The recent success of British footballer Wayne Rooney’s hair transplant has created a worldwide buzz about hair transplant technology. The World Congress of Hair Transplantation held in Alaska, USA in September presented the mature hair transplantation technology to the whole world. I regret that I did not attend this congress, but I was able to obtain the congress materials from Dr. Hongbin Xie who went to the congress, and I was able to feel the enthusiasm of the congress. There are two types of hair transplantation techniques that are now implemented worldwide, namely FUT (Follicular Unit Transplantation) and FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction). These two techniques were discussed with great enthusiasm at this congress and the end result was a no-win situation, with both techniques having their own advantages and disadvantages. It is not possible to simply say which technique is best for a specific patient, it depends on the patient’s specific situation. It is best for the surgeon to combine his or her experience and the patient’s wishes to develop the most reasonable surgical plan. The FUT and FUE techniques refer to the method of obtaining hair follicles. Here is my summary of the differences and pros and cons of the two techniques. FUT technique Surgical method: A strip of scalp is cut from the occipital area and the incision is finely sutured. The scalp flap is processed by a follicular separator into follicular units containing 1-4 hairs. Features: 1. A large number of hairs are guaranteed to be obtained in the occipital hair dominant donor area, up to 3500-4000 follicular units can be obtained at one time. 2, The hair contained in each follicular unit can be controlled by the separator according to the needs of the procedure. For example, follicular units containing 1 hair are used at the hairline to make the hairline more natural, while follicular units containing 2-3 hairs are applied at the top of the head to make the hair thicker. 3. An experienced hair separator can separate hair follicles under direct vision to minimize follicular damage. There can be more than one hair follicle separator working at the same time to shorten the procedure time. 4. The surgery only requires shaving the hair on the excised scalp flap, preserving the surrounding hair, which does not affect the appearance after the wound is sutured, and the hair in the front hair loss area can be removed without shaving. 5. It will leave a linear scar in the occipital area, the scar is 1-4mm wide under normal circumstances, and the scar is very inconspicuous in the hair. Scope of application: This method is suitable for all people. However, there are very few people who have very tight scalp and are only suitable for very narrow scalp excision, otherwise the scar will be very wide after surgery, and such patients are more suitable for FUE technique. FUE technique Surgical method: The hair follicle unit is extracted from the occipital area by applying an electric hair follicle extractor. Advantages: 1. The hair follicles are extracted every 1-2 follicles, so the extraction will be very large, especially in a large number of extraction (more than 1500 units), sometimes more than the occipital hair dominant donor area, and the quality of the extracted hair will be reduced. However, some people have a wide occipital area, and the range of the dominant donor area available for extraction is large, and up to 3000 follicular units can be extracted. 2, FUE technology is to extract hair follicles under blind vision, because the texture of each person’s scalp is different, the degree of difficulty of extraction is different. Most of the extracted follicular units contain 1-2 hairs, and a few contain 3 hairs. 3. The follicular units extracted by FUE technique can be applied after a simple trimming by the hair follicle separator. The extraction of hair follicles is done by one doctor, and the extraction process is long, so the operation takes longer. 4. The area where hair is extracted needs to be shaved bald (only 1-2mm of hair is left), which is very suitable for male hair transplant. Extraction of more than 1000 units is not suitable for women, because basically no women are willing to shave off a large area of hair. 5.The surgery does not require open sutures and no stitch removal. After the operation, it leaves tiny dotted scar in the occipital area, which is relatively scattered, and the scar is not visible even if very short hair is left. Scope of application: For patients who want to keep very short hair after surgery and for patients who do not want to undergo FUT technique. Patients with fine hair are also not suitable for FUE.