Does an Area of Scalp Need to Be Completely Bald Before It Can Be Transplanted?

I’m curious – in your response you state “Transplants should never, ever be used to build up what you may lose in the future.” Why is this?

Also, does this mean that an area that’s thinning but not totally hairless (in my case, the frontal scalp, or “forelock”) can’t be thickened up until it’s gone completely bald, or nearly bald? I’m confused.

Just to clarify for readers, the above email was received in response to My Crown Is Starting to Thin and I Want to Thicken It Up With a Hair Transplant. Now that we’re all on the same page, I may not have been clear in that posting so I’ll attempt to fix that now.

Some unethical doctors use hair transplants in areas which are not balding and show no miniaturization on the anticipation that it may happen. I do not approve of that practice, nor do I approve of transplanting an area that has minimal cosmetic balding without first using a course of Propecia (finasteride 1mg).

Assuming that you have lost 50% or more of the frontal hair and are obviously thinning, transplants can be done. In this case, Propecia is good to prevent shock loss to the existing hairs. You do not have to go bald before having a hair transplant.