Why Is a Bald Crown Known as the Black Hole of Hair Transplant Surgery?

This question, asked by a member of our hair loss social community and discussion forums, was answered by “Garageland” – a clinic representative for Coalition hair transplant surgeons Dr. Victor Hasson and Dr. Jerry Wong.

Why is the balding crown known as the black hole of hair transplantation? Is it too hard to do? I’m losing my crown. I’m 31 and I don’t want a scar on the back of my head so I’d rather do follicular unit extraction (FUE).

The crown is known as the black hole because of the surface area is flatter and it therefore requires more grafts to get a full look.

The problem with transplanting into a crown when your hair loss is not stable is that of course you will lose more hair and potentially have an isolated transplanted area. Further sessions will be required to chase your loss. Some people are okay with that but donor hair is a finite resource and what happens if the front goes?

That is why hair transplant surgeons, in general, are conservative with the numbers when placing grafts just into the crown. The best advice is to get on Propecia (finasteride). Even at a low dosage of 1mg every other day you might regrow hair in this area. You will need to be on it at least 6 months to 1 year to fully assess.

If you are stable, you will find that hair restoration physicians are more likely to place more grafts in the area and, if you are lucky enough to get some new hair growth, you may not need any work or a reduced number of grafts as a result.

Garageland
UK consultant for Hasson & Wong
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David (TakingThePlunge)
Editorial Assistant and Forum Co-Moderator for the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q & A Blog.
To share ideas with other hair loss sufferers visit the hair loss forum and social community.

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