HAIR TRANSPLANT FORUM

FIT Donor Harvesting – Concealment After Surgery

The three main choices for FIT harvesting are shaven, patches, and nonshaven.

Shaven FIT is where the entire donor area is shaved down before the procedure. Shaving the donor area allows the doctor and staff to work quickly and harvest a large number of grafts per session. The shaven donor area is usually not detectable after the scabs fall off, typically about 5 days after surgery. Everyone’s hair grows at different speeds. An easy way to find out how long it will take for your hair to grow back is to shave a small area under your hair.



Shaven patches are where a strip of hair is shaved down before the procedure. After the procedure, the hair above the shaven area is combed over the extraction area to conceal the work. Shaven patches allow the patient to immediately conceal the surgery, but are not recommended for procedures where large numbers of grafts need to be harvested. If the hair is too short or if the hairstyle shifts in the wind, the donor area might still be visible.



Non-shaven donor harvesting involves a hair cut where every other hair in the donor is trimmed, leaving the other hairs long. The hair is thinned, rather than having a section shaved. The surgery takes longer for the staff and doctor, but the patient can enjoy good donor coverage immediately after the surgery.

For guys like me who have strip scars that would be revealed if the head is shaved, it's good to know it isn't absolutely necessary to shave the head. What, if any, difference is there in the cost of an unshaved procedure vs. a shaved procedure?

I have three strip scars. They aren't wide, but they would still, of course, be visible if I shaved my head. I'd like to be able to fill them in enough that they would be invisible if I shaved my hair down to stubble. That way, when I come back for work on the top, I could shave the scalp and Dr Cole could see exactly what he has to work with.

I'm considering a BHT into the scars, so I could save the best hair for the top. The downside of that is that I might end up spending $12,000 just to fill in the three scars, and I just don't think I could bring myself to do that when I still need work up-top.

So...my two questions are:
1. What is the cost difference for shaved vs unshaved?
2. What do you suggest for someone in my position, with three donor scars that would be visible if the head is shaved?

Thanks.

Rick,

I would suggest having the shaved patch performed if you wear your hair at least a couple of inches in length. Most patients with wavier hair may want to have more length prior to the procedure so that the surrounding hair can camouflage the extraction sites on the donor area. Average size patch areas are usually about 9 square inches and may include one or more individual sites to achieve undetectability. If you don't have lengthy straight hair then you would want to consider the totally non-shaven method of CIT/FIT. The non-shaven method takes an extraordinary amount of time to complete but give patients their best option for leaving extractions on the donor area undetectable. At the time you schedule, you could also arrange for the completion of work on top with scalp hair while you place grafts into the scars. We offer a farming method to replace the scalp grafts with body hair.

Pricing for these methods can be discussed anytime via telephone at (678) 566 1011 or via email at consults@forhair.com

We look forward to hearing from you!









My advice is not medical advice

Can any one suggest me about hair replacement?

Do you mean suggest a doctor or hair system? I would get a consult to begin finding a hair loss solution. You have come to a good website for this.

HI, can I have an update on the prices for the various donor methods mentioned above? As a repair case I'm pretty sensitive about doing anything to expose my previous mistakes. Is strip ever an acceptable method, in for example someone like myself who has long curly hair that covers donor scars well? I'm assuming my next trip to Atlanta will need 1000-2000 grafts

Best

NV