I have thin hair on the top and require only about 400-500 grafts to thicken it up to my satisfaction. The problem is every hair transplant center I have had a consultation with say they don’t do anything less than a $4000 dollar procedure. Is there anywhere I can get what I want? It seems everyone wants to oversell me! – John
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Hi John
Thank you for your question.
You feel that you need “only about 400-500 grafts to thicken your hair up to your satisfaction.”
Assuming that you are talking about follicular units, this number of grafts would equal approximately 900-1100 hairs. To put this in perspective, this amount of hair is approximately 1% of the total amount of hair that you had on your head when you were a teenager.  If these grafts were transplanted at a density of 50 FUs per square cm they would only cover 20 square cm which is equivalent to a circle with a diameter of 5 cm or 2 inches. If they were transplanted at a lower density of 25 FUs per square cm they would cover 40 square cm which is equivalent to a circle with a diameter of 7.2 cm or 2.8 inches. Read the Story

I really would like to have a hair transplant, but I’d prefer not to have long scar on the back of my head. My concern is if the back of my hair thins over time that the scar will become visible.

Does it make more sense to have FUE as opposed to a strip hair transplant, just in case I do thin out more in the back and the sides? I figure that if this does happen, I can always just shave my head to a #2 and go on with my life without the fear of having a visible scar. Is this a logical approach, or have I misunderstood the benefits of FUE?
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Thank you for taking the time to write. You question is astute in that you are trying to take into account future hair loss – something not every patient thinks about. Let me try to answer you as best I can without examining you.

If you have thin hair at the back of your head, FUE may be your best option. You definitely need to check with a hair surgeon though to make sure you don’t have a diffuse unpatterned alopecia (in which case surgery would be ill-advised). FUE is a viable option for you providing you have been tested and found to be a good candidate. Read the Story

Hi, I had a frontal procedure 9 years ago in the UK and as is very common the result is not very good, so I am looking to have another procedure.

My hair loss has progressed in 10 years to a Norwood 4, much more in the crown area so I am looking for one large procedure of approximately 4000 grafts.

Due to all the contrasting information on the internet and on forums its very difficult to decide on where to go and which doctor to choose. A lot of people have the opinion to only consider traveling to USA for a hair transplant.

I have been looking at Dr Arvind’s website and clinic in India and it looks very good, informative and very affordable compared to most, but as usual I have heard good and bad about going to India for a procedure.

Can anyone clarify that going to India especially Dr Arvind is a good decision to make because obviously I am very wary after the 1st procedure I had, and all the negativity surrounding hair surgery etc. I would love to hear about other peoples experiences with this clinic etc

It would be unthinkable if I made the wrong decision this time and was left with very little donor area and unnatural looking hair. If that was the case I would rather shave my head and wait for advancements in hair restoration which surely is inevitable some time soon.

Many thanks.
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Dear Sir,

I am sorry your first experience with hair transplantation was not up to your expectations. I assume you live in the U.K. I had heard that there were a couple of “hair mills” in your country back then that did perform sub-standard work, Read the Story

I just moved back to New York. I have had four or five hair transplant sessions between the ages of 20 and 30. I am now 40 years old. The original job was done by Gary Hitzig and it was horrible. All subsequent jobs didn’t address the the original bad transplants, scars and poor hairline choice. I had a great deal of my own hair and have managed to “live with it,” and decided to wait, now 10 years, for the technology and processes to improve. Now I’m 40 and I need to address it as my hairline recedes and hair further thins. I comb my hair forward in a “caesar cut” and hide the scars and doll hair plugs. I’d like to be able to comb it back and not worry about it. I’m looking for guidance. Thanks.
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First and foremost, I want you to know that you’re not alone. From my understanding, your experience with Dr. Gary Hitzig seems to be typical according to many of his former patients.

Living with a bad hair transplant can be very difficult, so I’m glad that you’ve been able to deal with it and function well for all of these years. The good news is that surgical hair restoration has come a long way. With today’s state of the art techniques, even the worst repair patients can be helped. Depending on your available donor area, much can be done to help you achieve a completely natural looking hairline that you will no longer have to hide. Read the Story

I had a hair transplant about five years ago with a doctor who I thought was a reputable hair transplant surgeon. It now seems that some of my transplanted hair is falling out. Is this typical after a few years? I was told that the transplanted hair would last a lifetime.
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In my opinion the biggest challenge facing hair restoration surgeons today is that there is a “mismatch” between the larger recipient scalp, and the smaller, limited donor scalp. We can always use more follicles in our transplant procedures to cover larger zones in the recipient scalp. However, the nature of the donor scalp only allows us to remove a certain amount in a single transplant session and still obtain a cosmetically acceptable closure. Individual factors such as scalp laxity, (i.e. looseness), density of follicles per unit area in the permanent zone, hair caliber and hair curl all contribute to the perceived “density” that a patient obtains with their procedure. Some of the patients will require greater than one transplant procedure to obtain there expected goals for “density and coverage”.

Generally speaking the “permanent zone” where follicles are harvested to transplant are expected to grow hair for the life of the patient. Read the Story

Is shock loss from a hair transplant temporary? I have heard that if you experience shock loss there is a real possibility that this hair will not grow back. Is this true?
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Thank you for your question. “Shock loss” in the recipient area may be either temporary or permanent depending on the quality and genetic predisposition of the existing hair. It is generally felt that shock loss is likely temporary, however if the preexisting hair is thin and weak (likely to fall out in the near future due to the hair loss process) the transplant procedure may cause the majority of those hairs to fall out permanently. The downside of that situation is that the amount of hair placed may equal the hair that is shocked out and the patient experiences no “net gain” of hair. The upside is that even if there is no net gain of hair, the transplanted hair will last a long time, likely longer than the weaker would have lasted.

The more common situation is that the preexisting hair will thin out in the first 1-3 months after the surgery and will re-grow with the new grafts making the area look much thicker. Read the Story

If I have a hair transplant for my receding hairline will I look strange if I lose more hair behind it? I have limited funds and do not know if I will be able to afford a second hair transplant if I lose more hair. Is there a way that the hair transplant can be constructed so that this is never a problem?
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The issue of potential future hair loss is very important anytime a transplant is considered to correct a receded hairline. There is no way to do the transplant so this is “never a problem”.

These are the important considerations:

-age: the younger you are, the more likely significant progression of the hair loss is
-family history: the stronger your family history, ie the more men in your family with early or extensive baldness, the higher your risk
-willingness to take medicine: Finasteride gives you a high probability of keeping what you have; most men will have more hair five years after beginning it than we they started taking it.
-motivation: transplanting a hairline implies a commitment to restoring and maintaining your hair; think hard whether this is the right decision for you; going bald naturally or shaving your head are easy, cheap alternatives. I have my patients think it over and contact me later to schedule the surgery. I want them to be sure they’re making the right decision for themselves. Read the Story

I had a transplant surgery about 5 years ago & ended up shaving my head anyways. I did not realize the scar from the donor area would be so noticeable. Are there any surgical procedures that can minimize the visibility of the scar? – John
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There are a variety of ways that you could consider. If you are bothered by the width of the scar, it is possible to undergo scar revision whereby the scar is reexcised and sutured back together with the hopes that the resultant scar would be thinner. While this is a quick and easy remedy, it is unfortunately unreliable. Because the elastic fibers in your skin surrounding the scar are continuously pulling at the scar edges, scars naturally have a tendency to widen. If you had enough elastic fibers to cause the original scar to widen, the same fibers may cause the second scar to widen no matter how good the technique of the surgeon. Another option would be to try to tattoo the white scar with a color that matches the surrounding skin, but it seems difficult to ever perfectly match colors. Read the Story

Is having a hair transplant a good option for an African American man? I have been losing my hair for the past 2 years and I am not comfortable doing the shaved head thing. I just don’t think I have a good shaped head although I do wear my hair very short. Thanks.
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Unfortunately it is difficult to give a yes or no answer to this question since a lot depends on whether you have had a problem with “shaving bumps” which would indicate the new grafts might also curl back and cause ingrown hairs and scars. Other factors such as the density of the donor area and the hair style you would want afterwards are key factors. The best results would be in someone with dense hair in the donor area, limited bald spot on the crown and minimal recession in front so that a short “natural” hair style one to two inches long would be able to cover the balding area even with some mild scarring. Read the Story

I am 36 years old and had a mini-micrograft hair transplant in 2005. My hairline looks extremely unnatural and I have heard more than my share of jokes and comments made by co-workers and friends. I am writing you today to find out if this can be repaired, and if so how would that be accomplished? Are the grafts removed or is more hair transplanted around the existing grafts?
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The adverse effects of a poorly performed minigraft hair restoration procedure can be improved upon using contemporary repair techniques. The manner in which the repair is performed depends on a variety of factors which include: 1) hairline location – i.e. is it too low or does it have an aesthetic shape and height; 2) graft direction and exit angle from the scalp; 3) graft appearance – i.e. severity of plugginess, presence of pitting or cobblestone formation; and 4) the availability of donor material for supplemental grafting. Some of the methods that are used to repair an unnatural minigraft hairline include: 1) complete removal of the objectionable grafts; 2) removing selective portions of the objectionable grafts; 3) adding follicular-unit grafts to the minigraft region. Read the Story