Female Hair Transplant

Last clinically reviewed: August 2026

Female hair loss follows a different pattern from male loss, and requires investigation before it requires surgery.

Women typically experience diffuse thinning across the top of the scalp with the frontal hairline preserved, rather than the receding pattern seen in men. Crucially, female hair loss is far more likely to have an underlying medical cause that can be treated directly.

Investigation comes first

Before any surgical discussion, we look for reversible causes. Treating the cause often produces better results than surgery would, and it costs nothing in donor grafts.

• Iron deficiency and low ferritin, a very common contributor
• Thyroid dysfunction, both under and over active
• Postpartum telogen effluvium, which usually resolves on its own
• Polycystic ovary syndrome and other hormonal factors
• Nutritional deficiency, rapid weight loss or significant stress
• Traction alopecia from tight styling, braids or extensions

Who is a surgical candidate

Roughly one in five women with hair loss is a good surgical candidate. The strongest cases are those with a defined, localised area of loss and a stable, dense donor zone.

• Traction alopecia with a clearly defined area and the cause removed
• Hairline lowering or temporal restoration in a naturally high hairline
• Scarring from surgery, injury or previous cosmetic procedures
• Stable, patterned loss with a preserved donor area
• Eyebrow restoration following over-plucking

Diffuse unpatterned loss affecting the donor area as well as the top is generally not suitable, because grafts taken from a thinning donor zone will continue to thin after transplant.

Clinically reviewed by Dr. Ducu Botoaca Aesthetic & Hair Transplant Surgeon and founder of The Men Clinics, Soho, London. This page is general information and is not a substitute for a personal medical assessment.