Dense Packing of the Hairline (with Photos)

What is the average distance between each hair at the hairline and about a half inch behind it on a non balding adult male? And what is the smallest distance between each graft you can safely transplant at the hairline? When you normally transplant grafts at the hairline is the distance between the grafts always larger than the native hair of the person. I know only single grafts make up the first few rows of the hairline to give a natural looking transition but if they are not packed closely enough the hairline looks almost “see through” or whispy looking. I have noticed this on alot of transplant photos. Is there anyway to avoid this and give a very dense looking hairline transition even using single grafts?

I am a male with minor female pattern balding with very little temple recession but my hairline transition has become thin and whispy and looks similar to the hairlines created with a hair transplant in a totally bald area? My goal would be to thicken up the transition area so it looks thicker and dense similar to the hairline of Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise since I am in their age bracket. Is that even possible?

First off, I’d like to think I am a good surgeon, but I highly doubt I can make you look like Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise.

Second, a hair transplant cannot give you back the same hair density as you once had. Think about the simple fact that the surgeon has to get your OWN hair from the back of your head and move it to the front. In other words, the surgeon isn’t creating any new hair, just moving hairs around. If you move too much hair from the back you will be bald in the back (so to speak). Thus, the main goal for a hair transplant surgery is to give you a non-balding hairline and good enough coverage. But a hair transplant cannot give you back the fullness of Brad or Tom. Maybe another way to understand this point is to know that an average non-balding head has over 1250 hairs in a square inch (or 625 follicular units in a square inch).

The only exception to this is if you do not have too much hair loss (like Norwood 2 or 3) and understand you will not achieve the FULL look with one surgery alone. You need multiple surgeries to fill in the ‘gaps’ to achieve the fullness. You must also consider conserving the remaining donor hair available in case you continue to lose hair at the top and crown. This is what we refer to as the Master Plan.

There are several patients that come to mind who requested precisely what you are asking for. The patient below is one such example of a Norwood class 3 pattern patient that had two surgeries with me in a very small area. Click to enlarge.

2 years after two hair transplants totaling 3182 grafts:

Before: