The difference between the 2 methods is essentially in harvesting the roots from the backside of the head and the method of grafting and the final outcome of both methods in the area of hair loss (recipient area) is comparable. We now strongly believe that FUE except for its higher cost is superior method than the FUT (Strip method). There are basically 2 methods of Hair Transplant: (1.Strip Method 2. FUE- stitch less method) both are surgeries. Although you may read that FUE is scar less surgery no method is without scar but the scar of FUE is so tiny that even with buzz cut it is usually easy to hide, which is not the case with strip surgery,

5-10 % of people undergoing Strip Procedure in spite of the best techniques and educated judgment by the Doctor across the world, may encounter problems due to stitches. They are Foreign Body reaction, delayed absorption and spitting of stitches, stitch abscess or infection, give way of one or more stitch, Hematoma etc. Widened scar or Tramline multiple scars. Tightness of scalp, Painful scar, long term parasthesia or reduced sensation above the linear mark. Even trichophytic closure may encounter problems such as abnormal hair direction of hair growing through the scar besides cyst formation, some loss of hairs, more inflammation and discomfort, ingrown hair etc. Fortunately most of these problems are treatable and are not of serious nature. FUE does not have stitches and therefore avoids all such problems.

Majority of Strip surgery gives discomfort in the donor area for 3 days to 3 weeks. Some may have more pain and require painkillers. Majority of FUE patients  have pain free recovery. Some occasionally some FUE patient may have hypersensitivity of the donor area for a few days period. All these symptoms are temporary nevertheless.

Most doctors use absorbable stitches that do not need removal. Some doctors use staples and some doctors use Non Absorbable stitches and both need to be removes by 7  to 14 days and patient needs to visit the doctor for that, This may add to their expenses and time out of work. Stitches are more painful post operatively. compared to FUE,

Patients who have multiple scars of previous surgeries, who have tight scalp to begin with or who had scalp reduction procedure in the past may encounter more problems in strip procedure due to difficulty in closing the wound after strip removal and there is high chance that the scar may stretch out to become wide. FUE is ideal procedure for this situation because the scalp tension is not increased but as it has been shown in one study that FUE may in fact reduce the scalp tension and strip closure may be facilitated if FUEs are taken around the strip removal area.

Due to the Minimally invasive nature of FUE the incidence of Shock loss is believed to be less in donor area compared to that in Strip surgery with more invasive nature

In a low-density donor area (more common in Orientals and Africans) uneducated and concentrated extraction from one area higher number of FUE extraction can make some people feel donor area thinning.

Well most of the time Strip surgery can be managed without shaving of the entire donor area unlike in the case of FUE only the selective shaving of the strip area is required this area can easily be hidden by other hairs on the top. < 500 to 700 grafts by FUE can be managed by selective shaving in the donor area, which can be hidden (Video of FUE in Unshaven head by Dr. Mahadevia in our blog.

Generally Strip surgery donor area is closed with Absorbable stitches and the stitches get dissolved in about 3-4 weeks and there may be some feeling of discomfort esp. when sleeping. The healed wound strength is achieved by 2-3 weeks and until then heavy physical activities like Gym, swimming, sports, sex and exercise like yoga are restricted. The healing of donor area in FUE takes usually in 4-6 days and because of no stitches activities are resumes by 3-4 days usually                                  

It is said that Strip procedure is more efficient in taking more number of central donor hairs in one session. Well on the other hand FUE is more efficient in harvesting selected hair follicles with higher number of hairs. FUE can allow selection of fine hairs for the very front hairline softening and naturalness. FUE can also make it possible to select single hair follicle for eyebrow, temple point and hairline reconstruction. Long hair transplant for eyelash reconstruction may only be possible by strip method. Strip surgery cannot avoid useless miniaturized hairs unlike FUE method. FUE can extend the donor area to Body hairs as well and a large pool of Beard, chest and other hairs become accessible and therefore practically endless hair supply is available by FUE method unlike the restricted supply of 5000 to 7000 grafts by strip method.

It is said that Strip procedure has lower transaction rate compared to FUE but as a matter of fact transaction rate of strip surgery has never been studied where as transaction in strip procedure can occur at strip harvesting , at slivering, at cutting individual grafts and also during trichophytic closure. More over slivering and cutting which involves major part of procedure is done by trained technicians of different skills and doctor can not really monitor 100% or have control about quality and transaction rate in spite of the best available technology. At a given time 5-15% of hairs on the head are in Telogen exogen phase of cycle and the later does not have hairs so in strip method these follicles are not located and these follicles simply go to dustbin. On the other hand majority of the transacted follicles by FUE method have some stem cells still preserved in the donor area and therefore the hair is not permanently lost but may grow back. In strip surgery 80% job is done by assistants. 20% by Doctors where as in case of FUE 80% work is done by Doctor. FUE transaction rate may be high if the doctor is undertrained or unwilling to spend more time.

Because the grey or white hair against same coloured tissue is practically impossible to distinguish even under the best microscopes the transaction rate of white hairs by Strip method is very high. FUE on the other hand works on the manual feel technique and not on the tissue colour visualization and therefore does not have any additional disadvantage of having white hair because the transaction rate does not go up.

In Strip surgery in spite of the prior density calculation the surgeon may end up harvesting excess grafts, which may be wasted, or he may fall short of the required number. In FUE one can expect to have the desired number of grafts accurately. As mentioned before in Strip method it is practically impossible by doctor to monitor and control all steps by so many assistants who do 80% of the job where as in FUE procedure all important jobs are done by Doctor therefore control or monitoring of assistants is not an issue.

It is said that Strip procedure is more efficient in taking more number of central donor hairs in one session. Well on the other hand FUE is more efficient in harvesting selected hair follicles with higher number of hairs. FUE can allow selection of fine hairs for the very front hairline softening and naturalness. FUE can also make it possible to select single hair follicle for eyebrow, temple point and hairline reconstruction. Long hair transplant for eyelash reconstruction may only be possible by strip method. Strip surgery cannot avoid useless miniaturized hairs unlike FUE method. FUE can extend the donor area to Body hairs as well and a large pool of Beard, chest and other hairs become accessible and therefore practically endless hair supply is available by FUE method unlike the restricted supply of 5000 to 7000 grafts by strip method.

It is said that Strip procedure has lower transaction rate compared to FUE but as a matter of fact transaction rate of strip surgery has never been studied where as transaction in strip procedure can occur at strip harvesting , at slivering, at cutting individual grafts and also during trichophytic closure. More over slivering and cutting which involves major part of procedure is done by trained technicians of different skills and doctor can not really monitor 100% or have control about quality and transaction rate in spite of the best available technology. At a given time 5-15% of hairs on the head are in Telogen exogen phase of cycle and the later does not have hairs so in strip method these follicles are not located and these follicles simply go to dustbin. On the other hand majority of the transacted follicles by FUE method have some stem cells still preserved in the donor area and therefore the hair is not permanently lost but may grow back. In strip surgery 80% job is done by assistants. 20% by Doctors where as in case of FUE 80% work is done by Doctor. FUE transaction rate may be high if the doctor is undertrained or unwilling to spend more time.

Time of the FUE procedure may be 2-3 times more and the doctor does majority of the procedure personally and therefore the cost of FUE is more than that of strip procedure

Strip procedure even if has Trichophytic closure of donor area leaves a linear mark and does not permit short hair style which is necessary in some vocations and very popular this days. FUE does have tiny marks but they are so small that even with the Buzz cut in the donor area they do not show up.

Because of minimally invasive nature of FUE procedure the loss of blood is much less compared to Strip method. Although even in the major strip procedure blood loss is never as much so as to be life threatening.

Because of its minimally invasive nature FUE is always the better option for smaller procedure like scar revision or Brow restoration etc.

Because of the slimmer grafts of FUE they need to be kept immediately in saline (or preserving medium) because they can easily be dehydrated if left exposed to atmosphere compared to Strip grafts that has protective fat cover so are more robust compared to FUE grafts.

Although Body Hair Transplant; is not widely used but they do grow when scientifically used. They may grow longer compared to their length in the donor area but their other characters such as thickness, colour, texture, curl etc. is maintained. (Rule of Recipient Co Dominance). Usually FUE is the only technique used for BHT harvesting because Strip harvest will leave an unsightly scar.

Contrary to the common logic FUE may be a better technique for females. Although most females do not allow shaving of the head; but most females do not require high number of grafts and therefore selective shaving in the head is possible and one can avoid thin area on the side but can selectively harvest more hairs by harvesting multi hair Follicular Units. Strip surgery may not have the advantage of this selective picking.

Rather than going by the wrong publicity by media and few doctors I would like to initiate some scientific views for FUE as a method of 1st choice for future of HT compared to Strip procedure:
The difference between the 2 methods is essentially in harvesting the roots from the backside of the head or other Body Donor areas. The method of grafting and the final outcome of both methods in the area of hair loss (recipient area) is more or less comparable. We now strongly believe that FUE except for its higher cost is superior method than the FUT (Strip method) for the patient. There are basically 2 methods of Hair Transplant: (1. Strip Method 2. FUE- stitch less method) both are surgeries. Although you may read that FUE is scar less surgery no method is without scar but the advantage is scar of FUE is so tiny and even with buzz cut it is usually easy to hide.