Age 44 - would 500 grafts make a big difference with my bald spot? (Photo)

It is so important to understand that when you are putting hair into a crown that the crown has a natural spiral area to it. In your case the area of concern measures approximately 8 cm x 8 cm. If your doctor is only using graphs that have one or two hair follicles in it then I do not believe 500 graphs will be sufficient. When you do a hair transplant through the FUT approach you are able to control how many hair follicles are in each graft. I would rather see graphs in your crown that have four and five hair follicles in it that’s giving you much more density. And even with the FUT approach I would probably still have to use at least 3500 to 4000 hair follicles.

It is unlikely that 500 grafts would be enough to add full density to your crown. However, you might want to consider doing several hundred now, and then several hundred more at a later date when you have the resources to do more. If you proceed with a small transplant, you might want to consider adding supplementary therapies to try and regrow some of your previously lost hair, to add further density to that which you'd gain by surgery. Lastly, you can supplement a smaller surgery with cosmetic hair fibres, such as Instant Hair.

Hi! In your case, it will be an excellent result if we transplant approximately 900-1100 grafts using the DHI method. It will be with a maximum density.

Yes, I think that 500-700 grafts would make a big difference on vertex. But vertex area restoration may need a second surgery for achieving a proper density.

Every patient has a different view on “what makes a difference?” so you’ll need to go over that with your doctors. For 500 grafts, you are talking about minimal change really. Adding a good amount (net 15-20 follicular units per sq cm) would work out to around 1200-1500 grafts and adding wow wow wow would be 2300-2500. 500 is minimal. Minoxidil or topical finasteride should be discussed as well as you might achieve goals through non surgical methods as well. Any experienced surgeon with a great team can deliver a nice result so it does not necessarily need to be neograft. It does need to be an experienced surgeon who plans for what you will look like at 45, 65 and 105 years of age. Expect this area to get at least a bit worse over 35 years and plan accordingly. If you do any telemedicine consultations be sure to expose the scalp fully on photos as current views underestimate loss. You are a good candidate for medical or surgical options so take your time understanding this field very carefully.

500 grafts would be better than none and would give you some decent density. You would probably have a better result if you used 1000 grafts. You can always do this in stages, but you're probably better off just doing it just once.