What is the difference between FUE and DHI?

The day has finally come. You have finally decided to undergo a hair transplant, although now you have to choose the technique that best suits you to recover your precious hair. Don't worry, we can currently find several of the most innovative and effective methods that provide an absolute guarantee to recover your original hair.

The most popular methods today are those used by hair transplant specialists in Turkey known as DHI and FUE. But what difference is there between them? Are we talking about similar concepts or are they different things? 

DHI technique

This technique is one of the newest. It is the abbreviation in English for “Direct Hair Implantation” or, what is the same, Direct Hair Implant. It consists of carrying out a direct extraction of the hair follicle to be placed on the bald area. This procedure is carried out one by one, with the immediate implantation of the follicle, to improve its grip and prevent it from deteriorating.

The DHI technique allows the follicle to be positioned at the desired angle and direction, as the procedure is individual and therefore more specific than some other methods. Likewise, this technique does not require any complex surgical operation. It is very simple and you do not need to make incision holes.

One of its main advantages is that, being a manual and meticulously measured procedure, it is easier for specialists to place the follicle at the desired depth so that its adhesion is superior and, therefore, increases the resistance and hardness of the hair. Likewise, it is simple to carry out. In fact, patients do not even need to shave their heads before starting the procedure, so they can continue their life normally the next day. Plus, it doesn't cause pain or require hospitalization the next day.

Something that we can read in this article specialized in hair grafts through the DHI technique is that the recovery time after undergoing this type of treatment is usually quite fast. What's more, they explain that after a few days the implant is practically imperceptible. However, they recommend that we go to doctors to make our diagnosis and specify which method is the most appropriate for us depending on our skin and our degree and type of baldness.

FUE technique

This technique is also one of the most used by hair surgery specialists in Istanbul. In fact, it is very similar to the previous one - although with some variations that we will now specify. The FUE method comes from the abbreviation in English "Follicular Unit Extraction", which translates as Extraction of Follicular Units.

As with the prior art, the extraction of the hair follicles is done individually and manually. However, and this is the main difference with respect to the DHI technique, once the extraction is carried out, they are not implanted directly, but instead pass to a cultivation area where they are sterilized and preserved. This is done to ensure its viability and improve resistance, discarding those hair follicles that are useless. Likewise, a process of preparation of the recipient area is carried out in which the grafts are inserted. For this, small incisions are made in the scalp using a sterile needle.

Actually, the surgical procedure is very simple. Likewise, although the procedure is slightly different from the previous one, the results in both cases are usually very satisfactory. In addition, it does not cause pain or need hospitalization. However, it is essential that a previous shave of the head is carried out in order to start the procedure.

Normally the hair follicles that are going to be grafted in the bald area are usually extracted from the lateral and posterior area of ​​our head. The recipient area, in general, is usually the top of the head, although hair can also be transplanted to the beard, mustache, sideburns or eyebrows. It is a very specific technique that provides great results.

Some clarifications about DHI and FUE techniques

As we mentioned, both techniques are very effective and practically do not have any drawbacks. However, in the case of the DHI technique, the number of hair follicles that can be implanted is less than 3000, so it is usually only used in localized areas, while the FUE technique is applied to large areas affected by baldness. The main disadvantage of the latter is, however, that, by requiring cultures of hair follicles, the procedure is usually slower than the former.

However, both in one and the other, the recovery is usually quite fast. It usually takes a few days and you only need to apply a lotion on the scalp to avoid infections and for our hair to grip well.