If you would like to learn more about my story and how a hair transplant procedure can regrow your hair, feel free to email me or contact my patient educator Steve Cook at 305.416.8418 as well as steve@mcgrathmedical.com.
The most important part of having a successful hair transplant procedure is the consultation, before you have surgery.
This is when you need to do your due diligence and be prepared to ask the right questions so you can be a better educated, savvy patient. Unfortunately you’re more likely to get a bad result in this industry than a good one, so ask the right questions, know what you are getting yourself into, and don’t become a victim.
To help get you on the right path, I’ve listed my top 10 recommendations on what you should look for in a hair transplant surgeon.
Lance’s Top 10 Recommendations for Researching Hair Transplant Surgery:
1.) Ask Which Other Surgeons a Practice Recommends
This may sound like a strange question to ask, but a surgeon and practice that is confident in its work will recommend you to other surgeons.
If a surgeon or practice tells you they don’t recommend anyone else, this should be a red flag.
In other medical fields, for example dermatology, it’s pretty common if you ask a dermatologist which other dermatologists he or she recommends, that person will most likely recommend another dermatologist.
The ABHRS is the only hair transplant board recognized by the medical community. A good place to start when researching hair restoration surgeons is ABHRS.org.
The ABHRS is the only hair transplant board recognized by the medical community. Although it is not required by hair transplant surgeons to practice hair restoration surgery, having this certification is a gold seal of approval that whomever you have surgery with will do credible work.
The hair transplant industry is heavily unregulated and most of the time a patient is bound to get a bad result than a good one.
3.) Always Make Sure the Clinic You Choose Specializes ONLY in Surgical Hair Restoration
It’s surprising how many so-called hair specialists actually perform other cosmetic procedures. You don’t want a surgeon who does noses on Monday, breasts on Wednesday, and hair on Friday.
Walk away if a practice you’re researching doesn’t solely specialize in hair restoration.
4.) Always Make Sure to See HUNDREDS of Patient Videos and Photos!
It’s incredibly easy for many before and after photos to be heavily edited and Photoshopped so do not settle for just a few patient results.
Make sure you see patient results after one surgery, two surgeries, and, if possible, even three surgeries. It’s imperative to know what the BEFORE was and how many surgeries it took to get to the AFTER.
I recommend asking the patient educator or surgeon these questions when looking at their practice’s results:
a.) How many procedures did this patient have?
b.) How many grafts did this patient receive in his procedures?
c.) Do you have a recent reference list of any patients who would be willing to speak or meet with me?
5.) Understand There are Two Ways to Quote Hair: Either By Grafts or Total Hair
Since I had my two FUE procedures, I’ve changed my stance on quoting hairs by grafts. I think grafts are the best way to quantify how much hair you get because the best doctors in the world use grafts and so do most hair clinics.
Very few clinics count by total hair which is calculated by the length of the donor strip
multiplied by 200 hairs per square centimeter.
There’s nothing wrong with counting by the amount of total hair, but if a hair transplant procedure is not performed by a board-certified top clinic, a greedy doctor who does not specialize in the procedure will simply have the techs chop up all the grafts into one hair. This adds up to more money for the doctor but very little hair for the patient .
6.) When It Comes to Pricing, You Need to Compare Apples to Apples. How Much Hair Are You Getting? Do You Even Know?
I had two FUT/strip surgeries that were quoted in total hairs and two FUE surgeries that were quoted in grafts.
Always ask for a breakdown of how many single hairs, double hairs, and threes and fours you will get in your surgery.
7.) Make Sure The Clinic’s Technicians Use Microscopes While Dissecting the Donor Tissue
Never underestimate the experience of the practice’s technicians, and always make sure they use microscopes when dissecting the donor tissue (photo credit: Hasson & Wong).
A hair transplant is an extremely labor-intensive procedure and requires years of experience to be done properly.
A clinic that does not utilize microscopes must be unacceptable to you.
Clinics that do not use microscopes are either too lazy to properly train the staff or use outdated methods which will unfortunately stand out in the hairline and possibly create a strange appearance once the hair grows in.
8.) Choose a Surgeon Who Can Perform BOTH FUT and FUE
DO NOT choose a surgeon that only offers one specific technique.
To me, this is a red flag and a top hair doctor should be able to perform all the different procedures offered in the industry.
A surgeon should be able to perform the correct type of procedure based on the patient’s needs, and not just what the surgeon can do. If the surgeon you’re looking at only offers one specific technique, guess what you will get with that surgeon? The only technique he knows how to do.
For example, if you are a class 6 on the Norwood scale, an FUE procedure won’t get you the result you’re looking for and will decimate the donor hair. On the contrary, if you’re a slight class 2 and only need minor hairline work done, a massive strip surgery could create a pluggy, unnatural appearance.
9.) Make Sure the Doctor Guarantees His Work
A great hair restoration surgeon must guarantee all transplanted hairs will grow or be replaced at no charge, and your suture line for FUT/strip procedures will be completely undetectable at a 3-guard on a barber shop electric razor.
You must ask your hair transplant doctor, “If I am not pleased with the scar, what will you do about it?”
DO NOT accept this answer: “No need to worry, ALL of my suture lines are perfect and I have never had anyone complain about them.”
If a suture line stretches beyond a 3-guard haircut, how will the doctor correct it and will he fix it at no charge?
In my case, both scars from my two FUT procedures stretched beyond a 3-guard. Unfortunately my first surgeon couldn’t do anything for the second scar that stretched because he doesn’t practice FUE, so I had a scar revision FUE procedure with another doctor.
10.) Walk Away If You Ever Feel Pressured to Have Surgery
No one should ever pressure you into having hair transplant surgery. Ever.
Remember, this is a SURGERY. There is blood involved and with any surgery, there can be complications.
Extreme sales pressure and a very expensive life changing decision are NOT a good mix!
If you have a consultation and are quoted a price, you should expect some follow up emails or phone calls to see if you have any other questions. But if you start to get a barrage of sales calls telling you the practice will cut the price in half if you book right away, be weary.
These practices are only looking at revenue and are desperate for patients.
