Procedures

Hair Transplant

Automated Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) with NeoGraft replaces the traditional strip procedure.

While the strip technique has been the primary procedure done in the hair restoration industry for the last two decades, it is losing its appeal because of the invasive nature of the procedure. In the not too distant future, gone will be the days of a large linear scar across the back of the head, and all hair restoration procedures will be done with automated FUE.

Not many patients understand the actual strip procedure and the potential problems and complications associated with this method of hair restoration. It is also called Strip Surgery or FUT for Follicular Unit Transplantation.

The Strip Harvesting technique is the predominate method used in Las Vegas by the current physicians and large hair transplant franchises. With the Strip method, a linear section of scalp is excised from the back of the head using a scalpel and the wound is sewn together using staples or sutures. Next, the hair follicles or grafts, including their bulbs, are separated from each other into units of one to four hairs by the technicians and inserted into tiny slits in the balding area. The problem is that the consistency level is reduced when you have multiple technicians cutting grafts by hand. Possibility of graft transection is increased which further decreases the graft viability rate. The strip method is a traumatic procedure with more bleeding, a chance of nerve transection, longer healing times, greater chance of infection, long term "tight and numb" feelings, and a large linear scar that makes short hair styles undesirable. Women have concerns being able to pull their hair back with visible scarring that shows along the back of the scalp..

Traditional FUE is a manual hair extraction technique that relies on differing skill levels of each doctor or technician in a time consuming and technically difficult procedure to perform by removing the follicles one at a time using a punch tool. Because of the extended lengths of time needed to extract each follicle, only 500-700 grafts per session can be extracted, and the viability of the grafts become an issue. Manual FUE is much more expensive than the Strip Harvesting Technique and the number of grafts per session is greatly reduced because of the extended time involved along with physician and technician fatigue.