Generally, the front third-to-half of a totally bald area can be completely finished in two to three sessions if only micrografts, DFU/TFU and/or slot grafts are being used, or three to three and a half sessions, if round grafts are also being employed. If you have the right hair characteristics, two sessions in a bald area may produce very nice cosmetic results, but patients who believe that they can have dense hair after only one or two sessions are being unrealistic. If round grafts are also being used, the 4th 'half session' is used to solidly fill the area started with round grafts. Even if the hair is wet or wind blown, no plugginess will be noticed. Sometimes this 'half session' can be done at the same time as the mid-scalp or crown is being treated rather than as a completely separate procedure. Or, it can be omitted because of high-hair density.

It is becoming more common for patients to have 1 or 2 'early' transplanting sessions before hair loss has reached an advanced stage. The benefit of these early sessions is fourfold: the remaining hair provides natural, immediate post-operative camouflage for the initial session; the transplanted hair (once it has grown) persists and provides additional coverage for any later sessions; sessions can be spaced farther apart, thus spreading the inconvenience and cost over a longer period of time; and, because there is no dramatic change from bald or nearly bald to hairy, the fact that a transplant is being done at all is less likely to be noticed by anyone.