There is a big confusion between the basic terminology in hair transplant procedures. The term hairs, grafts, follicles come to mind often. I find that most clients do not know the difference between each. Unfortunately, the hair transplant industry tends to use some of these terms interchangeably, often to the disadvantage of patients. In fact it borders on being dishonest with the patient. How so? Let me explain.
A graft is considered a natural grouping that hair follicles are arranged on our scalp. Think of a tree, which has leaves that emerge from the same branch. Hair is similar in concept. One graft that emerges from the same pore on the scalp, can have between 1 to 4 hair follicles grouped together in its natural occurrence. In general, each graft consists of about 2 hairs if you take the law of averages. Our hairs are generally grouped from single hair follicles at the edge of our scalp, for example, the hairline, at the edges near the nape, ears, sideburns, etc. This gives a soft and natural effect and as we progress deeper into the centre of the scalp, there are usually more double or triple hair grafts.
In order to mimic nature, the best way of doing a hair transplant is to ensure the single grafts are used mainly at the hairline and edges where you want a soft, natural wispy effect. The other area where single grafts are used would be at the swirl of the crown. This is also known as the whorl or cowlick, to some. The beauty of using single grafts is that we can dense pack it more closely, creating a very nice and full effect that is also natural.
The Importance Of Understanding Hair Terminology
The problem we find is that many patients are not aware that grafts and hairs have different meanings. Some clinics charge the patients by the number of hairs that they implant. This effectively means they are getting only half that number if we talk in grafts terminology. For example, we recently saw a patient who returned from overseas having had a hair transplant done and he was told he had 3500 “grafts” performed. On examining the area, we concluded he only had 1700 grafts placed. However, he was charged for 3500 grafts and was under the impression had 3500 grafts. This is where patients have to be very careful about what they are paying for and what they are getting. Sometimes, it sounds as if a procedure is cheaper because the patient seems to be getting more, when in fact it is merely a terminology trick. In the instance of that patient, 3500 (hairs) sounds a lot more than 1700 (grafts). In our clinic, we charge clients based on grafts. And this usually translates into double the number of hairs. In fact, as a service quality standard, our benchmark is always to have less than 20% single grafts. Very often it is closer to 15% single grafts. That means the client always gets more than 80% of their hairs being multiple grafts.
Always ask the doctor exactly what you are getting, before commiting to and paying for a procedure.
