FUE hair transplant in Turkey is the individual harvest of follicular unit grafts using a sharp metal tube called a ‘punch’. Small punch holes are left behind at the donor area which heal on their own within a few days. The most important determinant of the quality of FUE is the training and surgical skills of the surgical team.
The FUE technique was introduced in the hope of preventing the linear scar in FUT and provide a ‘scarless’ method. However, the graft excision sites do heal leaving small scars which may be visible as either white dots or hairless spots on close examination. Although it is not true that FUE is a scarless technique, the scars can be close to invisible on a hairy scalp when performed with a good technique.
People who have hair loss problems wanted to have hair transplantation with the FUE technique when they learned that the FUE technique did not leave scars. Therefore, the FUE technique has been preferred for many years.
The main challenge when doing FUE is to prevent significant hair follicle damage by the punch, which is called the ‘follicle transection rate’, FTR. Although FTR is widely neglected by unprofessional clinics, it is a very hot topic at scientific meetings. FTR is significantly increased when the surgeon is inexperienced; it takes a lot of practice to reduce it to an acceptable level. Dr. Karadeniz made a presentation on this topic at the 2013 Annual Scientific Meeting of The International Society of Hair Restoration Surgeons (ISHRS) in San Francisco. In unprofessional clinics the FTR can be up to 70%.
Another critical issue in FUE hair transplant is the proposed graft numbers. Some clinics offer very high graft numbers to attract patients whereas others believe much smaller numbers are safer. Most clinics that offer 5000, 6000, 7000 grafts know that the patients will never be able to find out the real graft number. In reality, 2000 grafts is considered a large number in FUE hair transplant by the scientific world if adjacent follicular units are not to be removed. In patients with a very good donor area 3000 grafts may be possible and extracting 4000-5000 grafts almost always means violating the safety zone. When very high graft numbers are harvested using FUE, some of the grafts are actually harvested from the nonpermanent areas, which means that these grafts will actually be lost in a couple of years. Adjacent extraction sites cause comminuted strip-like scars that may look much worse than an actual strip scar.
Another very important aspect is ‘donor hair economy’. Most clinics neglect the fact that the patient may need some donor hair to be used to fix future hair loss problems, especially in young patients. They take advantage of the patients limited knowledge and desire to get the most hair at that time and quote very high graft numbers. They not only increase their income but gain reputation as a clinic that gives more hair to their patients.
Another marketing tool in FUE has been promoting how small a punch the clinic uses. Punch sizes should be chosen according to each patients follicle characteristics and a punch internal diameter of 0.8 to 1.0 may be preferred to both lower the FTR while preventing unnecessarily large scars. Using a too small punch causes a very high transection rate and significant scarring due to more attempts at harvesting grafts.
Clinics that prefer using manual punches have recently been marketing this as a superior method over the motorized punch while no scientific data to date has been able to prove this claim.
The only way to make sure that all of these parameters have been taken care of with a scientific approach is to choose an experienced and honest surgeon who is dedicated to the field of hair restoration surgery.
In general, hair transplantation is called the process of transplanting the hair follicles taken from the area where there is healthy hair or no hair loss, which we call the donor area, to the area where the hair is lost.
There are different methods of hair transplantation operation. These are FUT, DHI, and FUE. FUT technique stands for Follicular Unit Transplantation. DHI stands for Direct Hair Implantation and FUE stands for Follicular Unit Extraction. Among these hair methods, today’s article is about FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction). Well, let’s come to FUE. What is FUE?
FUE is a hair transplantation method. In this method, medical knives with micro-tips are used. With these blades, channels are opened in the scalp. In these channels, the collected hair is planted. There are two types of knives used in the FUE method. These are called sapphire and metal slit blades. Operations performed with sapphire knives are called Sapphire FUE Hair Transplantation. The knives used in FUE are updated and developed in accordance with technology every day.
The FUE technique is highly preferred in Turkey. Why?
Due to its geographical location, Turkey is a country that can be easily reached by people living in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. It is a place that connects the Asian continent and the European continent, serves as a bridge between the countries and its nature is magnificent.
According to the research, Turkey is a highly developed country in the field of health. Since the number of tourists coming to Turkey is quite high, this health market is also heard by other countries. Plastic surgeons living in Turkey have developed themselves a lot, especially in hair transplantation and aesthetics. The medical devices used by clinics and hospitals in Turkey also depend on today’s technology, that is, the latest model devices are used. Therefore, too many people from other countries come to Turkey to benefit from the health system.
There are many natural beauties to be seen in Turkey. It is a country famous for its history. It is one of the rare countries that is covered with seas on four sides and where four seasons are experienced every year. Therefore, people prefer Turkey for a holiday as well as hair transplantation.
Compared to America and European countries, Turkey’s currency is more suitable. In addition, hair transplantation fees in Turkey can be sold as an “all-inclusive package” from time to time. People who want to save money prefer Turkey.
We have listed for you why hair transplantation is so popular in Turkey. Next up, we want to tell you how this operation is performed for people who want to have hair transplantation with the FUE method. For more information, continue reading our article.
A few weeks after the operation, there is a spill in the transplanted areas, which we call “shock loss”, but this is very normal. After a few months, your new and healthy hair will grow and start to grow.
You need to stop smoking and alcohol consumption at least 2 weeks before the operation. Do not take blood-thinning drinks or medications. This may cause excessive bleeding during the operation. If you have a health problem or if you have a medication that you use regularly, you should definitely tell your doctor. Do not use hair products that contain chemicals. However, apart from this information, you should talk to your surgeon about what you need to do.
After the hair transplantation is completed, there may be wounds and crusting in the places where the grafts are transplanted, there is no need to panic. These wounds and crusts disappear within a few days. The first 1 week after the operation is very important, go to your doctor’s controls.
Do not touch your hair for the first 1 week. Grafts boil to the hair follicles, grafts should not be damaged in order to get a healthy result. You should also avoid water contact. Be sure to use the medicines prescribed by your doctor. It passes the wounds and crusts that form on your scalp. Do not use any products other than the hair products recommended by your doctor. Do not consume cigarettes and alcohol for 2-3 weeks after the operation.
Not only hair transplantation, but every operation has certain risks. Don’t let them scare you. However, the risk ratio is small. So, what are these risks?
