Areas
Think of a transplant as a budget, and the areas as what you spend it on. You have a set number of grafts over your lifetime, somewhere around 6,000 to 8,000 for most people, and every area has a typical cost in grafts whichever technique or clinic you choose.
Some areas give far more back than others. A hairline and frontal third is commonly 2,000 to 2,500 grafts and creates more visible change than anything else, because it frames the face and it is what people see first. A crown can take the same number and needs more density to look full, because it is a spiral seen from every angle.
Almost every area can be transplanted successfully. The useful question is which ones to prioritise, in what order, and which you are happy to leave as they are. A good surgeon helps you set that order, and I think it is the single most valuable thing a consultation can give you.
Who areas is for
The criteria are the same across every area: stable loss, adequate donor supply, and a clear picture of what moving permanent hair can achieve. What changes between areas is the skill and the graft count each one calls for.
The hairline calls for the most design skill, because it is a visible edge that must look like it grew there and must still make sense on a fifty-year-old face. The crown is the most demanding in graft count. The temples are somewhere between, and are where fine single hairs and angle matter more than volume.
Beard and eyebrow work has a different calculus, because the graft counts are small and the donor cost is modest. A beard still uses scalp hair, though, so if your head is also thinning, plan the two together.
Before your first consultation
Write down, in order, which areas actually bother you when you look in a mirror. Going in with clear priorities means the plan is built around what matters most to you.
Choosing between them
Front before crown. This is close to a rule, and the reasoning is simple. The frontal third frames the face and is visible in every conversation and photograph; the crown is visible to people standing behind you and in overhead light. Grafts spent at the front return more.
The crown needs more planning. It is a whorl, so hair radiates outward and density has to be high to avoid showing scalp, and it tends to keep widening with age. Treating it once the front is secure and the loss is stable gives the best long-term result.
Temples are the quiet win. Restoring receded temple points for a few hundred grafts can soften a face more than a much larger frontal case, and they are frequently left out of plans entirely.
For beard and brows, the question is whether your scalp needs the hair more. A twenty-five-year-old with a thinning crown and a patchy beard is best served by planning the scalp first and the beard around it.
Where surgeons differ is hairline height, so have that conversation early. A mature, slightly higher hairline is the one that keeps looking right at sixty, and the surgeon arguing for it is thinking about the longer timeframe. I would weight that argument heavily.
At the consultation
Ask the surgeon which area they would treat if you could only afford half the plan. The answer shows you which parts of the plan do the most for you, and it is the most useful question you can ask in the room.
The areas procedures
Each area has its own graft cost, its own design rules and its own picture of a great result. Read the hairline page first whatever you came for, since the hairline decision constrains everything else.
Beard and eyebrow work come next because they are separate operations with their own recoveries, and they draw on the same donor supply as everything above them. The specialist cases close the list: transplants for women, surgical hairline lowering, and grafting hair back into scars.
Scalp
Designing the Hairline
The decision that shapes a transplant most. Where the line sits, why a natural edge is irregular, and why good surgeons design for the face you will have at fifty.
Temples and Temple Points
One of the best-value changes in hair restoration. A few hundred grafts, and the shape of the face changes.
The Crown
The area that needs the most planning. Done at the right time, with the front secure, it can give a very satisfying result.
Beyond the scalp
Beard Transplant
A beard transplant that takes follicles from the back of the scalp and plants them in the beard area. The hair behaves like scalp hair afterwards, growing continuously and needing regular trimming.
Best for: patchy growth, gaps from scarring, or a beard that never came in on one side
- Scar
- Pinpoint dots in the scalp donor area; nothing visible on the face
- Sensation
- The face is numb and tender for a few weeks; sensation returns
- Back to work
- 7–10 days
- Typical cost
- $5,000–$15,000
Eyebrow Transplant
An eyebrow transplant that places single scalp hairs into the brow at an extremely shallow angle. It is permanent, and because the hair keeps its scalp growth cycle it has to be trimmed every week or two.
Best for: brows thinned by years of plucking, alopecia, scarring or a thyroid condition
- Scar
- Pinpoint dots in the scalp donor area; nothing visible on the brow
- Sensation
- The brow is numb and tender for two to three weeks
- Back to work
- 5–7 days
- Typical cost
- $3,000–$8,000
Specialist cases
Female Hair Transplant
A female hair transplant moves stable donor hair from the back of the head to a woman's hairline, temples or parting, almost always without shaving. It gives lasting results where the loss is defined and the donor area is healthy.
Best for: women with a high or receded hairline, traction loss that has stopped, or a widened parting with a stable donor area
- Scar
- Pinpoint dots or a fine line in the donor area, hidden under longer hair
- Sensation
- Numbness and itching in both areas for weeks to a few months
- Back to work
- 3–7 days
- Typical cost
- $6,000–$15,000
Hairline Lowering
Hairline lowering removes a band of forehead skin and brings the hair-bearing scalp forward to meet it. It shortens a high forehead in one operation, with an immediate result and a fine scar hidden at the new hairline.
Best for: a naturally high forehead with dense, stable hair and a flexible scalp
- Scar
- A fine line along the new hairline, designed for hair to grow through it
- Sensation
- The scalp behind the incision is numb for months; feeling returns gradually
- Back to work
- 7–10 days
- Typical cost
- $8,000–$15,000
Scar Hair Transplant
A scar hair transplant plants grafts directly into scar tissue so that hair grows through it and hides it. It works for FUT strip scars, cosmetic surgery scars, injuries and many burn scars, usually in one or two sessions.
Best for: a settled, flat scar on or near the scalp, eyebrows or beard that you want hidden for good
- Scar
- Pinpoint dots in the donor area; the treated scar becomes far harder to see
- Sensation
- Scars often have reduced feeling already; the area may tingle for a few weeks
- Back to work
- 3–7 days
- Typical cost
- $3,000–$10,000
Areas recovery
Recovery hardly varies by area of the scalp. Scabs for a fortnight, swelling that can drop into the forehead when the work is at the front, grafts anchored at about day ten, then the shed at three to six weeks and growth from month three.
Frontal work swells more visibly, simply because gravity carries the fluid into the forehead and around the eyes. Crown work swells less and is easier to hide under existing hair.
Facial areas are the exception. A beard case is crusted and conspicuous on the part of you people look at, and an eyebrow case bruises around the eyes. Both recover quickly and both need a week where you would rather not have meetings.
Areas cost
Cost follows graft count, so cost follows area, and it pays to do the arithmetic before any consultation. At a typical $4 to $8 per graft in the US, a 2,200-graft hairline and frontal case is a very different purchase from a 3,500-graft crown, and the crown is the one more likely to need a second session.
Small areas are cheap in absolute terms and expensive per graft, because placement is slow. Eyebrows are the clearest example, often a flat fee for a few hundred single hairs.
The other currency is the donor hair itself. Grafts do not regrow, so a plan that spends them where they do the most good is worth more than a lower price.
Where it fits
Get the loss medically controlled first. Then treat the front. Then, if there is donor supply left and the loss has stayed stable, consider the crown.
Leave a full twelve months between sessions so the first has grown out and can be judged properly. Planning a second session at month six is planning against incomplete information, and waiting the full year protects your donor area.
Facial work has its own timing. For trans men, most surgeons want two to three years on testosterone before a beard transplant, because facial hair keeps developing for that long and grafts planted earlier can land where hair would have come in anyway. Eyebrow work waits until whatever caused the loss has settled.
Eligibility
No formal criteria exist for any of this. What shapes your plan is donor supply, the stability of your loss and your surgeon's judgement, and the details are on the eligibility pages.
Two area-specific points matter. A hairline set at your mature position is the one that keeps looking natural, and good surgeons design to it. And crown work goes best once the loss has settled, which for most people means after thirty and on medication.
Frequently asked questions
Which area gives the biggest visual change?
The hairline and frontal third, by a wide margin, because they frame the face. See choosing between them.
Is the crown harder to treat?
It takes more planning. It is a whorl that needs high density from every angle, it takes more grafts, and it can keep widening with age, so it usually comes after the front. See the crown.
Can I have more than one area in a session?
Yes, and frontal work plus temples is a common combination. Adding the crown to a frontal case works best when the donor supply comfortably covers both.
Does a beard transplant use scalp hair?
Yes, from the same donor supply as a scalp transplant, so plan the two together. See beard transplant.
How low should my hairline be?
At your mature hairline position, which is usually a little higher than people first ask for. That is the line that keeps looking natural as your face changes. See the hairline.
Thinking about a transplant?
The Start Here guide shows you the order that gets the best result: what is causing your loss, how medication protects your hair, how much donor hair you have, and where a transplant makes the biggest difference.
start here →