The Patient's Guide to Hair Restoration - New Hair Institute

Hair follicles constitute an organ that includes the vital support structures needed
for the hair to live and grow.
Because of the need to preserve the sustaining organ during the hair
transplant procedure; the physician must extract a safe amount of tissue
surrounding the follicle. This extra tissue limits how closely hair can be packed
together. Though it may be difficult to mimic nature’s density, certain techniques
allow the packing of hair to create a natural appearance. In addition to the
problems associated with transplanting follicles containing extra tissue, the
volume of the scalp also affects the ability to densely pack hair grafts. By placing
follicles into the holes placed in the scalp, there is an increase in mass in the
area of transplant. If the holes are too close, the insertion of grafts in one section
will force grafts out of adjacent sections.
This is a mechanical problem, not a blood supply problem. The skills
required to manage this problem well take years to learn; it is for this reason that
dense packing is not widely accepted.
Through a series of such procedures, successive groups of small grafts
(1-4 hairs) are placed in a way that creates a dense appearing hairline with a
normal, soft transition that frames the face. To appear natural, grafts must be
graded with 1-hair units in the leading edge and larger units behind the leading
edge.