Dense pack; thick or thin hair?

[follically challenged]

I'm sure it requires less grafts to achieve a dense pack with THICK hairs, but is there any difference in the illusion of density when using THIN hairs...?

What i mean is, I know dense packing can be tricky as it depends on healthy grafts, good blood supply, etc. But I'm just wondering if it would be easier to do this with THIN hair grafts or more difficult to have them so close together for whatever reason...?

Thanks!

 

[HappyMan2021]

Imo having thick hair is overrated. 

I have incredibly thick, coarse donor hair, and a lot of it curls. 

People on this forum seem to love these characteristics,  but its really done me more harm than good. 

My dream hair would be "medium" caliber, soft,  and straight. 

I dont have an answer to your question, but I think your question highlights one of the reasons its super rare and difficult to get a one and done procedure. Its really hard getting phenomenal density in one go. 

Edited September 17, 2022 by HappyMan2021

[follically challenged]

23 hours ago, HappyMan2021 said:

Imo having thick hair is overrated. 

I have incredibly thick, coarse donor hair, and a lot of it curls. 

People on this forum seem to love these characteristics,  but its really done me more harm than good. 

My dream hair would be "medium" caliber, soft,  and straight. 

I dont have an answer to your question, but I think your question highlights one of the reasons its super rare and difficult to get a one and done procedure. Its really hard getting phenomenal density in one go. 

Great answer. Why has it done you more harm? I would have thought it could disguise lack of density at least in a HT....?

My hairs are so incredibly fine and straight, they're almost invisible when looking at a single strand.

I guess we always want what we can't have.

 

[HappyMan2021]

19 minutes ago, follically challenged said:

Great answer. Why has it done you more harm? I would have thought it could disguise lack of density at least in a HT....?

My hairs are so incredibly fine and straight, they're almost invisible when looking at a single strand.

I guess we always want what we can't have.

well to be fair, I think any of the elite docs wouldn't be stumped by thick curly hair. 

But in my own personal situation, I had 2 bad results from the first 2 docs I saw. 

I was severely undercounted the # of grafts I actually need (thick hair issue) and a lot of my graft angles were screwed up (having curly hair in the donor but not natively in the front can cause inexperienced docs alot of confusion)

Also I dislike the hairstyles of curly hair, everything becomes sort of an afro no matter what you do 🤣. And if you've never had curly hair ever in your recipient area, I'm 100% certain its not what you'd want. You'd prefer the straight hair you previously had for your entire life. Suddenly post-transplant you have a very curly hairline? Unexpected to say the least from a patient pov. 

I will admit a lot of my feelings are likely because of the bad doctors who didn't know how to deal with my donor hair. I saw Mwamba in June for a repair though and I feel like he had no issue. 

Definitely agree the grass is always greener. 

Edited September 18, 2022 by HappyMan2021

[Vann]

I have thick curly hair and I used less grafts because I know it will cover more surface area. I dense packed the hairline and instead of going 40cm^2 I went with 30cm^2 because I know once my hair reaches a certain length it might be enough to cover the area without having to make it as dense the first time.

Since I was in a position where it was my first time. I decided to use less grafts first and see how it goes instead of packing it all together. I also have a diffuse hairloss pattern so its better for me not to pack it all at once. I will probably reevaluate in the 18 months post op and see if I want to work on my crown and possibly address the less dense areas in my midscalp.

It really is case by case. If you have thin hair and go for 1k grafts for an area that is 20 centimeters than you pack it with 50cm^2. If you do the same with thicker hair it will still be the same amount of hairs... just will have a different look in terms of fullness. 

[shadowcast]

Thick hair is better, any good surgeon will tell you this. Still, we're talking a difference of maybe 10 microns between "thick" and "thin" hair, I don't think it makes a difference in terms of surgery difficulty. I could be wrong. If you're looking for a silver lining to having thin hair, I don't think there is one.

[Gatsby]

I think the answer lies with the individual and what they bring to the operating table. Is your donor diffused, what Norwood level are you, what color is your hair, what coverage are you wanting and are the grafts being placed so that they shingle correctly?, etc.