FUE and FUSS Combined - How to prevent interaction?

Hair Transplant
1

I want to go in for FUE with one doc and then for strip with another doc in the future.

What donor areas are best to extract the hairs during FUE process so that it doesn’t take away from the hair availability for future strip? In other words, I want to have strip in the future with maximum hair availability.

Any suggestions?

2

» I want to go in for FUE with one doc and then for strip with another doc in
» the future.
»
» What donor areas are best to extract the hairs during FUE process so that
» it doesn’t take away from the hair availability for future strip? In other
» words, I want to have strip in the future with maximum hair availability.
»
» Any suggestions?

The obvious answer is to have the stip surgery first.

3

» I want to go in for FUE with one doc and then for strip with another doc in
» the future.
»
» What donor areas are best to extract the hairs during FUE process so that
» it doesn’t take away from the hair availability for future strip? In other
» words, I want to have strip in the future with maximum hair availability.
»
» Any suggestions?

do not have a strip at all.

you are putting yourself in a situation where you will never be able to shave your head.

also do not have a hair transplant if you are under the age of 35 or you are norwood 5 or above.

4

» » I want to go in for FUE with one doc and then for strip with another doc
» in
» » the future.
» »
» » What donor areas are best to extract the hairs during FUE process so
» that
» » it doesn’t take away from the hair availability for future strip? In
» other
» » words, I want to have strip in the future with maximum hair
» availability.
» »
» » Any suggestions?
»
» The obvious answer is to have the stip surgery first.

I’ve considered that but makes no sense doing strip for 500 grafts. And you can’t keep doing strip as you no longer will have the elasticity should you need a HT again in the future. FUE first maxed out and then strip last, wouldn’t you agree?

5

» »
» » The obvious answer is to have the stip surgery first.
»
»
» I’ve considered that but makes no sense doing strip for 500 grafts. And
» you can’t keep doing strip as you no longer will have the elasticity should
» you need a HT again in the future. FUE first maxed out and then strip
» last, wouldn’t you agree?

I guess, if you only need a small session now then you could continue chasing any progression of hairloss with small FUE sessions until you are maxed out and then go for a strip. If you take that approach then you may as well just go for it without protecting the eventual strip zone.
I need a large session at least, and like yourself would like the strip doctor to be different to the FUE doc.

6

»
» I guess, if you only need a small session now then you could continue
» chasing any progression of hairloss with small FUE sessions until you are
» maxed out :slight_smile:

…and stop right there! NO need to get a strip after that. It’s false economy. All you do is stretch the scalp to cover the stripped out area which thins out the coverage anyway. Also, a strip scar is harder to hide if you have thinned out the donor. You can thin out your donor to 50% if it is done well and that should get you nearer to magic five-figure mark.

But the first part of this advice is excellent IM(unhumble)O. Do many FUEs over a long period of time. ala Steven from BHR - (do as he does, not as he says!!)

7

» »SEE MY EDIT - I tried editing but it timed out (45 minutes) Edit is in red color]
» » I guess, if you only need a small session now then you could continue
» » chasing any progression of hairloss with small FUE sessions until you
» are
» » maxed out :slight_smile:
»
» …and stop right there! NO need to get a strip after that. It’s false
» economy. All you do is stretch the scalp to cover the stripped out area
» which thins out the coverage anyway. Also, a strip scar is harder to hide
» if you have thinned out the donor. With FUE color]You can thin out your donor to 50% if it
» is done well and that should get you nearer to magic five-figure mark.
»
» But the first part of this advice is excellent IM(unhumble)O. Do many FUEs
» over a long period of time. ala Steven from BHR - (do as he does, not as he
» says!!)

8

» » »SEE MY EDIT - I tried editing but it timed out (45 minutes) Edit is in
» red color]
» » » I guess, if you only need a small session now then you could continue
» » » chasing any progression of hairloss with small FUE sessions until you
» » are
» » » maxed out :slight_smile:
» »
» » …and stop right there! NO need to get a strip after that. It’s false
» » economy. All you do is stretch the scalp to cover the stripped out area
» » which thins out the coverage anyway. Also, a strip scar is harder to
» hide
» » if you have thinned out the donor. With FUE color]You can thin out your
» donor to 50% if it
» » is done well and that should get you nearer to magic five-figure mark.
» »
» » But the first part of this advice is excellent IM(unhumble)O. Do many
» FUEs
» » over a long period of time. ala Steven from BHR - (do as he does, not as
» he
» » says!!)

9

» » »
» » » The obvious answer is to have the stip surgery first.
» »
» »
» » I’ve considered that but makes no sense doing strip for 500 grafts.
» And
» » you can’t keep doing strip as you no longer will have the elasticity
» should
» » you need a HT again in the future. FUE first maxed out and then strip
» » last, wouldn’t you agree?
»
» I guess, if you only need a small session now then you could continue
» chasing any progression of hairloss with small FUE sessions until you are
» maxed out and then go for a strip. If you take that approach then you may
» as well just go for it without protecting the eventual strip zone.
» I need a large session at least, and like yourself would like the strip
» doctor to be different to the FUE doc.

keep up with fue for now imo!!

10

I can see the appeal of the OP’s approach. He can take maybe 3 or 4000 grafts via FUE then he may think, “Hell, I have maybe 4000 grafts left but it looks like I need a helluva lot more”, in which case he can abort the whole process and not be left with a smiley. Plus, any decent FUE surgeon knows enough about strip to know where the strip would come from so they could leave it unharvested.

That said, if he’s determined to do both and he’s committed, it would make sense to get stripped out first. That way, the final appearance of the scar is known (so the FUE surgeon can not harvest around it so it’s easier to hide, if necessary) and any areas that have thinned because of the scalp being stretched can also be ignored, so FUE grafts are only taken from where they can really be spared. Doing FUE first does run the risk of thinning an area to the point where it’s just about okay, but then stripping and stretching the donor could push it over the edge to sparseness, by which time it’s too late to do anything AND you have a strip scar to think about.

So there’s advantages and risks to both approaches. Depends on his NW level. At the end of the day, to be safe, I’d go with, “Is it possible for strip to give me the result I want?” If yes, then go for it. Those extra FUE graft will be a nice bonus on top of that. But if he’s just trying to max out his graft numbers because he’s a high NW, he could be taking quite a large gamble by getting a scar AND thinning his donor which would be a real lose-lose situation.

11

Just re-read the OP’s post. You only need 500 grafts? I wouldn’t consider any kind of HT for that number. You’ll just end up chasing it and when will the time come to switch from FUE to strip, if you’re just putting in a 1000 or so wherever you need it?

And by the time you’ve chased it with FUE your donor may not even yield much for strip anyway.

Then again, that’s the reason I’ve never had a HT. When to start?

In some ways the NW5s and 6s are in the best position because they know what they have to play with and can design a plan accordingly. But then of course, they have to get to NW5 or 6 in the first place (which if you can afford a HT through the whole demoralising process is just frustrating and annoying) and they also have the grief of not being able to hide the fact that they’ve had a HT. You can’t go from being “the bald guy” to being Jotronic or Bobman and say, “Oh, I’ve just grown it out” when people start to notice…