Donor Density Question

[Raphael84]

Hair density - in many Dr's and patients documentation, their donor area density is quoted. Is it possible to learn your donor density pre HT, before any strip is extracted? I would very much like to know my donor density now, despite my procedure not being for many months.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Raphael,

 

There are tools, including the densitometer that can determine this. Some hair restoration physicians use them to gauge donor hair density.

 

All the Best,

 

Bill

[Raphael84]

Bill,

tell me more about this tool. Is this something that I could attain. If so, I am presuming it may be possible to undertake this test, by measuring it myself? At this time, I am very keen to gather an rough idea of my donor density.

[confused123]

Raphael84,

 

Go thru this article - an interesting read...

 

http://www.bernsteinmedical.co...les-Densitometry.php

[Dr. Michael Beehner]

Raphael,

When you talk about "donor density" being good, it can refer to one of two things, and usually a combination of both. They are: 1) Number of FU's per square centimeter. and 2) Number of hairs per average FU.

As Bill stated, you need someone with a little experience and a special magnification viewing instrument to do it. It's almost impossible to do without clipping the hair in the area close to the skin. We usually use a 0.5 x 0.5cm area to count in and then just multiply by 4, since it is very difficult to count a whole square cm and keep track of which ones you have counted and which ones you haven't as the process goes along. Before surgery and taking a donor strip, since we already have the donor area shaved down anyways, we usually count 3-5 of these 0.5cm square areas to be sure we didn't just test one sample area higher than the others. At a consultation, if someone wanted a numerical density measurement, most of us would only clip the hair in a small area for one count. I don't initiate this at my consultations, as I consider it a little "invasive" and aggressive from the patient's standpoint. Most hair surgeons who have a lot of experience can simply lift the hair and look at it, or even better, use the densitometer instrument and look at the long hairs, which gives us a great idea of both FU density and number of hairs per FU. It's just that a formal count is pretty much impossible without cutting the hair. Even if you had the instrument at home obviously you couldn't measure your own donor density, and I doubt even a friend would be able to do it on a first try.

Mike Beehner, M.D.