Opinions on U-FUE or Unshaven FUE

[AnnieW100]

Hello, 

What a great resource. I am a 34 yr old female with female pattern baldness on my top and front but the rest of my hair is normal and am a candidate for a transplant. I am looking into Unshaven FUE transplants. I see a handful of surgeons in the US that offer them but cant find much information on the results and how comparable they are. 

I met with a highly regarded surgeon in my area and he recommended an FUT, the transplanted strip would be down the middle of my head to my forehead. The issue is I wear my hair long, I use a topical powder that works great called "Derma-match" and I conceal the hairloss from everyone ( even my boyfriend). I don't think anyone has any idea how bad it is. It is a huge pain in the butt and a source of distress and a transplant would make my life so much easier. Unshaven FUE appeals to me because new hair could grow around my preexisting hair. 

I know that Unshaven FUEs cost more, but money is not an issue. 

Any information would be helpful. Thanks 

Edited October 25, 2021 by AnnieW100

[TEXAN35]

Even with FUT you will not be missing a strip of hair. These days with good closure techniques your strip transplant will not even be noticeable specially if you are planning to have your hair long. But yes FUT takes a little longer to recover but as far as keeping your transplant low profile FUT will work just fine too.

I am not recommending FUT just letting you know that when you say "missing a strip for a year " , you will not be visibly missing a strip, it will be sutured properly. Again there are some great surgeons who specialize in FUT.

[AnnieW100]

Thank you Texan35. 

Im not worried so much about a scar or donor area because my hair is long. Im worried about the transplanted area after it sheds and begins regrowth. This regrowth will take a long time and during that time I will have no hair/short hair in that area. I just don't see how I could conceal or hide it.  If I get an Unshaven FUE I would at least have my preexisting hair to mask it. Thats my thought, I realize thats confusing how I worded that above. 

[digi23]

1 hour ago, AnnieW100 said:

Hello, 

What a great resource. I am a 34 yr old female with female pattern baldness on my top and front but the rest of my hair is normal and am a candidate for a transplant. I am looking into Unshaven FUE transplants. I see a handful of surgeons in the US that offer them but cant find much information on the results and how comparable they are. 

I met with a highly regarded surgeon in my area and he recommended an FUT, the transplanted strip would be down the middle of my head to my forehead. The issue is I wear my hair long, I use a topical powder that works great called "Derma-match" and I conceal the hairloss from everyone ( even my boyfriend). I don't think anyone has any idea how bad it is. It is a huge pain in the butt and a source of distress and a transplant would make my life so much easier. Unshaven FUE appeals to me because new hair could grow around my preexisting hair. 

I know that Unshaven FUEs cost more, but money is not an issue. 

Any information would be helpful. Thanks 

There should be no difference between unshaven and shaven if you go to a great Dr. I get it when you are a female and naturally have very long hair that you do not want to shave.

You can check out threads like this:

 

[pkipling]

Hi Annie! To clarify, your primary concern is wanting to make sure that the recipient area is unshaven, and that you're less concerned with whether or not the donor area is shaved. Correct? If so, you could look into doing a combo of sorts and getting a Strip/FUT procedure (more on that in a bit) for the extractions, and doing non-shave for the insertions. This would be unconventional, but may help offset some of the higher cost associated with non-shave FUE, as strip procedures are typically a bit less expensive.

As for non-shave FUE, it's not something a lot of surgeons are doing. It's more time consuming and meticulous, so do some research and make sure you're choosing a surgeon who has proven themselves to be up to the task. I know this is something Dr. Mohebi offers, and I'm happy to help you out with any info from him if you'd like. 

As for the possibility of a strip procedure, I do think it's worth considering as an option. The biggest deterrent for most men is the strip scar, and even with the best of the best scars, it limits just how short they can buzz their hair on the back/sides. However, given that most women don't wear their hair that short, they don't have to worry about this, as your hair would almost always be long enough to cover it. (If you happen to be a woman who likes short buzz cuts, please disregard! ) 

Lastly, you mentioned that "the transplanted strip would be down the middle of my head to my forehead", and I want to make sure that's what you meant. Strip scars run horizontally from the sides of the scalp and around the back (considered the "safe zone/donor area"), and not from the forehead and down the center. Are you sure that's what the surgeon said?!

I'm happy you found this forum and I hope you get lead in the right direction to find the perfect surgeon for you. I understand how distressful hair loss can be for us men, and I can't imagine how it must be for you. Sending you good vibes and I look forward to seeing you eventually giving us positive updates! 

 

[Al - Moderator]

There are a number of Drs who will transplant grafts into existing hair without shaving the recipient area. You are getting things mixed up. there are two areas to deal with during a hair transplant: (1) The donor area where the new hair is taken from and (2) the recipient area where the hair will be placed. Both FUE or FUT can be done without shaving the recipient area which is what you are concerned about.

 

[AnnieW100]

On 10/25/2021 at 7:45 PM, pkipling said:

Hi Annie! To clarify, your primary concern is wanting to make sure that the recipient area is unshaven, and that you're less concerned with whether or not the donor area is shaved. Correct? If so, you could look into doing a combo of sorts and getting a Strip/FUT procedure (more on that in a bit) for the extractions, and doing non-shave for the insertions. This would be unconventional, but may help offset some of the higher cost associated with non-shave FUE, as strip procedures are typically a bit less expensive.

As for non-shave FUE, it's not something a lot of surgeons are doing. It's more time consuming and meticulous, so do some research and make sure you're choosing a surgeon who has proven themselves to be up to the task. I know this is something Dr. Mohebi offers, and I'm happy to help you out with any info from him if you'd like. 

As for the possibility of a strip procedure, I do think it's worth considering as an option. The biggest deterrent for most men is the strip scar, and even with the best of the best scars, it limits just how short they can buzz their hair on the back/sides. However, given that most women don't wear their hair that short, they don't have to worry about this, as your hair would almost always be long enough to cover it. (If you happen to be a woman who likes short buzz cuts, please disregard! ) 

Lastly, you mentioned that "the transplanted strip would be down the middle of my head to my forehead", and I want to make sure that's what you meant. Strip scars run horizontally from the sides of the scalp and around the back (considered the "safe zone/donor area"), and not from the forehead and down the center. Are you sure that's what the surgeon said?!

I'm happy you found this forum and I hope you get lead in the right direction to find the perfect surgeon for you. I understand how distressful hair loss can be for us men, and I can't imagine how it must be for you. Sending you good vibes and I look forward to seeing you eventually giving us positive updates! 

 

Thank you for your response I will look into Dr.Mohebi. I realize my initial post was confusing. I do not want to lose any hair in my recipient area. I was under the impression with an FUT strip my recipient area will not grow in for quite some time and I would need to comb my hair over the area until it grows in and to me thats not an option. With a no shave FUE I felt the insertions could navigate around my preexisting hair. Definitely open to FUT strip for extractions and will look into this further. Thanks again

[AnnieW100]

On 10/27/2021 at 5:27 PM, BeHappy said:

There are a number of Drs who will transplant grafts into existing hair without shaving the recipient area. You are getting things mixed up. there are two areas to deal with during a hair transplant: (1) The donor area where the new hair is taken from and (2) the recipient area where the hair will be placed. Both FUE or FUT can be done without shaving the recipient area which is what you are concerned about.

 

 I am not worried about the donor area, It is the recipient area that I would like to preserve the hair I have. I was under the impression with an FUT strip the recipient area would be hairless until the regrowth happens. I was wondering if it was possible to work around the hair I have, making the regrowth stage alot less obvious with long hair. Thank you for the information. IF there are any doctors you recommend I would love to know. thanks  

[JohnCasper]

I've always been a proponent of FUE because of the large linear scar issue. I'm also curious about what you expect with the FUT strip.  I'm not familiar with strips running vertical.  Most of us are only familiar with the lengthy horizontal strip. I know being a women you have lots of existing hair now and in the future which should cover areas of concern.  I know Dr. Vories has performed FUE procedures on lots of women.  Do your due diligence on this website and I'm sure you will make the right decision. 

[TommyLucchese]

I'm a long-haired man so I know exactly what you mean with this! 

I had FUT - the strip was at the back. It was completely concealed because it is stitched back up and the long hair in the back completely covered up. The doctor did shave at the front so I had about 6 months where I wasn't confident at all. 

For my next procedure, the doctor said FUE would be best and that the donor / back area would look like an undercut. So the back DOES need to be shaven for FUE but not necessarily on top in the area where the new hair is placed - although I think generally they prefer it to be shaved because it's easier to work with. 

So: for the donor area, FUT is easily concealable with the long hair around it. For FUE, it all has to be shaven.

And you should speak to the doctor about if they are willing to not shave in your recipient area.