Hair

The donor area: the resource you cannot buy more of

Over-harvesting is the one mistake that cannot be repaired. It shows as patchy thinning at the back that no clinic can undo.

How much a donor area can safely give

A typical donor holds 6,000–8,000 lifetime grafts, of which perhaps 5,000–6,000 can be harvested without visible thinning. Density measurement — not eyeballing — is what tells us your number, and we measure with a densitometer before quoting.

What over-harvesting looks like

Moth-eaten patches behind the ears, a see-through band at the nape, and visible white dots when hair is cut short. It appears months later, and no transplant can fix it because the follicles are gone.

Why some clinics do it anyway

Per-graft pricing rewards harvesting more. A clinic paid €1 per graft earns more from 5,000 grafts than 3,200 — even when 3,200 was the right number. Package pricing removes that incentive, which is one reason we use it.

Beard and body hair as backup

Beard grafts can supplement scalp donor in advanced cases, particularly for the crown where texture matters less. They behave differently — coarser, different growth cycle — so they supplement rather than replace scalp donor.

Swedish Clinic
Swedish Clinic IstanbulReviewed by our clinical team
Frequently asked questions

The donor area: the resource you cannot buy more of

Yes. We record it and include it in your written plan alongside the graft number and the reasoning.

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