Shave Head Before Hair Transplant

It is necessary to shave the donor zone (Back of the scalp) before an FUE hair transplant procedure.  However, the rest of the head typically does not need to be shaved especially in the hairline area.  Occasionally I will recommend it to patients with longer hair as sometimes creating recipient sites and placing the grafts is more difficult in patients with longer hair.  However in the hairline I find it not necessary in the majority of cases to shave.

We encourage our patients to get a fade prior (a #1 will do) to your procedure.  The donor site will need to be shaved in order to abstract the hair follicle.  The great news is that you really don't need to shave where the hair follicle will be transplanted to.  Please talk to your doctor about your pre-operative instructions.

If the procedure you are doing is an FUE, then we shave the area that will be harvested in the back of your head. This is called the "donor" area, and it's the space between both of your ears horizontally.  To place your grafts on the top of your head, it is usually easier to make the sites and place the grafts if that area is shaven or cut short.  However, we can work around longer hair by moving it aside when making the sites.  At Loria Hair Restoration, we give you the option of using the manual technique, or choosing the  State-of-the-Art ARTAS iX Robot.  If you choose the Robot, then the protocol is to have the head completely shaven. 

Patients typically shave the donor area ( or portion of the donor area).  Use of longer hair to cover the shaved hair (sometimes referred to as stealth hair transplant) or incorporating a shaved transition to the rest of the hairline can make recovery rather quick.  I myself had the procedure performed in my office by my partner (Dr. Chughtai) on a Friday and went back to work on Monday!!  Best Dr. Anil Shah

Thank you for your question.  With the FUE method of hair transplants, you will need to shave the donor site (back of the scalp) before your procedure.  The good news is that in DHI method of hair transplants most cases you will not need to shave the entire head .
good luck 
Güncel Öztürk

Ok I will say No. But I am being funny. There are a few clinics that provide a no shave or an incomplete shave FUE where by sections of the safe zone are cut and the hair not shaved covers these areas. HOWEVER HERE ARE THE DOWNSIDES:
1. Expensive. These no shave FUE are inherently more expensive and add $2-$4 EXTRA per graft.
2. The incomplete shave procedure means sections are cut for the extraction. This leaves a major danger of over harvesting within these sections. BEWARE
3.Time. The time for these no shave procedures is much longer in the chair. I don't care what they say, it will take longer. Including graft times out of the body.
The best way to perform an FUE in my opinion is by shaving the entire donor and recipient. This ensures quality and speed from extraction to implantation, and not over harvesting.