Will My Hair Transplant Scar Show If I Shave My Head?

Most patients don’t elect to have a hair transplant with the idea that they’re going to shave their head soon afterwards. However, sometimes people want or need to wear their hair short after a transplant for one reason or another. Unfortunately, all current hair transplant procedures leave scars, though some are a lot less noticeable than others. Let’s take a look at the two primary transplant procedures so that you know what your scar might look like if you decide to shave your head.

FUE Scarring

If you think you’re going to need to shave your head after your hair transplant surgery, follicular unit excision (FUE) with the ARTAS Robotic System might be the best option for you. This procedure leaves a scar that is virtually undetectable.

How? Well, instead of making a linear incision on the back of your head, FUE involves making very small, round punches to separate individual follicular units (a group of one to four hairs). The surgeon then extracts the grafts, which include the hair follicle, bulb and a small amount of surrounding tissue, by hand.

The round punches made on the back of your head leave small dot-shaped scars. These are easier to conceal than long, linear scars that the traditional transplant method creates. That being said, the scars will still be noticeable if your head is completely shaved and somebody is looking closely, so we recommend cutting your hair short instead of shaving when possible. This way, there’s no giveaway that you’ve had a transplant. You can see what a shaved head looks like three months after an ARTAS FUE procedure here.

FUT Scarring

Follicular unit transplantation (FUT), sometimes referred to as “strip harvest,” leaves a more obvious linear scar than an FUE hair transplant does. However, with meticulous surgical technique, the linear scar is usually only 1 mm wide. As long as you don’t cut your hair very short, the narrow scar is usually completely camouflaged within your hair. Still, if a buzzed head is in your future, you might consider getting FUE instead.

During the FUT procedure, the doctor removes a small strip of tissue from your head, called the donor area. Your doctor will do this with a surgical blade, which leaves a linear scar. From there, grafts are meticulously dissected under a microscope into follicular units. You can see an example of a patient who underwent FUT and is now coming back for another procedure to your right. His hair is shaved to prepare for surgery and to show the previous scar.

Hair Growth Alternatives That Leave No Scar

If you don’t want to have any trace of a scar on your head, surgery isn’t the only answer to having a thicker head of hair. The Limmer Hair Transplant Center offers a variety of effective hair growth treatments that involve no incisions. Two of our most popular non-surgical treatments are Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) and Low-Level Laser Light Therapy. Both treatments can stimulate new hair growth, resulting in a thicker head of hair.

Hair transplants don’t leave you with a massive scar. New techniques and technology allow for the most undetectable scarring possible. Usually scars can only be seen when you have a very short haircut! Contact The Limmer Hair Transplant Center today to learn more about your hair growth options.