No Shave Hair Transplant Turkey

This article was written by Dr. Hakan Doganay to provide all possible details on unshaven hair transplants.

What is Hair Transplant without Shaving?

Unshaven hair transplant is a procedure that excludes shaving off the head. The idea of a hair transplant without buzz cut or shaving sounds good to patients. Most patients do not want people to know that they had hair transplanted.

In the classic FUE method a zero shaving, which is only one millimeter long has to be made. No shave hair transplant completely excludes shaving. Turkey takes leading position in hair transplants without shaving. In America and Europe, it is called (U-FUE – undetectable FUE).

Patients’ expectations about hair transplants are raised together with the development of FUE. One of these improvements resulted in unshaved hair transplants. We have been operating no shave hair transplant since 2009. You can find the published results on our website dated accordingly. Dr. Doganay is one of the first surgeons who started performing unshaven hair transplants in Turkey. Nowadays, this procedure is promoted as something new. Moreover, U-FUE hair transplant used to be even more popular than FUT surgery.

Who is Suitable for No Shave Hair Transplant?

• Patients with Norwood 2-3, where not too many grafts are needed
• Hair transplant with Pen Implanter (Dhi hair transplant)
• Women hair transplants
• No shave FUE method is ideal for eyebrow transplants
• Top (vertex-crown) hair transplant
• Men with a minimum of 8-10 cm long hair on the nape
• People with rare hair applying for density increase procedure.
• It can also be an alternative for those people who already underwent transplants and are thinking about additional procedures.

This method does not fit patients who need big grafts number or who prefer the channel method.

Interest in no shave hair transplant bounced rapidly. All patients wonder if it is possible to go through the surgery without cutting their hair because they want to return to routine life soonest. Many candidates postpone the hair transplant due to shaving (as they do not know about new methods). No shave hair transplant does not cut a person from social and business life, this is one of its greatest advantages. This procedure has been taking one of the major directions in our practice. However, unshaved hair transplants do not suit everybody.

How Are Unshaved Transplant Done? What Are the Methods?

The procedure can be classified into three groups:

a) Donor area is shaved and the recipient area remains unshaven

This is one of the most practiced methods. The donor area is partially shaved. For example, nape hair should be a minimum of 8-10 cm long. Usually, a 2×10-15 cm strip is shaved on the nape, the same as in regular procedures (like in the FUT surgery).

Grafts are extracted from the shaved strips identically to classic FUE. Unshaved hair next to the strips easily covers shaved areas. As a result, hair transplant remains imperceptible from the very first surgery day. This is hardly done by channel method but is easily operated by the Dhi.

We have been operating no shave female hair transplants since 2009 as a routine. A maximum of 2.000 grafts can be transplanted within one session. The picture below shows a shaved part of the donor area, where grafts are extracted. If the required number of grafts is higher than 2.000, a few more transplants can be planned with a year interval. The pictures show the application type ‘shaved donor, unshaven recipient’.

b) Completely unshaven hair transplant

The donor area is not shaved at all. The roots are extracted one by one by special FUE punches. This procedure is pretty complicated and requires a lot of time. Approximately 500-700 grafts can be extracted within a session. It is not practiced a lot. There are special punches designed uniquely for this surgery. Transplants are operated by manual tools only, the micromotor is not suitable. This procedure is commonly known as long hair FUE. Root damage risk is quite high. Even if the grafts are long, they still face shock loss between 15 and 45 days after the surgery.

c) Donor area is shaved, recipient area is unshaved

If this procedure is operated mutually with the channel method, the unshaved long hair may be destroyed. This is why only the pen implanter technique is the most suitable for it. No shave hair transplant is mainly preferred by our patients from overseas, while local candidates favor regular ones. Usually, Turkish patients choose to shave the nape area and leave the top and front zones unshaven.

In unshaven hair transplant Turkey, all procedures of the standard FUE remain the same except for shaving. These are frontal line design, grafts collection, and implantation.

No Shave Hair Transplantation Videos

We published two videos for your reference. The first one shows the dhi hair transplant without shaving in the woman, it was published in 2010. The year proves that a no-shave

hair transplant is not a new procedure and has been practiced for a long time. Our clinic has been performing these operations for more than 10 years. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and be posted on new videos.

Why is the Hair Shaved?

Standard FUE hair transplant includes zero shavings, which is 1-2 mm in length above the skin, which approximately equals 2-3 mm in total. The grafts are extracted by micro-motor or manual punches in the FUE technique. Around 5.000 – 6.000 grafts can be extracted by this method. Surely, all these roots cannot be implanted during one session.

Unshaven Dhi Hair Transplants (Pen Implanter Method)

Unshaven hair transplant gained popularity due to its advantages next to standard FUE. On the opposite, in the channel method, channel opening in long hair is very complicated. This is why shaving is a must in the channel method. The pen implanter easily implants long grafts in rare hair. Having Dhi is one of the biggest advantages of a no-shave hair transplant. You can find many comments and information about no shave fue hair transplants on international forums.

What Are No Shave Hair Transplant Advantages?

• Whether it is a partially shaved or full shaved hair transplant method, the healing process remains the same. However, there is faster progress in appearance.  Patients can return to work the next day after surgery.
• Scabs on the donor and recipient areas can easily be camouflaged with existing long hair.
• It is impossible to identify hair transplants in unshaven fue surgery. Even your family will not be able to understand that you had a hair transplant.
• Density increase surgeries are quite safe. Especially when they are performed by the pen implanter technique.
• Shaving for female hair transplant is an important issue for women. This approach is a great solution for them. 
• The time required for the hair to reach its former length will be eliminated in female hair transplants.
• If the recipient’s rare area is shaved in density increase procedure, it is hard to see hairless gaps. When the hair is long, the gaps are easily recognized. This is a great benefit of the unshaven hair transplant. Many clinics claim right opposite. They say that it is harder to see hairless gaps in long hair. As a clinic with more than 10 years of experience, we state that an no shave transplant is operated more successfully in long hair.

What Are Unshaven Hair Transplant Disadvantages?

• Limited grafts number. We think that a maximum of 2.000 grafts must be extracted within a single session. If more hair follicles are required, then, another session should be planned in 10-12 months.
• There is no difference in complications after the surgery, the situation is the same as in classic FUE.
• Hair wash after the surgery is more complicated compared to the shaved transplant. Softening cream should be applied to the hair before washing to prevent them from sticking to each other. Hair must be washed carefully to avoid damage to new roots. We advise you to do the fist hair wash at your clinic.
• Grafts are damaged in channel method in unshaven hair transplants.

Period After the Unshaven Hair Transplant and Its Results

There is no difference between the recovery period of shaved or unshaved hair transplant. Hair wash after unshaven hair transplants must be made very carefully. Especially in women, the applied cream can stick to the hair and cause defection. Complications risks are the same as in the regular FUE.

Shock loss in unshaven hair transplant starts 15-25 days after the surgery. The process of shock hair loss is the same as after the regular procedure. Moreover, the process and results are also identical. Hair growth occurs in 4-6 months. Approximately, in one year, the hair gets to the wanted state. If you are interested in the unshaven hair transplant, get in touch with us by the following number 0090 532 313 41 98. If you send us your hair photos by WhatsApp, we can consult you online. Additionally, you can contact us through email.

What is No Shave FUE Cost?

No shave hair transplant is a unique procedure that requires certain experience and skills of the operating surgeon. The operation lasts longer and needs extra effort. Prices of the procedure are a little higher than the regular hair transplant cost in our clinic. There is a wide range of these surgery prices in the market offered by other centers. Some clinics suggest rates based on the graft number, while others calculate it independently. We identify the price based on the number of grafts. The cost of unshaven hair transplants in the USA and Europe varies between 6 and 10 EUR per graft. We will provide you with full cost details when you get in touch with us.

References

1. Nonshaven Follicular Unit Extraction Ann Plast Surg. 2019 Mar; 82(3): 262–268. Published online 2018 Nov 9. doi: 10.1097/SAP.000000000000167 Jae Hyun Park, MD, PhD, Seung Hyun You, MD, and Na RaeKim MD https://journals.lww.com/annalsplasticsurgery/Fulltext/2019/03000/Nonshaven_Follicular_Unit_Extraction__Personal.3.aspx