Where Exactly is the Crown?

The crown is located at the very top of your skull and is the topmost part of the head. The origin of the word is an indirect translation of wreath and head from the Latin phrase ‘Corona Capitis‘.

Sometimes referred to as the vertex this area is the second most prevalent area Dr. Sharma treats for hair loss. This area of hair loss can be anywhere from a small quarter sized visible gap in the hair to a large generalized thinning which slowly spreads outwards from the center.

What Causes Hair Loss at the Crown?

92% of hair loss found at the crown is related to Androgenic alopecia. This is the case for both men and women experiencing hair loss at the top of their heads – and often the underlying cause is genetic in nature. Family history is one of the strongest early indicators that any one person will experience hair loss in this area.

Restoration & Stabilization

The Massive Change A Full Head of Hair Can Have

Many of our patients report using all sorts of technologies and products to prevent anyone from knowing about hair loss and it clearly affects how they feel about themselves. Luckily, with proper treatment (ideally completed sooner than later), we can almost completely fill in the crown with a moderate amount of grafts in a single hair transplant session. When left for too long, your options become more limited. Treating a very large area may require multiple sessions – this means more time spent recovering and of course, a higher cost.

Dr. Sharma's advice for those who are first noticing hair loss:

Stop putting it off, do something now. The best first step is to see a hair loss professional. Even if it’s not visiting us at Sharma Skin & Hair Surgery, speak with your family doctor about it. The earlier you tackle this problem, the more options you will have.

Bald Spot Hair Transplant Clinic - Sharma Skin & Hair

Large-bald-spot-restoration-with-hair-transplant-results-before-and-after-photography

Bald Spot Hair Restoration - Sharma Skin & Hair

Crown hair loss before and after hair transplant result

Crown Hair Transplant Before & After - Sharma Skin & Hair

Crown Hair Transplants

Relocating hair from one area to another

The best way to treat hairloss is prevention. Of course, for various reasons this is not always possible. Some people are unable to use the common forms of hair loss medication to prevent the early onset of hair loss, others are simply unaware of the different modailities that exist to treat and prevent this condition. Hair can mean a lot to an individual but at the end of the day it provides little to no function – this means that keeping it in place is primarily for esthetics.

At Sharma Skin & Hair Surgery we know how much a full head of hair can affect a person’s confidence. It gives men and women a healthier and more youthful appearance. We love helping our patients turn back the clock on their hair.

Crown Hair Transplant Results

Most patients considering a crown hair transplant are searching for thick and dense hair. While this is possible for those in the early stages of hair loss, men and women with extensive balding are unlikely to achieve a full head of hair. The primary reason for this is simply supply vs demand. The procedure simply relocates hair follicles from one area of the body to another. This means that we are removing hair follicles from the donor area – is this location is overharvested then we area creating a new bald spot to fix another.

Play Video about Dustins-3289 graft- hair transplant- 15 months post surgery result

Dr. Sharma's F.U.E. Hair Transplant Results

This gentleman came to our clinic hoping to get back his youthful appearance by addressing his severe hair loss. Focusing on the frontal hairline and crown we placed over 3,000 grafts to achieve this impactful result. Over half of the grafts were focused along the frontal hairline with a smaller portion placed at the crown (better visible in the third photo).

For this procedure, we did not place any grafts into the mid zone (the area found between the frontal hairline and very top of the head) One reason for this was to save a majority of the grafts for the most visible section located at the front. You may notice that the density behind the hairline is a bit lacking. This was a calculated decision and due to Dr. Sharma’s harvesting technique we still have plenty of viable grafts should this man desire a second transplant to restore an even larger area of hair.

In all, this is a massive success and goes to show that using a high number of grafts is essential to obtain dramatic results. For those hoping to achieve similar hair restoration progress please note – if only 1,500 or 2,00 grafts are used for a case like his, the result would reflect that decision.

We are very happy to share this man’s amazing hair restoration.

Want to see more? Visit Dr. Sharma’s Before & After Gallery

Making each hair follicle count

Crown Hair Transplant Technique

Dr. Sharma chooses to be conservative when performing hair transplant surgery. It’s critical to only use the number of grafts that will be required to give the patient a significant and dense result. We could easily decide to place 3,000 grafts to every patient for the thickest results possible but this could limit donor reserves for future surgeries. Even worse, over-harvesting the donor area can leave the patient with a noticeably thin patch of hair at the back of the head. This has no medical downside, but is not esthetically pleasing.

Typically when addressing the crown we are “hiding” hair loss that may be noticed from eye level. Remember, our before & after photos are taken up-close and with a light placed behind the camera – this is a “worst-case scenario” angle and is important for objective viewing of our results.

F.U.E. or F.U.T. Crown Hair Transplantation?

The harvesting technique has no little bearing on the result for crown hair transplant results. This means that the technique used for your procedure comes down to preference and surgical viability.

Cost of Crown Hair Transplantation

There are many factors that come into play when pricing a crown hair transplant

The Average Crown Hair Transplant Requires:

1200

Grafts

the cost of an average Crown hair transplant:

$ 10000

Dollars CAD

Factors that determine the cost of a crown hair transplant

Size of the restoration area

Larger areas will naturally require more grafts to treat. At its core, hair transplant surgery is the science of relocating small hair follicles from one place to another. When a larger number of these are to be moved the surgery time and therefore cost is increased. There are many other factors that go into pricing, but the total number of grafts is the primary indicator of surgical cost.

Hair type

Certain hair types can complicate surgery. Patients with extremely thin, fragile, or overly curly grafts may require advanced techniques to achieve a safe and effective surgery. These issues are almost always caught during the consultation phase and patients are made aware of the risks ahead of time to set an accurate expectation for the surgery.

Surgical Technique

At Sharma Skin & Hair Surgery we charge the same price for most F.U.E. and F.U.T. procedures. The technique that would effect the total price of surgery is body to scalp or beard to scalp hair transplants. These procedures involve the relocation of hair follicles found in the beard or on various places of the body as the primary source. Much like a larger surgery, these more complex and varying locations lengthen surgery times and increase the cost to the clinic and therefore the patient.

How Much Does A Crown Hair Transplant Cost?

The cost of an average crown hair transplant is $13,650 dollars. Every case will differ, but typically a crown hair transplant will require over 2,000 grafts to complete.

How do we determine how many grafts you'll require for your hair restoration?

During the hair transplant consultation, Dr. Sharma completes a hair loss evaluation. This allows him to determine roughly how many grafts you may require for your desired result. From there we can generate a custom hair transplant quote for your surgery.

Monthly Payments for Your Procedure

Being a Medical Clinic we do not have an in-house financing team or offer payment plans for our surgeries. For this reason, we have partnered with Beautifi, Canada’s specialized provider of plastic surgery, medical and cosmetic procedure financing. Their goal is to give Canadians access to surgeries and procedures they want or need, without having to worry about the large up front cost.

Payment plans for hair transplant surgery

Which Transplant Technique is Right for Me?

F.U.E. Transplant For Crown Area

The F.U.E. hair transplant process is different in that the head must be shaved so the hair follicles can be harvested individually. Since a smaller area is harvested, a minimally-invasive surgical tool can be used to avoid the appearance of scars. This tool is a small punch that keeps the hair follicle in the scalp tissue, leaving a small dot behind. The benefit is that no scalpel is needed for the procedure. The F.U.E. method is quickly becoming the most popular choice for men requiring hair transplant surgery. The low downtime, light scaring and success rate are hard to beat.

F.U.T. Transplant For Crown Area

Commonly known as “strip” transplant surgery. This method of hair transplant surgery involves taking a strip of scalp from the donor area. A scalpel is used to cut this narrow piece of skin and hair follicles. Then, the wound is carefully closed with stitches using a three-layer closure to minimize scarring. If a small scar is present after the treatment, it is usually unnoticeable for most patients because it can be hidden with a small amount of hair growth. The harvested hair strip is placed under a microscope and divided into graft units that can be placed to recreate the hairline.

Who is a Good Candidate for the FUE?

There is a large range of candidates for the hair transplant procedure. Most commonly we will see people who are starting to notice significant hair loss, or those who are fed up with wearing hats constantly to hide a balding area. A patient whose concern is about his or her appearance and wants to improve on it is a good candidate for a hair transplant surgery, but still there are many factors that need to be considered:

DONOR HAIR DENSITY – It is one of the biggest factors that will determine if a patient is a good candidate for a hair transplant. If a patient has a low donor density, the feasibility of doing a hair transplant is decreased. One of the purposes of having a hair transplant is to look good this means we must be careful not to over-harvest the donor site. Doing so may cause these areas to appear thin.

HAIR TEXTURE – Patients with curly hair tend to be a challenge for FUE because the hair roots are at a much higher risk of being cut or transected from the harvesting process. It takes a lot of skill and years of expertise to master the FUE technique for patients with curly hair.

HAIR COLOUR – This is because of the contrast between the hair color and scalp color. The wider the contrast between the two, the more it presents the balding of the scalp. For patients who have similar hair and skin color (dark skin & dark hair or light skin & light hair) the balding is less noticeable than those who have high contrast.

HAIR THICKNESS – much like the hair colour – thickness can also determine the success of a hair transplant. Patients with thick hair would require less grafts to be placed than patients with thinner hair in certain recipient areas.

SCALP LAXITY – If a patient has a low laxity then it would be more challenging for the grafts to be extracted out of the donor area and be planted. This can be a difficult factor to asses at home, making the consultation an imperative step before committing to surgery.

If all the factors are considered – then a patient is likely a good hair transplant candidate. To confirm that any one patient is a good candidate we require a consultation with Dr. Sharma prior to committing to surgery.

Book a consultation with Dr. Sharma

Where is the Donor Site

The primary area for follicle harvesting is the back of the scalp. The section of hairs at the back and sides of the head are different from the ones on the front due to their resistance to the cause of male pattern hair loss. The hairs at the donor site are not affected by the cause of male pattern hair loss – DHT (Dihydrotestosterone) a hormone which can miniaturize the hair follicles as well as shorten the growth cycle making it look brittle, thin, and fall out faster.

For patients undergoing FUE, the donor area must be completely shaved down for surgery. The reason behind this is to provide Dr. Sharma with the best visibility and access to the area during the harvesting portion of the procedure. This minimizes the transection rate to give the greatest yield of viable grafts. (Transection of grafts is when the hairs root is cut or damaged during the harvesting phase.)

Learn more about grafts and our harvesting techniques

CROWN HAIR TRANSPLANT RECOVERY TIME

Recovery following surgery comes with a bit of work. At Sharma Skin & Hair Surgery, we ask patients to follow a very strict post-care routine which involves the use of a custom solution. This solution contains Hypothermosol and Saline and must be applied to the scalp at regular intervals following surgery. The point of this spray is to promote growth and speed up recovery times. The saline is a natural disinfectant which further helps to reduce the chances of infection at the recipient site. The recovery period is a minimum of 5 days. Most patients will return to work on day 8 following surgery.

Do Crown Hair Transplant Results Take Longer then the Hairline?

There is a common misconception that hair transplanted to the crown grows slower then hair placed along the hairline. Every hair follicle will grow at different rates due to a series of biological factors but the placement area is rarely one of these. Likely, this misconception comes from the whorl pattern found exclusively at the crown. This means that each follicle is placed at slightly different angles creating small gaps between the hairs. Other areas of the head have a higher number of parallel grafts – this allows less scalp to be visible compared to the crown area.

How Do You Know a Graft Will Grow?

Once we have succesfully excised a graft from the scalp, we review the quality of the root under a microscope. Some grafts have excess tissue which can make the implantation phase difficult. This required a process that trims off the extra tissues or fats by cutting the follicular units into individual grafts that are to be placed in the recipient area. During this phase, the technicians carefully inspect and handle each graft with care under the microscope and choose only healthy grafts for implantation. These grafts are constantly hydrated with sterile saline and Hypothermosol, and kept at a controlled temperature to increase the viability. The technicians are well trained and under supervision of the surgeon to ensure the highest quality throughout the process. At Sharma Skin & Hair Surgery, we have a small team dedicated to hair transplant surgeries, each member is hand-picked by Dr. Sharma and year of experience together gives us the ability to deliver consistent and high quality results. On average the full result of any crown hair transplant will take a full year or up to 18 months.

Your Here to Get Results, We're here to deliver them

Long-Term Strategy for Hair Transplants

Not only does Dr. Sharma consider the immediate results of hair transplant, but he also designs a plan that considers how hair loss patterns will affect the long-term appearance. For example, there are times when multiple treatments are needed as the hair continues to recede later in life. The transplanted hair follicles must be placed strategically to ensure a natural appearance in 2, 5, and 10 years.

Every person has is a limited amount of donor hair available. The long-term plan should ensure that adequate donor supply is present if additional treatments are needed in the future.

Before & After Photos

Comb Through our Results

Take a moment to review the results of Dr. Sharma’s previous patients. You can browse our Before and After Gallery, or review patient testimonials from other people who chose Dr. Sharma as their Edmonton hair transplant surgeon. All of these results were achieved at our clinic here in Edmonton.

Before

After
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After
Before

After

How Long Before My Hair Grows Back Completely?

It depends on which procedure we are doing and which area you are referring to. For the F.U.E. procedure your hair will grow back to normal at the donor site (back of the head) within 2-4 weeks.

The recipient area (where we are transplanting to) normally takes around 3-6 months to start coming in evenly. With about 70% growth by the one-year mark. It takes a total of 18 months to see the full maturity of your transplanted grafts.

Common Questions About Hair Transplants

Here are answers to some of the most common questions about hair transplant procedures:

What causes hair loss?

Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is a hormone that affects hair follicles on the scalp. Hormonal changes can cause the follicles to become shorter in length and smaller in diameter, until eventually the follicle disappears completely. Male hair loss is hereditary, but certain medical conditions or medications can also cause hair loss.

What are the side effects of hair transplant?

Your scalp will be swollen, tight, and achy for the first few days after treatment. It is common to experience temporary scabbing during the healing process.

Are hair transplant results instantaneous?

Many patients are surprised to learn that the transplanted hair usually falls out within a few weeks after the surgery. Be patient; the truth is that you don’t walk out of the clinic with a full head of hair. Hair goes through phases, and the transplanted hair will be visible after a few months since it needs to go through all three cycles: anagen, catagen, and telogen.

Will hair transplants cause scarring?

FUE transplants are preferred over FUT to minimize scarring. With FUE, the donor area will have red pinpricks where the follicles are removed. These small marks heal over a few days and leave micro scars. These are extremely small, discoloured flecks, that are easily hidden once the surrounding hair begins to grow back.

Are hair transplants permanent?

The transplanted hair follicles tend to be permanent, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t lose more hair in the future. Hereditary hair loss is a continual process, which is why the transplant plan is designed based on your unique pattern of baldness. Continued hair loss can be minimized by using certain products and medications, and sometimes another transplant treatment is required in the future.

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