FUE Hair Transplantation technique, which is written with Follicular Unit Extraction abbreviation, started to be used instead of FUE hair transplantation technique in 2004. The Fue technique, which describes the way the hair follicle is taken as a word, defines that the hair follicle is taken one by one. The first goal in the FUE technique is to transfer the most follicular graft in a short time in the most natural way. This operation is performed in the hospital operating room, under sterile conditions, under local anesthesia.
After the decision for hair transplantation is made, the transplantation process is carried out in 3 stages.
1. Stage: Personalized Design and Hairline in Hair Transplantation
Before the front line planning is made, hair analysis is performed and thus the patient is decided how many grafts will be transplanted.
Making a personalized hair design is the most important stage of the hair transplant operation. It is planned how to do hair transplantation with designs made from various angles on the face. The shape of the person’s hairline, that is, on the forehead, and the temple areas are also designed. Determining the hairline in hair transplantation is the most important factor affecting the success of the operation. While designing and drawing this line, the opinions and wishes of the person to be transplanted are also taken into consideration. Because it is the most important stage that makes the hair look natural after the transplantation process. The part of the hair formed around the face should be indented and sparse and dense in accordance with the face. The hairline, which does not progress in harmony with the face around the face, can cause an unesthetic appearance and can cause quite discomfort to the person.
The front line, which is pulled back day by day due to hair loss, is redesigned with the hair transplant method. It is wrong to set a standard frontline line for each person. For this, various factors such as the person’s facial structure, hair structure, age or gender should be taken into account. The aim is to determine the most ideal hairline for the person’s face.
While drawings made with the opening in the temples create the front line, people with soft lines are usually symbolized as a U shape or more oval, while triangular front hairline shapes such as M or V can be drawn for people with hard lines.
The age of the person and the planning of hair transplantation are very important. When planning a hair transplant for a person in their 25s and a person in their 40s, the characteristics of their age should be taken into account. We will need to plan the number of hair grafts and the front line by calculating the possibility of hair loss in the future of the person who will have a transplant at the age of 25. If this planning is not done, a very uncomfortable situation may arise in the future for the person who has a hair transplant.
Finally, a haircut is made and the person is made ready for the operation.
Stage 2: OPERATION
The surgeries must be performed by expert teams in the hospital operating room.
*LOCAL ANESTHESIA “anesthetizing the donor site”: The entire head area of the patient who is placed face down is disinfected with a batikon. The donor area (usually the nape of the neck between the two posterior ears) is anesthetized with local anesthesia so that it does not feel any pain during graft collection. During local anesthesia with the help of very fine-tipped needles, the patient may feel a slight pain.
*GRAFT REMOVAL: The effect of anesthesia is 10 to 20 minutes. It can vary from person to person. Afterwards, graft removal begins. Grafts are taken by preparing millimeter diameter, sharp tubular tips called “micro-punch”. In this process, a device called a micro motor is used. The graft removal process with the micromotor takes place quickly with small strokes. The tubular sharp ends of the micro-punch create circular incisions of 0.6 mm – 0.8 mm in diameter around the follicles containing the hair follicles. In this way, the hair follicles, which are ready to be removed in a short time, can be easily collected with the help of the micropen-set, a surgical tool similar to tweezers.
The most important point in this process is that the most suitable size of punch tips should be preferred according to the bristle thickness.
The photo above shows the condition of the newly completed donor area.
* PREPARING THE COLLECTED GRAFTS: The grafts are carefully separated from the excess tissue and fat layer and placed one by one on the gauze in a special solution. In hair transplantation operations, which are long-term micro-surgical operations, one of the most important reasons for the hair follicles to be kept in their natural state by holding on to the new planting point is the most accurate storage of the hair follicles separated from the head tissue, where they are nourished and protected, until the time of transplantation (approximately 2 to 6 hours). Hair follicles are mostly stored in saline solutions that we call “serum”.
Greft
Hair follicles are found in the graft as single, double, triple, quadruple and quintuple. The graft, which contains the hair follicles collected from the donor area of the person, is a piece of tissue.
*GRAFT COUNTING: It is one of the most curious and unreliable issues of people who have their hair transplanted. “I wonder what is the truth that I was told 4000 grafts?” The question is one of the questions that occupy the mind. Since the number of grafts collected from the donor area will be opened in the area to be transplanted, it is extremely important to count the grafts correctly. Multiplying the hair follicles on the protective pads in which grafts are placed, from left to right and from top to bottom, shows us how many grafts are in each pet. People who have their hair transplanted can calculate the number to be transplanted very simply by means of these petri dishes.
* CANAL OPENING PROCESS: After 30 minutes of hair drawing and cutting, approximately 3 hours of local application and graft extraction-sequence are performed. The person who is treated lying in the prone position is placed in the supine position in this procedure. The area to be planted is anesthetized with local anesthesia. Since it is a procedure performed with very fine-tipped needles, the pain is minimal. The numbness in the skin lasts for 15-20 minutes.
Channel opening is the most important stage of hair transplantation. The right angle and natural appearance of the transplanted hair starts with the channel opening phase. It is possible by experienced specialists to open channels at the right depth in the previously planned angle and direction.
There are 3 important points in the channel opening process.
1) Channel width and depth: The size of the channel opening tool to be used is determined for the condition of the hair structure. While some people use 0.6 pins, some people can use 0.8 pins.
2) Channel angles: Placing the hair at the right angles is the most important factor that ensures naturalness. The angles that the hair will make with the head surface are calculated by considering the existing hair and hair opening.
3) Channel Directions: Placing the channels to be opened in a similar way to the aspects of the person’s hair before shedding allows the person to shape their hair in accordance with their original appearance in the future.
The secret of being successful in these 3 important points mentioned above is the experience of hair transplantation, the number of patients transplanted to date, the correct calculation and manual dexterity. How is channel opening done?
Two different techniques are used in hair transplantation operations, namely Lateral Slit and Percutaneous. After the hair follicles are collected from the donor area, the area to be transplanted is anesthetized with local anesthesia. Afterwards, the channel opening technique required by the hair transplantation method to be applied to the patient, which is finalized at the preliminary interview stage, is applied.
Today, 2 techniques are applied in the channel opening process.
Lateral Slit: It is the most widely used technique. It is also easier to achieve the natural result in the Lateral Slit technique, which allows channel opening at small angles. Although it is usually applied using steel-tipped blades in hair transplantation procedures applied with the FUE technique, it can also be applied with sapphire-tipped blades. It is one of the methods that leaves no trace. In DHI hair transplantation; Channel is opened using Choi.
Percutaneous Technique: In the Percutaneous technique, which is more laborious and long-lasting compared to other techniques, the channels are opened in a round shape using special micro-tipped needles. Since the opened channels are at the micro level, they do not leave any traces.
Which technique will be applied is determined according to the hair structure of the person.
* TRANSPLANTATION OF HAIR ROOTS: At this stage, the transplantation process starts after the number of grafts and the channel is opened. The hair follicles, which have been prepared for transplantation beforehand, are placed in the slots opened one by one with the help of “micropen-set”. The important point in the transplantation process is to hold the grafts correctly with the micro-set and to place them according to the opened canal length. Incorrect holdings and placements can damage the roots. This affects the result. Therefore, experience is the most important issue in hair transplantation. It is an operation to be considered at every stage. After the transplantation process is completed, the procedure is completed by making the necessary dressing and bandage of the person.
After the opening of the canals, the roots are placed with the sowing forceps.
3) AFTER OPERATION:
The first 3 days are very important for the person who has planted. Because the roots are very new where they are transplanted and need to be protected.
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Therefore, this area should not be touched with water, sexual intercourse should not be performed, it should not be scratched and hand contact should be avoided. At least 1 day of rest is recommended.
You can remove the bandage applied to the intake area at home after 24 hours.
It should be protected from particularly hard knocks and impacts. The sleeping position should be on your back, and playing on the phone, spending time on the computer, etc. such actions should be avoided. The purpose here is to prevent facial swelling.
During these 3 days, prescribed drugs should be taken regularly. Heavy and tiring work should be avoided. For the first 3 days, it is necessary to avoid the contact of the hair transplant area with the sun. If you need to go out; a hat or umbrella made of soft fabric that will not pinch your head should be used.
Plenty of water should be consumed. It will be beneficial not to consume alcohol, tea, coffee and cigarettes during the first 3 days.
On the 3rd day, it is washed with a recommended shampoo with plenty of water without pressure without rubbing, and this washing is done in the same way until the 10th day. After the 10th day after hair transplantation, the hair is started to be washed by gently massaging with fingertips. Hair dryer should not be used for 2 months on the transplanted area. It should be dried with a towel.
Between the 10th and 15th days following the hair transplantation, the crusts resulting from the procedure should be shed. If there are non-shedding crusts; During washing, it should be poured with the help of massage without forcing too much.
It is necessary to avoid activities such as heavy sports, Turkish bath, pool, sea and excessive sun for 1 month.
It is a natural process for the transplanted hair strands to fall out within 2-3 weeks. After 2-3 months, the hair that will start to grow again will become visible and will gradually reach the desired position after the 6th month. Generally, the desired result is obtained in the 8th month. Sometimes, supporting this process with PRP, mesotherapy treatments and supportive vitamins produces better results. The hair that can be shortened with scissors for the first 3 months after hair transplantation can be shaved after 6 months.