An FUE hair transplant restores thinning or receded areas with your own hair, moved one follicular unit at a time from the permanent band at the back and sides of the head. It is the standard modern transplant method, it leaves no linear scar, and it is the only method we offer: every procedure at My Hair UK is an FUE, carried out in a single day under local anaesthetic at clinics in London and Manchester, with prices from £2,499 to £4,899.
Last reviewed on 31 August 2026. We review our treatment guides every six months to keep them accurate.
What Is an FUE Hair Transplant?
FUE stands for follicular unit extraction. Hair does not grow in single strands but in natural bundles of one to four hairs called follicular units, and FUE moves those bundles individually: each one is freed with a punch under a millimetre wide, lifted out whole, and placed into a site made for it in the thinning area. The technique is also written up as follicular unit excision, the name surgical bodies now prefer, but both describe the same procedure.
The donor hair comes from the band above the ears and around the back of the head, where follicles are genetically resistant to the hormone that drives male pattern baldness. A moved follicle keeps that resistance wherever it is placed, which is what makes the result permanent rather than a treatment you repeat.
FUE replaced the older strip method (known as FUT) as the default for UK patients because it takes follicles individually instead of removing a strip of scalp, so there are no stitches and no line to hide. The comparison is covered further down this page, and implanter-pen variations of the same idea are covered in our DHI vs FUE guide.
How FUE Surgery Works, Step by Step
The procedure takes one day, you are awake throughout, and only local anaesthetic is used. It starts with the plan rather than the punch: the new hairline is drawn on and agreed with you in the mirror, the area to be covered is mapped, and the graft number is confirmed before anything else happens.
The surgery itself runs in three stages. First is extraction: the donor area is trimmed short and each follicular unit is freed and lifted out individually. The tiny openings left behind close within days, healing into dot marks smaller than a millimetre scattered through hair that covers them.
The second stage decides how the result looks, and the surgeon performs it personally: making the recipient incisions. Every incision fixes the angle, direction and depth of one future hair, and a hairline reads as natural only when thousands of those decisions agree with the way your hair actually grows. It is the slowest part of the day for good reason.
The final stage is implantation, where the grafts are placed into those incisions: the finest single-hair units along the hairline, the larger bundles behind them for density. You leave the same day with a dressing over the donor area and a clear aftercare plan.
FUE Hair Transplant Costs in the UK
An FUE hair transplant costs between £2,499 and £4,899 at My Hair UK, depending on how many grafts you need. The price is confirmed at your free consultation and fixed before surgery, and it includes the procedure under local anaesthetic, your post-operative medication and aftercare kit, and in-person follow-ups afterwards.
Every price on the table is for the whole procedure. £2,499 is the minimum a transplant costs whatever the graft number, because what is being booked is a surgical day, with its team, its supplies and its aftercare, rather than the grafts themselves. Plans of 4,000 grafts and above run across two sessions. Our hair transplant cost guide has the full price list and what decides your graft number, and our UK vs Turkey comparison weighs what travelling abroad saves against what it risks.
Grafts | Typical Coverage | Price |
|---|---|---|
500 | Temple points or a hairline touch-up | £2,499 |
1,000 | A receded hairline | £2,899 |
2,000 | Hairline and frontal third | £3,699 |
3,000 | The front half of the scalp | £4,499 |
3,500 | The single-session maximum | £4,899 |
FUE vs FUT: The Difference, and Why We Only Offer FUE
FUT, the strip method, removes a narrow strip of scalp from the donor area, closes the wound with stitches, and dissects the strip into grafts under a microscope. It can harvest a large number of grafts in one pass, but it leaves a linear scar across the back of the head and a tighter, slower recovery in the donor area.
FUE takes the same follicular units without removing skin: no stitches, no linear scar, and a donor area that is presentable within days rather than weeks. Short haircuts stay realistic afterwards, which matters to more patients than any other single difference between the two methods.
We only offer FUE. For the graft numbers a surgical day can deliver, and for almost every pattern of loss we assess, it gives the same coverage without the permanent line, so there is no version of the trade-off we would advise taking.
Our FUT hair transplant page explains the strip method in full for anyone weighing the two.
The Surgical Team
The surgical team is what makes the difference on the day. The clinics’ five surgeons are all GMC-registered, with a minimum of 1,000 FUE hair transplant procedures each to their name. Between them the team handles complex cases, including Afro-textured and women’s hair transplants, hairline design and lowering, and revision work.
Manchester clinic
• Dr Khawaja Masood Munir: GMC 6122581.
8+ years’ experience, 1,400+ hair transplant surgeries.
• Dr Haider Gillani: GMC 8030796.
1,000+ procedures, with specific expertise in complex cases requiring detailed anatomical understanding.
London (Harrow) clinic
• Dr Mahdi Alosert: GMC 6168297.
20+ years’ clinical experience. Specialist in Afro-Caribbean hair and hairline lowering.
• Dr Shuaib Mir: GMC 7567898.
1,200+ hair transplant cases. BAAPS plastic surgery and RCS anatomy training.
• Dr Zakar Rafiq: GMC 6164032.
MBBS and BSc (Hons) from Imperial College London. Associate Member of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS).
You can meet the surgeon who will perform your procedure at your free consultation.
Who FUE Is Suitable For
Most male pattern loss suits FUE, from early temple recession to extensive loss across the front and crown. The practical limits are the donor area, which has to carry enough permanent hair to supply the plan without thinning visibly itself, and the single-session ceiling of around 3,500 grafts, beyond which a plan is split across two days.
Hair type changes the arithmetic rather than the answer. Very curly and afro-textured hair curves beneath the skin as well as above it, so extraction is slower and a surgical day yields 2,000 to 2,500 grafts; our afro hair transplant page covers how that changes planning. Women tend to lose hair in a different pattern from men and need a different assessment first, which our women's hair transplant page explains.
Where the loss sits shapes the design too: rebuilding the front is covered on our hairline and temples page, and thinning at the back on our crown transplant page. The same extraction method also rebuilds beards and eyebrows.
Recovery After an FUE Hair Transplant
Recovery is quicker than most patients expect. The donor dressing comes off after 24 hours, most people are back at a desk job within a few days, and the scabbing around the grafts lifts over the first ten to fourteen days.
From around week two the transplanted hairs shed. This is a normal stage rather than the grafts failing: the follicles stay in place, new growth starts around month three, most of the visible change arrives between months four and eight, and the result matures at twelve months.
Our recovery timeline follows every stage of that year in detail, and our guide to wearing a hat after a transplant answers one of the most asked early questions.
Recovery and Results Timeline
Recovery is mostly straightforward, with detailed aftercare guidance from the team to lean on at each stage. It’s faster than older hair transplant techniques, though the final result still takes time. A summary is below:
• First 24 hours after: Expect mild swelling and tightness. You leave the clinic with detailed aftercare instructions.
• Week 1: The donor and recipient areas scab naturally. No scratching, no heavy lifting.
• Weeks 2–3: Transplanted hair sheds. This is normal. The follicle stays in place while the shaft falls out before it regrows.
• Month 3: New growth emerges from the transplanted follicles.
• Month 6: Visible thickening.
• Months 9–12: Full density and final result.
More detail on each phase, including washing routines, sleeping advice, exercise limits and medication, lives in our detailed recovery guide.
Clinics in London & Manchester
FUE procedures run at CQC-inspected clinics in Harrow, north-west London, and in central Manchester, and every surgeon is GMC-registered. Consultations are free at both, held with the surgeon who would carry out your procedure, and cover your donor capacity, your graft number and your exact price. Details and directions are on the London clinic and Manchester clinic pages.
Book a free consultation at either city, or send a few photographs and we will tell you what a transplant could realistically achieve and what it would cost.
What People Say About Us
Read our independent My Hair UK Reviews on Reviews.io
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What does FUE stand for in hair transplants?
A: Follicular unit extraction. Hair grows in natural bundles of one to four hairs called follicular units, and FUE extracts those bundles one at a time with a punch under a millimetre wide, then places them into the thinning area. The same technique is now also called follicular unit excision.
Q: How much does an FUE hair transplant cost in the UK?
A: Between £2,499 and £4,899 at My Hair UK, depending on graft numbers, with the price fixed before surgery. The UK market ranges from around £3,000 to well over £10,000 for the same procedure, so it is worth comparing quotes on graft numbers rather than headline price.
Q: Is FUE better than FUT?
A: For most patients, yes. Both move the same follicular units, but FUT removes a strip of scalp and leaves a permanent linear scar, while FUE extracts follicles individually and heals into dot marks hidden in the surrounding hair. FUE is the only method offered at My Hair UK.
Q: Does an FUE hair transplant leave scars?
A: It leaves tiny dot marks, each smaller than a millimetre, spread through the donor area. At everyday short haircut lengths they are covered by the hair around them; only shaving the head very close would reveal them on inspection.
Q: How long does FUE surgery take?
A: A single day. Smaller procedures of around 1,000 grafts take roughly four to five hours, and the largest single sessions of 3,500 grafts fill a full surgical day. Plans above 3,500 grafts are split across two separate days.
Q: Is an FUE hair transplant painful?
A: The surgery itself is carried out under local anaesthetic and you feel pressure rather than pain; the anaesthetic injections at the start are the part patients notice. Afterwards the donor area is usually tender for a few days and settles with simple pain relief.
Q: How long does an FUE hair transplant last?
A: The transplanted hair is permanent. It comes from follicles that are genetically resistant to pattern baldness and they keep that resistance in their new position. The native hair around the grafts can still thin with age, which is why the design allows for future loss.
Q: When do you see results after an FUE transplant?
A: New growth starts around month three, the biggest visible change arrives between months four and eight, and the final density settles at twelve months. The early shed of transplanted hairs in weeks two to eight is a normal stage of that timeline.