Although we are most concerned about quality, pricing is of understandable importance in determining the feasibility of hair transplantation. The prices of La Jolla Hair Restoration are at least competitive if not distinctly superior to other practices. And this frequently is after factoring in travel expenses! To understand the prices charged by the various hair transplant physicians you have to compare cost per hair, not cost per graft. Not all grafts are created equal! Some physicians use follicular units as the basis for all of their grafts. This means that there are two hairs per average graft. While Dr. Reed uses follicular unit grafting when your hair characteristics and needs warrant it, he generally uses single hair follicular unit grafts for the scalpline and for the back border of the forelock if the crown is going to be left to go bald. He feels superior hair volume is attained with use of combined follicular unit graftings which average three to four and occasionally five or six hairs per graft depending upon your hair characteristics and other factors.

The following are two examples comparing the number of hairs moved by exclusively follicular unit grafting vs. grafting by combined follicular unit graftinging with selective use of follicular unit grafts (which are the same as a micrograft at La Jolla Hair Restoration):

Example 1*:

1000 follicular unit grafts total 2000 hairs and equal a donor area harvest of 12 centimeters long by 1 centimeter wide (2.54 centimeters equals an inch and assuming one follicular unit per 1.2 squared millimeters.)

1000 combined follicular unit graftings averaging 4 hairs per graft equals 4000 hairs and a donor area harvest of 24 centimeters in length.

Conclusion: One hundred percent more hair is transplanted using combined follicular unit graftinging vs. follicular unit grafting. The cost per graft of follicular unit grafting must be better than half as expensive as the combined follicular unit graftinging technique to be of equal or better cost.

In other words, a follicular unit graft must cost $1.50 to equal a $3 combined follicular unit grafting in this situation.

See the discussion of hair volume to consider that the follicular unit graft may compare even less favorably in terms of hair volume/density.

Example 2*: Usually a person needs a combination of follicular unit/micrografts and combined follicular unit graftings because there is work to be done on the scalpline. In this case Dr. Reed generally uses 500 to 550 micrografts to the scalpline to recreate the naturally occurring appearance. The remaining hair from the donor area is used to make the combined follicular unit graftings. In this situation:

1500 follicular unit grafts equal 3000 hairs and a donor area harvest of 18 x 1 centimeters.

The breakdown of 1500 micro/combined follicular unit graftings which includes 500 micrografts is as follows: 500 micrografts equals 500 hairs. The remaining 1000 combined follicular unit graftings consist of approximately 4 hairs each on average (see discussion on "how big should my combined follicular unit graftings be?"). Thus the total hairs transplanted equals 500 plus 4000 or a total of 4500 hairs. This would comprise a donor area of 27 cm, a 50% greater amount of hair than a transplant consisting exclusively of two hair follicular unit grafts.

Therefore a follicular unit graft must cost $2 to equal a $3 combined follicular unit grafting.

See discussion of hair volume to consider that the follicular unit may compare even less favorably in terms of hair volume, ie. Density.

In conclusion, Dr. Reed does not care to project the image of the Discount House of Hair Transplantation. The fact is that La Jolla Hair Restoration Medical Center is quite the opposite. Dr. Reed is the only physician doing the transplants. He does only one case at a time, in fact only one case per day. It should be easy for you to see how restricting volume in such a way and having only one surgeon, the surgeon with whom you have discussed your specific situation, is the structure that assures the highest level of consistency and quality. Costs, and therefore the price you pay, is most competitive by use of the current state of internet commerce which reaches a large audience at an historically low cost. This allows Dr. Reed to avoid the satellite offices and salespeople, the airline magazines, the cable station infomercials and other expensive marketing tools.

Price is only the preliminary aspect of value. The other, more important component of value is quality. Please read further.

Length of Donor Area (centimeters)	Number of Hairs	Cost per Procedure	Approx. # of Grafts*	Cost per Hair	Cost per Graft**
12	2400	$4,000	1000	$1.67	$4.00
14	2800	$4,400	1100	$1.57	$4.00
16	3200	$4,800	1200	$1.50	$4.00
20	4000	$5,400	1400	$1.35	$3.86
22	4400	$5,696	1500	$1.29	$3.80
24	4800	$5,996	1600	$1.25	$3.75
26	5200	$6,296	1700	$1.21	$3.70
28	5600	$6,496	1800	$1.16	$3.61

 

* This assumes 1 follicular unit of 2 hairs per squared millimeter of donor tissue and that 800 micro/follicular unit grafts are are included in the total graft count. The actual density of hair in the donor area varies easily 20% to both sides of this estimate so please do not assume the above table to be a guarantee of the number of grafts you will receive. It may more more; it may be fewer. We guarantee that we will harvest the donor length noted above, use the donor completely and plant all of grafts created.

** Since follicular unit grafts made by the most restrictive definition of Follicular Unit Transplantation average 2 hairs per graft, multiply the "cost per hair" by 2 to arrive at a competitive graft price if all of your grafts were follicular unit grafts.

"As a rule, a 5% travel discount and a 5% standby discount are available. Please contact us for details."