Most people use the Norwood classification system to describe hair loss.

How does this classification system help us?

It helps us because not every patient at every age is a good candidate for hair restoration.  To understand this, consider Norwood VI and VII patients.  As their hairline recedes lower and lower, they have less donor site availability.  There simply is not enough hair to take from the fringe to transplant effectively with such a large area of nonhairbearing skin.  It is possible in some cases to create a small tuft, but in general it is easy to see that these are less favorable candidates for hair restoration.

The hard part is that patients who have come to see us are somewhere in the process of their hair loss, and we have to predict what type of treatment will be effective for them now, and later in life.  If we transplanted somebody who is a Norwood classification IV, and they developed into a Norwood classification VII,  you can imagine that the graft placement pattern will look unnatural.  If we transplanted a Norwood classification II and filled in the small temporal recessions, and he developed into a Norwood classification IV, his grafts would also look out of place, isolated and unnatural.

In short this means that patients who are older, with a classification of hair loss at an older age of less hair loss, are our best candidates.  Patients who are likely to have more hair at an older age are likely to have donor hair that will provide more coverage.  We use the classification system, and your history of hair loss, and your family history of hair loss, to help us predict the best treatment plan specifically for you, not only now, but also in the future.