Long Hair DHI hair transplant
For many people considering a hair transplant in Bangkok, the main worry is the weeks afterwards, when shaved or trimmed hair can draw questions at work or at home.
Long Hair DHI is a hair transplant without shaving, and it answers that worry. Nothing is shaved or trimmed, at the back or the front. Each graft is taken and placed with its length, so your new hairline already has its shape when you leave the clinic, and the back of your head looks as it did when you arrived.
The surgery itself is the same DHI Micrograft we use for every transplant. Because long grafts need more time and care to handle, it's best suited to smaller areas, and it's more costly than Shaven or Partial Shave.
- Usually up to 2,000 grafts
- Nothing shaved or trimmed
- Fly home from day 3
- More costly, because the work is slower
Is Long Hair DHI right for you?
It suits you if:
- You need a smaller area, usually up to about 2,000 grafts, such as the hairline or temples
- You can't have any visible change, front or back, for work or personal reasons
- Your donor area is dense enough for us to take grafts between your existing hairs
- You'd like to see the shape of your new hairline on the day you leave
It isn't for you if:
- You need more than about 2,000 grafts. We'd recommend Shaven DHI Micrograft, which allows more grafts in one session.
- Your donor hair is thin. Long grafts need a dense donor area to work around.
- Your hair loss is still progressing fast. Medication or other treatment may need to come first.
We check all of this at your consultation. If Long Hair DHI isn't the right fit, we'll tell you why, and whether Partial Shave would give you the same result for less.
Shaven, Partial Shave or Long Hair DHI?
All three are DHI Micrograft: grafts are extracted one at a time (FUE), then placed into pre-made incisions with the Lion Implanter. The difference is how we manage the donor area at the back, and that decides how many grafts we can take.
| Shaven DHI Micrograft | Partial Shave DHI | Long Hair DHI | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donor area | Fully shaved | Small patches trimmed, the rest left long | Not shaved or trimmed |
| Grafts per case | Over 2,000, up to 3,500 | Up to 2,000 | Usually up to 2,000 |
| Usually used for | Larger areas, such as hairline plus mid-scalp or crown | Hairline, temples or a smaller area | Smaller cases where nothing can look different |
| Surgery time | 4 to 8 hours (typically about 5 hours for 2,000 grafts) | Slightly longer for the same number of grafts | Longest for the same number of grafts |
| Aftercare | Simplest, because the short donor area is easy to keep clean | Needs more care around the long hair | Needs the most care |
| Price | Package price by graft count | Package price by graft count | Package price by graft count |
| Recipient area | Not always shaved, especially for smaller hairline cases. Decided with your doctor at your pre-op consultation. | Same | Same |
If you're not sure which fits, send us photos of your hairline, crown and the back of your head. A doctor will tell you which options are realistic for you.
On the day
The day before surgery is your pre-op consultation. Your doctor does a full assessment, confirms your graft count, and gives you your medications and instructions. On the day itself:
Hairline and area design.
Your doctor draws the plan on your scalp with you and agrees the final graft count and price before anything starts.
Local anaesthetic.
Light sedation, gentle vibration and a massage are standard, to ease the anaesthetic injections.
Extraction.
Your doctor removes each graft individually with a small FUE punch, working between your existing hairs and keeping the length of each hair.
Micrografting.
Each graft is counted and trimmed of excess tissue under a microscope, keeping the hair's length, then kept at 2 to 4°C in a holding solution.
Pre-made incisions.
Your doctor makes the small incisions that set the angle, direction and depth of every hair follicle.
Implantation.
Our skilled team places each long graft with the Lion Implanter, with your doctor overseeing. The first grafts out are the first ones back in.
Finishing.
We rinse the area with saline and dress the donor area.
Long Hair DHI takes the longest of the three for the same number of grafts, because every long graft needs extra care to extract, load and place. You'll have breaks, including lunch.
Recovery and results
A hair transplant doesn't give you thick hair straight away. New hair grows in gradually, following the hair's natural growth cycle, as follows:
| When | What to expect |
|---|---|
| First few days | Some tightness or soreness. We wash your hair at the clinic for up to 6 days. Most people can fly home from day 3. |
| Days 3 to 7 | Swelling peaks, then settles. It can reach the forehead or around the eyes before it goes down. Redness across the treated area, mild aches and a tender scalp are all normal. |
| Days 7 to 14 | Small scabs form at the base of the new hairs and fall off. The top of the scalp may feel numb, which usually improves over the following weeks. |
| Weeks 3 to 4 | The transplanted hairs shed, length and all. This is normal, and the roots stay in place. Until new growth comes in, the area looks much as it did before surgery. |
| Months 3 to 4 | New growth starts with thin, wispy hairs in the recipient area. |
| Month 6 | The hair is noticeably thicker, with around 40 to 60% of the final result. |
| Around 12 months | You see the final result. |
We stay with you throughout your first year, with check-ins at 2 weeks and at 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months, in person or by video call. If your result doesn't meet our standard at 10 to 12 months, we offer a revision free of charge, as long as you've followed your aftercare and kept in touch.
Patient results
Our own patients, treated and photographed at our clinic with their consent. Every result depends on the patient's own hair and donor area.
Price
Long Hair DHI is more costly than Shaven or Partial Shave, because each long graft takes longer to extract, load and place. It's still priced as a package by graft count.
Send us photos and we'll give you an estimate. Your doctor measures again at your pre-op consultation and confirms the final price with you before we start. If you'd prefer a lower price, we can treat a smaller area, or Partial Shave may suit you at the standard price.
Every package includes:
- A free online consultation with a doctor
- Your medications for six months
- A take-home aftercare kit: shampoo, moisturiser, saline spray and dressings
- Hair washing at the clinic for up to 6 days after surgery
- Yellow laser sessions to help swelling settle
- LLLT sessions at the clinic for up to a year
- Follow-up reviews for a year, in person or by video call
- A free revision if your result doesn't meet our standard at 10 to 12 months, as long as you've followed your aftercare and kept in touch
For your estimate, book a free online consultation.
How a Long Hair DHI hair transplant works
What is DHI Micrograft?
DHI Micrograft is a variant of FUE (Follicular Unit Excision). Each graft, a small group of one to four hairs, is extracted individually with a 0.7 to 0.85 mm punch from the back of the head, where hair naturally resists DHT, the hormone behind pattern hair loss. The grafts then go into the thinning or bald area.
We don't cut and implant in one step. Your doctor makes the incisions first, which sets the angle, direction and depth of every hair before any graft goes in. Then each graft is placed with the Lion Implanter, a pen-like tool from South Korea. The graft is handled less, and the placement follows the plan.
What "immediate results" really means
Because the grafts go in with their length, you'll see the shape of your new hairline on the day you leave. That preview is real, but it's temporary. Between weeks 3 and 4, the transplanted hairs shed, as they do with any transplant, and the roots rest. New growth starts at 3 to 4 months, and the final result shows at around 12 months.
So Long Hair DHI changes how you look in the first few weeks. It doesn't change how the hair grows in the long run, or the final result.
Why nothing is shaved
Your doctor works between your existing hairs, at the back to extract and at the front to place. Nothing needs shaving or trimming, so there's nothing to grow back. It's slower work, which is why Long Hair DHI suits smaller areas and is more costly.
What is micrografting?
Under a microscope, we trim away the tissue around each graft that it doesn't need to survive, while keeping the hair's length. Leaner grafts fit through smaller incisions, so they can sit closer together without crowding. That gives more density in each square centimetre and a smoother scalp as it heals.
How dense will it be?
We usually plan 40 to 50 grafts per cm² at the hairline, and 30 to 40 for the mid-scalp, the crown and areas that still have thinning hair. We plan fewer if your existing hair is still in good condition. All of it is adjusted to what your donor area can safely supply.
Before your surgery
We'll send you the full pre-op guide when you book. The main points:
- Tell us about every medication, supplement and allergy. Don't stop any prescribed medication without checking with us first.
- Avoid alcohol and fermented foods for a week before.
- Stop or cut down smoking for 2 weeks before. Nicotine narrows blood vessels and reduces blood supply to the grafts.
- Don't colour or perm your hair for a month before.
- Wash your hair on the morning of surgery, and don't use any styling products.
- Sleep well the night before, and drink plenty of water. Avoid coffee, tea and fizzy drinks on the day.
- Wear a button-up shirt, so nothing has to go over your head afterwards.
Blood test. We need a recent blood test for HIV, hepatitis B and C, and syphilis before surgery. You can bring results from your own provider or have it done at the clinic.
After your surgery
We'll give you the full aftercare guide on the day. The main points:
- Take your medication as prescribed.
- Wear the headband for at least 4 days to keep swelling off your face.
- Sleep on your back with your head raised.
- Don't touch, scratch or rub the treated area for 2 weeks.
- Don't bend your head below your waist for a week.
- No alcohol, smoking or sex for at least a week.
- No exercise or heavy sweating for 2 weeks. Walking is fine.
- No swimming pools, saunas or steam rooms for a month.
- Keep out of strong sun for 2 to 4 weeks, and only wear loose headwear we've approved.
- No haircuts, colouring or chemical treatments for a month.
- Be gentle with the long transplanted hairs when you wash and comb, following our instructions.
- Eat a balanced diet from all five food groups, with a focus on protein.
Normal healing
These side effects of a hair transplant are part of normal healing and settle on their own:
- Swelling around the forehead or eyes, settling in 3 to 7 days
- Tightness, soreness or numbness at the back and front. Tightness and soreness usually ease within 1 to 2 weeks. Numbness can take a few weeks to a few months to settle fully
- Redness, itching and small scabs, which fall off over 7 to 14 days. Don't pick them.
- Shedding of the transplanted hairs at 3 to 4 weeks. Nearby existing hair can also shed for a while (shock loss). It grows back.
Contact us straight away if you have severe pain, swelling that keeps getting worse, or unusual discharge.
Why Bangkok Hair Clinic for Long Hair DHI
From your first photos to your 12-month review, the same trained team looks after your case.
- Your doctor does the surgical work. Our doctors harvest the grafts and make the incisions themselves, and oversee every graft as it's placed.
- Honest about the trade-off. If Partial Shave would give you the same result at the standard price, we'll say so before you book.
- Graft care built into the process. Microscope trimming, storage at 2 to 4°C in a holding solution, and first-out, first-in placement.
- Natural hairline design. Drawn with the small irregularities real hair grows in, never a straight, even edge.
Long Hair DHI questions
Not from the back, since nothing is shaved or trimmed. At the front, expect some redness, swelling and small scabs in the first one to two weeks while the area heals.
You see the shape of your new hairline on the day, because the grafts go in with their length. The transplanted hairs then shed at 3 to 4 weeks. New growth starts at 3 to 4 months, and the final result shows at around 12 months, the same as any other transplant.
Yes, at around 3 to 4 weeks. That's expected. The roots stay in place, and new hair grows from them.
Each long graft takes longer to extract, load into the implanter and place without damaging it. More time per graft means a higher package price than Shaven or Partial Shave.
Usually up to 2,000. If you need more, Shaven DHI Micrograft lets us take up to 3,500 in one case.
If small trimmed patches at the back, covered by your own hair, are fine for you, Partial Shave is the same surgery at the standard price. If nothing at all can change, choose Long Hair DHI.
Yes. We treat female hair loss with medication, GFC, laser treatments or a hair transplant. Female hair loss is more complex than male pattern hair loss, so speak to a doctor about which options suit you.
Yes. No hair transplant is scar-free. We extract with punches of 0.7 to 0.85 mm, so each scar is a small dot under a millimetre, spread across the back of the head. Surrounding hair usually covers them.
We expect at least 90 to 95% of grafts to survive. Each graft is trimmed under a microscope, kept at 2 to 4°C in a holding solution, handled as little as possible, and placed in the order it came out. Survival also depends on your scalp and on following your aftercare.
As with any surgery, complications are possible, though uncommon. They include infection, folliculitis (inflamed follicles that look like small spots), lower graft survival than expected, overharvesting of the donor area, more visible scarring, and numbness that lasts longer than usual. We reduce these with sterile technique, careful donor planning and a year of follow-up. Your doctor goes through them with you before surgery.
The anaesthetic injections sting at first. Light sedation, gentle vibration and a massage are standard to help. After that, most people feel pressure rather than pain. Expect some soreness and tightness for a few days.
Gentle styling is usually fine after 2 to 3 weeks, once the small wounds have healed. Check with us at your follow-up before using heat tools or styling products.
Yes, if your donor area can supply it. Your doctor will check how much donor hair you have left and how your hair loss has progressed. If you've had a previous transplant, let us know.
Ask if Long Hair DHI suits you
Send us photos of your hairline, crown and the back of your head. A doctor will look at them and tell you whether Long Hair DHI is realistic for you, roughly how many grafts you'd need, and give you a price estimate. Online consultations are free.