Hair Transplant Grafts 

Are you considering hair transplant surgery as a solution to your hair loss problem? If so, the first thing you need to do is "shop around" for a hair transplant surgeon. You'll soon discover that surgeons give varying estimates on how many hair transplant grafts you need.

The figures will vary widely that you may end up feeling unsure about undergoing hair transplant surgery. After all, the doctors are saying different things; what's the right number?

Even in the medical field, there are unscrupulous individuals, hair transplant surgeons included. There are surgeons who don't really take their profession seriously. Some doctors transplant hair into areas that aren't going bald.

For one reason or another, there are hair transplant patients whose number of grafts on the balding areas doesn't jive with the number of grafts their surgeons bill them for. Often, these patients would realize this when they visit another surgeon, who will point out to them that the density on their patients' head does not come close to how many grafts they should have gotten.

As a hair transplant patient, your best hope of making sure that you get the number of grafts you pay for (and not less) is to learn how to calculate how many grafts it would take to cover your balding spots. If a surgeon tells you a figure that is not anywhere near the figure you came up with, move on to the next surgeon on your list. However, if you find a surgeon whose estimate comes close to yours, the next thing you need to do is make sure that those grafts do go to your scalp's balding spots.

So how do you calculate the grafts you need? There are a few factors you need to consider. The thickness of your hair shaft can make a different, for example. It also depends on whether you have curly or straight hair. Curly hair tends to stand up, creating the appearance of fullness. If you have straight hair, you'll need more grafts than if you have curly hair.

Your hair color is also a factor, particularly how it contrasts to your skin color. If the color of your hair is basically similar to the color of your skin, you'll need fewer grafts than if your hair color and skin color are in contrast to each other in order to cover the balding areas. If you are light-skinned but have very dark hair, you'll need more grafts to cover the same balding areas.

The average number of grafts you need to cover a balding spot is approximately 25% of the hair that had been there originally. This figure will vary based on the factors mentioned earlier such as thickness, curliness and color. You can then use this figure to calculate how many hair transplant grafts you need.

For illustration purposes, let's take an average Caucasian male. His hair density is 2 hairs per millimeter or 1,250 hairs per square inch. On average, there are 2 hairs in each follicular unit, which means each square inch requires 625 follicular units. Twenty-five percent of 625 is 156 follicular units. Next, you'll need to figure out the size of your balding areas (in square inches) and then multiply that number with 156. The resulting figure is the number of grafts needed to cover the balding spot.