When considering a hair transplant, understanding How Many Grafts Do I Need? is crucial for effective planning and achieving optimal results.
Why Most patients approach this question incorrectly. Common pitfalls to avoid.
A common question and large part of the initial hair transplant consultation revolves around how many grafts will be needed to treat the patient’s bald scalp. Due to a “buyers mentality” patients often get attracted too and fixated on large numbers. Similar to buying a TV or a material product they think bigger the number, better the value. In this article I will try to explain why this is not the right way to approach a hair transplant surgical planning.
Follciles Come in Many Configuration and Can Also be Split
Follicles come in 3 or more configuration: – 1 hair, 2 hair, 3 hair and more. When a clinic quotes you a price for certain number of grafts, those grafts can be either of these configurations. A poorly harvested 3000 follicular session with a lot of transections has the potential to have less coverage compared to a meticulously harvested 2000 follicular session with minimal transection. You also want to make sure that the clinic is not splitting the grafts into smaller follicles (unless this is strategically planned) and quoting you for the split grafts. It is very important that you have confidence and trust that the surgeon who will be operating on you is ethical and transparent in their pricing.
Follicles are a limited resource
Follicles are a finite resource. We are all born with a limited number of follicles on our scalp, Once the available donor follicles are used up there are very limited options available to cover any further baldness that is present or may present itself. With this limitation in mind, it is better to make meticulous use of a modest amount of grafts for a surgical session then utilize a large amount all at once.
Poor growth due to hidden cicatricial alopecias
Hair transplants have a high success rate. However, even the best surgeons will occasionally encounter a patient where the transplant fails. Often this occurs due to the hair loss being secondary to an underlying inflammatory condition which may be dormant initially only to become active later. If this was to occur, a patient will be in a better position to execute “plan b” if the first surgical session was planned in a way that left ample donor reserves for the future.
With the right planning and technique a lot can be achieved by utilizing a modest amount of grafts. At BKS Hair Restoration, we emphasize quality over quantity. Contact us today to schedule your consultation and learn more about our personalized approach.
