Many patients wonder if shaving the donor area for an FUE hair transplant is mandatory. Is it possible to do the surgery without shaving the donor area? Why are the pro and cons of shaving the donor areal for an FUE hair transplant?
Hair transplant surgery has become a thing in the last year. It is the best solution to get your hair back. Unlike drug treatment, a well-performed hair transplant has no harmful side effects. The results have nothing to do with the first hair transplant, which looked more like wigs than natural hair. Nowadays, hair transplant techniques offer the most natural look and no scar.
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Shaving the donor area for an FUE hair transplant
The standard procedure for an FUE hair transplant involves shaving the donor area. Even if it is technically possible to do the transplant without shaving the donor area, most doctors do not recommend it, making the procedure harder and longer.
The procedure of graft extraction involves cutting around the hair follicles with a punch (a circular scalpel); this tool is a tiny sharp tube. The only way to get the hair into the punch tool is to cut it very short.
As a hair transplant is a surgery, there is some blood, and if the hair is long, it will get bloody. It is neither hygienic neither convenient for the doctor. In addition, without shaving, the grafts may get tangled in the transplant process, reducing their survival rate.
The benefits of shaving before a hair transplant are not limited to the surgery itself. Aftercare is easier to perform on a shaved head as the hair would be complicated to clean the next day after the surgery.
Shorter hair grafts also have less risk of being dislodged during the healing process.
Shaving the donor area for an FUE ? Unshaved FUE
Some clinics offer unshaved FUE hair transplants for patients who do not want to shave their donor area for the surgery. Many of those patients are women.
The procedure is rarely as effective as a shaved FUE hair transplant. It may be suitable for minor procedures but is hardly doable for the major ones. The unshaved method takes more time, so it is not ideal for patients who need many grafts.
Shaving the donor area for an FUE ? The other options
In some cases, particularly with female patients needing minor procedures, shaving a tiny patch of the donor area is possible, letting hair flaps at the top. After the surgery, it is not noticeable that the surgeon shaved a small spot of the donor area. This procedure is suitable for patients needing about 2,800 grafts.
It is a good alternative for patients who are reticent about shaving their hair. However, the best and the standard procedure is shaving the donor area before an FUE hair transplant. This alternative, also known as U-FUE (undetectable or unshaved FUE), makes the hair transplant undetectable, but is it more expensive than the regular FUE procedure.
Is FUE the best technique available?
FUE is a widespread hair transplant technique. Most clinics offer it as a regular hair transplant and charge more for DHI.
DHI stands for Direct Hair Transplant. This technique is pretty similar to FUE, with the difference the grafts are implanted right away after the extraction. This difference increases the grafts’ survival rate and secures a better, more natural, more volumized look.
As in FUE hair transplant, DHI requires shaving to achieve the best result possible.
At Hair Turkey, we are proud to offer DHI hair transplant as our standard procedure. Our doctor is specialized in DHI hair transplants and works hard every day to make it available to more patients.
