How Many Grafts Do I Need for a Norwood 6 Transplant?
A Norwood 6 transplant typically needs 5,000 to 6,000 grafts, because the front, the top and the crown have joined into one bald area. The work is always split over two procedures, with the front restored first. At this stage your donor area, rather than the size of the bald area, usually decides the final number, and the surgeon confirms it after checking your donor density at consultation.
Estimate your graft numbers in 3D
Our Interactive 3D hair transplant graft calculator lets you move a front hairline slider and a crown slider until a 3D head matches your own hair, then shows an estimated number of grafts and the price. The estimate moves in steps of 500 grafts, and the surgeon confirms the real figure when they assess your scalp.
Last reviewed on 25 October 2026. We review our treatment guides every six months to keep them accurate.
Estimated grafts at Norwood 6
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Early Norwood 6, with a last strip of thinning hair between the front and crown: about 5,000 grafts
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A typical Norwood 6, the front, top and crown: about 5,500 grafts
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Extensive Norwood 6, one continuous area from the hairline to the crown: about 6,000 grafts
Key Facts:
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One large area of loss. At Norwood 6 the band of hair between the front and crown has gone, so the top of the scalp is mostly bare.
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Typically 5,000 to 6,000 grafts. The hairline and front take the largest share, then the crown.
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Two procedures, front first. No more than 3,500 grafts go into one procedure, with at least six months before the second.
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About 13,200 hairs at 6,000 grafts. A graft carries one to four hairs, about 2.2 on average.
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Close to the donor limit. Most donor areas can give 6,000 to 7,000 grafts in a lifetime, so Norwood 6 can use nearly all of it.
What Norwood 6 looks like
Norwood 6 is the second most advanced stage of the Norwood scale. The bridge of hair that still separated the front from the crown at Norwood 5 has largely disappeared, so the front, top and crown form one bald area. Hair remains around the sides and back of the head, and that is the donor area every graft is taken from.
Use the slider on the 3D head below to see how Norwood 6 differs from the stages before and after it.
About 5,000 grafts: early Norwood 6
About 5,500 grafts: a typical Norwood 6
About 6,000 grafts: extensive Norwood 6
How many grafts for Norwood 6 work
The figures below are a guide. Two people at Norwood 6 can need different totals, because head size, the density wanted, hair thickness and colour all change how far each graft goes, and the donor area may not be able to supply the full amount.
What is being done | Grafts usually needed |
|---|---|
Early Norwood 6, with a last strip of thinning hair between the front and crown | About 5,000, over two procedures |
A typical Norwood 6, the front, top and crown | About 5,500, over two procedures |
Extensive Norwood 6, one continuous area from the hairline to the crown | About 6,000, over two procedures |
The prices for these totals are on our 5,000 grafts and 6,000 grafts pages, and the full breakdown for this stage is on our Norwood 6 transplant cost page.
Is 5,000 or 6,000 grafts enough at Norwood 6?
Can a Norwood 6 get a hair transplant?
Yes, if the donor area at the back and sides is dense enough. Norwood 6 is not too late, but the plan has to fit the donor hair available, so the hairline and front come first and the crown is restored with what remains. The surgeon examines your donor area at consultation and tells you plainly what can be achieved.
Is 5,000 grafts enough at Norwood 6?
For an early Norwood 6, usually. 5,000 grafts over two procedures restores the front and the top and gives the crown good coverage, particularly where a little thinning hair still sits between them.
Is 6,000 grafts enough at Norwood 6?
For most people at this stage, yes. 6,000 grafts covers the front, top and crown as one area over two procedures, and it is about as much as most donor areas can comfortably give.
When the donor area sets the limit
At Norwood 6 the bald area is large, and the number of grafts it would take to cover all of it at full density can be more than the donor area holds. A typical donor area gives about 6,000 to 7,000 grafts across a lifetime, and taking too many leaves the back and sides looking thin. The surgeon therefore plans the result around your donor supply, not around the size of the bald area.
In practice, that means the hairline and front are restored at good density first, because they frame the face and are what people notice. The crown is then restored in the second procedure with the grafts that remain, sometimes at a lighter density, which still looks natural from normal viewing distances. Where the donor area is weaker, a smaller total focused on the front often gives a better result than spreading grafts thinly across the whole top. Our guide to how many grafts a full head needs explains the two-procedure plan in more detail.
Afro-textured and very curly hair
Each curly or Afro-textured hair arcs across the scalp, so fewer grafts are needed to make an area look covered, which helps at a stage where donor hair is precious. Because the hair also curls beneath the skin, extraction is slower, a single procedure usually holds about 2,000 to 2,500 grafts, and Norwood 6 can take more than two procedures. Our 3D calculator models straight hair, so the surgeon works out the number for Afro hair in person. See our Afro hair transplant page for more.
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The Surgical Team
The surgical team is what makes the difference on the day. The clinics’ five surgeons are all GMC-registered, with a minimum of 1,000 FUE hair transplant procedures each to their name. Between them the team handles complex cases, including Afro-textured and women’s hair transplants, hairline design and lowering, and revision work.
Manchester clinic
• Dr Khawaja Masood Munir: GMC 6122581.
8+ years’ experience, 1,400+ hair transplant surgeries.
• Dr Haider Gillani: GMC 8030796.
1,000+ procedures, with specific expertise in complex cases requiring detailed anatomical understanding.
London (Harrow) clinic
• Dr Mahdi Alosert: GMC 6168297.
20+ years’ clinical experience. Specialist in Afro-Caribbean hair and hairline lowering.
• Dr Shuaib Mir: GMC 7567898.
1,200+ hair transplant cases. BAAPS plastic surgery and RCS anatomy training.
• Dr Zakar Rafiq: GMC 6164032.
MBBS and BSc (Hons) from Imperial College London. Associate Member of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS).
You can meet the surgeon who will perform your procedure at your free consultation.
Frequently asked questions
Q: How many grafts do I need for a Norwood 6 transplant?
A:Typically 5,000 to 6,000, over two procedures: about 5,000 at an early Norwood 6, about 5,500 for a typical case, and about 6,000 where the front and crown have fully joined.t gone.s.
Q: Is 4,000 grafts overharvesting?
A: Not when it is spread over two procedures and the donor area is dense enough. Overharvesting is when so many grafts are taken that the back and sides look thin, and that point depends on your donor density, which the surgeon checks before agreeing any total. No more than 3,500 grafts are placed in one procedure.
Q: Is 7,000 grafts too much?
A: For many people, yes. 7,000 is at the top of what a typical donor area can give in a lifetime, so it is only planned where donor density allows, over two procedures. Most Norwood 6 plans stay between 5,000 and 6,000.
Q: Why is there a gap between the two procedures?
A: The donor area needs at least six months to heal, and by then the first procedure has grown enough for the surgeon to see where the second should go.
Q: How many hairs is 6,000 grafts?
A: About 13,200, at an average of 2.2 hairs per graft. 5,000 grafts is about 11,000 hairs.