Carl B. Shory, MD, joined the staff of Latham’s Hair Clinic in 1981 and has been medical director since 1984. He is a graduate of Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama, and graduated from the University of Alabama Medical School in Birmingham. He completed his internship and residency at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

In 1985-86 Dr. Shory and his team were the first in the United States to employ full scalp coverage using follicular unit hair transplantation. This revolutionary technique was light-years ahead of the old standard hair transplant. No other clinic in the country employed this whole scalp FUT coverage until the early 1990’s.

Dr. Shory continues to bring this kind of excellence to his work in the 21st century by performing the “FUT PLUS” technique. Rather than making a slit in the scalp and jamming around graft into an elongated slit, a circle of bald scalp is removed and the graft is placed in a more physiologically correct position. In this way the hair grows out at the exact angle and direction of the surrounding hairs. In addition, bald scalp is actually removed and there is less scarring, dimpling and virtually no ingrown hairs. There is none of the “bouquet” effect where multiple hairs grow from a single hole, and the hairs grow smooth and straight.

The finished results can be washed, cut, combed, styled and look totally natural. In addition the procedure has been so refined that it is virtually painless, requiring no sedation and no bandages.

Because of the small size of the grafts, they can be placed within existing thin hair to thicken it, or, if so desired, the original hairline can be re-established.

The procedure is performed on an outpatient basis with the patient fully awake – sitting upright watching a favorite video, and it requires only two to five hours to complete. Afterwards the hair is styled to look no different than when the patient arrived at the clinic, and the patient can usually return to work immediately.






Welcome to Latham's Hair Clinic

Dr. Shory answers your questions about FUT, FUT PLUS
and FUE/NEOGRAFT

What are follicular units?
Scalp hair grows in small bundles of 2-4 hairs known as follicular units.

What’s FUT?
FUT stands for Follicular Unit Transplant. It’s the current term many are using for the traditional hair transplant procedure.

What’s wrong with a traditional FUT?
A traditional FUT involves transplanting a single unit of 2-4 hairs into a slit or slot formed by a large bore needle or a small scalpel blade. The downside of this method is that it does not remove any bald skin. In addition the slit does not leave adequate room for a round or square FUT to be properly inserted. The result is that the individual hairs in the FUT are crushed together. This often results in multiple hairs growing out of a single hole like a bouquet of flowers in a single vase. Also these hairs may exit the skin at odd angles or stick straight up or look frizzy. Sometimes this squeezing pressure on the graft can results in unnecessary scarring.

Why is the Generation II Follicular Unit Transplant or FUT PLUS better than the Traditional FUT?
FUT PLUS consists of a 2-4 hair graft being placed in a round hole. A small circle of blad scalp is removed resulting in a more physiologically natural growth pattern. The hairs grow at the proper angle and depth with no scarring. However, only about 2% of hair transplant surgeons perform FUT’s with this remove-the bald system.

If FUT PLUS is so much better, why aren’t more surgeons doing it?
Simply put, it takes longer. The extra step required to remove the bald circle or plug is more time consuming.

What about FUE, or Follicular Unit Extraction?
A lot has been written lately about FUE. This is not the same as FUT. FUE is an extraction method which cuts out hundreds of small round grafts from the donor site. This creates both scarring and destruction of precious donor hair. Donor grafts were actually removed this way in the 1950’s & 60’s. But we abandoned this method in 1991 in favor of the single strip donor method.

What is the single strip donor method?
The single strip donor method leaves only one narrow line in the donor area. No matter how many subsequent sessions we do there is still only one suture line, as we remove this previous line with each procedure.

Why is the single strip donor method better than FUE method?
The FUE procedure creates more and more scarring with each procedure. Skin on the scalp is under tension just like the leather on a baseball. The FUE procedure makes hundreds of small holes, which, because of the scalp tension, open up to 1 ½ to 2 times the size of the punch. The resulting scar leaves very thin hair in the donor area which is difficult to harvest further grafts from. This could easily be called the “Spread the Bald” procedure.

But the worst consequence of the FUE technique is the wanton destruction of donor hair. When grafts are cut with a rotating punch, the follicles are twisted slightly. In addition, when cutting from the surface of the skin, along individual hair shafts, down to the depth of a follicle, the surgeon is basically “cutting blind.” He cannot see if a follicle has been cut in two until after the graft has been removed. And with punch diameters only in the millimeter range, the percentage destruction of hair follicles is enormous. This method has also shown that any of the sectioned hairs that do manage to grow, often are ingrown (which creates pimples).

I have recently heard about a new procedure called neo-grafting. What is this?
It is simply a variant of FUE except that the harvesting and implantation is done mechanically. It is generally performed by surgeons with minimal experience with hair transplant surgery who want to do a lot of surgeries in a short amount of time. This mechanization causes a lot more trauma to the tissue and results in poor growth of the grafts. Many of these surgeons are advertising that this procedure is “non-surgical” which is grossly untrue!

What are the advantages of Latham’s donor strip method?
Our method of donor strip harvesting allows for the individual grafts to be cut after the donor strip has been removed. This cut can be sighted along the hair shaft so that individual follicular units can be sectioned intact. This preserves the neurovascular bundle that surrounds and nourishes each follicular unit. There is a much higher percentage of growth, virtually no ingrown hairs, and much less scarring. This allows future sessions to be an option, if that is what the patient desires. At Latham’s Hair Clinic we do everything possible to preserve your donor hair. Mega-sessions and FUE’s destroy hair, something that no surgeon can reverse.

Birmingham Office • 2206 Cahaba Valley Drive • Birmingham, Alabama 35242
205-995-2402 • Toll Free 800-626-8809

Huntsville Office • 3776 Sullivan Street, Suite A-2 • Madison, Alabama 35758
256-830-4949 • Toll Free 800-842-0432