Are You a Candidate for Hair Transplant Surgery? Why or Why Not?

This insightful article was written by hair loss physician Dr. Carlos Wesley, who is a member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians.

Patients often come into an office wondering whether or not they are “good candidates” for surgical [tag]hair restoration[/tag]. Even when told “yes” or “no” by the physician, a patient may want to better understand why they are or are not deemed a good candidate and where he or she may fit into the overall spectrum of candidacy.

Using magnified images of a patient’s donor hair, a physician can determine the number of miniaturized hairs (those of the finest caliber compared to the regular caliber terminal hairs). As a general rule of thumb, young patients who possess 25% or more of their donor hair in miniaturized form are not great candidates for [tag]hair transplantation[/tag]. Not only will a large number of the transplanted hairs likely not be permanent hairs, but also the donor scarring (either [tag]FUSS[/tag] or FUE) will likely become exposed over time if the surrounding donor hair continues its anticipated course of [tag]male pattern baldness[/tag] ([tag]MPB[/tag]).

The following image depicts a relatively poor candidate for [tag]hair transplant[/tag] surgery on the left and a better candidate on the right. This is based on the relatively low number of miniaturized hairs present in the right-hand patient’s donor area. Both were of the same age.

This next image also compares a poor candidate (left) with a much better candidate for the procedure (right).

There are also a number of more subjective variables that help determine a patient’s candidacy: the wave, curl, frizz, and color contrast between the hair and scalp. These can also influence the ultimate appearance of a patient after a full session.

To put it all together, here is an image of a good candidate’s donor area, recipient area prior to treatment, and his recipient area after treatment as seen under a magnified lens. The same patient’s transformation after a 2701-graft [tag]follicular unit extraction[/tag] ([tag]FUE[/tag]) session with me can be viewed in the accompanying video montage.

http://vimeo.com/63690270

Dr. Carlos Wesley
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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.
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