Understanding Hair
Valued member
If, for a hair transplant to be successful it needed to restore like for like hair lost, a hair transplant would be redundant. The demand for hair far outweighs the supply, especially as hair loss advances. Notwithstanding the technical obstacle of placing hair so close together. Thankfully, this is not the case, it´s quite possible to create natural looking hair coverage and density with less hair than previously growing. By placing the hair units close enough together, varying on the area and hair characteristics, when grown out, it mimics a natural looking hair density. The required hair density varies depending on the angle and orientation of the placed hairs. Also, how the hair lays, either down towards the head or laying up away from the head. Laying towards the head increases the coverage and blocks the scalp further from each hair, and with the right hair characteristics can increase hair coverage by as much as 30%. Meaning you can use less hair to cover the head and block the reflection of light off the scalp.
Blocking the reflection of light penetrating the hair coverage creates the illusion of hair fullness, a hair transplant uses these principles, especially over progressive hair loss patterns. Using natural hair characteristics and surgical skills. Overall, when the hair has grown out just long enough for each hair to lay over the surrounding hair, the hair transplant looks its best. Hence why it´s rare to see a hair transplant result with a shaved style, as the illusion of density diminishes the shorter the hair.
As the donor resource is finite and the size dependent on the hair loss pattern, it´s important to have realistic expectations. A home-run hair transplant (donor able to treat any hair loss pattern) is rare. Consequently, and especially with more advanced hair loss patterns, there may need to be a concession with regards to hair coverage.
While it´s important to design the hairline to frame the face, too high and it gets lost, even so, a more conservative hairline design can look perfectly natural and full over the treated area, and while not achieving full coverage, it does reduce the area of thinning, this can be a good trade off. As the correct hairline position balances the hair coverage achieved, not all frontloaded, and even not, or with full coverage the overall design will stand the test for years.
When the donor hair cannot meet the demand, or the area to treat is simply too large, there is a temptation to want full hair coverage at the slight expense of fullness. This is always a bad option, and doctors will often try and talk you out of it. The aesthetic result is of hair, but also visible scalp from the hairline back over the head. The see-through hair coverage, diffuse thinning is not appealing. As there is no blend with the surrounding hair the stark contrast in look is obvious. Spreading the hair from the hairline back to achieve larger hair coverage is not a clever idea. A further hair transplant may be possible, if so, learn from the previous mistakes. Do not continue to spread the hair at a lower density over a large area. Spreading again will make only a small net improvement and still to be see-through. Instead, start from the hairline and work back to rebuild a natural looking fullness as far as it´s possible.
It´s a simple reality, as the hair loss pattern advances, not everyone can achieve total restoration, in one or multiple procedures. The donor resource cannot stretch that far, the natural hair characteristics don´t help. If a clinic caps the graft numbers per session for the best medical reasons. You may need to compromise on your expectations, be content with partial hair coverage, or need to commit to a further procedure later. Or simply decide it´s all or nothing, if you can´t achieve natural looking fullness and full coverage it´s just not for you, sobeit.
As the donor resource is finite and the size dependent on the hair loss pattern, it´s important to have realistic expectations. A home-run hair transplant (donor able to treat any hair loss pattern) is rare. Consequently, and especially with more advanced hair loss patterns, there may need to be a concession with regards to hair coverage.
While it´s important to design the hairline to frame the face, too high and it gets lost, even so, a more conservative hairline design can look perfectly natural and full over the treated area, and while not achieving full coverage, it does reduce the area of thinning, this can be a good trade off. As the correct hairline position balances the hair coverage achieved, not all frontloaded, and even not, or with full coverage the overall design will stand the test for years.
When the donor hair cannot meet the demand, or the area to treat is simply too large, there is a temptation to want full hair coverage at the slight expense of fullness. This is always a bad option, and doctors will often try and talk you out of it. The aesthetic result is of hair, but also visible scalp from the hairline back over the head. The see-through hair coverage, diffuse thinning is not appealing. As there is no blend with the surrounding hair the stark contrast in look is obvious. Spreading the hair from the hairline back to achieve larger hair coverage is not a clever idea. A further hair transplant may be possible, if so, learn from the previous mistakes. Do not continue to spread the hair at a lower density over a large area. Spreading again will make only a small net improvement and still to be see-through. Instead, start from the hairline and work back to rebuild a natural looking fullness as far as it´s possible.
It´s a simple reality, as the hair loss pattern advances, not everyone can achieve total restoration, in one or multiple procedures. The donor resource cannot stretch that far, the natural hair characteristics don´t help. If a clinic caps the graft numbers per session for the best medical reasons. You may need to compromise on your expectations, be content with partial hair coverage, or need to commit to a further procedure later. Or simply decide it´s all or nothing, if you can´t achieve natural looking fullness and full coverage it´s just not for you, sobeit.
