WHAT SHOULD BE ASKED OF THE HAIR TRANSPLANT DOCTOR?

Even patients who are diligent and thorough in performing research regarding the various aspects of a hair transplant procedure are still quite likely to be left with a variety of questions to ask requiring the insight and expertise of an experienced hair transplant doctor. It should be plainly evident that it is of paramount importance to be prepared to ask these questions of the doctor during the initial consultation process in order to ensure the best possible outcome from the hair transplant procedure. Perhaps the most important question regards how to best determine the most ideal procedure based on the individual needs of the patient.

Of course, this is a question that will likely be ask by the hair transplant doctor if the patient neglects to do so, but it is also necessary for the patient to be able to pose follow-up questions that are oriented around yielding the best possible outcome for the patient.

Questions to Ask to Hair Transplant Doctor

The patient may also wish to know who will be present during the course of the surgery as well as the overall cost associated with the procedure that the doctor and patient ultimately settle on. It is also critical to ensure the patient works with a doctor who is experienced enough to understand the need for having a contingency plan in place so that there is a greatly reduced likelihood that some issue crops up that will have an impact on the final result. An experienced and highly skilled doctor will likely have encountered — or at least will have thoughtfully considered — every potential circumstance that could have some adverse impact on the final result.

Who Will Do the Hair Transplant Surgery?

A successful hair transplant is dependent on a variety of factors, and one of the most important factors in achieving more than sufficient coverage is simply the ability to preserve the greatest percentage of follicular units possible. This is best accomplished with the assistance of a team of hair transplant professionals, including doctors, medical assistants and nurses, all of whom are charged with a wide variety of tasks throughout the hair transplant procedure.

Having a team in place is especially important given the fact that the desiccation of the follicular units can occur relatively quickly once they are outside the body. With a team of professionals working in conjunction with one another, the follicular units can be removed, prepared and inserted into the recipient site with the kind of efficiency that results in the successful transplantation of healthy grafts.

What Is the Price Per Graft?

There are a number of factors that influence the price per graft for a hair transplant, with the most obvious factor being the type of transplant procedure chosen. The Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) is often priced at a rate commensurate to the amount of time necessary to perform this very precise procedure, whereas the Follicular Unit Transplant (FUT) often features a price per graft that is less than the FUE procedure because of the volume of grafts that can be transplanted in a single session that is also less time-consuming than the FUE.

Patients are also likely to find that the price per graft will vary according to other factors, including something as simple as geographic location. Even with all of the variances influencing the price per graft and the overall cost of the hair transplant, there is little doubt as to the value of the procedure. This is especially the case when compared to the other available options as well as the fact that a hair transplant procedure is a permanent and natural-looking solution that remains an affordable choice for the whole of the population.

Is All Pre- and Post-Op Care Included in the Price?

Pre-operative and post-operative care is a critical part of the hair transplant process, and there is very good reason for patients to take full advantage of both the pre- and post-operative care made available by the same doctor responsible for performing the procedure in the first place. These doctors understand the importance of encouraging their patients to make use of pre- and post-operative care in the most thorough way possible, as this is the best method for ensuring the patient gets the outstanding hair transplant they so richly deserve.

While just about every doctor offers more than adequate pre- and post-operative care through an office or clinic, the manner in which these doctors choose to arrange their price structure is entirely up to the individual doctor or practice. Some doctors include the pre-operative and post-operative appointments in the price of the hair transplant (which should be oriented relative to the overall number of grafts transplanted in a session), but others choose to charge a separate cost for this type of care.

It is worth noting that doctors who choose to keep this cost separate from the per-graft rate are not necessarily adding an “extra” cost, as some hair transplant centers see clients who have traveled a great distance for the procedure and may therefore not find it all that convenient to return several times over for a follow-up during the post-operative phase. It is for this reason that it is important for patients to raise questions regarding any and all costs associated with the procedure. The overwhelming majority of doctors are upfront about the total costs of the procedure, but there is no harm in the patient clarifying how the cost per graft is determined and what other services it may include.

What Happens if the Number of Grafts Fall Short During Surgery?

With a team of expert hair transplant professionals in place during the actual transplant session, there is no reason for the number of grafts to fall short during the course of the surgery. After all, the doctor will have previously evaluated the patient’s eligibility for the procedure and will have reviewed the strength of the available donor hair with the goal of ensuring there is more than adequate hair available for a successful transplant.

Since the main reason for an individual follicular unit to fail is desiccation from too much time spent outside the body, the presence of a team of professionals working together to remove, prepare and transplant the graft into the recipient site greatly reduces the risk of failure. In fact, the most skilled doctors are likely to consider a five percent failure rate to be completely unacceptable, with most procedures resulting in a failure rate of two percent or less. This fact ensures that there will never be a circumstance in which the number of grafts falls short during the surgical process.

Am I a Candidate for Strip or FUE?

Determining an individual’s candidacy for either the Follicular Unit Transplant (FUT, or the Strip Hair Transplant Technique) or a Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) relies on a variety of factors that can be best evaluated by the patient through the assistance of an experienced doctor during the course of an initial evaluation. During this process, the doctor and the patient can work together to identify how each individual procedure is suited to meet the specific needs of the hair transplant patient while also discussing which procedure is most likely to be convenient for the patient’s unique individual circumstances.

In addition to a discussion of the factors associated with convenience and cost, the most critical subject with regard to eligibility for this procedure is undoubtedly the existence of sufficient donor tissue for the purpose of achieving a significant degree of coverage through the hair transplantation process. Whether the patient prefers FUE or FUT will be mostly irrelevant if there is not enough donor tissue available to complete a transplant that yields a natural-looking result. During the initial consultation process, it is very likely for the doctor to discuss how the available donor tissue will influence the end result and whether one procedure may be more ideally suited based on the amount of donor tissue available.

The nature of the patient’s hair loss is also a significant determining factor, and it is not always the extent to which hair loss has been experienced by the client that contributes to the decision of whether or not a patient is eligible for the procedure. A patient who is losing their hair at a fairly rapid rate may not be an ideal candidate for either the FUE or FUT procedures until the full extent of the hair loss is completely understood. Since there are many different types of hair loss, the underlying factors responsible for lost of thinning hair will also be considered by the doctor before making a determination regarding whether it is possible to move forward through the use of the FUE or FUT procedures.