to having an evaluation by a hair transplant surgeon who is skilled in both FUE transplantation and strip method before you decide which procedure is right for you. Our firm provides online video consult for our patients globally.

Often times we at US Hair Restoration receive questions about the difference between the FUT Strip Method and the FUE procedure. Some will make claims that one option is superior, while the other is inferior. Both hair transplant techniques are done in US Hair Restoration and have their own adavntages and disadvantages.  Here is a list of reasons supporting both the strengths and weaknesses of the FUT Strip Method and the FUE:

The FUT Strip Method

• Allows the hair transplant surgeon to transplant a larger number of grafts in one session. Most people who have never had a hair transplant surgery can have maximum results in only one procedure.

• Allows the surgeon(s) to process and harvest the grafts under a microscope minimizing the level of damaged hair follicles.

•  Can be achieved at a more rapid speed than the FUE.

• What can be achieved in one FUT strip procedure can take 2-3 FUE surgeries.

• The number of damaged grafts might be greater for certain patients which undergo the FUE procedure because of their unique hair characteristics. People with wavy or   curly hair may have a higher risk of transection than patients with straight hair. A FOX test may be performed on patients with curly hair or wavy hair to determine whether or not they make good candidates for an FUE procedure. A FOX test is a small FUE procedure which helps to determine the level of damage to follicular graft before proceeding with a complete FUE transplantation procedure.

• The FUE requires more tedious labor and the cost for performing an FUE is usually more than a strip hair transplant.

• FUE procedures require a highly skilled operator and create a technical challenge for less experienced technicians who don’t have good hand-eye coordination.

The majority of the patients which receive a hair transplant with the strip method are going to have a linear scar on their donor area.  This scar can be minimized with certain surgical techniques such as the trichophytic closure, but it can never completely be eliminated. FUE hair transplant procedures offer unique advantages for differing patient circumstances.

FUE Procedure

• The scar visibility is slightly noticeable to completely non-existent with the FUE.  It may leave some miniature spots because of a lack of hair in that particular area or de-pigmentation, like a small dot which is lighter when seen close up.

• Hair can be kept short after the Hair Transplant surgery in front and back.  Any types of spots or de-pigmentation are not easily detectable.

• There is minimal pain for most patients and they don’t need pain killers after their hair transplantation.

• The surgeon can get donor hair from different parts of the body which the strip method has limited areas to take from. Areas such as the temples, beard and other body hair is included in this.

• The surgeon can choose the specific type of grafts to harvest.  When a special type of follicular unit is needed, this option is very good because the surgeon can choose the exact number of specific grafts to transplant. This is great for touch up work on the frontal hairline which needs single hair grafts, or for filling an isolated crown balding spot that does not require any singles.

• The contrast between high hair density and bald areas can be decreased by the FUE. Restoring hair in a scar only needs hair added to the scar, and the FUE would help to minimize the contrast between the scar and the surrounding areas more easily.

Despite of all above advantages and disadvantages about the two methods discussing them with a good hair transplant surgeon is a good starting point to find out what it the best option for you.