NeoGraft hair transplant is an automated variant of the Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) technique that helps in both the extraction and implantation of the hair grafts.
Since it’s a machine, its manufacturers claim that it’s more efficient and allows this procedure to be performed more quickly and safely.
And while anything that sounds “high-tech” makes for a good sales pitch, is a NeoGraft surgery really better than a traditional FUE hair transplant?
This question is especially important because this surgery may come with a bigger price tag and can be twice as expensive as an ordinary transplant. In this guide, you’ll learn more about a NeoGraft transplant and whether or not it’s truly worth it.
What Is NeoGraft FUE Hair Transplant?
A product of Venus Concept, NeoGraft essentially uses automatic equipment to perform hair restoration surgery.
It comes with a “pneumatic motor” – which works through the expansion of air inside the device – that controls the pressure for extracting hair grafts from the back of the scalp and then implanting them into the bald spots.
It should be noted that it’s not a robotic hair transplant. NeoGraft comes with hand-held devices that should be operated by the hair transplant surgeon.
It’s not much different from a classic FUE, and it would be more appropriate to call the NeoGraft system not a type of hair transplant but an advancement in the equipment technology for FUE.
It’s like a one-stop shop for the tools necessary to perform a hair transplant and eliminates the need to get them separately for each stage of the surgery.
For instance, a traditional FUE uses a motorised punch tool to extract grafts and then has the surgeon place hair grafts manually into the incisions (in the bald spots). But with a NeoGraft at hand, you get the tools for both in the same system.
How Much Does NeoGraft Hair Transplant Cost?
In the UK, NeoGraft’s cost might cost you £7,000 to £10,000 or more.
Because of the equipment used, you might be charged more than for a manual FUE surgery. Other factors can also influence the cost of this surgery, such as:
- Number of hair grafts (the balder you are, the more expensive it will be)
- Expertise and experience of the practitioner
- Location of the clinic
Even if you’re getting this transplant in Turkey, you may expect the NeoGraft hair transplant cost to be somewhere around £3,000 or more.
What Is The Average Cost Of NeoGraft Hair Transplant?
The average cost of NeoGraft hair restoration in the UK might be around £8,500. In contrast, a traditional FUE can cost £5,000 on average, so it can cost almost twice as much.
Also, since NeoGraft is a cosmetic procedure, you can get it on the NHS or via private insurance. You’ll have to pay for it privately, although a clinic might offer to set up a flexible payment plan for you.
Is NeoGraft Hair Transplant Permanent?
A NeoGraft hair transplant should give you permanent results. Like other hair transplants, it relies on “donor dominance,” meaning hair follicles are not affected by sex hormones, so they don’t shrink and cause baldness.
Hair follicles at the back of the head are curiously enough “androgen insensitive,” and even when they’re extracted from the back and placed in the front, they remain unaffected by the hair loss causing hormones.
As a result, you don’t lose these transplanted hairs, and they should remain with you for a lifetime.
Why Choose NeoGraft Hair Transplant?
If you don’t want a linear scar at the back of your head and want to recover sooner than you would with a Follicular Unit Transplant (FUT) surgery, you can choose to get a NeoGraft hair transplant.
NeoGraft might also be a good option for you if you don’t have a very dense donor area. That’s because the manufacturers of this device claim to have different mechanisms in place, like a “no-touch implanter” that can reduce trauma to the hair grafts.
As a result, the graft yield may be higher, which might give you better hair density. However, you should further discuss this with a board-certified surgeon and whether or not there are better options for you.
Is NeoGraft Hair Transplant Better Than FUE Hair Transplant?
NeoGraft is itself a type of FUE hair transplant, so it cannot be compared to it. It simply uses an entire system of tools to help in the extraction and implantation of hair grafts using the FUE technique.
Even the marketing for NeoGraft usually compares this system with an FUT hair transplant to show that it’s superior to that and not FUE. Follicular Unit Transplant (FUT) cuts out a piece of skin from the back of the head, which is why it leaves a linear scar and takes longer to recover from.
The fact that NeoGraft hair replacement is minimally invasive doesn’t leave a linear scar, allows for a quicker recovery and gives natural-looking results all comes down to the FUE technique, not because of how NeoGraft is.
Even though it’s an “automated” system, keep in mind that it uses a “hand-held” device, so how your surgeon uses it will determine how good or bad your results will be.
What Are The Disadvantages of A NeoGraft Hair Transplant?
There are two main disadvantages of a NeoGraft system:
- Its potential to be used by a technician instead of a surgeon.
- Its high cost
While automation is sold as the strength of this system, this very thing might be exploited by certain clinics to relegate the procedure to untrained technicians.
You must remember that it’s not a robotic hair transplant, and no matter how advanced this technology is, your surgeon needs to use it the right way to give you good results.
Other than that, even though there’s really no difference between NeoGraft and FUE, it just uses different tools from a classic FUE NeoGraft’s price may be needlessly high for you.
If you were shown before and after NeoGraft photos vs FUE, you might not even be able to tell any difference.
What Is The Procedure For NeoGraft Hair Transplant?
After your head is shaved, your surgeon will begin by administering local anaesthesia so you don’t feel pain during the procedure. After that, using the NeoGraft device, they will:
- Extract hair grafts from the back of your scalp.
- Create sites in the balding areas to place the grafts.
- Implant the grafts into those sites.
Your donor area will likely be bandaged afterwards. According to Venus, Neo FUE hair transplant can take anywhere between 4 to 10 hours – depending on the number of grafts you need (traditional FUE, on average, takes 6-8 hours).
Can a NeoGraft Hair Transplant Work?
NeoGraft hair transplant can work just as well as a manual FUE, provided you find an experienced surgeon. Since the device uses a different technology, you should find someone who has performed hair transplants using this machine before.
Additionally, you must ask the NeoGraft hair clinic if it’s a surgeon or an assistant/technician who will be performing the surgery. Although technicians do normally assist surgeons (it’s a time-consuming surgery), you should ask which part of the surgery will be performed by whom.
Make sure to check the licensing of the clinic as well, and for a better idea of the results (and how they differ from classic FUE), make sure to ask for Neograft’s before and after photos of previous patients.
Concluding Remarks
If you’re thinking of getting a hair transplant, it’s quite likely that you’ll come across a bunch of different techniques and technologies. NeoGraft is just one of them.
Although it seems very unique and promising, it’s simply a new technology that uses the FUE technique to redistribute hair grafts on the scalp. While there may be some advantages to it, it’s not exactly fair to say that it’s better than FUE since it’s itself that.
No matter where you’re getting a hair transplant from, make sure to do your research. More than anything, the experience of your surgeon is important in ensuring permanent, natural-looking results, and to be sure, check the FUE NeoGraft before and after pictures.
