Thinking of Visual Walls When Building Up the Frontal Region of the Scalp
The goal of hair restoration is to build up enough hair density that one does not have much see-through effect. Put another way, rows upon rows of hair grafts must be placed so that each row adds to the visual effect of blocking one’s view of the bald scalp behind it. This brief article will explore some of the ways that I use various graft sizes and density patterns effectively to create a visual wall with less see-through effect to the back of the head.
Unfortunately, many prospective patients who come to me ask me a very simplistic question: “How many grafts will I get?” Although a sufficient number is clearly important, this question falls far short of understanding the rigors of what are important for a quality, natural, and dense hair transplant. All of these blog articles are intended to go beyond the number count and to understand what goes on with quality work in hair restoration.
This article will focus on how I decide to create optimal visual hair density by using the concept of creating a layered visual wall going from front of the head to the back. Remember that finer hairs must go along the hairline and the densest result is typically the most critical in the area known as the central forelock. That being said, you do not want to create a result in which the central forelock dominates to the point that the fronto-temporal area looks weak, especially in someone who already is very bald in that area. Accordingly, if I use strong 4-hair grafts or di-follicular unit (DFU) grafts in the central forelock I will try to balance it with stronger 3-hair grafts more densely packed on the sides of the central forelock. Conversely, if the person already has a relatively strong central forelock, I may use stronger grafts in the fronto-temporal area to reduce the see-through effect overall. With the many sized paintbrushes that I use to design my work, I can creatively select the best sizes and distribution to overall fashion the densest results that are also natural in appearance.