We counted the details that clinics and patients put in the titles of 884 before-and-after threads on this forum. The typical posted case used about 3,000 grafts, and only about one in seven titles shows a result at 12 months or later. This guide shows the numbers, how we counted, and what they can and cannot tell you.
By ForumHairTransplant Editorial Team · Prepared with AI assistance · Data counted: 19 October 2026
Key findings
- Graft counts: the middle case had 3,004 grafts. Half of the cases fall between 2,200 and 4,006. The range runs from 237 to 11,600.
- Follow-up time: only 237 of the 884 titles (27%) state how long after surgery the photos were taken. Of those, 122 show 12 months or more and 115 show less than 12 months. That is about 14% of all titles showing a result at 12 months or later.
- Norwood stage: 141 titles (16%) state a Norwood stage. Higher stages use more grafts on average, but the spread within each stage is wide.
- Selection: nearly all stage-labelled cases (127 of 141) come from four clinic accounts. These threads are posted to show results, so they are not a random sample.
Graft counts by Norwood stage
Median grafts per case, with the middle half of cases (25th to 75th percentile) and the lowest and highest case in each group. Stages with fewer than 10 cases are not shown as a trend.
| Norwood stage | Cases | Median grafts | Middle half | Lowest to highest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 38 | 3,004 | 2,329 to 3,342 | 1,445 to 4,821 |
| 4 | 29 | 3,600 | 3,200 to 4,150 | 1,833 to 5,320 |
| 5 | 33 | 4,353 | 3,290 to 5,000 | 2,547 to 7,370 |
| 6 | 27 | 4,700 | 3,785 to 5,300 | 2,507 to 9,917 |
Stage 2 (8 cases, median 1,651), stage 7 (5 cases, median 6,309) and stage 1 (1 case) are too small to read as a trend.
How long after surgery do posted results show?
Among the 237 titles that state a follow-up time:
| Follow-up shown | Cases |
|---|---|
| Under 6 months | 10 |
| 6 to 11 months | 105 |
| 12 to 17 months | 83 |
| 18 to 23 months | 12 |
| 24 months or more | 27 |
The median is 12 months. Another 23 titles only say “0-12 months”, which we did not count as a single follow-up time.
What these numbers do not tell you
- They are not outcomes. A graft count and a time stamp say nothing about density, naturalness or satisfaction.
- They are not a random sample. Clinics choose which cases to post. The cases are mostly ones the posters were happy to show.
- Titles are incomplete. A thread may give the follow-up time or Norwood stage in the post itself, and we did not read the posts. The real share of threads with a 12-month result may be higher than 14%.
- Graft count is not a goal in itself. What can be done in one session depends on your donor area, your hair characteristics and your surgeon’s plan. See How Many Grafts Can Be Transplanted in One Session? and Hair Grafts Explained.
How to use this when you look at before-and-after posts
- Check how many months after surgery the photos were taken. Growth is not complete at 6 months. See the month-by-month growth timeline.
- Compare cases at the same Norwood stage and a similar graft count, not just the best-looking photos.
- Ask a clinic for results at 12 months or more, and for cases similar to yours.
Method
- Source: a snapshot of 1,585 topic titles taken in October 2026. We kept titles that name a graft count between 200 and 15,000. After removing 8 duplicate titles, 884 remained.
- Fields: graft count, Norwood stage (for example “NW 5” or “Norwood Grade 4”) and follow-up time (for example “9 Months” or “1 Year 3 Months”), each read from the title text with a script.
- Not counted: ranges such as “0-12 months”, and ages such as “25 years old”.
- Checks: we compared a random sample of parsed titles with the original titles. Some titles may still be misread.
- Percentiles use the standard method for small samples. Numbers are rounded to whole grafts.
The data comes from titles posted by members and clinics. ForumHairTransplant.com has not verified them and is not affiliated with any clinic or surgeon.
Discussion
Do you have a 12-month or later result with a known graft count? Share it in the results section of the forum and tell us the Norwood stage and the months since surgery. That is the information other readers need most.