Taking Future Hair Loss Into Consideration

Another factor that influences density is future hair loss. Hair loss can progress at an unpredictable rate. Patients with mild hair loss today may have severe hair loss in the future. Physicians need to be careful to transplant hair in a pattern that will look natural not only today, but if the hair loss progresses and recedes away from the transplanted area. Areas of thinning that improved when initially transplanted may become thin again in the future as native hair is lost. In addition, unnatural patterns may develop if native hair recedes away from transplanted hair as a patient ages. Patients need to be educated about the possibility of needing more work in the event of hair loss progression. Physicians also have to leave enough donor hair in reserve to treat any possible progression.

It is difficult to predict how severe a young patient’s final pattern will be. Family history helps but is not reliable. The best predictor is the age and severity at which hair loss began. A patient who develops significant hair loss at an early age will most likely end up with severe hair loss, while a patient who only begins to recede in his 40s or 50s will most likely have a less severe pattern.

Patients who have the potential for severe hair loss, or have more limited donor hair, CAN have hair transplants. They must, however, have more realistic expectations and create a plan that is more conservative and achievable. Below is an example of a Type 7 patient who achieved a successful result by utilizing a more conservative plan.

Patients with Larger Balding Areas and a Limited Donor Supply – Focusing the Best Density in Aesthetically Critical Areas

When a patient has a poor donor supply, attempting to produce equally high densities throughout the entire recipient region is unwise and not achievable, as it would rapidly outstrip the limited donor supply. A patient could end up with a thin, unfinished and unnatural appearance of density throughout the entire scalp region. A better approach in these patients is to produce the higher densities in specific regions of the recipient area, where the aesthetic impact of high density is of particular importance (i.e. the frontal tuft and central regions). Higher densities in these areas contribute to the overall appearance of fullness and naturalness in the entire transplanted area. This approach creates a fuller look with less hair while mimicking normal density gradients and looks natural at all stages of the hair transplant process.