A hair transplant is the closest that science has come so far to a cure for baldness. When performed by a skilled, experienced surgeon, it is a safe and highly effective procedure that can restore significant scalp coverage [1]. So the short answer is yes, in most cases, a natural-looking hair transplant can treat thinning hair with excellent results.
However, not all types of alopecia can be treated with surgical hair restoration. Patients with autoimmune hair loss, for example, are often ineligible for this procedure. And temporary diffuse hair thinning, which requires no specific treatment, can also often occur as a result of stress, a nutritional deficiency, a medication side effect or an underlying systemic illness. That is why it’s important to have your hair loss professionally diagnosed before considering getting surgical hair restoration.
This article will help you get a better idea of whether a hair transplant may be the answer to your hair thinning problems. It will tell you all about the conditions this procedure can treat and the eligibility criteria that you have to meet to be a good candidate for a hair transplant. You will also learn about how surgical hair restoration works, what results you can expect and what your alternatives are in case you are not eligible for this procedure.
Key takeaways
The insights and recommendations in this article are courtesy of Dr Peter Barron. Dr Barron specialises in FUE hair transplants and prides himself on his ultra-natural looking results.
Dr Ahmad Moussa is an experienced surgeon with an impressive 15-year-long career in neurosurgery. His skill, expertise and familiarity with the scalp allowed him to smoothly transition to FUT and FUE hair transplants, including combining the two techniques.
Research shows that hair transplants can be highly effective against some of the most common types of alopecia [1] [2]. And unlike hair growth medications, which only work while you are actively taking them, surgical hair restoration results can last you a lifetime.
However, hair restoration surgery is not a universal solution for hair loss. Not every type of alopecia can be effectively treated with a hair transplant, and not every patient is eligible for this procedure. Surgeons use clear criteria to determine whether you would make a good candidate for a hair transplant (to be discussed) [3].
Here are the main types of hair loss that can often be treated successfully with hair restoration surgery:
Commonly known as male or female pattern baldness, androgenetic alopecia is by far the most common cause reason of hair loss. It is believed to affect over 85% of men [4] and 55% of women [5] at some point in life. This condition is caused by a combination of genetic, hormonal, and environmental factors, and it develops in people whose hair follicles are particularly sensitive to the male hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT). DHT binds to specific androgen receptors in the hair follicles, causing hair miniaturisation and eventually obstructing hair growth [6].
Androgenetic alopecia is the most common reason for getting hair restoration surgery [2]. Hair transplants are normally highly effective against both male and female pattern baldness. That is because they involve harvesting healthy, less DHT-sensitive hair follicles from your safe donor area and reimplanting them in your thinning spots. As they heal, they start producing hair which is not affected by pattern baldness.
Male pattern baldness symptoms: In men, androgenetic alopecia usually starts with a receding hairline and temple hair loss, and if left untreated, it progresses to a bald spot on the scalp.
Female pattern baldness symptoms: Women are often spared the frontal balding typical for men with male pattern baldness. However, they may develop diffuse hair thinning, accompanied by a widening of their midline parting and a Christmas tree pattern around it. If left untreated, this progresses to a bald spot on the top of the head.
Traction alopecia is a type of hair loss caused by prolonged tension applied to the hair follicles, damaging them. The main culprits for this condition are tight hairstyles worn for an extended period. For example, wearing tight ponytails daily can cause hair loss around your hairline and temples. Moreover, over-wearing heavy hair accessories such as extensions can also cause hair loss.
Normally, traction alopecia resolves on its own in a few months, provided that you wear your hair loose and give your hair follicles some time to heal. However, in advanced cases, the damage is too severe to be repaired, and you are left with permanent hair thinning in certain areas of your scalp. If that happens, a hair transplant can replace the dead hair follicles and restore your coverage.
Chronic traction alopecia symptoms: The main symptom of this condition is persistent hair thinning around the fringe and sides of the head, which does not improve over time and does not respond to hair growth medication. However, some people also experience white or skin-coloured bumps around the hair roots, as well as redness, scaling, itching or irritation on the affected part of the scalp.
Some people have light scars on their scalp from past burns, lesions or surgical scars. Hair may grow thinner or may not grow at all in these areas, as the hair follicles are damaged or destroyed. Unfortunately, no non-surgical hair restoration treatment can help restore hair growth where the damage to the follicles was too extensive.
However, you may be able to get a hair transplant into scar tissue. This is not always an option and may not work if the scarring is too severe or the blood flow in the area is too poor. But in many milder cases, it can successfully restore hair coverage and help obscure the scars entirely.
Symptoms of hair loss caused by scar tissue: The types of scalp scars that are compatible with a hair transplant typically look like a slightly thickened, discoloured skin area. They may sometimes also cause numbness, tingling or a burning sensation on the scalp.
While hair transplants are safe and effective for the majority of hair loss patients, there are also conditions that they cannot treat adequately or that would benefit from a different treatment. Here are some of them [1][3]:
This autoimmune condition causes patchy hair loss on the scalp (and often, the body as well). This is caused by inflammation within the scalp, as your white blood cells attack your hair follicles. However, in most cases, an alopecia areata flare-up resolves on its own within a year of onset [7], only to return at a different time in the future.
Since this condition is caused by your own immune system attacking your hair follicles, a hair transplant cannot normally treat it. The transplanted follicles would also be affected by the inflammation, just like the native ones. There are situations where successful hair restoration surgeries have been performed on patients whose alopecia areata had been stable for at least 3 years, but they are the exception rather than the rule.
Symptoms of alopecia areata: This condition most frequently manifests with smooth, rounded bald spots on the scalp (although rare forms, like alopecia totalis or alopecia universalis can cause full baldness on your scalp, or, respectively, your entire body). It can also be accompanied by other symptoms, such as broken hairs shaped like exclamation marks, black or yellow dots on the scalp or pitted nails.
When you experience significant physical or psychological stress, such as illness, surgery, a difficult exam or an unfortunate life event, you may experience considerable diffuse hair thinning. This condition is called telogen effluvium and it typically resolves with no treatment within 3-4 months of the stressful event.
You normally don’t need a hair transplant for this type of temporary hair shedding, as it is self-resolving within a short period. Moreover, assuming you had a chronic form and you wanted to get surgical hair restoration to fix it, there is no safe donor area to harvest unaffected hair follicles from. That is because telogen effluvium means that a larger proportion of your hair follicles than normal are in the telogen (shedding) phase of your hair growth cycle at the same time. They are distributed all over your scalp, hence the diffuse thinning.
Symptoms of telogen effluvium: In most cases, the only symptom of telogen effluvium is intense, diffuse hair shedding, with no visible pattern. However, some patients also report trichodynia alongside this condition.
Diffuse unpatterned alopecia is a very rare variation of androgenetic alopecia, where hair follicles with a higher DHT sensitivity are not grouped together in the typical pattern, but distributed randomly across the scalp. This condition predominantly affects women.
Unfortunately, DUPA cannot be treated with a hair transplant, as there is no safe donor area to harvest grafts which are less sensitive to DHT. This means your transplanted hair follicles would also become miniaturised shortly after the procedure.
Symptoms of DUPA: hair miniaturisation and diffuse hair thinning across the entire scalp, with no other symptoms, such as inflammation.
Scarring alopecia is not to be confused with hair loss caused by mechanical or chemical scarring of the scalp. It is an umbrella-name for several autoimmune conditions which destroy your hair follicles permanently, such as lichen planopilaris or frontal-fibrosing alopecia. Our experienced surgeon, Dr. Ahmad Moussa, confirms this:
Hair loss due to causes other than androgenetic alopecia are usually poor responders to transplants. For example, frontal fibrosing alopecia yields very poor results if a transplant is carried out.
Unfortunately, a hair transplant cannot normally treat scarring alopecia that has not been stable for at least 3 years. That is because the newly transplanted hair follicles are not immune to the inflammation that these conditions manifest with. This type of hair loss is notoriously difficult to treat, often with potent steroid injections.
Symptoms of scarring alopecia: While symptoms can vary between different types of scarring alopecia, the most common ones are patchy baldness, scalp redness, itching, tenderness, inflammation, and/or scaling.
Sometimes, hair thinning can simply be caused by an untreated, common scalp problem. For example, a hair follicle infection (e.g. scalp folliculitis) can cause inflammation and hair thinning in the affected area. Moreover, while they don’t normally cause hair loss directly, seborrheic dermatitis and scalp eczema can sometimes lead to hair thinning. That is because they can make your scalp itch so badly that the constant, vigorous scratching can break off your hair fibres.
While these scalp conditions can be unpleasant, they are often easily treatable. There is no need to get a hair transplant to fix the resulting hair thinning; all you need to do is see a dermatologist or a trichologist and get the right recommendations. Before getting a hair transplant, the surgeon always makes sure your scalp is healthy. Otherwise, the results could be compromised by scalp problems that cause inflammation or irritation.
Harmful practices such as frequent heat styling, bleaching, dyeing, perming or relaxing can significantly damage your hair fibres. The high temperatures and harsh chemicals applied to it can lead to dry, brittle hair that breaks off at the slightest provocation. Experiencing significant hair breakage over a prolonged period can thin your hair out and leave it looking dull and flat. And since severe chemical and heat-damaged hair can’t be fixed, you may need to cut your hair short to revitalise. However, once it grows out healthy again, it should regain its fullness and shine.
A hair transplant is not necessary for treating thinning caused by hair breakage. That is because your hair follicles are still intact and capable of growing new, healthy fibres. So all you need to do is get a haircut (or, if the damage is not severe, a hair detox) and treat your hair more gently in the future.
Symptoms of damaged hair, prone to breakage: People whose hair is heat-damaged or chemically burned describe this as having dry hair that feels like straw. It is dull, lifeless, flat, and prone to splitting. Due to its brittleness, it snaps easily, which leaves them with different-sized hair shafts.
Surgical hair restorations work in a very similar way to restore hair density and coverage, regardless of what caused the hair loss they are used to treat. They involve harvesting healthy hair follicles from the back or sides of your head and transplanting them to the thinning areas on your scalp. There, they replace the native hair follicles that were either minaturised due to DHT sensitivity or permanently damaged in some other way.
There are two major types of hair transplants that most patients choose between at this time: follicular unit extraction (FUE) and follicular unit transplantation (FUT). Here is how each of them works and the notable differences between FUE and FUT [1][8].
Nowadays, FUE hair transplant surgery is an increasingly popular method of hair transplantation, due to its lack of scarring and quicker recovery time.
In an FUE hair transplant, the surgeon extracts hair grafts individually from a safe donor area where the hair follicles are healthy and less sensitive to hormonal hair loss (this is usually the back or sides of the head).
Since the grafts are harvested one by one, using a special instrument called a punch, there is virtually no scarring. Only tiny puncture wounds which heal soon after the procedure.
A FUT hair transplant operation involves the removal of an entire strip of skin containing viable, healthy hair follicles from the donor site (again, this is usually the back or side of the head). This strip is then sliced into individual hair grafts under a microscope and the resulting wound is sutured. The grafts are then transplanted into areas where the hair is thinning or balding.
Since FUT harvesting leaves a sutured wound on the donor area, the recovery time for this procedure tends to be longer than FUE and slightly more uncomfortable. Patients will also be left with a fine, linear scar after the FUT wound is healed.
There are several stages to every hair restoration surgery. Here is what you can expect [1][8]:
Here is all you need to know about the best ways to prepare for a hair transplant.
While surgical hair restoration can be highly effective for those who need it, not everyone is eligible for this procedure. Here are some of the main criteria used by surgeons to determine whether a patient would make a good candidate for a hair transplant [1][3][8]:
Here are some of the main signs that you may stand to benefit from getting hair restoration surgery:
However, the only way to know for sure whether a hair transplant is your best treatment option is to see a specialist. Book a free, no-strings-attached hair transplant consultation with one of our experienced surgeons at the Wimpole Clinic. They will carefully assess your scalp and hair and offer expert recommendations to help you achieve optimal results.
Our highly skilled surgeons at the Wimpole Clinic will first get a detailed account of your health history and ask you questions about your hair loss progression and expected results. Then, they will visually and manually assess your hair and scalp. They may also use a variety of specific tools, as needed (e.g. a dermoscope or videoscope, diagnostic trichology tests, scalp-measuring instruments, etc.). If they suspect underlying conditions which cannot be diagnosed on the spot, they may perform a scalp biopsy or order hair loss blood tests.
Once your condition has been diagnosed and evaluated, our surgeons will recommend the best, personalised hair loss treatments for men (or, respectively, hair loss treatments for women). If you are deemed eligible, these may involve hair restoration surgery. However, if there is a chance that your hair loss may improve significantly through non-surgical methods, they will be recommended first. Our absolute commitment to our patients’ best interest and well-being is part of the reason the Wimpole Clinic has been voted Hair Transplant Clinic of the Year for 4 years running (2021-2024).
There is no such thing as a universal optimal time to get a hair transplant. Different people experience hair thinning at different paces and for a variety of reasons. However, there are certain factors to consider if you are contemplating getting a hair transplant at the right time. Some of the most important are your age and hair loss stage.
According to the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery 2025 Practice Census results [9], most patients (58.7% of men and 54% of women) who opt for a hair transplant get one between the ages of 30 and 49. However, the right age for this procedure can vary among individuals, as some start to lose their hair earlier than others.
On average, it is a good idea for men to have surgical hair restoration between the ages of 25, when their hair loss may become advanced enough and 40-45, when their final hair loss pattern becomes defined [1].
However, if you are a woman, the best age to get a hair transplant may be somewhat later in life, after menopause has set in. That is because this phenomenon brings about hormonal shifts, which can worsen your alopecia (read more about the relationship between menopause and hair loss). If you already had surgical hair restoration in your premenopausal years, you may see further hair thinning around the transplant area at this time, which may require a second hair transplant.
The Norwood Scale shows the progressive stages of genetic hair loss in men. The Ludwig Scale is used for women. You can use these diagrams to assess the extent of your hair loss.
Hair transplants are usually only considered for people at stage 3 or later on the Norwood Scale, or advanced stage 1 on the Ludwig Scale. If your hair loss hasn’t progressed this far, other treatments like Minoxidil or Finasteride may be worth considering first.
While it can be too early to get a hair transplant, it’s also possible to wait until it is too late. If you keep putting this procedure off, your thinning may reach a stage where it’s difficult to achieve the coverage you need (for example, you may develop retrograde alopecia).
A hair transplant is not a miracle cure which will fully restore your hair density to pre-thinning levels. However, it has been proven highly effective in considerably improving cosmetic hair density and scalp coverage. If a skilled surgeon performs your procedure and you engage in proper aftercare, you can normally expect a graft survival rate as high as 90% [10]. And since a hair transplant is permanent, your final results should last a lifetime.
If you are curious to see some of the hair transplant results our surgeons have achieved so far, take a look at our before-and-after hair transplant photo gallery. And if you have questions regarding the results you can expect at different stages during your recovery, don’t forget to check out these articles:
The human scalp has, on average, a natural hair density of approximately 200 hairs/cm² [11][12]. However, not all of it is necessary to ensure your scalp is adequately covered. In fact, research shows that when using a skilled surgeon, a hair restoration surgery resulting in a density of 65-140 hairs/cm² can suffice to mask your hair thinning. That means you only need to achieve 50% or even less of your natural, healthy hair fullness to cover your scalp. [8][1]. Here is how our experienced surgeon, Dr Barron, explains the difference between natural and cosmetic hair density goals:
“Numerical density can be different from visual density. Achieving ‘natural hair density’ is something that I never promise prospective patients, given that they often think this means the density they had when they were twenty years old, which is never possible with a transplant. Trying to reach ‘natural densities’ often risks complications from trying to put too many hairs into too small an area where the scalp and blood vessels can’t withstand the trauma or oxygen demand from the grafts or skin, and the grafts will fail, or the scalp tissue will die.”
There is no one-size-fits-all required number of grafts for a successful hair transplant. It can depend on several factors, such as the extent of your hair loss, the number of hair follicles available in your donor area, your scalp and hair qualities and your result expectations. However, there are still some ways to estimate your graft requirements. Read this article to get a better idea of how many grafts you may need for natural-looking results.
After finally getting your hair transplant, it’s normal to be excited to see your final results. However, you will have to exercise patience, as all good things are worth waiting for. Soon after the procedure (within about 2-4 weeks), most patients experience a temporary phenomenon called hair transplant shedding. The hair in their transplant area falls off, but starts to grow back again within 3-4 months. Dr. Barron provides further insight into what you can expert during this time:
Expect almost 100% of the transplanted follicles to shed and potentially even some native hairs in the surrounding area. “Post-transplant shedding” is a recognised phenomenon that happens to almost every post-operative patient anywhere from 2-4 weeks post-procedure, as the hair follicle enters its resting phase. About 10% of your scalp hair is resting at any one point; however, because follicles do this asynchronously, all over the scalp, we don’t notice it. The single physical stressor of moving transplanted hairs from the donor area to the recipient area, however, synchronises these follicles that have been moved, hence the hair shafts shed at a similar time.
Once hair regrowth starts, your transplanted hair length density should gradually increase until you achieve your final results, 12-18 months post-op.
If your surgeon determines that you cannot benefit from a hair transplant, do not despair. There are still several ways you can try to achieve the glorious look you have been dreaming of. Here are some ideas:
If you are experiencing a type of hair loss that is incompatible with surgical hair restoration, such as unstable alopecia areata or scarring alopecia, ask your trichologist about other treatment options. Steroid creams or intralesional steroid injections can sometimes help reduce inflammation and improve hair growth.
Moreover, therapies such as platelet-rich plasma (PRP) hair treatments or red light therapy for hair growth can help stimulate your hair follicles to produce healthy hair and repair some of the damage they have sustained. These treatments can work well in conjunction with hair growth medications, enhancing their results.
Hair replacement technology has come a long way since the plain wig that you need to keep putting on, adjusting and taking off at the end of the day. Hair systems for men and women with alopecia are now better than ever – the high-quality options are virtually indistinguishable from real hair. And once installed and adjusted to your scalp, you can wear them continuously for 3-6 months, provided that you care for them properly.
A good quality, waterproof hair thickening spray can help create the illusion of density in your thinning areas. This is especially true if it also contains a dye that matches your natural colour. The spray clings to your native hair fibres, making them appear thicker, and the dye reduces the contrast between the shade of your scalp and that of your hair.
Accessorising creatively is also a good way to hide thinning spots. There is a fashionable head cover for every occasion. You can try different kinds of hats, caps, bandanas, scarves and more to find the ones that best complement your style.
Last but not least, your hairstyle can make or break your look, and it can also make your hair thinning more or less conspicuous. Take a look at some of the best and worst hairstyles for men with thin hair, or, respectively, the best female hair loss hairstyles for thinning hair on the crown. You should be able to get some great ideas to help you highlight your hair strengths and make the thinning areas less visible.
Scalp micropigmentation (SMP) is a hair tattoo for men and women who like to wear their thinning hair very short. It involves using a tattoo machine to insert tiny dots of pigment into the scalp, in a pattern that imitates hair growth. This reduces the colour contrast between the skin and hair, creating the illusion of coverage. SMP can last for several years before needing touch-ups and is great for people with dark-coloured hair.
However, to avoid scalp micropigmentation regrets, you should know that this is not a suitable option for redheads or fair-haired people, as the available SMP-specific pigments do not come in these colours. Moreover, scalp micropigmentation isn’t worth it for women who like to wear their hair long, as the coverage illusion fades if their haircut isn’t short enough.
A clean-shaven head is increasingly fashionable nowadays, and these bald celebrities are living proof of it. If you are a man, you can grow a full, healthy beard to complement the style for a masculine, rugged look. Men with male pattern baldness are actually more likely to have better beards, because the same male hormone that causes their hair loss, DHT, stimulates their beard growth. Here is how you can go about embracing the bald with a beard trend.
However, a shaved head is not a men-only fixture. If you are a dynamic, independent woman who does not like to conform to gender stereotypes, the bald look can serve you wonderfully as well. For inspiration, check out these bold bald women who rocked a shaved head.
If your hair loss is not advanced enough for a hair transplant and time is on your side, you’ll be happy to know that researchers are working tirelessly on curing baldness. Brand-new treatments currently being developed and/or tested include stem cell hair treatments and hair cloning.
However, these treatments may still be years – some even decades – away from being approved for commercial use. So if your hair loss worsens before you can access them, be sure to ask a trichologist for the best hair loss treatments presently available.
If you are concerned about hair loss and are considering treatment, it’s important to first get an assessment and seek the advice and expertise of an experienced hair loss specialist who can diagnose and treat your thinning hair.
Book a free consultation at the Wimpole Clinic to diagnose your hair loss, find out more about the hair transplant procedure, and get the answers to any hair loss consultation questions you have. And if our world-class surgeons determine a hair transplant can treat your hair thinning, rest assured that your hair will be in the most experienced and competent hands.
If you want to find out even more about the ways a hair transplant can treat your thinning hair, take a look at the answers to these frequently asked questions:
After your procedure, your transplanted hair should no longer fall out from the alopecia that initially caused your hair thinning. However, especially if you don’t use any hair growth treatment post-op, your native hair may continue to thin around your transplant area.
Over the years, your transplanted hair may lose some of its initial density, as hair generally tends to thin out with age. You may also undergo periods of telogen effluvium, which can make it temporarily thinner. But a successful hair transplant lasts forever, so you don’t normally need to worry about your baldness returning once your final results look good.
No, if your surgeon performed the procedure correctly, your transplanted hair is unlikely to succumb to androgenetic alopecia. That is because your hair grafts are harvested from a safe donor area on the back of your head, where the follicles are not very sensitive to DHT. Once transplanted to the thinning part of your scalp, the grafts maintain this property and the hormone does not bind to their androgen receptors, so they do not become miniaturised.
If you have recently undergone surgical hair restoration, it can be scary and heartbreaking to watch the new hair in your transplant area fall out. However, no need to panic – this is an entirely normal part of recovery, commonly known as hair transplant shock loss. After the trauma caused by the surgery, your transplanted hair follicles (and sometimes even the native ones around them) shed their hair shafts and go into a dormant phase to recover. This phase lasts 3-4 months, and then you can see healthy, new regrowth.
Yes, a female hair transplant can effectively treat certain kinds of diffuse hair thinning in women, such as that caused by female pattern baldness. According to the ISHRS, 15.3% of the hair restoration surgeries performed in 2024 involved female patients [9].
However, not all types of female diffuse hair thinning can be treated with a hair transplant. For example, telogen effluvium will resolve on its own, while thyroid hair loss should often improve after you get treatment for the underlying systemic illness. That is why it’s important to get your condition diagnosed by a hair doctor before considering surgical hair restoration.
A hair transplant can improve your hair density in areas where it is thinning. However, your transplanted hair will also lose some density as you grow older, as normal, age-induced hair thinning that is not caused by an underlying type of alopecia affects your entire scalp.
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Dr Ahmad Moussa is an experienced surgeon. His qualifications include a Master of Science degree in General Surgery, Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, Doctorate degree in Neurosurgery and Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons in Neurosurgery. He is a member of the British Medical Association and the Society of British Neurological Surgeons. Dr Moussa has over 15 years’ experience working in neurosurgery and is a GMC and Royal College of Surgeons certified Neurosurgeon.
His training and subsequent work as a consultant neurosurgeon in the NHS has included performing intricate brain surgery while patients are fully awake to be able to safely resect complex brain tumours. This level of skill, expertise and familiarity with the scalp has allowed Dr Moussa to successfully step into the rewarding world of hair transplant surgery.
Dr Moussa is trained in FUT and FUE hair transplant techniques including combining the two techniques together when required to achieve the appropriate number of grafts without overharvesting. He successfully carries out hair transplant surgery for both scalp and beard hair loss. Registered Number: 6065705
