Dr. Alan Bauman of Boca Raton FL has announced that he is now publicly performing the Follicular Unit Extraction procedure for hair transplant patients; the latest in Hair Transplant surgery techniques...
A new trend in Hair Transplantation is beginning to take root, so to speak, in
a select group of transplant surgery centers here in the United States. The only
published version of this procedure was first announced by Dr. William Rassman
of the New Hair Institute, and soon after, Dr. Jones of Ontario Canada announced
that his practice would be performing the procedure as well. HairlossTalk met
Dr. Alan Bauman at the ISHRS conference in Chicago last month, and today Dr. Bauman
has announced to us that he too has begun offering this alternative Hair Transplant
procedure to the public.
What is FUE?
In a nutshell, Follicular Unit Extraction allows the extraction
and transplantation of individual hair follicles without use of a scalpel. Traditional
FUT (Follicular Unit Transplantation) involves the excision of a strip of hair-bearing
skin from the back of the head, from which individual follicles are harvested
and then transplanted to the front of the head. Although this method is currently
one of the most successful means by which to perform a hair transplant, it can
sometimes lead to scarring, and an extensive post-surgery healing period. FUE
is a method by which a very small instrument is used to extract the follicle directly
from the back of the head, eliminating the need for removing entire portions of
skin - - theoretically reducing the healing time, and doing away with the need for stitches.
Dr. Bauman is likely one of the youngest and most progressive transplant surgeons
in his field. He has been featured on CNN, and his enthusiasm for being one of
the best is obvious. Dr. Bauman has been keeping HairlossTalk apprised of
his recent delving into the world of FUE procedures. To date there isn't much
in the way of published statistics surrounding the FUE procedure, such as follicular transection and the percent survival
rate of transplanted units. Additionally there is some disagreement among
surgeons as to whether or not this method is actually less traumatic or more successful than standard strip incision methods.
Dr.
Bauman
We had a chance to talk to Dr. Bauman about his recent decision to begin offering
Follicular Unit Extraction to the public. We are happy to be able to share his
thoughts with you on this new and somewhat intriguing evolution in the world of
hair transplantation:
"I've had good success performing the follicular extraction procedure. It
is time-consuming and requires serious concentration on my part, but it's working
better than my expectations. I'm very particular about the patients I offer the
procedure to, because the numbers of grafts from each harvest are much smaller
than my traditional megasessions. My typical follicular-unit micrografting session
is about 1800-2000 grafts, whereas my FUE procedures range around 500 grafts each.
Before we perform a full-blown FUE procedure, all patients must undergo a 'test'
procedure (similar to Rassman's "fox test") which entails a few dozen
extractions under 'painless' local anesthesia using The Wand, which takes about
two hours. If the viability of the majority of the grafts extracted can be verified
via magnification, the patient can then be scheduled for a 'standard' FUE procedure
(500 grafts or so), which takes up to 5-6 hours.
Healing from the FUE procedures are rapid, significant post-op discomfort is extremely
rare and multiple sessions can be performed in a short time span (patients can
undergo sessions several sessions in a single month). Of course, there is no visible
scarring in the donor area and no stitches are needed. Patient selection is key
as each patient must understand the limitations of the procedure (# grafts/session,
shaved donor area, the need for multiple procedures, increased expense, etc.)
as well as the benefits (no visible scarring, minimal activity restrictions, decreased
downtime, highly aesthetic results, etc.)."
Dr. Bauman is located in the Boca Raton, Florida area, but accepts patients from
all over the country (and the world for that matter), so if you are interested
in getting more information, we encourage you to contact Dr. Bauman directly at
doctorb@baumanmedical.com.
Private, Virtual consultations may also be set up via the same Email address.
The convenient and flexible payment plans that Bauman Medical offers to its traditional
transplant patients also applies to all FUE procedure patients. Travel options
are available that cater to those on a tight budget as well as those interested
in the Luxury Travel and Accommodation's found in their "Therapeutic Travel Packages.
(For more information on the Therapeutic Travel Packages, please see the CNN Video
Clip above).
