Mike is from New Jersey and works in facilities management. His job has him facing a lot of people daily, so he takes care with his grooming and appearance.
He’s 54 now, but he started losing his hair around the crown over a decade ago.
He tried Rogaine when the hair loss started to look really noticeable in his 40s, but unfortunately, minoxidil doesn’t really do enough once you’ve already lost a lot of hair.
So he started looking around at surgical hair restoration options—searching the internet, calling places nearby.
But he stopped in his tracks when he saw that they shave the donor area during the procedure.
Discovering North Atlanta Hair Restoration
“Can’t do the shaved head thing,” he said.
There was just no way he was going to do that.
It was a deal breaker—people would know it wasn’t his style, and they’d notice.
Discretion: A Hair Transplant Necessity
Like a lot of guys, Mike didn’t want anyone to know he’d had a hair transplant.
And he couldn’t just take weeks off of work to hide while his hair grew back.
Still, he couldn’t get used to seeing that bald spot at the top of his head. So he kept on exploring hair restoration options—for about a decade—to see if anyone had come up with a better way.
And finally they did: he found something called Shave-less FUE for hair restoration, and it said it didn’t require any shaving of your head.
He was thrilled, so he started calling places to see if a no-shave hair restoration might be possible for him.
The Difference in Hair Transplantation Clinics
The first couple of places he called had him send in a few pictures, but then they told him he wasn’t a candidate for a shave-less procedure because his bald spot was too big.
It had become roughly the size of a grapefruit by then, and he was disheartened by the news.
He also talked to a couple of other places that said they do shave-less procedures, but they explained that they cut the hair short before implanting it, which sounded like too much like a shaved procedure to him.
And one place in Miami wanted $1000 just for the initial consultation. Mike was starting to lose hope.
A No-Shave Hair Transplant Solution
Luckily, Mike didn’t want to give up, and he eventually found Dr. Daniel A. Danyo and his team at North Atlanta Hair Restoration.
He talked directly with Dr. Danyo during his initial consultation—not a salesperson, like on all the other calls and Zooms.
The doctor told him he was a good candidate for a true long hair Shave-less FUE procedure, estimating that he’d need 2000 follicles grafted from the back to the top of his head.
So Mike flew into Atlanta and had the procedure done on a Thursday, and took a few days off work just in case.
He went back to work on Wednesday, but said he could have easily gone back on Monday, since he looked perfectly normal and didn’t feel discomfort at all.
And it turned out that Dr. Danyo and his team were able to get full coverage and natural blending with just 1600 transplanted hair follicles, so the procedure was shorter and cheaper than Mike expected.
Concerns About a Long Hair FUE Transplant Surgery
Mike trusted Dr. Danyo after he answered all his questions, but like any normal person, he was still a little nervous about the whole thing. His concerns:
- People would notice
- Recovery would be painful
- The transplanted follicles would fall out when he washed them
- They’d get infected somehow
- The transplant wouldn’t take and he’d be back to square one
The good news is that Mike’s Shave-Less FUE transplant worked perfectly and he experienced no pain during surgery or recovery—he took two Tylenol afterward just to be sure, though.
Aftercare was simple, and Dr. Danyo has lots of videos on his website detailing the recovery process and post-surgical care.
There’s even an app called Klara you can use to contact the doctor and his team anytime you have questions or issues—or you can call the office directly, if you prefer.
The app came in handy when Mike developed itching a week later.
The team responded promptly, explaining that this was part of the normal healing process, then Dr. Danyo called in a prescription for a steroid that got rid of the itching quickly.
Mike’s transplanted hair took root and started growing as expected—right around the 3-month mark—and at month 6, he had full crown coverage that’s perfectly blended in.
What’s more, only his wife knows he’s had a hair restoration—even his 3 kids living at home didn’t notice he’d had anything done!
Now, he’s thinking about having some subtle restoration where his hairline has started to recede, since the process went so smoothly and the Shave-less procedure is so discreet.
There’s nothing quite like feeling like you made the right decision on something this life-changing, and Mike has some advice for anyone considering long hair restoration:
“Just do it, you won’t regret it and there’s no reason not to. Don’t wait, either—I wish I’d been able to do this 10 years ago.”
Considering a Shave-less FUE Hair Transplant?
We’d love to answer all your questions and help you achieve your hair restoration goals.
There’s no reason to wait to see how a long hair transplant can restore your appearance and your confidence.
Call us today at 678-845-7521 to set up a consultation with Dr. Danyo—or click here to book your consultation online.
