3000 grafts enough ????????????????

[Buzz2]

Hi

 

I have a question about number of hairs/grafts over a certain area.

I currently have a bit of thinning throughout my top middle scalp area, quite a lot more so at the crown. The area I am trying to cover is approximately 140 square centre meters (7 across, 20 in length. My question is , do you think that 3000 grafts will create a significant cosmetic improvement ? Im looking to have approx 1500 in the crown and 1500 spread throughout the middle.

 

My Surgeon will be DR Saifi in Poland who I have been in regular contact with and has been excellent. I am also in regular contact with many of his patients all of whom speak highly of him. At the moment he cannot commit to an exact figure until he has seen me in person, but im looking for 3000 as mentioned above.

 

I have been on propecia for 4 months now and my crown looks a lot better than it does in the photo. When my hair is at a grade 2 in length I do not have noticeable hair loss.

 

I'm guessing with 3000 grafts I will have an additional 6600 hairs approx ?. Do you think this will be good coverage for the area mentioned above.

Any advise would be greatly appeciated.

 

Thanks

[bigcow]

imagine 140cm x 50 grafts =

[Buzz2]

Are you saying I need 7000 grafts ? Or am I misreading.

[Buzz2]

Can anyone else offer some advise please

 

Thanks

[NEWHAIRPLEASE]

Hi

 

I have a question about number of hairs/grafts over a certain area.

I currently have a bit of thinning throughout my top middle scalp area, quite a lot more so at the crown. The area I am trying to cover is approximately 140 square centre meters (7 across, 20 in length. My question is , do you think that 3000 grafts will create a significant cosmetic improvement ? Im looking to have approx 1500 in the crown and 1500 spread throughout the middle.

 

My Surgeon will be DR Saifi in Poland who I have been in regular contact with and has been excellent. I am also in regular contact with many of his patients all of whom speak highly of him. At the moment he cannot commit to an exact figure until he has seen me in person, but im looking for 3000 as mentioned above.

 

I have been on propecia for 4 months now and my crown looks a lot better than it does in the photo. When my hair is at a grade 2 in length I do not have noticeable hair loss.

 

I'm guessing with 3000 grafts I will have an additional 6600 hairs approx ?. Do you think this will be good coverage for the area mentioned above.

Any advise would be greatly appeciated.

 

Thanks

Its really hard to tell how many grafts you may need without any good pictures! My suggestion is to post come really good pictures and then see what kind of feedback you get!

[mahhong]

3000/140 would be approximately 21g/cm2, which I don't think would be enough to make an appreciable difference to your hair. You also have to factor in that grafts are rarely places evenly; a doctor would likely want to put more grafts up front for your hairline and less at the back in the crown area, and fade in between those two areas. 3000 grafts would make some difference, but as you sound like you're looking for transplantation into the vertex/crown and not the hairline it's hard to say. Those areas need a notoriously high number of grafts to make a real difference.

 

Nobody can make any sort of accurate assessment without pictures and a firmer idea of what you're looking to achieve, but 140cm2 is a relatively large amount to fill and usually it's only figures of around 30-40cm2+ that will start to make a real cosmetic difference to your hair.

 

If you wanted to get 30g/cm2 in 140cm2 of space that's 4200, and I would hazard a cautious guess you'll be looking at at least 4000 grafts to really tackle hairloss of that size in that area. That having said, you could easily put 5 or 6000 grafts in that sort of area, and even at maximum that's still only around 42g/cm2. That's a decent density for transplantation, but still not native sorts of density.

 

Only a doctor can give you a proper diagnosis and without pictures it's hard to say, but my honest guess is that you have to be looking at around 4500 minimum, especially if you have a strong hairline and want to fade from that hairline to your mid-scalp and crown. You could of course get 3000 grafts and have some appreciable difference to your hair - but the results would be limited at that density.

[N-6]

Buzz2, I think the very first thing you need to do is consult with your doctor and get a professional medical opinion about your donor supply and scalp laxity.

 

Every patient is different. Not everyone has the same supply. Everyone wants a whole lot of grafts but not everyone has the number of grafts they want.

 

You also have to consider what could be safely removed in your specific situation. The doctor may think he can remove over 3K grafts easily in one procedure or that he may only be able to remove 2500. The larger the procedure the larger the risks.

 

I think its also easy to overlook that the quality of the donor supply varies from patient to patient, ie., donor density. Some patients have more hairs per square cm than others. For example, both Pt A and Pt B receive 3000 grafts. Pt A though has higher donor density than Pt B. Therefore, Pt A may end up with the better cosmetic result because of the donor density difference even though both A and B received the same number of grafts. As many people have said on here, its hairs that count not grafts.

 

As to whether 3000 grafts are sufficient for your situation, we don't know because we don't know what your scalp looks like. Assuming you have average donor density, the doc can safely remove 3000 grafts in one sitting and the 140 sq cm has no current existing hair coverage, then, yes, I would say 3K would leave you with a very see through look. However, if you have decent coverage in that area, then 3K could make a nice difference in your case.

[Buzz2]

Mahhong & N-6

 

Many thanks for your detailed responses. Ill try and get some better pictures put on , but I do not have a decent Camera.

 

Thanks again

[Buzz2]

Hi All

I still havent got round to putting some photos on but will do so asap.

 

After checking more thoroughly, the area I need to cover is approximately 16 x 6cms, so a total of 96 cm2.

 

So based on myself having average donor density (which I think I have or more) and having 3000 grafts, I make this to be approximately 6600 hairs . So averaged out, I make this an additional 68 hairs per Sq CM. The average hair count is 180 per cm2 , so Im adding more than a third of this, which I think will make a significant difference ? Do people agree with this and my calculations ???

 

Just for for further info , I have lost just under half my hair in the middle region of scalp (the area im obviously trying to fill)

 

Thanks

[Buzz2]

Hi All

 

Have finally got round to putting photos on , although they are not very good at all.

 

This is my hair at a grade 2 , which doesnt show a great deal of hair loss in the areas that I have been talking about. Its only when my hair is longer it becomes more apparent. This will give you an indication of how much hair I do have though.

 

Thanks

Gary

[Buzz2]

Hi

 

Ive now added added a clearer image on my photo album and would be grateful if you think 3000 grafts would be enough , based on average donor density.

 

Thanks

[bigcow]

Your measurement was 140cm approx,is that corrrect?

imagine if all the hair you have now gets dht and falls out in the future then that means with your hair character you might need 50 grafts per sq cm to replace it so it means 140x50=

or maybe youll repond well to propecia to save existing hair?

[Buzz2]

Thanks

 

Does anyone else have any comments ?? Looking to see if 3000 grafts / 6600 hairs will be enough to give me the look of a full head of hair

[Spanker]

Here is what I think, I would not do anything until you are on propecia for a full year.

 

What doctor are you considering?

 

I would think a reputable physician would ask that you be on meds for a year before doing anything, especially with your type of loss.

 

I guess you are saying that you are a diffuse thinner and this can often be the hardest type of patient to treat.

 

Personally, from the pics and considering your age, I think your hair loos great.

Edited December 29, 2011 by Spanker

[Blake Bloxham]

Buzz,

 

Try playing with the hair loss learning center graft calculator. You can input your specific characteristics and get a rough idea of the type of coverage, density, and graft count you'd desire.

 

Let me know if you have any additional questions.

[Buzz2]

Spanker - Im going with Dr Saifi in Poland. He did say to me that Ideally that I should be on Propecia for a year, It will be 8 months by the time I have surgery.

 

Also, he has only seen photos which show my hair in a worse state than the photos I have included here as my hair is a bit longer. I will post some more photos on here in a week or so when the hair is longer, which shows in thinner in the middle areas.

 

Im due to have the consoltatiton just before the surgery but I know he has mentioned to other patitents to have the work done in the front third , and see how the Propecia responds in the middle and the crown.

 

Future Ht Doc - Many thanks , ive had a go on this , but cant really get it to the exact ares I want, although its a good indication.

[dingdong12]

when are yougoing for surg?

[Buzz2]

1st March

[dingdong12]

iv been in contact with dr saifi, im considering going feb, !!!!!

[chrisdav]

Buzz 2

 

I wouldn't speculate on how many grafts you need as it will drive you round the bend.

 

Go and have a multiple consultations with reputable surgeons, who can diagnose your current hairloss situation and give you the advice you need to achieve your goals.

 

Where are you from?

[bigcow]

You could do a strip surgery to cover all your frontal regions so that you will look good and start on meds to see if it helps the crown area

if not then be prepared to go in for a second.

 

im pretty sure any of the top docs will inform you of your options.

Dont worry it will all work out well.

 

some people respond well to meds and their existing hair thickens up and loss stops

and some it does nothing.

 

least you have decent donor hair if you go for surgery.

all the best

[Buzz2]

Im sure this is what will happen, but i would prefer to have it done in one go. But it does make sense to see if the meds works. Guess im just being a bit impatient and greedy, but who isnt !!!