Want to have a FUE hair transplant to my frontal hairline. Is it possible to to do without having to shave my recipient area?

Question

I've had previous FUE hair transplant of which I'm really happy about. I want to add density to the frontal hairline only to make it denser than it is now. I'm worried that too many may make it look unnatural also, how many grafts roughly would it take to give me a natural denser hairline ?

Ken Anderson, MD, FISHRS · Answer

Thank you for posting this question. The short answer is yes, of course you can perform an FUE surgery without shaving down the recipient area. It's called a "long hair FUE" and it is helpful for people who don't want to have to trim down all of their hair as it might be a disruption to their lifestyle or work. And don't worry; you're not going to make a hairline look unnatural with too much density...it's the linear nature of a hairline that looks unnatural, not hair that is "too dense" as that's not really possible unless a surgeon is using plugs, which went out of fashion last century. I hope this information is helpful to you.Ken Anderson, MD, FISHRS, ABHRSBoard Certified Hair Restoration Surgeon

John L. Burns Jr., MD · Answer

This can be done with the hair cut very short but not shaved.  FUE is a very effective procedure desired to harvest individual hair follicles to create a natural transplant with no telltale posterior scar.

Michael Vories, MD · Answer

It is important to distinguish between adding density to the existing hairline and lowering the hairline. If you are adding density to the existing hairline, it is better to have that hair clipped to improve the visualization during graft placement, and avoid transecting the existing hair. If you are lowering the hairline (where there is no existing hair) there is no need to clip the existing hair.

Ali Gurlek, MD · Answer

Thank you for your question and photos
the number of grafts a patient will need depends on the thickness of their hair and the extent of their hair loss, which can be determined by the Norwood Scale below.
During a hair transplant, grafts are usually removed from the ‘donor area’ located on the back of the scalp and relocated to a balding area. The back of the scalp makes a good extraction area due to the high volume of hair follicles that congregate within that region that are not affected by the balding process. Specialist surgeons will remove a small amount of tissue that can grow hair and relocate it to the desired area of the head without damaging them.

Sait Gokhan Bircan, MD. · Answer

Hello,You can have hair transplantation without shaving recipient area with FUE or DHI technique. Number of grafts depends of your donor area, as we can't see it we can't say the exact possible number of grafts, but by evaluating your front line 1000-1500 grafts is needed for natural look.For further consultation, please contact us.

David Perez-Meza, MD, FISHRS · Answer

Great question. No, in many of my hair transplant cases I don't shave the recipient area. Donor harvesting technique with donor strip and/or FUExcision technique have nothing to do with recipient sites and graft placement steps during the hair transplant surgery. The surgeon's training and experience are critical about the creation of the recipient sites (angle, direction and tilt), the density and naturalness. If you are happy with your first surgery then your first option should be that surgeon or look for a second opinion. Good luck.

Roy A. David, MD · Answer

It is not necessary to shave your recipient area, and it looks like you may benefit from a minor procedure of perhaps 200 additional grafts to the hairline, however your fronto-temporal angles may need more. This can be confirmed with an in-person consultation.

Jeffrey Epstein, MD, FACS · Answer

It is not necessary to do any shaving with an FUE procedure not only of the recipient area, but also of the donor area where a no-shave approach can be utilized where each individual follicular unit graft is extracted one at a time by just trimming the hairs to be removed.  This is NOT the making of tunnels, but rather individual isolating.

Anthony Bared, MD, FACS · Answer

It does appear you had a very nice result with your initial procedure.  A few factors should be considered before undergoing a second transplantation including: your age, the family history of hair loss patterns, and the measures you are currently taking to slow down your hair loss.  Better photos would be needed to ascertain if a second transplant would be able to increase the density.  To answer your question about shaving: the recipient area does not need to be shaved for a hair transplant.

Matt Tahsini, MD · Answer

Hello, fantastic question!! There is no reason to shave your recipient area during a second transplant. Leaving the area alone actually helps the doctor to see where hair is needed. Good luck to you.

Want to have a FUE hair transplant to my frontal hairline. Is it possible to to do without having to shave my recipient area?

Answers (11)

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