It is real, not marketing — but it caps graft numbers and the package costs more, which is the trade-off nobody advertises.
Only the donor area is trimmed in narrow strips hidden beneath longer hair, and grafts are implanted between existing hairs with DHI pens. Nothing on top is shaved, so you look unchanged the day you fly home.
Working through existing hair is slower and carries a higher risk of damaging native follicles, so sessions are usually capped around 2,000–2,500 grafts. For a Norwood 5 needing 4,500, unshaven is not a realistic single-session option.
Women, patients with long hair, those adding density to a thinning midscalp, and anyone who cannot take two weeks away from public-facing work. It is not a compromise for large bald areas.
Expect roughly 20–30% more on the package price because of the extra chair time — we quote a package, not a per-graft rate. That is the honest cost of walking back into the office on Monday.
Not when done carefully by an experienced team, though the risk of transecting native hairs is higher than in a shaved field.