I've noticed from some of the photos of befores and afters, that the best results usually come from guys with curly or wavy hair and each hair shaft seems to be pretty coarse.

Although I have a great deal of donor hair, my hair is pretty straight - it only gets a little wavy when it grows fairly long and the hair shafts themselves are about medium in terms of coarseness. How would this affect a hair transplant?

dietolive,

Welcome to the forum and great question.

Because most patients (especially those with advanced balding patterns) can't restore a full head of hair, hair transplantation is mostly about the art of illusion. Proper placement, angulation, and orientation of the follicular unit grafts will contribute to the overall appearance of coverage and density, especially using the "layering" effect.

Hair characteristics certainly play a role in creating a proper illusion of hair density. Thicker hair (especially when styled a bit longer) will aid the illusion better than thinner hair. Wavy hair often helps aid the illusion by crossing with other hairs and blocking more light from shining through to the scalp.

This is not to say that patients with straight hair with an average size hair shaft can't get excellent results. What hair characteristics can't accomplish, sheer numbers of grafts can, assuming you have the available donor supply to properly cover your balding areas.

I hope this helps.

Falc

Thanks, Falceros!

That helps a lot. I had no idea that was why wavy hair makes a transplant look better!