The Average Cost of Hair Restoration

Cosmetic surgeries have been in vogue for decades, with advancement in medicine and techniques opening new possibilities for those patients desiring a new look. From simple Botox injections to deal with unwanted wrinkles to body trimming tummy tucks, there seems to be no limit to the price and promise of the surgeries. Hair restoration is one such surgery available to both men and women that promise the patient/client a full head of natural looking hair, surgery that can sometimes be expensive.

Methods

• Prices for hair restoration vary according to the method used, ranging from non-surgical hair systems to the more popular skin grafting surgical method. Just as each method differs in its approach, each varies in price, which usually corresponds to the amount of hair lost or the amount that will need to be replaced as time progresses.

Grafting

• Prospective hair restoration patients can expect to pay as little as a few hundred dollars to several thousand. In the skin graft method, small skin sections (grafts) abundant in healthy hair follicles are removed and surgically implanted in areas of the scalp where hair is being lost. These areas are usually the front and crown of the head, as the hairs are believed to be genetically encoded to fall out. Clients pay per graft, which can be priced from as little as $3 to as much as $15, depending on geographic location and the doctor performing the surgery.

Non-Surgical

• According to the Hair Transplant Network, the average cost for a hair "system" (a palette of hair that is tethered to the scalp and held in place by adhesives) is around $1,200. This method requires additional maintenance, as the system needs to be cut away, cleaned, and reattached every six to eight weeks at $75 to $80 per visit. HTN advises that systems may cost the client more over time, as the maintenance visits can tally almost $700 annually.

FUE

• Follicular extraction (FUE) is a relatively new method that involves removal of individual hairs and transplanting them to areas of loss. This method boasts no scarring and claims to have more natural looking results, although the price per "graft" is considered double the usual price per graft found in the typical grafting method.

Mini-Grafting

• Another popular hair restoration technique is micro-grafting, which is very similar to regular grafting in approach but smaller areas of grafts are used. This method requires little staffing or local anesthetic, resulting in lower initial cost for the procedure. In many cases though, this method requires additional grafts to be used to make up for shortcomings, resulting in close to the same total cost as typical grafting.