In a 2011 issue of the Hair Transplant Forum International, Walter Unger, MD Toronto, Ontario, Canada one of the most published and respected Hair Restoration surgeons in our field writes:
“Last year, in an issue of O, The Oprah Magazine, one of our esteemed colleagues was quoted as saying that “only about 20% of female patients with thinning hair are candidates” for hair transplantation. If I had been asked, I would have said that of the women that I see in consultation, only 20% are not candidates and, at the very least, a majority are good candidates. More specifically, at most, only 20% of the women that I see do not have sufficient acceptable donor tissue for at least one small session of 800-1,200 FUs. Acceptable donor is hair that is judged to be permanent and that lies in the area of scalp considered to be the donor area for males. Although many of the women we see have more than one such session available in their donor area, if even one procedure is carried out in a well-chosen, cosmetically important area, they can achieve a very satisfying cosmetic result”.
CONCLUSION
“A substantial majority of expert hair restoration surgeons state (20 of 28) that at least 40% of patients they see with FPHLhave acceptable donor area reserves for at least one session of hair restoration surgery. (6 of 28 thought only 20-25% are acceptable while 8 of 28 thought 70% or more are candidates).”
COMMENT
I would also agree with Dr. Unger that a larger majority of females can have exceptional results with hair restoration surgery, especially with the advent of cellular therapy that maximizes the yield of transplanted grafts.