FUE is an acronym that stands for a widely-used innovative hair transplant method. The letters stand for follicular unit extraction. This type of hair transplant method involves removing follicles of healthy hair from the scalp and singly grafting them into thinning or bald areas. Basically, then, you are uprooting follicles from one spot and transplanting them to another area.
A Less Painful Hair Transplant Method
Men who receive this treatment like the natural look they achieve. In addition, FUE hair transplants are less painful. As a result, the downtime after the transplant session is only about four or five days. Healing is dependent on the client’s skin type. Usually, patients are advised not to take part in sports for about week after a transplant session. Otherwise, you can take part in normal, everyday activities.
Where Hairs Are Grafted
Transplant therapies of the past involved removing whole strips of skin and grafting them to the transplant area. By comparison, FUE hair transplants are much less aggressive. Instead, individual hairs are removed from the back and sides of the head before being embedded in balding or thinning areas.
The hairs that are extracted are immune to the impact of DHT, the hormone that leads to male pattern baldness. Therefore, permanent hairs are frequently grafted from the back of the scalp. Once this hair is transplanted, it remains intact.
What to Expect
A regular FUE hair transplant takes about eight hours overall. Usually, before the end of a year, you will see about a 90% uptake in the amount of hair on your scalp. People who have undergone the hair transplant describe it as somewhat uncomfortable, but never painful. However, you do have to be a patient person, because boredom is likely to set in during the longer treatment time.
The prices for this type of transplant can vary, depending on the amount of hair that is to be transplanted. However, most people prefer to go to Cyprus for their hair transplant, as the cost is much more affordable there.
Making Cost Comparisons
When you compare the costs of having this procedure done in Turkey to having it done in the UK or US, the expense is manageable. The per-graft cost in Turkey figures to be around 1.5€ on average. Again, surgery costs factor in such components as the follicular units or grafts, the desired result, the amount of hair loss, and the characteristics of the hair. Compare the cost in Turkey with the average FUE price in the UK, which averages about 3.5€ per graft. This price is close to the average US cost of around US $3.70 per graft.
Therefore, a hair transplant that costs $5,000 in the US will cost about 2,000€ in Turkey. Transplants can range from $5,000 to as much as three times that amount. So, the highest amount you will pay in Turkey for a hair transplant will cost a little bit more than the lowest price paid for a hair transplant in the UK or US.
A Minimally Invasive Surgery
When you undergo a FUE procedure, you will notice that this type of hair transplant has some core advantages over older or now-obsolete surgeries. For example, the procedure is minimally invasive. The surgeon who performs the implant uses special instruments to extract the follicular grafts. The resulting wounds are very small, or about 0.7 millimetres in size. Compare this to older procedures that removed large strips of skin and produced wounds as large as 5 centimetres.
Because of the extremely small incisions on the patient’s scalp, this innovative transplant procedure offers greatly enhanced recovery rates. In order to begin the procedure, the surgeon cleanses the scalp before injecting a numbing agent at the back of the head.
Implanting the Grafts
During the FUE procedure, the surgery team will also shave the back of the scalp so the follicles can more easily be removed. The area will heal, displaying small dots, whilst the existing follicles recover. After grafting the follicles, the surgeon also cleans and numbs the implant site. Using a needle, he creates holes before inserting the grafts inside the holes.
If you want thicker hair or your hair loss continues, you may need to schedule a procedure at a later date. If you opt for a hair transplant in Cyprus, this added expense will not be as burdensome as it would be in the UK or US. By choosing a more affordable surgical option, you will also experience more treatment flexibility.
After the Surgery
Once you receive the grafts, you will probably need to take pain medications for several days. You will also need to wear bandages on your scalp for a couple days. An antibiotic may be prescribed as well.
After three weeks, the transplanted hair will fall out. However, you should see visible hair growth after about nine months. Like all surgeries, hair transplants do carry some risks. Sometimes an infection or bleeding occurs. However, if you follow the doctor’s advice for aftercare, this type of risk should be minimal at best.
Some of the Possible Complications
Around the time of regrowth, some patients may experience an infection, known as folliculitis. Compresses or antibiotics normally relieve this type of issue. You can also suffer from shock loss. However, this condition is temporary. Sometimes patients lose some of their original hair in the spot where the new strands were retrieved.
The overall FUE process is pretty well-defined and clear-cut. First, the donor area is prepared and hair grafts are extracted and prepared for transplanting. The follicular units are then placed by making small incisions in the recipient area. Each graft is strategically inserted, one at a time. The ultimate goal, at this point, is to optimise a natural look, cover the thinning, and add density to bald or thinning areas.
After placement, healing takes place. The tiny incisions that are created after extraction completely heal in several days. After six to nine months, you can expect your new hair to continue to grow and thicken. Whilst you have to go through a series of processes, you will find that they are all worth the effort.