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Unshaven hair transplant is actually a myth. In the simplest form, there is no such thing as unshaven FUE. This is an advertisement that actually does not reflect the real procedure. In order to be able to harvest the grafts, shaving the scalp is required in FUE hair transplant. It is not possible to extract the hair without shaving the donor area.

However, there are limited shaven options but these options may not be suitable for every patient since many hair will not be transferred. Therefore, FUE with limited shaven options could be used in covering small patches. Only around 1000 grafts could be extracted and transplanted with limited shaven options.

In the limited shaven option, the hair at the back is long. Two strips inside the donor area are shaved like zebra crossing. Existing hair above zebra crossing will cover the strips, the shaven area; so when the hair is combed down, the shaven area becomes invisible. Another option is called donor area shaved FUE. In this option, only the donor area is shaved. Recipient area remains unshaven. The grafts are transplanted within the existing hair without shaving. However, since the donor area is shaved, scars will be visible after the procedure.

Limited shaven FUE has some advantages over fully shaven FUE such as minimum shaving, short recovery time, hiding transplant scars easily.

Limited shaven FUE is much more suitable for females. It is mostly used in female hair transplant. This way, nobody could recognize that a female has just had a hair transplant. Limited shaven FUE gives wonderful and desirable results in female hair transplant.

Since Afro Hair is curly, it is a bit difficult to extract hair follicles which are different from Caucasian and Asian hair types. The hair follicles could be deep and long. The curl is deeply located under the skin. A lot of effort is required to extract the hair follicles without damaging them. In Turkey, unfortunately, most of the clinics give very high graft numbers (like 3000-4000 grafts) to attract Afro patients. Since the roots are curly, it is much more difficult to harvest them safely, a wider diameter – punch size should be used in order to extract the hair follicles without damaging and to protect the skin area where the hair follicle is located around. Considering a hair transplant surgery takes 6-8 hours, it is simply impossible to extract 3000-4000 grafts in one sitting. They are aware that the patient is unable to count his own grafts. They just simply lie. Even when it is actually done, it is too harmful for the patient, causing donor depletion and leaving him with no options for the future. We firmly believe that 1500-2000 grafts should not be exceeded in Afro hair transplant.

Another type of Afro hair loss is Traction Alopecia. Wearing braids, weaves, using chemicals, making dreadlocks are the primary reasons and all of these result in receding hairline at the temples. Even though it is mostly common in women; men, too, can be affected by traction alopecia.

Regardless of hair type and gender, in expert hands, FUE could be easily performed on Afros. At Hope Hair Health, we have a very experienced team that offers suitable and permanent solutions for those with unique Afro hair.

Losing hair is a difficult, depressing experience, especially for women. It is just not about the physical look, but also about the quality of life too. Most women think that hair transplants are done only for men, but a hair transplant is not a gender-specific surgery and carried out in both men and women. Female pattern hair loss called androgenetic alopecia is similar to male pattern hair loss. However, in this type of hair loss, there is diffuse thinning of hair on the scalp due to increased hair shedding or a reduction in hair volume, or both. In its early stages, the hair loss may just feel like the hair is not as thick as it used to be. Over time, the scalp becomes more visible due to diffuse thinning. The part widens, however the hairline typically does not recede.

The most common cause of hair loss is genetics. If someone in the family has experienced it, the patient may have a genetic predisposition. Hormonal imbalances, stress, iron deficiency/anemia, hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism, B12 deficiency, aggressive weight loss, aging, traction alopecia (for Afro hair) are the reasons for female hair loss. Patients before making a decision must take a detailed blood test for finding the underlying issue is crucial.

The good news is, female hair loss can be treated (although not everyone is suitable for this procedure). There are several treatment options for it: prescription medication, PRP therapy and hair care products can all be considered when treating female pattern hair loss. However FUE hair transplant is the only permanent solution to restore lost hair and add density to thinning hair.

Follicular unit extraction is the newest and the most popular hair transplant technique. It is simply the removal of hair follicles one by one from a donor part of the body – usually the sides and back of the head – with a small punch device. These individual follicles are then implanted in the areas that are affected from hair loss.

Individual follicles are extracted under local anaesthesia. In the extraction procedure a small punch device – between 0.6mm and 1.0mm in diameter – is used to extract the follicular unit by making a round incision in the scalp. The result in the donor zone are tiny holes where the follicular unit use to reside.

Unlike strip surgery (FUT), FUE hair transplantation does not require large areas of the scalp to be harvested. There is also no linear scar on the back of the head, therefore no stitching required. The lack of a linear scar allows FUE patients to wear shorter hairstyles than those of FUT, who have to wear their hair longer to cover up the donor zone scarring. That is not to say that there is no scarring with FUE but since individual follicles are extracted, it only leaves small scars, which are invisible to the naked eye.

FUE generally has a quick patient recovery time and significantly lower post-operative discomfort. Patients can resume their daily activities even right after the procedure. Within two to three days, normal activities can be resumed. All scabs come off after ten to fourteen days.

The results are permanent in FUE.

Grafts and hair follicles are not the same thing. A graft consists of single or multiple hair follicles. As you know, hair naturally grows in groupings of 1 to 4 hairs (4 is rarely seen though). So grafts are basically single hair follicle, double hair follicle, triple or four hair follicles. What matters in hair transplantation is to be able to extract maximum hair from minimum grafts since graft means scarring whereas hair means coverage.

In Turkey, they always mention very high graft numbers like 4000-5000-6000 grafts to attract patients. They are aware that the patient is unable to count his own grafts and simply lie. Even when it is actually done, frequently it is harmful for the patient, causing donor depletion and leaving the patient with no options for the future.

Unfortunately, they also do it very fast. They penetrate the skin at machine gun speed. This results in what is called a very high ‘transection rate’. This is the number of hair follicles that are surgically damaged during FUE. Their transection rate could be as high as 100%. For instance, some clinics usually do around 6000 punches (surgical attempts at harvesting grafts), 2000 of these attempts lead to the immediate total transection of these grafts. Since each graft contains 2 hairs on average, around 4000 hairs are wasted. The remaining 4000 attempts lead to another 50% transection; 4000 hairs are wasted again and 4000 hairs are harvested. The result is 4000 hairs harvested and 8000 hairs wasted which correlates to a transection rate by %S50. While doing FUE, they almost always do over-harvesting; this means that they do too many punching attempts at the donor area that eventually causes intense scarring and a moth-eaten look after healing occurs. After that, It is almost impossible to cover these scars and the donor area becomes unuseful for future procedures.

So as a patient, you should not be attracted to high graft numbers. What you need is coverage, not scarring.

Millions of men around the world deal with the harsh realities of male pattern baldness and receding hairlines. Women, too, might have thinning hair problems. Many factors have an effect on hair loss, such as genetic susceptibility, medications, chemicals, stress, skin diseases, hormonal imbalances, systemic diseases, improper hair care, surgical procedures and inadequate nutrition. For those who suffer from balding/thinning hair, a hair transplant can help bring back what looks like a full or at least a fuller head of hair. So what is hair transplantation in the simplest form? To put it all in simple terms, it is a surgery done in a medical office under local anesthesia. Indeed, it is the only solution for baldness. It is all about extracting hair follicles from the back of the head and implanting those hair into the bald/thinning areas. The area we transplant the hair into is called ‘recipient area’. It consists of the frontal region – temples, mid-scalp and crown, that is the top area. The area that is used for the extraction, for harvesting the hair from the back side of the scalp and sides is called donor zone. Since hair follicles at the back and sides are genetically resistant to balding, hair is harvested from the back and sides. Men never lose hair from the back and sides unless they have some special kind of disease. Mostly hair stays on those areas till the end of life. There is another term used in hair transplantation which is very important: it is called graft. Grafts and hair follicles are not the same thing. A graft consists of single or multiple hair follicles. As you know, hair naturally grows in groupings of 1 to 4 hairs (4 is rarely seen). So grafts are basically single hair follicle, double hair follicle, triple or four hair follicles. What matters in hair transplantation is to be able to extract maximum hair from minimum grafts since graft means scarring whereas hair means coverage.