Deciding to have a hair transplant is a big decision, but an exciting one – this is the start of a new, confident you who looks as you want to look. Taking the time to find the right clinic and surgeon for you is essential, and you will need to discuss many things with them before signing up to any procedure. One of the things to talk about is exactly how many grafts you will need to give you the look you are going for.
Follicular unit transplantation (FUT) is the most popular and well recognised method of hair transplantation. It involves taking a strip of scalp (which is why it is also known as the strip method) from the donor site and transplanting it into the area of balding or thinning scalp. The strip of scalp will contain follicular units – these units contain between one and four follicles, oil glands, nerves, and muscle. The procedure leaves a small scar, but this can be covered with additional work including scalp micro pigmentation.
For a standard hair transplant, you will need somewhere between 2,300 and 5,000 grafts, which is why you need a professional to carry the procedure out for you – you wouldn’t want someone without the necessary skills to do that much work on your scalp! Bearing in mind that many clinics charge per follicle, or per unit, minimising the number of grafts is a cost effective way to work, but it is also important to ensure that you end up with the result you wanted – or as close to it as possible (your practitioner will discuss what is achievable with you at your initial meeting).
The ability to discuss not only the procedure itself but also the intended outcome is important – even essential – and should not be overlooked. Professional clinics will not carry out a transplant without first having discussed everything with the client beforehand, as it is a big operation, a relatively expensive one, and one that, if the wrong result is achieved, can have a severely detrimental effect on someone’s life. By talking to your surgeon, you will be able to find out exactly how many grafts you will need (and how much you will be paying since many clinics do charge per follicle or per strip) and you will know exactly what the end result will be.