Although many different methods are mentioned, hair transplant is essentially grouped under two headings: FUE and DHI.
What is the best method in hair transplantation?
Which method do I choose, will my hair grow more naturally?
Does FUE leave scars? Using DHI will I get less transplant?
What is the latest technology?
Which one is painless?
…..
These are similar questions we hear from everyone thinking of getting a hair transplant done.
None of these methods are obsoletely better than the other. They both have their own advantages and disadvantages. They are better to use in some circumstances.
Now, let’s talk about the advantages and disadvantages of both by mentioning their separate features.
Similarities between DHI and FUE Hair Transplant
First of all, similarities: The implementation of both hair transplant methods start the same. In both, your donor area is shaved. So, the promise that “we will not shave your hair at all” is not at all right. Whereas, in DHI hair transplant, the head is not shaved (only the donor area) completely. Only the donor area has to be shaved. Anesthesia is the same for both. Graft collection in both methods has to be done exactly in the same way.
Now the differences:
The difference between DHI and FUE starts with the canal opening.
In FUE, canal opening is performed for all grafts before the transplantation. So first, the canal opening for the collected grafts will be done. Your doctor will open as many canals as the number of collected grafts. In our system, your doctor will use a special tool called sapphire. With the special tools the team will place the grafts in the opened canals.
In DHI, there is no special canal opening process. The canal opening and placement is done at the same time. DHI is performed with special pens which have different ends. Hair canal opening and graft placement are done in one go using these pens. First your collected grafts are placed in these pens then the doctor will use the pen to open the canal and place the graft inside.
So how do these differences affect the end results?
- Shaving of the transplant area:
DHI helps to place grafts among the other hair, thus does not require to shave the head. In FUE this is not possible. But in both methods the donor area has to be shaved. - Number of grafts that can transplanted:
Due to the speed of the process, the number of grafts to be placed with DHI is limited compared to FUE. With DHI, only up to 3500 grafts can be transplanted at one time. This means that, if the bald area is too much, unfortunately, the results of DHI operation will not cover all… We generally recommend this procedure for the patients who need low grafts or for those who want to get a denser second hair transplant or for women. In FUE in one operation if the donor area is rich enough, we can transplant up to 6000 grafts.
- Being the best or latest one:
As DHI was discovered later than FUE, it left people with the feeling that DHI was a better, advanced technology. But, this is wrong information. Both have their own unique features for personal needs. These features never made one better than the other. If we are talking about a technological development for hair transplantation, FUT, which was used in the past, is, today, replaced by FUE. Only small clinics use this outdated methodology. So FUT is 100% replaced with FUE. But DHI did not replace FUE. It comes as an additional technique for special needs. The system of hair transplant Turkey is constantly being renewed to perfect the end result. The latest system to use is “4 in 1”. With this method the quality of the grafts increase, there is no scarring, bleeding is minimal, we can transplant up to 60-100 hair per cm2 and up to 6000 grafts on the patients whose donor area is suitable. - Hair looking more natural:
Several people claim that DHI can result in a more natural hair look. They base this point of view on the fact that the hair direction can be defined in DHI and not with FUE. This is completely wrong. The hair growth direction can be defined in both methodologies perfectly, if the teams are experienced enough. This is proven at least by our +40.000 patients. When we compare DHI and FUE end results, we do not observe any difference. - Price:
Due to material and people’s needs being much higher in DHI, the price of DHI is a bit higher than FUE.
To Summarise:
So,
– In DHI, only the donor area is shaved, there is no need to shave the hair completely.
– It is possible to transplant up to 3500 grafts at one time in DHI. Using FUE it can reach up to 6000 grafts.
– There is no quality, naturalness or any other difference in the end result.
– One methodology is not better than the other.
Which one to use for you?
In short, both methods of transplantation were developed based on the patients’ conditions and needs. You can only get the most accurate information on this subject by consulting an experienced and qualified hospital, with doctors’ interpretations based on the hair photos you have taken. But we can give you a general guidance:
- If your hair is long, you do not have any bald areas and your aim is to increase the density of your hair, choose DHI.
- If you have bald areas on your head and you need to cover wide areas choose FUE.
Our doctors will help you to decide based on your condition.
