Hair Transplants: Planning Hairline Restoration for Young Patients

This question, from a member of our hair loss social community and discussion forums, was answered by Coalition hair transplant surgeon Dr. Glenn Charles:

As a young person (24) who is contemplating a hair transplant within the next 12-18 months, I have a few questions that I am hoping some experienced individuals can help me with.

As all of us here can relate, I would love to return my hairline to its teenage years. However, I understand that it is just not possible, considering the fact that I need to account for future hair loss. My goal is to lower my hairline by about 3/4 cm to 1 cm in the middle and about 1.5 cm at the temples. I am currently about a 2.5 on the Norwood Scale.

I have measured the area that I would like the new hairline to be placed. My rough estimate is about 23 sq cm. How many grafts per cm on average would be needed to give the illusion of a thick/natural hairline?

Is lowering the center of the hairline a bad idea? Would you suggest follicular unit extraction (FUE) or follicular unit strip surgery (FUSS) for this type of procedure?

You need to use all available information to create a plan. One that will make a nice improvement now while you are young and will also take into consideration the possibility of additional hair loss with aging.

What is your family history of male pattern baldness? If you could post a few photos even with lower face blocked out I could give you more specifics on how many sq cm of area to be transplanted and grafts per sq cm.

Dr. Glenn Charles
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David

Editorial Assistant and Forum Co-Moderator for the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q & A Blog.

Technorati Tags: hair transplant, hair loss, Norwood Scale, follicular unit extraction, FUE, follicular unit strip surgery, FUSS, male pattern baldness