gillenator/joe ht

How's it going, that being the case (fue from the sides) is it reasonable to assume we all should be able to extract at least 5000+ grafts.

Reason I mention 5k is some of the best HT's I have seen have had around this many + grafts extracted. Take for instance Futzy, from what ive seen of his pics he was pretty much out of hair and then achieved a total coverage with excellent density + he made a good chice of surgeon who got the most out of what grafts were available. Many of the other pics on this site and others show excellent results.

My point being is 5k a magical mark to aim for? I know you need to take hair shaft thickness into account. What do you guys think?

qvarnis

Qvarnis,

You mentioned that you had 2800 grafts already and it sounds like you want either additional coverage or more density to what is there now.

Futzy has outstanding hair characteristics and remember you are looking at photos vs seeing him in bright light. Either way yes 5,000 grafts can do miracles in providing most folks good coverage. So if you want more, that is your personal decision and it sounds like you have enough donor for it.

We can never assume everyone has the density and/or laxity to accomodate 5,000 harvestable grafts however most patients do have that many starting with a virgin scalp and having the work done by a good HT surgeon who will minimize transection. There are patients however who have already progressed to NW6 & NW7 and would potentially need more than 5,000 grafts but lack the donor to fulfill coverage front to back. In other words there are patients who have much larger recipient areas to fill in, but may not have enough donor/density to attain the coverage they would ultimately want.

You want to get examined in person, have your donor density re-calculated, laxity re-tested, and then explain your goals to the surgeon. A good experienced HT surgeon will then provide you in what he/she feels is the graft count to achieve your goal based on "your" hair characteristics. And of course providing you have the laxity for it.