The FUT method is one of the earlier types of hair transplant surgery developed in the 1970’s. It is much more rarely used nowadays when compared to the newer FUE method and out surgeons have not used this method in several years, so much so that we no longer offer it at our My-Hair UK clinics.
The difference between the newer FUE and the earlier FUT method - standing for Follicular Unit Transplantation, centres around the method that the hairs are extracted (as the grafts once extracted are implanted in an identical way). With FUE the hairs are removed from the scalp individually with a tiny micro punch leaving just a small dot, whereas with FUT the surgeon cuts a strip of skin from the donor area horizontally from ear to ear in the donor area across the back of the head. This strip is usually 1-1.5cm tall, and the skin is then stitched back together where the strip was taken from. This results in a very obvious scar where new hair does not grow. As this method is much more invasive than FUE it requires more recovery time and more care. The scar itself can be hidden if the patient grows long enough hair in the donor area to cover it but with shorter hairstyles being more prevalent in men then a lot of the time the scar remains obvious, and cannot have grafts transplanted into it to hide it as there is no blood supply under scar tissue so new grafts generally do not take there. A quick google image search of FUT scars gives a good indication of the appearance of the scar to expect, with quite a variation depending on the skill of the surgeon to produce as neat a result as possible.
Once the strip of skin is removed the hairs are separated into individual follicular units before being implanted. The benefit of FUT is that you can get more hairs from a small donor area as you are effectively taking every hair from the skin section that was removed, rather than FUE where you only take a small percentage of the overall number of hairs from the donor area, so if the patient is planning on keeping a longer hairstyle, has a limited donor area and does not mind the scar it may provide more available grafts if they are prepared to accept the longer recovery times, but for the majority of patients FUE will give a superior result, with much less scarring and a faster recovery time.
If you are considering a hair transplant, then start by arranging a free consultation with us at My-Hair UK by clicking the button below for a confidential chat with an expert.