Hair Transplant (FUE & FUT)

Chicago Hair Institute performs the full range of surgical hair restoration techniques under the direction of Dr. Raymond J. Konior MD FACS, a founding member of the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery. Procedures include FUE (follicular unit extraction), FUT/FUHT donor strip harvesting with trichophytic closure for minimal linear scarring, megasessions for large-volume graft transfer, eyebrow and beard transplantation, transgender hairline crafting, and corrective revision transplantation for patients with previous unsatisfactory results. All procedures are performed at the Oakbrook Terrace clinic west of Chicago.

Hair transplant surgery at Chicago Hair Institute draws on more than three decades of specialist experience led by Dr. Raymond J. Konior, whose practice is dedicated exclusively to hair restoration — an unusual degree of surgical focus that has made the clinic one of the most respected facilities of its kind in the Midwest. Dr. Konior is a founding member of the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. He has received Castle Connolly Top Doctor recognition for over 17 consecutive years. The clinic offers two primary surgical harvesting techniques. Follicular unit extraction (FUE) involves the harvesting of individual follicular unit grafts — typically containing one to four hairs — using a small cylindrical punch instrument. Because no linear incision is made, FUE leaves only small circular micro-puncture marks in the donor area that heal to near-invisibility, making it the preferred technique for patients who wear their hair very short or who wish to avoid any linear scar. Each session lasts three to eight hours depending on the graft count required. The clinic also offers megasessions of FUE for patients requiring high graft numbers in a single operative day. FUT (follicular unit hair transplantation, also termed donor strip harvesting or FUHT) involves excising a narrow elliptical strip of donor scalp from the occipital region, which is then dissected under stereomicroscopic magnification into individual follicular unit grafts. The donor incision is closed using the trichophytic closure technique, which allows hair to regrow through the scar line, significantly reducing its visible width compared with standard closure. FUT allows a larger number of grafts to be harvested in a single session with less transection risk compared to FUE and is preferred for patients requiring maximum graft yield. All harvested grafts are implanted using the lateral slit and stick-and-place techniques, which allow precise control over implantation angle, depth, and direction — critical determinants of the natural appearance of the final result. Graft placement is designed to recreate the natural hair growth pattern specific to each area of the scalp, respecting the transition from fine single-hair follicular units at the hairline to coarser multi-hair units in the mid-scalp and crown. The clinic also performs specialised procedures including eyebrow transplantation (restoring lost brow fullness using fine single-hair grafts placed at the precise angle of natural brow growth), beard transplantation, and transgender hairline crafting — creating a softened, feminine hairline position and shape for male-to-female patients. Facelift scar repair addresses visible scarring from prior rhytidectomy by transplanting hair-bearing grafts into hairless scar tissue near the temples and sideburns. Hair transplant revision treats patients who had prior procedures elsewhere with poor results — whether due to suboptimal graft placement, an unnatural hairline design, visible plugginess, or donor-area overharvesting — using a combination of corrective extraction, excision, and strategic re-implantation. Candidacy requires adequate donor hair density, age of 25 or older (to allow the hair loss pattern to stabilise sufficiently for long-term planning), and willingness to shave the donor area for FUE. Full results develop over six to eighteen months as transplanted follicles shed the transplanted hairs, enter a resting phase, and then resume active growth in their new position.