Hair Transplant Without Shaving the Head

The hair transplant process can be quite disturbing socially for most people. Especially immediately after the transplant, many patients find it difficult to get reintegrated back into society. For one, their hairs would have been disfigured. This is because, in most hair transplant surgeries, a usual requirement is that the hair of the patient is cleanly shaved.

There are good reasons for this. For one, it makes it easy for the transplantation of the hair follicles to be done easily. In addition, it will be easy for the surgeons to insert the follicles in the bald area.  Another reason is that after the head has healed, it allows for uniform growth of all hair parts.

However, the implications of complete shaving on social life might not be all that pleasant. The patient’s aesthetic appeal might be affected.  They cannot go to social functions or, in fact, even their workplaces without feeling a bit embarrassed. Everywhere they go, they will most likely receive a lot of attention, both from strangers and non-strangers. If the person is incredibly shy, it can be unpalatable while it lasts. So, what should you do? Can this be avoided?

There is nothing to worry about, as we have provided quite detailed answers to your questions and more.

Can You Have A Hair Transplant Without Shaving the Head?

The first question most people have is whether there can be a hair graft or transplant process without you needing to first shave the head clean. The general answer is that it is very much possible to go through a hair graft or transplant process without the need for you to undergo a clean haircut. Thus, you can still retain your hair and still have your transplant done for you.

With this, you can maintain your day-to-day lifestyle without having anything unnecessarily disrupted due to the surgery.

However, we should note that not everyone can have a hair transplant without the need for shaving. In fact, the simple answer is that yes, it is possible to have a hair transplant without shaving, but it is not available or advisable for every patient. There are patient types that the hair transplant without shaving is most appropriate for. Similarly, there are classes of hair graft patients who should not consider undergoing a hair transplant surgery without shaving their heads.

The patients who can undergo hair transplants without shaving have only a small area of their hair being treated. Therefore, if a small portion of the head is affected by balding or hair loss, you may not need to shave. This is because the hair transplant surgery’s impact on the head will be quite minimal and even negligible, in fact.

On the other hand, patients with a large bald area should do well to shave their heads. This is because the transplant process will naturally take a major mark on the head, which will be visible to all.

How is Hair Transplant without Shaving Done?

Generally, there are two major methods of carrying out a hair transplant. They are the Follicular Unit Extraction (shortened to FUE) and the Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT). Both processes share a lot of similarities. However, several differences exist.

The FUT is also referred to as the Follicular Unit Strip Surgery (FUSS). It involves a process in which a part of the scalp, likely from the back of the head, is removed. Then, these strips are broken into tinier units, which are called grafts. The rest of the process is then carried out in the balding area. First, the surgeon makes tiny holes in the scalp of the bald part, and then the grafts earlier removed from the donor part are inserted into it.

The FUE is not too different. Individual follicles from a donor part are inserted into the scalp, just as with the FUT. Both processes also work when you desire to carry out hair transplant surgery without shaving. They are what are referred to as Non-shaven FUE and Unshaven FUT. They both refer to the fact that you can have a hair transplant without shaving.

It has been discovered that although it is cheaper, the Unshaven FUT process might be somewhat inappropriate for many people and thus should be avoided. For one, it is fairly common for patients to get a resultant hair that is far from natural. The hair follicles may end up being inflamed, in a complication referred to as folliculitis. Other complications include swelling, pain, numbness, bleeding, and others. Finally, we have the problem of scarring, as there may be permanent scars, although they may not be visible to others.

That mainly leaves us with the Non-shaven FUE process. The benefits include the patient experiencing less pain post-surgery, the healing period is much faster, there are usually no scars and hairs from unrelated but hairy parts of the body, and it can also be used.

Should You Go for a Hair Transplant Without Shaving Your Head?

Whether it is Non-shave FUE or Unshaven FUT, should you consider going for a hair transplant? There are some good reasons you should have your hair graft without first having a hair shave. For one, you can easily integrate into society after a hair transplant. That is, you can go back to your normal life immediately after you are done with the surgery. In addition, you don’t experience too severe a disruption as a result of the hair transplant process.

Furthermore, more than you may think, not having to shave your hair can shorten the number of steps that have to be taken before the surgery is done. At least, the step involving shaving has been removed.

However, despite the benefits, there are real downsides to why you should avoid not shaving your hair before the transplant. Some of these include:

Complicated and Time-Consuming

A huge downside of keeping your hair on during a transplant process is that you make the entire process much more complicated for the surgical team. The team will have to do a lot of planning to avoid complications when carrying out the surgery.

Not Suitable for Everyone

Having a hair transplant without shaving the hair is not suitable for everyone. In fact, the share of patients that are suitable for a hair transplant without a hair shave is quite a few. Ideally, only persons who have minor balding and where the area to be fixed is quite small can have surgery without having to shave their hair.

In Conclusion

The simple answer to the question is that you should as much as possible have your hair shaved before the surgery. The benefits far outweigh the downsides.