Tips on Choosing the Right Hair Transplant Doctor For You
Hair Transplant Doctor
Typically, finding a hair transplant doctor is done through a dermatologist or general doctor referral. Your medical evaluator will explain a list of their top recommendations for your procedure, and you can go through the list and research the ones you think will be a good match for you. The worst route that one can take to find a hair transplant doctor is by browsing any kind of aggressive marketing campaign or flipping through infomercials. This means that the hair transplant doctor is spending way more money on marketing than they are on care for their patients. After you have found your ideal doctor, you should do further research on their practices, training, and general background. Try to find the hair transplant doctors’ specialties. This means that they either specialize as a plastic surgeon or dermatologist. If the hair restoration doctor does not specialize in one of these fields, you should call to ask why they choose to work in hair restoration and make a decision based off of their answer. Most of the time, dermatologists are the best route to go because they are skilled in hair, skin, and nails, so they will be able to make a more accurate diagnosis of your hair loss than the other fields.
Making a Procedure Decision
A big decision you will have to make after finding a doctor is which procedure you will have. You can harvest through:
- – Individual follicular units using FUE, or Follicular Unit Extraction
- – Or harvest donor hair in a thin, long strip using FUT, or Follicular Unit Transplantation
Usually, you will have both options available and your hair transplant doctor will have a discussion with you about which he or she thinks would best suit your particular situation. Each procedure has its own pros and cons, so you should be well versed in both before making a decision. Obviously, if a hair restoration doctor only offers one type of procedure, they will not want to discuss or suggest the other type of procedure. This means you will have to research it yourself to find an unbiased opinion.
Consultation Tips
At your consultation, be sure to be evaluated by the doctor who will be performing your surgery, not just a senior consultant or nurse. Your physical exam should be done by the actual hair transplant doctor, so you can ask them questions directly while the consultation is going on. You should also consider asking success rates for patients, as well as what percentage of patients your doctor recommends treatment for. If your doctor says that they recommend a high percentage of patients, that may be a red flag because often times, patients are not good candidates for hair transplants. This means that the doctor just wants to bring in patients and revenue, and does not care if they are fit (age or health-wise) for the surgery. Go with your gut in choosing a hair transplant doctor, because in the end, it is your decision who does the surgery. Make sure you are not being rushed into a decision because this is serious work. If you feel uncomfortable with a hair transplant doctor at all, it is typically a sign.
Resources:
Wikipedia, Hair Transplant
