Considering FUE hair transplant for my crown area. I'm a 43 year old male. (Photo)

Thank you for submitting your question.  I would recommend finasteride. PRP, laser cap and  amino acids.   When you are ready for your FUE, approx.  1500-2000 grafts would help create more density.  Best wishes.

If you are considering surgery, it is best to have a consultation with a doctor in person.  A doctor needs to examine you first.  It is not always about the numbers.  1000 or even 2000 grafts may not give you the "fullness" you are looking for.  It all depends on your realistic goals and understanding of what a surgery can provide.

It looks to me like 1500 grafts is just about right.You could have a limited shaven FUE with a part of the donor area shaven like a crew-cut and the rest of the hair unshaven.

There are two important issues here"The first is that you want to use FUE for a megasession. I would advise against this. FUE produces poor growth yields in general and causes more damage to the donor area thus decreasing the amount of grafts available for future use if needed. The second is that you want to fill a crown. Crowns usually take a large amount of grafts to fill adequately. It's not called the "black hole of hair transplants" for nothing. That said, based on your photos and age, you look like you would be a good candidate for an FUT megasession. This would give you the best chance for a significantly improved cosmetic result with the least amount of damage to your donor area.

It appears from your photos that you may be a good candidate for hair transplantation in the crown. You may also benefit from medical therapy as well. Please do your research carefully to try to insure your best cosmetic result. Crown hair transplantation is both artistically and surgically challenging, so pick your surgeon carefully.

Well, you looked like me many years ago before I had my crown transplanted. The amount of grafts depends upon the thickness of your hair. Coarse hair can get away with about 1200-1400 grafts, medium weight hair may take 1800-2200 grafts, and fine hair may take more (as my hair is very fine and I had 2700 grafts). A good doctor is critical so picking one who is honest and knows all of the available technology can be very valuable. If you combined hair transplants with Scalp Micropigmentation, the number of grafts and the number of surgeries will be less. The picture in the web reference below shows the value of Scalp Micropigmentation when there is some hair present

You can have hair transplant in your crown area and if done by an experienced hair restoration surgeon you will get very natural result. Crown area is very tricky as the incisions need to follow your own native hairs  direction and orientation. If certain  rules are not followed, when the transplanted hair grows in, it will not look natural. You can Also begin using minoxil  and propecia. They work well to slow down hair loss in the crown area, however you won't get enough satisfactory  re growth at this stage of your hair loss.