Density and Coverage From a Hair Transplant

This is in response to Why Don’t More Men Get Their Hair Back? —

I believe that for many it is also the fact that the coverage and density you get from a hair transplant is not considered sufficient.

If you look at photos/videos of men having hair transplants, the density is at times not great – i.e. very much see through.

If density + coverage was good (cloning?!), then I believe alot more men would go and get it done even though the price would be fairly high.

The amount of hair that is generally needed to give a man the coverage he wants/needs is upwards of 25% of his original density. As each man is different, the coverage of a single hair (one out of many) reflects:

1. The thickness of the hair shaft (coarse hair has up to 5 times the coverage of fine hair)
2. The color contrast between hair and skin color (white/blond hair and light skin does better than black hair and light skin)

… so the hair requirements must be tailored to the particular patient. At our Open House events held each month, there are often 2 patients who stop by with black hair/white skin and a medium hair weight, and their results are spectacular. Sports news personality Steve Hartman had it done in one session and he does not have a see-through look, probably because his hair character is very good and wavy.

Generally, I tell patients to visit an Open House event so that questions such as those that you raised can be answered by meeting patients who have already had the procedure done. You are correct, of course, that people with fine hair may not get the fullness (density) they want and need, but such issues are best raised with the transplant surgeon.