Does this look like 3000 grafts? (photos)

Question

I had type 3 baldness, and the doctor suggested me to get 3000 grafts to get full density, but after doing the treatment, I have a doubt whether this is actually 3000 grafts. I know every graft has follicles ranging from 1-4, therefore, an average can be taken of 2, which means I should have at least 6000 hair follicles on my scalp, but the doctor tells me that my donor area was very weak and I had mainly grafts with a single hair follicle. Does this look like 3000 grafts? or has my doctor fleeced me?.

Jae Pak, MD · Answer

You trusted your doctor to pay money to have surgery.  If you do not trust your doctor after your surgery it is very unfortunate.  Discuss your concerns with your doctor and ask to see your surgery records.

Ilker Apaydin, MD · Answer

First of all finding an ISHRS certified, reputable hair transplant doctor must be the first step. You can check your doctor’s reputation on internet. Reviews, patient testimonials, b&a photos, certifications .....and the most important step is trusting your doctor. After medical consultation with your doctor, you should know that he/she will do his/her best for you. Otherwise you can’t know if the estimated and transplanted graft numbers are same.Some clinics give their estimation as a number of hairs which is very confusing. A number of hairs in 1000 thousand  grafts varied in each patient. As a standart number of follicules should be mentioned. The best thing you can do is keeping calm and waiting one year to get the result. You can discuss this matter with your doctor again.

Greg Williams, FRCS (Plast) · Answer

If you have been to a reputable hair transplant clinic and been told that you have had 3000 grafts then you have to assume that is what you had.Some clinics confuse patients by talking about the number of follicles when making pre-op surgical plans so 3000 follicles may be achieved with around 1500 grafts.The majority of grafts will be represented by a small scab. You can count 100 scabs and then project the surface area covered by them to the whole transplanted area ie there should be 30 similar sized areas if you had 3000 grafts. Photographs can be deceptive so it is best you do this yourself.If you feel that there are significantly less than 3000 scabs then you should discuss your concerns with your hair transplant surgeon. A reputable clinic will deal with your question in a professional and logical manner.

William Woessner, MD · Answer

Why didn't you take a photo and enlarge it so that you could count the follicles yourself? Try doing that.

Sara Wasserbauer, MD - Account Suspended · Answer

When you choose you Doctor one has to trust them fully. A Board Certified Hair Surgeon accounts for the exact number of grafts and as to where they were placed. Your Doctor should be able to give you those exact numbers.

Brian Goertz, MD (retired) · Answer

The question should be: Do you trust the doctor who performed the surgery? Hair transplant clinics that do things wrong are plentiful. As always do your homework well, find one of less than 100 full time hair transplant surgeons in the USA, check there reputation. Look at their reviews here on RealSelf and elsewhere. Avoid sales people in finding a surgeon and try to avoid a "Bad Hair Transplant".

William Rassman, MD (retired) · Answer

To find out how many grafts you received, you should ask your doctor for a copy of the surgical record which your surgeon is required by law to provide to you.  It will have the number of grafts and the number of hairs that were in each graft. If you do not trust your surgeon that is another matter. Bonding with your surgeon is critical BEFORE the transplant gets done. Your lack of trust makes this a foregone conclusion.

Does this look like 3000 grafts? (photos)

Answers (7)