Thank you for your question!
You’re asking if 100% coverage is possible with a hair transplant. We’ll it’s a very
reasonable question and it’s an ambitious question but I can certainly give you my perspective
based on my experience and knowledge in practice.
A little bit of background, I’m a Board-certified cosmetic surgeon and Fellowship-trained oculofacial
plastic and reconstructive surgeon. I’ve been in practice for over 20 years in Manhattan
and Long Island. Hair transplant has been a very big part of my practice for many years.
In fact, I’m also the founder of TrichoStem™ Hair Regeneration Centers where we help people
with thinning hair non-surgically using a treatment we developed called Hair Regeneration
and we treat both men and women with genetic pattern hair loss.
So the question of coverage is one that has plagued every doctor who performs hair transplant.
And the challenge has certain limitations. Unfortunately, the geometry is not favorable.
So, the question that you’re asking about 100%, let’s assume that you have reached
the most advanced stage of hair loss. Okay, let’s say you’re Norwood 7. That being
said, you think of the surface area of the scalp and then you look at the donor area.
What is the donor area? The donor area is a permanent zone where the hair never goes
away. So if you think about the baldest man you’ve ever seen, that band of hair is the
permanent zone that doesn’t go away. That is the source for hair transplant. When you
realize that essentially that donor area is considerable smaller than the full scalp surface
area, you know you can’t get 100% coverage nor can you get 100% density. This level of
challenge and frustration is what has made hair transplant a procedure that has to be
performed strategically.
Hair transplant is done to basically frame the face. When we look at somebody who’s
considering surgery, who has very advanced hair loss, we think how can we get the face
to look like there’s a hairline and that there’s hair in a way that gives them some
volume and then gives them confidence in their appearance. It’s no surprise in surveys
done to members of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery that 65% of men
wanted more density after transplantation and the completion of their hair growth after
transplant.
What we have done in our practice is we developed a solution for thinning hair called Hair Regeneration
and the relevance is as follows. When someone seeks attention for hair transplant, it’s
because they’re losing hair. And if they’re losing hair, what they’re trying to do is
transplant hair to keep up with the hair loss. With Hair Regeneration, we’re able to, with
an injection treatment not a surgery, we’re able to stop progression, we’re able to
reactivate growth, we’re able to encourage or stimulate shedding of thinning hair and
the growth of thicker hair. So you are on the right track because frankly, when someone
usually seeks attention for hair loss, they’ve already lost 50% of their hair.
So with Hair Regeneration, we’re able to achieve what is the most important thing which
is coverage. And then beyond that, if transplantation is appropriate, then transplantation can be
done more strategically. Now you understand the pure geometric and mathematical limitations
of transplantation, what you want to do is stabilize, regenerate and then consider transplantation.
At least that’s my approach in my practice for people who come with hair thinning. Interestingly,
most people who have been treated with Hair Regeneration are satisfied with the results
and don’t feel the need for a transplant. So understanding that, you may want to think
about this.
Hopefully, you’re not in a situation where you’ve lost so much hair that there isn’t
much to work with. The limitation of our treatment is that if you don’t have hair follicles,
there’s nothing to treat. So therefore the earlier we catch someone, the better. We’re
treating both men and women in their 20s and even some in their late teens. So you can
understand, the earlier we catch somebody, the more hair we have to work with.
So I hope that was helpful, I wish you the best of luck and thank you for your question!