Further development of FUE with short graft storage phases: Intermittent FUE hair transplant in several stages
In conventional FUE hair transplantations – especially at cheap discounters, or so-called “hair factories” – 4000 grafts or even more are often removed in a single day at very high speed in one step. The grafts are stored outside the body for a long time until the final insertion, which can be associated with the increased risk of a hair transplant with reduced growth rate.
Intermittent FUE hair transplantation is the further development of FUE hair transplantation with the aim of achieving the highest possible growth rate and reducing the overall hair transplant risks. The storage time of the grafts outside the body is deliberately kept very short. The grafts are removed in stages, intermittently (intermittent = “with interruptions”), i.e. for example, grafts are removed for 2-3 hours (e.g. 500-600 grafts or more, depending on the procedure), immediately afterwards the recipient openings are formed (e.g. 500-600 recipient openings or more, depending on the procedure) and then, in another 2-3 hours, the removed grafts (grafts/implants) are inserted into the recipient openings formed and then the procedure is repeated, the removal of grafts, formation of the recipient openings, insertion of the grafts etc. begins again.
The number of grafts inserted per day varies from clinic to clinic/hair surgeon to hair surgeon and varies with renowned FUE hair surgeons from only 1000 grafts to 1500/2000 grafts or even more per day (depending on the concept and also crucially depending on the individual situation, for example, is the hair in the receiving area shaved, yes or no, how severe is the bleeding, how hard or soft is the scalp, how well can the grafts be removed, or how easy/difficult is the formation of the receiving openings, is it a matter of thick/thin/smooth/curly hair, etc.).).
Video: Example of intermittent FUE hair transplantation
In the following video you can see an example of an intermittent FUE hair transplantation by Hairforlife cooperation doctor Dr. Lars Heitmann from Zurich, Switzerland.
Disadvantage of the intermittent FUE hair transplant: Higher costs due to significantly higher time expenditure, but an increasing price-sensitive clientele due to increasingly fierce competition
An intermittent FUE hair transplant ultimately means a significantly longer time and effort for the clinic/hair surgeon, which is also reflected in the costs. Consistently higher growth rates, significantly lower risks/complaint rates and ultimately higher customer satisfaction certainly justify intermittent FUE.
However, the number of low-cost providers is increasing dramatically. Due to their market dominance and suggesting that a hair transplantation is less difficult than a good tattoo and without problems even important surgical steps, or even an operation without a doctor and completely alone by inexperienced personnel can be carried out in a short time and without great care and attention (that this is a fatal misjudgement and therefore the number of failed hair transplants is increasing drastically, read here on “Failed hair transplants and negative experiences” ), the general clientele is becoming increasingly price-sensitive. However, if hair surgeons are forced to adjust their prices downwards, it will be difficult to maintain their quality concept with a significantly higher expenditure of time and work.
You get what you pay for: A high-quality and lower-risk intermittent FUE for those interested in hair transplantation with a sufficient budget
Even if a high quality intermittent FUE hair transplantation will always be in demand, it cannot be ruled out that in the future hair surgeons will abandon the quality concept due to the price pressure in order to be able to continue to exist on the market through lower prices.
An experienced FUE hair surgeon with the highest reputation will probably always find the appropriate clientele with a sufficient budget who is willing to invest more money for a significantly lower-risk FUE, but it can still be assumed that the market will continue to tighten and that hair surgeons may also change their concept due to the price pressure.
In the end, one should be aware that in most cases (there are certainly exceptions!) a higher price is logically justified (you get what you pay for!) and reduces the risk of regretting the decision for a hair transplant in retrospect.
Hairforlife will certainly continue to critically observe the development of FUE hair restoration!