Individual Follicular Unit Extraction (IFUE) & Body Hair Transplant (BHT)

IFUE: In Individual Follicular Unit Extraction relatively large area in the back and sides of the scalp is shaved to approximately 1-mm in length. Instead of removing a single strip, as in FUHT, In this hair restoration procedure, a 1-mm punch is used to make a small circular incision in the skin around the upper part of the follicular unit. Then these follicular units are extracted, one-by-one at a random pattern, directly from the scalp. The tiny wounds are small enough to be left open and heal on their own, which takes about a week.

Follicular Unit Hair Transplantation (FUHT) and Individual Follicular Unit Extraction (IFUE) are sometimes viewed as being two totally different procedures. IFUE, in fact, is a type FUHT where the follicular units are extracted directly from the scalp, rather than being microscopically dissected from a strip that has already been removed. To say it another way, in Follicular Unit Hair Transplantation, individual follicular units can be obtained in one of two ways; either through single strip harvesting and stereomicroscopic dissection, or through IFUE.

Therefore, when comparisons are made between FUHT and IFUE, what is really being compared is the way the follicular grafts are obtained (i.e. strip harvesting and dissection vs. direct extraction). The harvesting method does have other implications for the procedure such as the transection (damage) rate, distribution of follicular units, number of grafts per session, post-op care and the total yield.

Because FUE does not leave a linear scar, it is used for patients who want to wear their hair very short. The procedure is also useful for those who have healed poorly from traditional strip harvesting or who have a very tight scalp. Possibly the most important application of this technique is to camouflage a widened linear donor scar from a prior hair transplant procedure.

Patients undergoing a Follicular Unit Hair Transplantation procedure can be tested for Individual Follicular Unit Extraction at the time of surgery, in the event IFUE may be needed in a future session.