Hair transplant for men
In men, a hair transplant covers today’s loss while deliberately reserving part of the donor budget for the loss still to come; it is built around the Norwood stage, your age and donor capacity.
- Procedure time
- 6–8 hours
- Anaesthesia
- Local anaesthetic
- Recovery
- 10 days of crusting · 15 days to social normality
- Sessions
- One session, a second if needed
- How long it lasts
- Permanent; result completes at 12–18 months
How male pattern loss progresses
In men, loss usually starts as recession at the temples and thinning at the crown; the two areas eventually meet. The process is genetic and hormonal — sensitivity to DHT — and it does not stop by itself.
The hair at the nape and around the temples does not carry that sensitivity. That is the whole basis of transplantation: a follicle taken from the resistant zone keeps its resistance where it is moved to.
Graft ranges by Norwood stage
The Norwood–Hamilton scale is not a measuring instrument; it is a shared vocabulary. The ranges below are the figures typically discussed. Yours comes out of measuring your donor density.
- Stage 3 — clear temple recession; typically 1,500–2,500 grafts
- Stage 3 vertex — recession plus crown opening; typically 2,000–3,000 grafts
- Stage 4 — frontal and crown open with a bridge between; typically 2,500–3,500 grafts
- Stage 5 — the bridge has thinned; typically 3,000–4,500 grafts, with priorities discussed
- Stage 6–7 — donor capacity is usually not enough for full coverage; the aim becomes selective density
Why age matters this much
In your early twenties the pattern of loss has not settled. Opening a low, straight hairline at that age looks fuller today, but as the loss moves backwards a bald band opens up behind the transplanted line.
Closing that band usually costs more grafts than the remaining donor budget can supply. So in a young patient a transplant is either deferred or planned with a limited, deliberately set-back hairline. This is the single most common disagreement between a patient and an honest clinic, and it is worth having before you book a flight.
How the hairline is designed
A natural hairline is not a straight line. It contains a slightly irregular transition zone made from single-hair grafts, and the temple corners are recessed to suit your age.
- Line height follows forehead proportions and age, not the lowest point the patient asks for
- Single-hair grafts in the first rows, 2–3 hair grafts behind them — that is how density is built
- Exit angle is forward and downward; a wrong angle looks “transplanted” even at good density
- Temple corners are not filled in; age-appropriate recession is kept
If the shedding is still active
Where loss is active and moving quickly, transplanting alone produces an unbalanced picture within a few years as the untransplanted areas open up.
In that case the first aim is to slow the loss; the transplant is planned once the picture is stable. Medical treatment of hair loss is not a competitor to transplantation but the thing that reduces how many grafts you will need later. Note that these are prescription medicines, and if you live in the UK or Ireland the prescription and its monitoring need to be arranged with a doctor there.
Who this is not for, and what not to expect
A transplant adds follicles to a bald area; it does not stop your existing hair from shedding. If that distinction is not made at the start, the patient concludes two years later that the result has deteriorated — when what has deteriorated is the untransplanted area.
Donor capacity is fixed for life. Trying to cover everything in a Norwood 6–7 picture spends the budget and leaves the whole scalp thin. The correct approach is to set priorities and say so out loud.
- Under 24 with an unsettled loss pattern — no low, straight hairline is created
- Diffuse unpatterned loss where the donor area is also thinning — a transplant is not performed
- Uncontrolled bleeding disorder or anticoagulant use — not performed without a haematology assessment
- Uncontrolled diabetes or hypertension — the operation is deferred until values are brought to target
- Active scalp infection, inflammatory scalp disease or active alopecia areata — not performed without dermatology assessment
This page is general information and does not replace a clinical examination. The method, dose and timescale that apply to you are decided by a doctor after examining you.
Frequently asked questions
What age can a hair transplant be done from?
How many grafts for Norwood 3?
Can we finish it in one session?
Will the transplanted hair fall out?
My GP will not prescribe finasteride. Does that change the plan?
Pre-assessment
Describe your situation and we will answer with a measurement
Send a photograph or an X-ray. A doctor in the relevant speciality will reply with a graft range, a number of teeth or a dose range in units. If you are not suitable, we say so plainly.