What do people think about the direct hair implant procedure? I dont understand why everyone talks about strip when this one is less painful and more successful?? If anyone knows any downsides to it Id love to hear since it sounds too good to be true!

Which clinic is offering this technique? I have never heard of it. Sounds like it may just be another name for FUE.

Direct Hair Implant is DHI's title for their version of FUE that utilizes their DHI implanter:



-Robert

Hmmm... Interesting. How does the doctor know that the follicle is not damaged before implanting it again? Sounds like it is never visually examined.

quote:

Originally posted by zara:
What do people think about the direct hair implant procedure? . . . it sounds too good to be true!

Zara . . . you know what they say about anything that sounds too good to be true!

The whole concept reminded me of that hideous 'Medicamat' Omni-graft machine that appeared in 'Questions & Answers' forum sometime early October. I seem to remember the promise that some ghastly 'hand piece' would correctly insert your 'donation' at the correct angle - "without being touched by human hand" (I suspect from that statement, that hands from other life forms could be called upon, after the technician has dozed off?)

If this method is better than your surgeon personally positioning and setting every one of your thousands of grafts in a deliberately angled slit that is created to complement your hair growth pattern - then I'll plait soot!

Keep reading Zara . . . your future 'quality of life' depends on it.


Regards and good luck

Also with FUE the survival rate of the grafts arnt great compared to the strip method.

Damo

Exactly Damo. I think that is because of follicle damage upon extraction. It is imperative that the Doctor examine the follicle after extraction to insure its viability.

This device is a gimmick. Top doctors today take 3000+ follicles, examine them, trim them and place them in your head and practically all of them survive and grow. There is no valid reason for using a device like this.

The device isn't a gimmick. It's DHI's answer to performing their version of FUE at a faster rate.

Every physician that performs FUE procedures has their own custom punches that remove the grafts. DHI just happens to place their technique on their website for view by those interested in the technique.

-Robert

Well, its big selling point is that it is a "no touch" method that helps prevent damage to the follicle. Maybe gimmick is too strong a word, but graft handling in the top clinics is not a problem. So this device is not necessary for that and could even be a detriment to graft survival based on less visual inspection of it. If a doctor extracts an FU from me, I want it inspected to make sure it is intact and trimmed properly. Not inserted directly into my scalp with some kind of plunger.

I was dead set on going to DHI for FUE before I found out the facts. 1st, the survival rate of the grafts are MUCH lower with FUE than strip. 2) The Dr. can't always tell if a follicle is damaged before implanting. 3) On curly hair, liek mine, it's very hard for the instrument to go deep to grab the follicle without damaging the root. Take into consideration the extra time involved since they can only do approx 500 grafts per day & the high cost, that, for me, it wasn't worth it. Hell, forget the cost. I didn't want to risk the low graft survival rate & risk of damage to the precious few hairs I had left in the donor area. I can see FUE being a good choice to fill in a scar, but for large sessions, it didn't make sense to me.

Guys, I'm not "pro-FUE" or "anti-FUE" or anything like that. In case you didn't know, I had a strip procedure done. Like Qwert, I am in the opinion that FUE has its place but huge sessions isn't that place. That is my opinion.

I am just giving you the facts that I know about DHI. They have some happy patients that post here fairly regularly in testament to them. If you don't agree with their procedures, don't go to them. Gorpy, you are happy with your procedure with Dr. Keene and I know that Qwert is happy thus far with his procedure with Dr. Hasson. If DHI patients were complaining about either of those physicians and/or their instruments I would ask them to cool it as well.

-Robert

I appologize if I was too hostile in my comments. I do however believe it is good to debate the pros and cons of certain techniques. Sometimes hair transplantation companies can get carried away, over-hyping a device. That's especially true if they've spent large amounts of time, money and effort developing it.
I think it is clear that the problems with FUE lie in the extraction process. Many doctors are trying to develop new devices to facilitate this and that's a good thing. The insertion process is, on the other hand, state of the art.

Hey guys,

The implanter is not new. We have a whole drawer full of them along with a bunch of other things we have "tried" and discarded. It is not the "punch" instrument used for the extraction, it is an implanted that is loaded with the grafts. The problem with it is hydration control and as someone else already pointed out; it would be very hard to know if you damaged it.

Ailene

Thanks Ailene. A little open debate and information sharing is a good thing.