best canditates for HT?

[SLOTHY]

i hear guys with wavy or curly hair are better off after HT , is that true?
My hair is straight as an arrow and i fear people will notice it right away.

Also ,after HT is it better to keep your hair long? i want a tranplant but i want to keep it short,really short. how noticable will that be?

[mattj]

Curly or wavy hair will cover a greater area of scalp than the equivalent number of grafts on a patient with straight hair. When I say cover a greater area, I mean the hairs will do a better job of physically blocking the scalp from view. That's not to say that straight hair is no good for transplants. I think I'd say that the majority of transplants we see are on patients with straight hair.

It is often said that transplants give an 'illusion of density', due to hairs being planted at less than 100% of original, pre-MPB density. Curly hair can improve that illusion, but is not essential to a good hair transplant result.

Other factors which can boost the illusion are thicker hair calibre and hair colour which contrasts mimimally with the scalp, such as grey or light hair on a fair-skinned patient.

Regarding short/long hair post transplant. Are you talking about keeping the hair long to cover the transplant area while it heals and while the hairs grow in?

[gillenator]

I agree with the commentary and yet want to also be faithful to point out that out of all of the factors considered in attaining the illusion of coverage, IMHO hair caliber is essential "above them all" including density. The added wave or curl and even the color influences mentioned certainly have their place.

[Jotronic]

Curly hair can cover a greater amount of scalp than straighter hair however in some cases curly hair is limited in that the doctor cannot harvest as many grafts as with straighter hair. This is because curly hair requires more care to avoid transection during prep.

I think one of the biggest factors concerning the final result is how the grafts are placed. If the incisions are made properly, for instance, with flat blades and oriented perpendicularly to the direction of growth, aka, the "lateral slit techniuqe", then the staggering or shingling effect (like tiles on a roof) that this allows for can and does give better coverage. Better coverage increases this illusion of density that has been mentioned.