Q Female pattern hair loss along my central part. Am I a candidate for a hair transplant?
A Hi there - sorry to hear you are going through this. I hope that you have received some good guidance as you've tried to seek treatment, but here are my thoughts. If you are on the younger side, my concern would be about some underlying medical issue that could be causing your hair loss. Auto-immune conditions, various hormone issues (like your thyroid), or vitamin deficiencies (iron and others) are some of the common things to be looking into. Some require simply a blood test to diagnose, while others might need a biopsy taken by a dermatologist or hair specialist.
If you are older than 50 - 55, this may be related to menopause. And first it would be important to check your hormonal status with your primary care or OB physician to see if you might benefit from Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT).
When it comes to hair transplant, the answer is Yes - with proper techniques and preparation, it is possible to transplant new hairs without permanently disrupting the hairs that are already there (your native hairs). This takes proper planning, making sure no other medical problems are present, and a skilled and highly experienced surgical team.
Hope that helps and happy to help anytime.
Q How many grafts would I need for a transplant? (Photo)
A Hey there, happy to help you think this through.
The main thing about planning hair surgery is looking at the head from all different angles. Literally. That's how you can ensure things end up looking natural in the end. Without seeing a view with your eyebrows in it from the front, and a side view with your ears as well, it's difficult to diagnose the exact stage of hair loss you have. My guess is you are Stage 2 or 3. The number of grafts depends on the goal of the surgery, which relates to your age at the time of surgery, your facial structure, body height, family history of hair loss. and what other things you are currently doing or would be willing to do to prevent more hair loss in the future.
Obviously that is a bigger conversation but those points should be discussed thoroughly by any trained hair surgeon you visit.
My estimate from just this one view would be in the range of 1000-1200 grafts if it is only the temples that have loss (meaning the top and crown of the head and temporal points on the sides of the forehead truly do not have any thinning that needs to be addressed).
Hope that helps!