Is the minimum length of hair necessary to conceal FUE scars really a 3 guard?

[jwolfe890]

The prevailing wisdom on the internet is that you will typically need to wear your hair at a 1 or max 2 to conceal FUE scars. Of course, results may vary from person to person, but this length is typically what is mentioned. 

However, if you look at the results in this video at 7:15, the individual has shaved his head down to a 2 and the outline of the FUE scars is clearly visible. This individual was a patient of Dr. Panine, who is a reputable surgeon that gets great results, so I don't think this is the result of a bad surgery. 

For people who have had an FUE surgery what guard can you shave your head to without visible results? Are the results in the video atypical? Thank you for any insight!

 

Edited August 13, 2023 by jwolfe890

[HappyMan2021]

I would say every patient is different and some fue scars might be more visible than others. There is no one size fits all answer

I will say that broadly and generally, the visibility of fue scars is an unnecessary worry.

Even if fue scars are truly visible, it is highly doubtful that a random person with no knowledge of your hair transplant is going to spot the scars, etc.

[mavigo]

I second what @HappyMan2021 said. Also, the more FUEs you get, the more scarring (I guess kind of obvious) and this patient was quite bald. 6,000 FUE scars on the back is a lot more than 2,000 FUE scars. 

[jwolfe890]

2 minutes ago, mavigo said:

I second what @HappyMan2021 said. Also, the more FUEs you get, the more scarring (I guess kind of obvious) and this patient was quite bald. 6,000 FUE scars on the back is a lot more than 2,000 FUE scars. 

Thanks for your response. So you guys aren't typically concerned about scarring? What is the shortest length you can wear your hair? The thing holding me back from getting a transplant is fear of scarring. I'm worried I'd just be trading one problem for another. 

[kiwik]

Well, there's two things that are noticeable after a transplant:

 

1) the individual scars ("white dots"): that depends on the punch size used for extractions (which itself depends on your hair characteristics), and your skin. For me, those are practically invisible at a #2 guard already. 

2) the general outline of your donor area: it is obviously going to be less dense than the surrounding hair, and if you have had a lot of grafts extracted, this will show (also depending on your skin colour and hair characteristics). For me, this is noticeable in harsh lighting at a #3 guard, and even at a #4 guard in extremely harsh lighting. 

[jwolfe890]

2 minutes ago, kiwik said:

Well, there's two things that are noticeable after a transplant:

 

1) the individual scars ("white dots"): that depends on the punch size used for extractions (which itself depends on your hair characteristics), and your skin. For me, those are practically invisible at a #2 guard already. 

2) the general outline of your donor area: it is obviously going to be less dense than the surrounding hair, and if you have had a lot of grafts extracted, this will show (also depending on your skin colour and hair characteristics). For me, this is noticeable in harsh lighting at a #3 guard, and even at a #4 guard in extremely harsh lighting. 

How many grafts did you have extracted?

[kiwik]

I had 3400 grafts extracted. My procedure was only 7 months ago though, so it might still get a bit better. 

[jwolfe890]

It looks like at the time of that video, he had only 2500 grafts extracted. If you're saying 3-4 guard and the outline is still visible that sounds like a major commitment to keeping your hair long. Maybe I'm just overthinking it. 

[kiwik]

As I said, this is only in harsh lighting, and most people don't even notice it, but since we're all hair transplant weirdos who look at the back of our heads, we tend to overthink things a little 😅

Also, this really depends on your donor area. If you have very fine hair and a lot of grafts avaliable in your donor, you may be able to have a lot more grafts taken without it being noticeable at a #3 guard. 

[jwolfe890]

Just now, kiwik said:

we tend to overthink things a little

haha definitely true on this site

[Hair4Days]

That guy on YouTube you’re referencing is an example of bad case of scarring if you ask me. I think a number 1 is realistic when the extractions are done by good surgeons. I just saw a Konior result where there was just able zero visibility of donor scarring, so it depends 

[jwolfe890]

5 hours ago, Hair4Days said:

done by good surgeons

Panine is pretty reputable. No doubt Konior is exceptional, but his prices are too high for most people. 

[A_4_Archan]

@jwolfe890

As you already know and you already mentioned this that this thing varies from person to person ....bt in many cases guard 2 or even guard 1 will be fine to hide scars of fue....though there are many other factors which effects scarring which are not in the hands of a surgeon 

[Hair4Days]

4 hours ago, jwolfe890 said:

Panine is pretty reputable. No doubt Konior is exceptional, but his prices are too high for most people. 

His extractions look really big to me. Could be the reason why that example can’t go below a 3 guard. 

[tonightisthenight]

21 hours ago, kiwik said:

As I said, this is only in harsh lighting, and most people don't even notice it, but since we're all hair transplant weirdos who look at the back of our heads, we tend to overthink things a little 😅

Also, this really depends on your donor area. If you have very fine hair and a lot of grafts avaliable in your donor, you may be able to have a lot more grafts taken without it being noticeable at a #3 guard. 

Reminds when a friend of mine retiled his bathroom. It looked great but he kept pointing out the small mistakes he made. I didn’t even notice until he pointed to it and I noticed the small amount of unevenness in places.

Same applies here. 

[Hair Transplant Reality YT]

On 8/13/2023 at 10:54 AM, jwolfe890 said:

The prevailing wisdom on the internet is that you will typically need to wear your hair at a 1 or max 2 to conceal FUE scars. Of course, results may vary from person to person, but this length is typically what is mentioned. 

However, if you look at the results in this video at 7:15, the individual has shaved his head down to a 2 and the outline of the FUE scars is clearly visible. This individual was a patient of Dr. Panine, who is a reputable surgeon that gets great results, so I don't think this is the result of a bad surgery. 

For people who have had an FUE surgery what guard can you shave your head to without visible results? Are the results in the video atypical? Thank you for any insight!

 

Hey guys this is my video thanks for showing support I can say I've had 3 total procedures and the scarring doesn't look much different if anything the pattern as gotten better and that is more important than seeing the white dots.. for a few reasons but in the end I am happy with my results and 100% realize that scars are unavoidable. plus for fairness these photos are 4k ultra close up in ultra intense light. + I show the worst case scenario angle and lighting wise so your never shocked ...  the dr you choose is very important for this but in the end I planned from the start to get Smp when im down so I can shave to skin currently a 3 or 4 shows 0 scars after 7500 grafts  3 if you dont know what your looking for 4 even if you are a dr its nearly impossible average Joe wouldn't notice at a 3 is the point maybe stretching it a 2... might just look like a not great hair cut. 1000000 % worth it  and once I do Smp it'll look like the day I started  basically I hope this helps