The 20 terms you'll actually encounter.

Hereditary hair loss caused by follicular sensitivity to DHT. Accounts for over 95% of male-pattern baldness.

Body Hair Transplant — using beard, chest, or other body donor when scalp donor is limited, typical for Norwood V–VI cases.

Grafts per cm². Typical targets: soft (30), standard (40), dense (55). Diminishing returns above 45.

Direct Hair Implantation — a variant of FUE using a Choi-pen to extract and implant in one motion, reducing graft-out-of-body time.

Either (1) Direct Hair Transplant, a protocol developed by Aurora; or (2) Dihydrotestosterone, the hormone responsible for androgenic alopecia.

The region at the back and sides of the scalp from which grafts are extracted. Genetically resistant to DHT — follicles keep growing after relocation.

A stronger DHT inhibitor (blocks both Type I + II). Off-label for AGA — physician-supervised only.

Oral DHT inhibitor (Type II 5α-reductase). 1mg daily is standard for AGA. Systemic, with possible sexual side effects.

A naturally occurring cluster of 1–4 hair follicles sharing a blood supply. The atomic unit of modern hair restoration.

Follicular Unit Extraction — the industry-standard technique that removes individual follicular units from the donor zone with a micro-punch.

A follicular unit (1–4 hairs growing together). 3,000 grafts typically produces 5,000–8,000 individual hairs.

Scalp treatment using 0.5–1.5mm needles to induce controlled trauma and release growth factors. Most evidence-backed as a PRP adjunct.

Topical vasodilator (2% or 5%) that prolongs the anagen growth phase. Evidence-backed for mild-to-moderate AGA.

A 7-stage classification system for male-pattern baldness, from minor temple recession (II) to extensive loss (VII).

Platelet-Rich Plasma — concentrated blood plasma injected into the scalp to stimulate follicles. Commonly used as an adjunct therapy, not a replacement for surgery.

A refinement of FUE using sapphire-bladed channels. Produces finer recipient sites, popular in Turkish clinics.

1–5 rating of overall procedure experience. Paired with Would-Do-Again for decision support.

Temporary shedding of transplanted (and sometimes surrounding native) hair around month 2–4 post-op. Expected and self-resolving.

Widespread temporary shedding triggered by stress or physical trauma — including the trauma of surgery. Fully reversible.

A patient-reported satisfaction metric: would you choose this clinic again knowing what you know now? The Hair Library's headline outcome signal.