Crown Clinic‘s surgeon Asim Shahmalak is often asked by male patients whether they will need more than one hair transplant.
Men have one of two hair transplant procedures at the clinic – either FUE (follicular unit extraction) or FUT (follicular unit transplantation), better known as strip harvesting.
FUE, the technique favoured by celebrities such as Calum Best and Wayne Rooney, is the more modern and more expensive technique. Hair follicles are removed individually rather than cut out in a surgical strip as in the FUT method (favoured by Channel 4 doctor and Crown Clinic patient Christian Jessen).
Only a small minority of patients had FUE five years ago but that is not the case any more and most men prefer FUE. It leaves less scarring and more men seem happier to pay a little bit extra.
But the big question we are asked after men have gone to the expense of having a transplant – will I need another one?
There is no hard and fast answer to that question. It is best answered with the words: not necessarily.
It is worth remembering that hair loss is a continual process. Just because you have had a hair transplant does not mean that a patient will not continue to lose their natural hair. What will remain permanent is the hair that is moved in the transplant.