Norwood 3: the stage, and what patients at this stage had done
What Norwood 3 means
The first stage classified as balding: deep, usually symmetric temple recession forming an M-shape. "3 vertex" adds a thinning crown behind an otherwise stage-2/3 front.
Not only transplant patients use the scale: 339 people on reddit named Norwood 3 as their own current stage, and of the 167 who also gave their age, the middle age was 24. How old people were at each stage and how it moved for those who named it again later: receding hairline stages.
Patients who were Norwood 3 before surgery
In the reddit threads we have read for our directory, 100 people who had a hair transplant described themselves as Norwood 3 beforehand; 70 of them posted photos. Another 75 people gave Norwood 3 while still planning or considering surgery; they are not counted below.
Grafts they report
86 people stated a graft count. The median is 2,670 grafts; the middle half had between 2,152 and 3,300.
- 500–999 1
- 1,000–1,499 2
- 1,500–1,999 7
- 2,000–2,499 21
- 2,500–2,999 23
- 3,000–3,499 13
- 3,500–3,999 7
- 4,000–4,499 9
- 4,500–4,999 2
- 5,000–5,499 1
Technique they named: FUE (38), FUT (9), DHI (2), other (1).
See what 2,670 grafts costs per country →Doctors these patients named
How many of these Norwood 3 patients named each listed doctor. A count of who posted, not a measure of quality.
- Dogan Turan 9
- Pukpinya Jangjetriew 7
- Gokhan Gür 6
- Kongkiat Laorwong 6
- Kaan Pekiner 5
- Ratchathorn Panchaprateep 5
- Bekir Bek 3
- Blake Bloxham 3
- Luis Nader 3
- Victor Hasson 3
- Arika Bansal 2
- Carlos Wesley 2
…and 40 more doctors in the directory.
In their own words
“Given where I started (Norwood 3 vertex, diffuse thinning front to crown) I'd say I'm reasonably happy with results so far, I have hair on my head again lol woot.”
With Ratchathorn Panchaprateep, 4,763 grafts. 4,763 grafts Month 11 Post-Op (Dr. Ratchathorn) (reddit, May 2026), with photos“Got 3100 grafts for norwood 3 because my donor area was so good”
With Dogan Turan, 3,100 grafts. Left the clinic right now - how does it look? Mr Dogan turan FUECAPILAR turkey 3100 grafts (reddit, Sept 2025), with photos“I wanted a Norwood 0 and that's what I got.”
With Kongkiat Laorwong, 2,059 grafts. Dr. Laorwong 2059 Grafts March 23 DAY 17 BLOG. My story, hope it helps! (reddit, Apr 2024), with photos“5 months post 1500 graft restoration (front / temple area only, Norwood III)”
With Gokhan Gür, 1,500 grafts. Vera Hair Clinic vs FUECAPILAR — Istanbul, Turkey (reddit, May 2023)“paying $40k ($19k for Diep, another $20k for Konior) for my NW3 hair restoration surgery”
With John Diep, 2,337 grafts. For everyone that already had a Hair transplant, was it painful? and what technique did you choose? (reddit, Aug 2022)
How to read these numbers
These are people who chose to post on reddit and named their doctor, not a clinical study. The stage is their own description, not an assessment by us or by a doctor, and graft counts are what they wrote. A person counts once at a stage, however many updates they posted. Removed threads are left out of the quotes. A surgeon's assessment of your own scalp comes first.
More: all Norwood stages, the hair transplant cost calculator, and recovery month by month as patients report it.
SaveMyHairline is an independent hair transplant doctor directory: published prices, checked credentials and real patient reports, with sources — and no clinic can pay to appear.