 |
Deciding for a FUE hair transplantation, a strip hair transplant surgery, or any cosmetic procedure, can soon become a challenging experience.
The questions can be overwhelming:
• Which hair surgery clinic or surgeon is the best?
• Is the hair restoration clinic with the most aggressive marketing the best?
• Are the various hair loss forums independent or are the contributors paid by clinics for marketing?
• Is the person doing your hair transplant consultation actually a doctor or nurse?
• Is it a sales person with no understanding of the medical or surgical aspects of the surgery?
• Will the clinic do anything to push sales?
• Can 4000 FUE grafts really be done in 4 hours – and if so, should I expect natural results?
The scenario becomes even more complicated, when patients are threatened with a lawsuit of 3000 billion USD in case they reveal their poor experience with the clinic, as was the case with a hair transplant clinic in North America. Eventually, one patient contacted the authorities and pursued the case which resulted in the chief surgeon having his licens cancelled. This just illustrates how complicated and frustrating the process can be for a prospective hair restoration patient. As a general rule we recommend some common sense:
If something is too good to be true … then it probably IS too good to be true
EXAMPLES OF THE PROBLEMS PATIENTS MAY FACE
• A GUARANTEED HAIR GROWTH RATE/SATISFACTION/RESULT
In medicine and surgery, including FUE hair transplantation, there is no such thing as a guarantee. Medicine is an imprecise science. An intervention in one patient may yield different results in another patient. The best hospitals and clinics will have procedures that have gone wrong. Therefore, the outcome is not certain nor predictable. However, treatments and surgeries continue. It is important to bear in mind that since your case is an individual one, the density or growth of your hair is therefore also subjective to your personal/inherent traits. Any clinic that guarantees a certain outcome, is lying.
It’s therefore not possible to give any guarantee for your hair transplant. However, experienced and professional hair transplant clinics and surgeons can minimise the risk of poor growth and/or complications following your hair replacement.
• A FANTASTIC NUMBER OF GRAFTS IN FEW HOURS
There has been a trend in the past few years where clincis have claimed to transplant 3000-5000 grafts (6000-10,000 hairs) in few hours. While this MAY possible, it is needless to say that the effort required would make it costly and the hair transplant would look unnatural. The hair would probably be placed in a too high angle to save time for implantation. Besides, most patients do not have a donor-area of 4000-5000 grafts available for extraction in one session. MY HAIR CLINIC has been operating for more than 11 years, and in those years, only two patient had more than 5000 grafts available for extraction during one procedure. It is advisable for the patient to have a representative count the grafts to ensure the promised number of grafts (which is not the same as number of hairs) are actually implanted. At MY HAIR CLINIC, your questions and concerns regarding hair loss and a hair transplant (whether FUE or FUT) will be dealt with in a medically sound and professional way.
• MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT HAIR TRANSPLANTATION
We may often have to correct misperceptions about the hair transplant surgery. For instance too optimistic evaluations from other surgeons. Or an unconditional encouragement of having an operation even in patients where the surgery should be postponed or may not realistically give a reasonable cosmetic result. And in some complicated cases where patients have been refused surgery due to the lack of skills of the clinic or the case would have been a “bad” investment from a revenue point of view.
HAIR TRANSPLANTATION AT MY HAIR CLINIC
The surgeons and staff at MY HAIR CLINIC have a personal approach to each patient, and dedicates as much time as is required to address any concerns the patient may have. As a result most patients are well prepared and well-informed before they decide for a FUE hair transplant procedure with us. The patient is therefore not only consenting to have a hair transplant but it really is an informed consent.
WHY PATIENTS RETURN TO MY HAIR CLINIC?
Numerous patients have come back to MY HAIR CLINIC for additional surgeries. The unbiased information, artistic skills and easy access to the surgeon are just few of the factors that sets the clinic apart.
HAIR THICKNESS & HAIR LOSS
Asians tend to have thicker hair (greater diameter) while Caucasians have thinner and finer hair. In the initial stages of hair loss, patients do not see a cosmetic difference. When hair loss reaches around 50 percent the hair loss becomes visible. This has two important implications for hair transplantation in general. Firstly, the donor-area will usually not show any sign of thinning even if 30 percent of the follicles are extracted. Secondly, natural density is usually not required for a significant cosmetic improvement after a hair restoration.
DENSITY AND COVERAGE IN (FUE) HAIR TRANSPLANTATION
Natural density varies greatly. Some areas are denser than others. Usually 20-40 follicles/cm2 are found in the hairline, higher density is found on the top of the head while the highest density is found in the donor-area in the back of the head. However, 50-100 follicles/cm2 or 100-200 hairs/cm would be a reasonable estimate for most patients. Density is usually higher in Caucasians and lower in Blacks and Asians. The cosmetic perception of fullness, volume or density is greatly influenced by the diameter of the individual hair shaft which varies between 0.06-0.15 mm.
RECOMMENDED DENSITY FOR A HAIR TRANSPLANTATION
In most cases MY HAIR CLINIC recommends 20-40 grafts/cm2 for the first hair transplant. The specific recommendation depends on age, stage and maturity of hair loss, the patient’s expectations and many other factors. More grafts can be added later for higher density.
Age is an important important factor to consider when deciding for a hair transplant. A 25 year old male with high temples and initial thinning in the crown may be recommended to wait or go through partial restoration of the temples without addressing the crown at all. On the other hand, a 45 year old male with the same pattern of hair loss and sufficient donor-area may be suggested a surgery of 3500 grafts. Density at the front of face with a thin or bald vertex may not be so appealing at age 34. High density HT (in one or more sessions) is a luxury that not all patients should avail as it consumes too many grafts which may result in running out of future donor-hair.
Generally restoration of the hair in the front, with a relatively high hair line, and top can be carried out at any age, while complete filling of the temples should be postponed till the late 20’s. Likewise we usually recommend addressing the crown at age 35 or above.
Please see age considerations for young patients for further information.