If you want an estimate of the donor grafts you may need, using this online calculator will help provide you with a relatively accurate estimate quickly and easily. This will help you skip the hassles of more complicated math, which would involve having to determine:
the surface area of your bald areas in terms of square centimeters (i.e., cm 2)
density figures or the number of hair placements for each of those square centimeters (i.e., FU/cm2)
the approximate number of donor grafts you already have (i.e., average for white Caucasians – 6000-8000 grafts from the scalp)
And you certainly don’t want to use a general standard calculator which uses a one-size-fits-all formula. These results may or may not give you an accurate estimate since you are a unique individual with a certain hair thickness, texture coloration, and skin tone.
If you happened to need more grafts from body regions (e.g., beard area, etc.), you would need to factor in these additional quantities for your final graft count estimate. Dr.U’s hair transplant graft calculator differs from everyone else’s. Our algorithms consider your unique and individualistic factors for a better estimate and planning experience.
VIDEO Instructions: How to Use The DIY Graft Calculator
Estimate how many grafts are needed for hair transplant by selecting from the following drop-down menus to describe your hair texture, hair color, the donor hair type you prefer to use, and your skin tone. These values will affect your final graft count. Then select the areas you would like to restore for your hair transplant procedure. Clicking twice will delete your selection. Watch the DIY UGraft Calculator tutorial here to see how it’s done.
Try the DIY uGraft Calculator: https://dru.com/diy-hair-transplant-graft-calculator/ Watch the tutorial above to learn how to use the DIY uGraft Calculator to find your hair transplant graft estimate! Unlike other graft estimators, the uGraft Calculator is able to return graft estimates higher than 10,000 grafts.
Determining How Many Grafts Needed For a Hair Transplant
One of the most popular questions posed by men considering a hair transplant is “How many grafts do I need?” The way the number of grafts is traditionally determined is through a consultation with a hair restoration surgeon. However, many individuals do not have the time or resources to devote to a consultation. Besides, some men may be curious to know the number of hair grafts needed for a full head of hair but are not interested in walking into a clinic for a hair transplant. The question of how many grafts are needed for a hair transplant depends on many factors, including but not limited to: the method of extraction, the hair restoration surgeon/clinic, and the patient’s desired density.
The Norwood scale of hair loss identifies typical patterns in hereditary hair loss. While the uGraft calculator can offer more accurate estimates according to donor source, hair texture, and skin tone, individuals can roughly approximate how many grafts needed for hair transplant using this classification.
How DIY UGraft Calculator Differs from Other Hair Transplant Graft Estimators: The Average Grafts for Hair Transplant
Most clinics extract hair from an area on the back of the head known as the safe donor area (SDA). This area can provide up to 8,000 grafts for a hair transplant procedure. However, this may not be enough for patients in more severe stages of hair loss. Often, men in Norwood 6 – 7 stages (or extreme baldness NW 8) of hair loss are either turned away or told to prioritize restoration of one area. The average grafts for hair transplant in patients in these stages range from between 12,000 to 25,000, depending on the severity of the hair loss and the desired density. For these cases, other donor sources (outside the narrow zone now arbitrarily defined by this narrow fringe of hair on the back and sides of the head) are required to augment the donor supply.
Unlike other graft estimators, the uGraft Calculator can return graft estimates higher than 10,000 grafts. This is due to the Dr.uGraft System’s advanced FUE capabilities, including the Intelligent Punch (Dr.UPunch i) and its unique graft control mechanisms. The ability to harvest grafts from hair areas on the body allows for additional expansion and augmentation of the donor supply, allowing patients with severe hair loss, even in cases in which the safe donor area ) SDA has been affected by hair loss to get a more realistic graft estimate.
Head Size
Texture
Hair color
Donor hair type
Skin tone
RESULT
Graft count: {{ total_count() | number:0 }}
Based on the parameters you've entered, we've estimated your hair transplant requirements as {{ total_count() | number:0 }} grafts. This is just a rough estimate and not a substitute for an examination or an actual consultation.
Your actual graft count number for surgery can be influenced by other variables such as your head size, specific graft characteristics, previous surgeries and other causes of hair loss.
Graft counts of 4500 or more will likely include UGrafts from head and other donor sources.
Based on the parameters you’ve entered, we’ve estimated your hair transplant requirements as {{ total_count() | number:0 }} grafts. This is just a rough estimate and not a substitution for an examination or an actual consultation.
Your actual graft count number for surgery can be influenced by other variables such as your head size, specific graft characteristics, previous surgeries, and other hair loss causes.
Graft counts of 4500 or more will likely include UGrafts from the head and other donor sources.
Using advanced Dr.UGraft technology, Dr. Umar met this severely bald patient’s graft estimate with 8,000 grafts from the head combined with an additional 4,000 from the bear donor area. Dr. UGraft enabled the donor supply’s augmentation to meet how many grafts are needed for hair transplant – 12,000 in total. *
Dr.UGraft could reverse this patient’s severe hair loss and damage from previous hair transplant work, creating the patient’s desired coverage appearance. Results showed 1 year after the procedure.*
Using the specialized Intelligent FUE punch tools, the Dr.UPunch I and Dr.UPunch Smart, Providers using Dr.UGraft Hair Transplant System (For example, Dr. Umar) can extract hair from head and body donor areas. By expanding the donor area to include the beard, chest, abdomen, legs, etc., the patient benefits from an augmented donor supply to achieve his desired density. The hair transplantation process of using body hair to restore bald scalps using Dr.UGraft technology is called Dr.UGraft Body Hair Transplant. By taking these non-head donor areas into account, the uGract calculator above can return higher graft estimates, providing for the first time more realistic estimates for severely bald men. This includes men who’ve been told that hair restoration was a “lost cause” or simply not possible – such as men who have lost their posterior hairline and the hair around their ears.
How the UGraft Calculator Accounts for Nape Hair Donor Areas
Additionally, Dr. Umar has redefined how the safe donor area is defined to enable the utilization of nape hair [2] by defining a method called the FUE Shave Test for screening out poor candidates for the use of nape and temple area donor hairs. The FUE shave test is instrumental in assessing younger patients who want to address hair loss in their early 20s but are often unable to because of uncertainty regarding hair loss progression path as well as the limitation of the provider who is unable to optimally utilize non-head donor sources since they lack the Dr.UGraft technology for doing so. All other hair transplant graft estimators are programmed to address only mild to moderate hair loss because of these limitations. The DIY uGraft Calculator is the only hair transplant graft estimator programmed to address all hair loss degrees. It considers body hair to adequately expand the donor source and take on even the most extreme types of hair loss.
How the DIY UGraft Calculator Accounts for Skin Tone, Hair Type, and Head Size
An often neglected component in calculating the estimated amount of grafts needed for a hair transplant is the prospective patient’s skin tone. Patients with darker skin, such as those of African descent, typically require fewer grafts. This due to the curly quality of Afro-textured hair, which tends to cover more surface area on the scalp than straight hair. That is one reason why the DIY UGraft Calculator is designed to take the skin tone and hair texture (straight, wavy, or curly) into account to return more accurate graft estimates for all patients.
Another reason the UGraft calculator considers skin tone is due to hair color. Dark hair on dark skin, for example, would require fewer grafts than light skin with dark hair. This is because the scalp area is less noticeable when this color contrast is low. In cases in which the contrast is higher, such as light skin with dark hair, more grafts may be required to create the appearance of density.
Lastly, the DIY UGraft hair transplant graft estimator is designed to accommodate different head sizes. Larger heads have bigger scalps, which typically translates to more follicles. Accordingly, the UGraft calculator takes into account these large graft quantities. The same methodology applies to smaller head shapes.
Why the DIY UGraft Calculator is More Realistic than Other Graft Estimators
The DIY UGraft Calculator can take the above situations into account because of the advanced technology Dr.UGraft provides. Most other hair transplant providers rely on the finite grafts available on the safe donor area on the back of the head, which is why their graft estimators use preset parameters. These parameters do not allow the graft count returned to exceed the amount that their limited hair transplant technology can provide. Dr.UGraft providers, on the other hand, can take any hair into account. As advanced FUE by Dr.UGraft becomes available to more hair restoration physicians, the UGraft Calculator presets will eventually become the standard by which hair grafts are estimated.
Patients under 25 years of age are often told to wait until their hair loss stabilizes before addressing it with a hair restoration procedure. This is because most clinics rely exclusively on the safe donor area. Depleting that supply early on can result in an over-harvested donor area and odd hair loss patterns around the recipient area. This is often called “chasing hair loss.” However, simply waiting for hair loss to continue is not much of a solution, and there is a limit to what medication can provide in terms of slowing hair loss progression. That is why Dr. Umar designed the FUE Shave Test. With this test, Dr. Umar can determine whether or not a patient will progress to Norwood 6-7 hair loss levels. This helps the patient understand his hair restoration journey if he chooses to have a procedure and allows Dr. Umar to see if he would make a good candidate for a nape hair transplant.
Examples of Hair Transplants with Nape Hair After FUE Shave Test
The patient in the photo below passed Dr. Umar’s FUE Shave Test, enabling the use of nape hair to build a soft, natural-looking hairline.
This patient of Dr. Umar’s received a hairline transplant using nape hair. A consultation in Los Angeles determined exactly how many grafts needed for hair transplant: 3200 from the head and nape.*
The young patient in the gallery below received a 3,200 graft hair transplant using head and nape hair after passing the FUE Shave Test. 9 months after surgery, the patient saw significant growth on his hairline. A follow-up 8 years later revealed that while the patient continued to bald behind the transplanted area, the transplanted nape and head hair remained intact. Hair loss after a hair transplant is a fear many individuals have, especially among younger men. However, Dr.Umar’s FUE Shave Test can give prospective patients more insight into how their hair loss might progress and help them plan for future surgeries if needed.
Dr. Umar runs a comb through the patient’s hair 8 years after the patient’s hairline restoration to show how the nape hair grafts survived long-term. In contrast, the patient continued to lose hair behind the transplanted area, showing that nape hair can be a permanent donor area. Nape hair allowed Dr. Umar to extract how many grafts needed for hair transplant – 3,200 in total.*
The hair on the nape of the neck can expand the donor supply by about 3,000 grafts. For patients who pass the FUE Shave Test, this extra donor supply can contribute to the conservation of the traditional safe donor area for future procedures. For patients who fail the FUE Shave Test, the estimate of how many grafts are needed for hair transplant can instead be met with a mix of head and body hair, which also always for the conservation of the safe donor area.
Average Amount of Grafts Lost After FUT
Strip Hair Surgery, often abbreviated FUT or FUSS, is a hair transplant method in which a flap of skin is removed from the safe donor area to extract grafts. Since FUSS is an older hair transplant surgery method, many erroneously believe that it is more reliable and can provide a greater graft estimate. However, the donor supply is limited to the safe donor area, which, as previously stated, can typically only supply up to 8,000 grafts.
However, how many grafts are needed for a hair transplant may not be the only concern for patients considering strip surgery. There is also the scar itself to consider and shock loss. Due to skin laxity, skin can stretch, causing the strip scar on the head’s back to resemble a wide crescent resembling a fish mouth. Shock loss can occur after a hair restoration in either the donor or recipient area and is not specific to FUE or FUSS. However, the combination of a strip scar and shock loss can be cosmetically unacceptable to some patients.
FUE Graft Amounts Estimation
To better estimate how many grafts are needed for a hair transplant, one should first decide which donor areas they will use. From there, you can approximate realistic expectations for your hair transplant by looking at the patient results page of the clinics you are considering. To better understand, try to look for patients with similar hair loss patterns and donor areas as you are considering. FUE graft amounts can vary depending on donor area – for basic FUE restorations, the number of grafts rarely exceeds 8,000 from the SDA. However, with the Dr.UGraft procedure, a mix of head and body hair is used to meet higher graft estimations.
For a more exact idea of how many grafts you may need for a hair transplant procedure, sign up for a free online consultation with Dr.U. Click the button below to get started.
A hairline restoration can require between 1,500 – 3,000 grafts, depending on the hairline recession’s donor area and severity. You can enter the head and hair detail fields in the graft estimator at the top of the page to better understand the number of grafts needed for hair transplants. It can be a good idea to mix finer hairs from the nape or body into the hairline to create a softer, natural result, rather than just using grafts from the SDA. Hair grafts from this area tend to be thicker in caliber, and transplanting those hairs alone can result in a toupee-like harsh hairline.
How much does a hair transplant cost?
Hair transplants are typically priced per graft or on a per session basis. It is much easier for the patient to determine his surgery cost if the clinic presents it on a per graft basis. This way, you can estimate how much a hair transplant might cost by multiplying your graft amount (i.e., how many grafts are needed for hair transplant ) by the price per graft of your clinic of choice.
Does FUT provide more grafts for hair transplants?
A common misconception of prospective hair transplant patients is that FUT, or strip surgery, can provide more grafts for hair transplants. This may be because FUSS is an older method; however, just because it is older does not mean that it is more reliable. The Dr.UGraft system, for example, allows for donor supply augmentation with hair from body areas, such as the beard, chest, and nape, among others. This allows patients with a depleted head donor area or patients who want to conserve this area for later surgeries to meet how many grafts are needed for a hair transplant.
Have more questions for Dr. U about grafts for hair transplants? Click on the button below to submit them.
Umar Sanusi. Body Hair Transplant by Follicular Unit Extraction: My Experience With 122 Patients, Aesthetic Surgery Journal, Volume 36, Issue 10, November/December 2016, Pages 1101–1110, https://doi.org/10.1093/asj/sjw089
Umar Sanusi. Use of Nape and Peri-Auricular Hair by Follicular Unit Extraction to Create Soft Hairlines and Temples: My Experience With 128 Patients Aesthetic Surgery Journal Advance Access published September 22, 2015.
