I was surfing the internet on topics related to hair loss and came across your balding blog which is a super helpful resource. I saw you posted on there a math formula on how to estimate the amount of grafts available in the donor area. When I looked closely with the ultra close up/ zoom option on my phone at a section of my donor and calculated the math, I average about 2.55 hairs per follicular unit which based on your formula would put me at having roughly 7,598 grafts that I can transplant. The only thing is, from what I read the diameter of you hair follicles also factors in. I don’t have a tool to measure but I’m guessing it’s more on the fine side like 45-50 microns. At 2.55 hairs per FU with the hair being more on the fine side, can you tell me how that would skew the available donor and what that would roughly bring my number to?
And, does that formula matter if it is FUE o FUT you plan to do?
The follicular unit count on the head of a typical male is 50,000 units and constant with all races and in all people. This is important to understand because the amount of hair per follicular unit is variable. Simple math would show that if two people measured 2 hairs/per follicular unit in person one and 3 hairs per follicular unit in person two, then clearly, person two would have 50% more hair to transplant. To make it a bit more confusing, if person two had a hair shaft with half of the volume of person number one, the advantage of person number two would be completely neutralized. So you see, hair numbers and hair thickness both participate in the “fullness’ we see as we look at a person’s hair volume. Dr. Marrit, in the 1980s, showed that if he plucked out half of the hairs on one side of the head in a person with black hair and medium-weight hair with an average density, the human eye could not see the difference between the two sides. This is where the surgeon’s judgment and his/her experience come in, as just a number doesn’t tell you what you must know about grafting a balding area. I can’t write a book here, but I hope this explanation helps.
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