Dear All

I got a consultation by a HT surgeon and he advised me to shave my hair so that he will be able to perorm better quality HT, now that really made me hesitate in doing my HT, since I still have some hair, and with toppik i can get good results, now if i shave my head everyone at work will know I used toppik, and I don't like the way I look with a shaved head.

Now how many of u did shave their head to do a HT, and how does not shaving affect the quality of the HT surgery?

Please now I am stumbled, and I need your experience.

The doctor I got consultation performs FUT


thanks

darkman,

I personally believe that shaving the recipient area provides an optimal environment for the hair transplant surgeon when performing surgery.

In my opinion however, it is not required for all cases. Those who are having transplanted hair placed in between and around a lot of existing natural hair, shaving could prove to be beneficial. On the other hand, hair transplanted into bald regions or areas where only minimal native hair exists, shaving might not be necessary.

Is shaving required? Some hair transplant surgeons require it while others do not. However, even those who don't typically require it have required it for extreme cases where hair is being placed between a lot of natural hair.

This topic is heavily debated on our hair restoration forum. Whereas I believe shaving is often helpful to the surgeon to provide an optimal result, many will disagree with me.

Best wishes,

Falc

Hi Darkman,

Shaving my recipient area down in order to get an HT was not an option for me. Although many of the top docs would prefer if the recipient area was shaved down I don't believe it is a requirement by all. Dr. Alexander did not require it and I'm pretty sure I've read Shapiro will do it. I have a decent amount of native hair and wanted to keep the ht a private matter. I also could not be out of work for too long since I own my own business and wearing a hat was not an option. Basically I was back to work in 6 days and everything went unoticed. You'll want to discuss this matter with your Dr's but I think that the shaving down makes the procedure easier for both the Dr and the techs, but I don't believe it will make for a dramatic difference in results. If the end result of a non shaved patient would not allow Dr's such as Shapiro and Alexander to achieve great results then I think they would choose to only do HT's where the patient shaves down the recipient area.

Our doctors do not require a patient to shave, however, we take it case by case. Having a open field, so to speak, makes incision making and planting grafts easier. However, we have done many, many sessions without trimming patient's hairs. We can understand some patients' occupations will not allow for the shaved look for couple month. Uncut hairs means the session will just take a little longer.

hi janna
does the price increase when the patient doesn`t shave down as time is money and the dr will have to pay overtime to his staff if a session runs for longer than expected

No, fortunately for the patient the prices are the same no matter how long or short the procedure takes. During the consultation, if a patient is set on not trimming his hair, the session size may be a little smaller to accommodate for time it will take to complete the surgery. We typically require it if patient is going to get 3000 or more grafts. 2500 or less, it's up to the patient. Between 2500-3000, we beg to trim, but ultimately we compromise.

I had 3 HT's with no shaving and an exceptional result. Although it may provide an "optimal" setting , it is not required for great result. You have to do what works for you.

thanks janna for clearing that up and thanks jobi.

Darkman,

Like you the concept of the shave made me pause on a HT and I read many posts about the subject to try and determine what I should do. I had a HT with Dr. Ron Shapiro earlier this month without a shave. We talked about it on the morning of the HT and I expressed a preference to not shave the recipient area. That said I also left it to Dr. Shapiro to make the call. The feedback I received from Dr. Shapiro was that it makes it a little easier with the shave but in my case it wasn't absolutely necessary. So as Janna points out it seems to be something that is determined on a case by case basis.

Best of luck to you.

Hey DJF

Can you please tell me, how you will be able to hide that you had a HT if you get a HT where they lower your hairline. You will be having longer hair compared to the new hairline which is also difficult to hide I guess even if you have some hair left.

That why I wish there will be a technology one day where ther will be no shedding, so what you grow on the top or the hairline can stay, and you then can make a nice cut after the HT, and all the hairs will grow in unisome.

That is my hope for 2008.

Dark.

We all wish there was no shock fallout of grafted hairs but there isnt. Your only option is to take some time off ( about 2 weeks) and the frontal area might be ok and look fairly normal. Maybe some make up might help to conceal ? You can see some of the peoples post op pics to benchmark

Dark,im having my 1st ht with Dr. Epstein and he said to me that I did not need to shave down. I do wear a short buzz cut and thats the way im going in. He also told me that since I have native hair in the areas of the ht it would be good to keep some of my hair short so he can see how my hair falls to get the ultimate natural look in an ht.

"That why I wish there will be a technology one day where ther will be no shedding, so what you grow on the top or the hairline can stay, and you then can make a nice cut after the HT, and all the hairs will grow in unisome."-darkmanhyk



If it helps, there are clinics all over the world who are working on holding solutions that will do just as you described. This solution would be used to hold the grafts while out of body before planting instead of the standard saline. In the last two years, I hear more and more clinics coming out with their own versions. However, we've yet to see conclusive evidence that any particular solution making a dramatic difference. I hope a viable solution is in the near future.