How many times can you do hair transplants because of low hair density? (photos)

Question

Jae Pak, MD · Answer

If you have low hair density, hair transplant will not give you great (high density) results.  Hair transplant is basically rearranging your low hair density around.

Tim Neavin, MD · Answer

Thank you for the photos.  However, one will need to see the donor site (you are showing the recipient site)  to tell how much hair you have available for transplantation. Donor is the back of the head where the grafts are harvested.  It is not uncommon for men to have multiple hair transplants totaling 6,0000 grafts.

Cory S. Goldberg, BSc, MD, FRCS(C) · Answer

Hello in Colombo,Thank you for posting a really interesting question.  Your photo shows extensive hair loss affecting the front and midscalp as well as the vertex.  You still have a bit of hair left in the front hairline, but not enough.The question is not how many times you can transplant, but how much hair you have to donate.  When we do a hair transplant, we are not creating new hair.  What we do is move hair follicles from a place where you still have a lot of hair and where the hair is stable and not prone to balding (for most people that is the back and sides of the head), and we implant it into the bald areas in the front.  Once the hair follicles are removed from the donor area, they do not grow back in the same place, so you cannot wait and then harvest them again another time.  Most men have about 12,000 follicular units on the back of the scalp, and up to 50% can be harvested for transplantation without causing visible thinning on the back of the scalp.  That means most men have no more than 6,000 follicular units that can be used.  The best way to harvest this is using FUE, not the older strip method.  Some men who have extensive balding have less than that, and I suspect, looking at your photos that are one of those men.  You could use about 2500 to 3000 units to create a very nice, full front hairline that you would be very happy with, and another 1000 to 1500 for the mid-scalp.  You don't have enough donor follicles to graft your entire scalp (no one does).  With FUE harvest this can be done in one "mega session" or you could have it done in two sessions depending on you and your surgeon.  This is the best way to proceed.Before you go ahead, it is best to make sure your hair loss is stable and that your hairline is not continuing to change rapidly.With the strip harvest method, you are more limited.  You can probably get no more than 1500 to 2000 graft from one strip session.  You'd then have to have another strip session a year later to get another 1500 units at most.  It is unlikely you could get more than than using the strip method given how much hair loss you have.  If you continue to lose hair in the back of the scalp, your strip scars will become visible, and the grafts may go bald over time as well.For really severe cases, FUE can be used to harvest body hair (chest and leg) for transplantation to the scalp, but the hair quality, thickness and texture is not as good as scalp hair.

William Rassman, MD (retired) · Answer

The density that you need to know is your donor hair density which will tell you how much hair can be moved to cover the area shown in the photo

How many times can you do hair transplants because of low hair density? (photos)

Answers (4)

Answer: Low recipient area density

Answer: Low recipient area density

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Everything you need to know about Hair Transplant

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How many times can you do hair transplants because of low hair density? (photos)

Answers (4)

Answer: Low recipient area density

Answer: Low recipient area density

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Everything you need to know about Hair Transplant

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.