What makes a BAD/inappropriate candidate for a hair transplant?

[NathanC]

I have heard of some people being described as poor candidates for hair transplantation. Could any of you guys tell me what it is about someone's hair (or lack of) that rules them out of having surgery?

[Lain]

Bad candidates have:

-Diffuse thinning
-Low donor hair
-No stable donor area (e.g.:diffuse unpatterned alopecia)
-Tight scalp
-People who are in the Norwood range of 1-2

Some people only have a procedure of 1000 grafts and it can completely change their appearance. Your hair colour and skin colour sure are an important factor. If your hair is thick or curly this can also increase the success of the transplantation.

[Mark]

As usual, Lain nailed it.

I'll add though that most of the people we see who are poor candidates tend to be because they have extremely tight scalps and need lots of grafts. This is why we tell patients to do scalp exercises to help loosen it up.

-Mark