How many grafts do I need?

[lusciousmane]

Hi everyone! I would very much appreciate your knowledgeable input on my upcoming hair transplantation.

I'm a 25 year old man and I had a HT back in 2013 of only 800 grafts. I estimated that I was about a NW2.5 at that point and the surgeon recommended 800 to lower the hairline, possibly because I told him I only had 3k to spend at that point. The result was underwhelming because the density in my transplanted area didn't match, and perhaps some of the transplanted hair didn't take. I clearly remember the surgeon drawing 2 different lines, one conservative and one lower and me picking the conservative option specifically because of my concern that it wouldn't be thick enough. But I guess it wasn't enough grafts. The transplanted hair is also very coarse and unruly.

Nevertheless the HT was somewhat of an improvement because it provided more coverage of my temples.

I wouldn't say I strike the general public as bald or balding, it's more an issue of my hair looking like crap because I can't style it in any proper way. I've got scalp poking through in between the sparsely scattered grafts and it just looks like crap. I can't style it backward without scalp showing through the grafts and theres still redness att the roots of the grafts. The transplanted hairs are too unruly and thin to style forward and too sparse to comb to the sides so it all just looks like a frizzy mess.

I'm going to schedule another hair transplant this month, this time making sure I do my research and get enough grafts so that the transplanted area matches the rest of the hair if not in quality then at least in density.

My head shape is oval, thin and long so that's why I feel I need my hair to frame my face to give a more square appearance, otherwise I would've just gone for a buzzcut. I'm also interested in getting hair for my temporal points for this reason. I've read that you can harvest hair from the nape of the neck to put in at the temporal points which I'd very much like in order to frame my face better. I guess I wouldn't mind lowering the hairline a little bit while I'm at it but it's not my primary concern.

How many grafts do I need? I'm willing to spend about 3-6k. Is Turkey a viable option, provided I go for a reputable doc? Any dos and don'ts that come to mind?

As far as the risk regarding losing more hair and being stuck with a thick frontline, its a risk I'm willing to take. I guess I've lost a little grund the past 4 years but not to a great extent. I've been on nizoral and tried RU on an irregular basis, haven't had the guts to commit to fin due to fear of sides

[WHTC Clinic]

Hi. Are you happy with the results from the 800-graft procedure?

[Spex]

Hi,

In my experienced opinion based on the pictures here you would ideally need ( based on your goal ) approximately 1800-2000 FU.

Regards
Spex

[lusciousmane]

Hi. Are you happy with the results from the 800-graft procedure?

While it beats not having any hair there, I'm not particularly happy with it. I think it's mainly due to 800 grafts being too few though. I was hoping that the transplanted hairs would blend in better in terms of texture and density after a few years but it's very unruly