Do we need to shave donor area in FUE?

[pcg]

Is it required that the head be shaved before doing a FUE?

I don't want to shave my head but my doctor insists that the head must be shaved or else the harvest yield would be less than 2000.

[Britanium]

Yes shaving down is pretty much needed by all the top surgeons. Every HT Surgeon i have been in consultation with have all deemed it necessary.

[Lloyd]

Some part of the donor cannot be shaved but your question depends on how many grafts you will need.

[Rootz]

Think of it this way, doctors prefer shaving the donor site because it is easier for them to harvest grafts. It's what they've grown comfortable doing, and what they have the most experience with. Even if a doctor attempted to harvest without shaving, would you really want them to? You'd likely compromise your result.

[hsrp10]

Depending on the number of grafts needed, some doctors will do patch shaving instead of one long shaved area. You can ask them for that.

If you leave the hair above that longer it will not be so obvious post-op. But depends on how short you cut/wear your hair too

[Mickey85]

Yes. For a large number like 2000 grafts, shaving the donor area is essentia. For a small number like say 300, you could get away with only partially shaving the donor area but for anything substantial, there is no choice but the shave the whole donor. This is done so that the angle of the graft is more apparent to the surgeon.

[voipman]

The best way to get around this is some weeks prior to HT is shave you hair down to 1 or 2 # and people will become accustomed to your look. Just prior to the HT shave donor 0# and blend into scalp 1#. Dr Hakan didnt shave my 1# scalp so it looked okish and the donor will blend in other than having a harsh shaved patch.

[gwallt]

Hi,

In April I received a HT from Dr Doganay using the patchy shave method. He harvested 1439 grafts. I am almost 2 months post op and everything is healing well. The surgery was undetectable,

Regards