Candidacy comes down to three measurements, not to how bald you feel. Whether your loss has stabilised, whether your donor area can supply the coverage you want, and whether the density you have in mind is achievable with the hair you actually have. This page explains how each of those is assessed, so you can form a realistic idea before anyone quotes you a number.
- III–VThe Norwood band that plans most predictably
- 60–100Follicular units per cm² in an average donor area
- 5,000–7,000Grafts a typical donor area can give in a lifetime
This page covers the planning question — is my hair suitable. Medical suitability, chronic conditions and anaesthesia are covered on the medical safety page.
A hair transplant moves hair, it does not create more of it. Everything below is about how much you have to move and how far it will go.
Donor density
The number of follicular units per square centimetre at the back and sides. An average scalp carries 60 to 100. Higher density means more grafts can be taken before the donor area starts to look thinned.
- Measured, not estimated from a photo
Lifetime donor budget
Roughly 5,000 to 7,000 grafts across all sessions for an average patient, and lower for many. It does not regenerate. A large first session can leave nothing for the loss still to come.
- Spent once, gone for good
Scalp laxity
How mobile the scalp is. It affects how comfortably grafts can be extracted and how the donor area heals afterwards.
- Assessed at the examination
Hair character
Calibre, curl, colour and the contrast between hair and skin. Thick, wavy, dark hair covers more scalp per graft. Fine, straight, light hair needs more grafts for the same visual coverage.
- Why two people need different numbers
The Norwood scale describes male pattern loss in seven stages. It does not decide your case on its own — stage, donor capacity and stability are read together — but it is the shorthand every clinic uses.
| Stage | What it looks like | What is usually planned |
|---|---|---|
| Norwood I | No meaningful loss; a full, youthful hairline | Observation. Photographs every six to twelve months in the same light and angle |
| Norwood II | Slight recession at the temples | Usually medical treatment and monitoring rather than surgery |
| Norwood III | Deeper temple recession, or thinning at the crown. The first clinically significant stage | Transplantation becomes reasonable; stabilising the loss first is often sensible |
| Norwood IV | Recession plus crown thinning, with a bridge of hair between them | A well-planned session with priority given to the frontal third |
| Norwood V | The bridge between front and crown thins | Planning covers the front and mid-scalp first; the crown is assessed separately |
| Norwood VI | Front and crown merge; a rim remains at the sides and back | Full coverage is usually not the goal. Priority zones and an age-appropriate density are |
| Norwood VII | A narrow rim only | Donor supply often cannot cover the bald area. Honest planning here means a limited, framed result or none |
Women are staged on the Ludwig scale instead, which describes diffuse thinning across the mid-scalp rather than a receding hairline. Diffuse patterns need a diagnosis before any planning.
Photographs do not decide candidacy on their own, but consistent views help the clinical team understand pattern, donor area and scale.
Hair-loss pattern
Donor-area density
Hairline and scale
These are reserved assessment-image areas. A photograph is not a diagnosis and does not confirm suitability.
What does your hair-loss pattern mean for you?
The scale is a starting point, not a treatment decision. Share your priorities with HCT and find out what information is needed to discuss your donor area and possible next steps.
An online assessment is preliminary. Medical suitability requires an appropriate examination.
This single confusion is behind most of the inflated numbers advertised online, and behind most disappointed expectations.
One graft is a follicular unit containing one to four hairs, averaging around two. So a 4,000-graft plan moves roughly 8,000 to 10,000 individual hairs. An advertisement offering "10,000 hairs" is offering about 4,500 grafts — a number that is at or beyond the safe limit for most donor areas in a single session.
- 01
Ask which unit a quote uses
Grafts or hairs. The same plan described in hairs sounds twice as large. Any clinic should answer this in one sentence.
- 02
Bigger is not better
A 5,000-graft first session can leave nothing in reserve for the recession that continues afterwards, and can thin the donor area permanently. Most plans we write fall between 2,500 and 4,500 grafts.
- 03
Coverage is visual, not arithmetic
Density is measured in follicular units per square centimetre, but what you see is the contrast between hair and scalp. Thick, dark, wavy hair reaches an acceptable look at a lower count than fine, light, straight hair.
- 04
The estimate becomes real at the examination
A number from photographs is provisional. The measured donor density and the scalp examination on the day are what turn it into a plan.
Being told to wait is not a rejection. It is the difference between a result that still looks right in ten years and one that does not.
Usually plans well
- Pattern loss that has been stable for a year or more
- Norwood III to V, where donor supply and demand are in proportion
- A donor area with good density and healthy hair character
- Someone who wants a natural frame rather than a teenage hairline
- Someone willing to keep taking medication if their loss is still progressing
Usually told to wait, or treated first
- Early twenties with loss that is still moving month to month
- A mature hairline mistaken for recession — this is normal ageing, not balding
- Diffuse thinning without a diagnosis, including diffuse unpatterned alopecia
- Sudden or patchy loss, which needs a cause identified before anything is planned
- Norwood VI–VII with a donor area that cannot support the coverage being asked for
- Expectations of density that no donor area could deliver
Where loss is still progressing, medical treatment first often produces a better long-term outcome than surgery — and it protects the donor area you will need later.
Discuss your situation with HCT.
If you are unsure whether to arrange an assessment or explore other care first, contact our team with your questions. We can help you prepare for an individual consultation.
A conversation does not commit you to treatment or confirm eligibility.
Female hair loss more often presents as diffuse thinning across the mid-scalp than as a receding hairline, which changes the order of the assessment rather than ruling it out.
- 01
A diagnosis comes before a plan
Thyroid disorders, iron deficiency, hormonal change, post-partum shedding and telogen effluvium all thin hair without being pattern loss. Transplanting into an untreated cause spends donor hair on a problem surgery cannot fix.
- 02
Donor stability is the question
Where the donor area itself is thinning, the transplanted hair will thin with it. A stable donor zone is what makes a female case plannable.
- 03
Traction loss is often treatable earlier
Loss from tight braids, weaves or extensions can partly recover if the tension stops before the follicles scar. Where it is established and the donor area is healthy, it can be one of the more rewarding cases.
- 04
Unshaven approaches are frequently possible
Many female cases are planned without full shaving. It takes longer and suits some patterns better than others, and it is decided at the examination rather than promised in advance.
None of this replaces an examination, and all of it makes the assessment you get back more useful.
Send your photos- 01
Has it moved in the last twelve months?
Compare a photograph from a year ago in similar light. Loss that is still visibly moving usually means stabilising first.
- 02
Look at the back and sides in a mirror
Thin, sparse or patchy hair in the donor area changes what is possible more than anything happening at the front.
- 03
Separate a mature hairline from recession
A hairline that settled slightly higher in your twenties and then stopped is maturity, not balding. It is one of the most common reasons a transplant is not needed.
- 04
Check your family pattern
Where loss stopped in relatives on both sides is a rough guide to where yours may go, which is what a hairline should be designed around.
- 05
Decide what you actually want
A natural frame at an age-appropriate density is achievable for most candidates. A hairline from a photograph of yourself at nineteen usually is not.
Send three photographs and you receive a written answer specific to your case, including the reasons if the answer is not yet.
Ask about your caseThere is no fixed cut-off, and age matters less than stability. In the early twenties the pattern is often still moving, and a hairline designed before it settles can look wrong ten years later once the loss behind it has continued. We do not treat under-18s, and for many patients in their early twenties the honest answer is to stabilise first and reassess.
No upper limit applies. What matters is donor density, scalp condition and general health rather than the year on your passport. Older patients often plan better, because the loss pattern has finished moving and expectations are usually realistic.
Most plans fall between 2,500 and 4,500 grafts in a single session, but the number that matters is the one your donor area supports. It is estimated from your photographs and confirmed by measured donor density at the examination.
Sometimes, with planning that accounts for the loss still to come — and often medical treatment first is the better decision. Transplanting into actively progressing loss without a plan for the rest can leave islands of transplanted hair surrounded by thinning.
Transplanted follicles come from the permanent donor zone and are not lost the same way. Your non-transplanted hair can keep thinning, which is why medical treatment is often recommended alongside surgery. That decision is made with a doctor, and never by a coordinator.
You get the reason in writing, and where it applies, what would change the answer — stabilising the loss, treating a scalp condition, waiting until a pattern settles. The assessment is free and there is no obligation either way.
Find out where you actually stand.
Three photographs are enough for a written answer: your likely stage, an estimated graft range, the technique we would use, and whether we would recommend waiting.
No treatment outcome is guaranteed. Results depend on donor density, scalp condition, general health and aftercare.