The Strip Technique also known as Follicular Unit Transplant “FUT” has been the standard for hair transplantation for some years now. Helps both men and women suffering from male or female pattern baldness and it is still a great method of extraction in the correct hands, practised and used on thousands of patients around world wide. Strip has many advantages to the patient and only the real downside to this technique is the linear scar that remains in the donor area as to remove the hair a cut along the scalp has to be made and then sutures, the length depends on the density of hair in the area, the laxity of the scalp and then how many grafts are required for that procedure. Questions such as “What are the chances of the scar widening and becoming more visible” and “How long or short do I have to keep my hair?”

When performed to a good standard the width of this scar is very minimal, the patient has their own responsibility to follow the post operation instructions for wound healing to minimise the chance of stretch back also. With the advent of the Trichophytic Closure, a technique used to close when suturing hair now will grow back through the line making it even harder to detect and allow for shorter hair cuts.

The hair characteristics of the person can also have a part to play in how short hair can be kept, curly hair, straight, coarse or fine, and even the colour can all add to camouflaging the area, but it could be s aid that any hair length under 1/4” or #2 buzz clip may make the scar more apparent.

More recently the FUE technique has evolved, this is the extraction of each follicular unit one by one, so no linear scar, this is now available to minimise the scarring from Strip as hair can be placed along and around the linear scar to diffuse the look and camouflage even further. The scar is obviously still there but much harder to find and will allow the person to keep even shorter hair with the comfort and security the line cannot be seen. FUE has also opened the door to Body Hair being used and with experienced FUE hands BH can produce a high yield and become an alternative to having to use valuable scalp hair.