Question:

What’s the difference between the Strip method and FUE (follicular unit extraction) for getting the donor hair?
Answer:

First and most importantly, I make sure my patients understand the greatest limit to any hair transplantation is that there is a fixed and limited amount of good genetic hair that we can transfer to the balding areas.

With that in mind, I explain that no matter how experienced the surgeon, when I remove the donor area with either method, I am removing it blindly (i.e. – I can not see under the skin until after the donor tissue is removed). The problem is that I can not see if the follicles have been damaged or transected until after it’s been removed. So it’s best to have as little tissue as possible exposed to any device removing the tissue.

With the strip method, we minimize the amount of donor area being exposed to the risk of damaging hair follicles while obtaining the donor hair. With F.U.E., the patient no longer runs the risk of having a linear scar on the back of their scalp, but there is a significant increase in the amount of surface area being blindly dissected and with that a significant increase in potential damage to the hair follicles.

While I use both methods to obtain donor hair, I make sure the patient understands the risks and implications of both and I help the patient make an educated decision.

Paul J. McAndrews, MD
http://www.hairgrowthdoctor.com
IAHRS Recommended Hair Transplant Surgeon