For many people, hair is a big deal. The hair on your head is connected to your self-confidence and your image of yourself. And on top of that, the hair is very noticeable. There’s a reason why a good hair day is so powerful – if you’re someone whose hair means a lot to you, knowing that it looks amazing can make your whole day better. And when you know your hair doesn’t look as good, it can really bring you down.
If your hair is thinning and you’re looking into hair transplants, that’s a sign that hair is important to you. And you shouldn’t trust something so important to just anyone. The success of the surgery has a lot to do with the skill of the physician performing the procedure, so you want to make sure that you choose a skilled surgeon. Take a look at some things that you should look for when choosing a hair replacement doctor.
What Kind of Hair Transplants Can They Do?
There’s more than one type of hair transplant surgery, but not every hair replacement doctor performs both of the most common types of surgery. The two main types of surgeries are:
- Follicular unit strip surgery (FUSS)
- Follicular unit extraction (FUE)
One of the big differences between the two surgeries is how the donor hair is taken from the donor site. With FUSS, the surgeon removes a strip of hair from the donor site, while with FUE, they remove follicles with a punch tool.
Both types of removal can leave scars, but they’re different scars:
- FUSS leaves a long lateral scare while FUE leaves smaller marks.
- FUSS requires stitches to close the incision site, while FUE usually does not.
There are a number of factors that go into choosing which method of which surgery is right for you, but you’ll need to make sure that you choose a surgeon who is experienced in the type of surgery you want.
Questions to Ask Your Hair Replacement Doctor
There is no such thing as asking too many questions when you’re having a consultation with a hair replacement doctor.
The surgeon will ask you questions to determine if you’re a good candidate for the procedure and for their practice, but you’ll need to ask some questions yourself to find out if the surgeon you’re talking to is the best hair replacement doctor for your needs. Here's a list of questions you should always ask.
- Can I see before and after photos? You should ask your surgeon to show you before and after photos of some of the patients they’ve treated in the past so that you can get an idea of what types of hair they have worked with in the past and what types of results they’ve achieved.
- Where can I talk to previous patients? Pictures aren’t everything. Talking to previous patients can give you a more complete idea of what to expect from your surgeon, and not just in terms of the final results. A previous patient can give you more information about what the procedure feels like, what recovery is like, and thoughts about their overall experience with them. It’s a patient’s point of view that you can’t get from the doctor themselves.
- What are your credentials? Technically, any practicing surgeon can do hair replacement. But what you want is one who has additional training and experience in the procedure that you want. Find out what kind of continuing education your doctor has done and how they’ve kept abreast of changes in the field of hair transplants specifically.
- Will I need more transplants in the future? Of course, some of the answers to this question depend on your own hair. Hair that’s been transplanted to a new area will typically behave like the remaining hair on the donor site. So, if the hair from the donor site begins to thin in a few years, the transplanted hair will probably follow a similar pattern. But your doctor should be able to tell you what the likelihood is that you’ll need another transplant or touch up and how you’ll proceed if that happens.
- What are the health risks and side effects? Hair transplant surgery is a safe procedure, but no surgery is without risk. If you take certain medications or have certain health conditions, you could be at greater risk for one or more side effects. Your doctor should get a medical history from you and should fill you in on all the possible risks and side effects, which ones are most applicable to you, and what you can do to lessen any possible health risks from the procedure.
Consider All of Your Options
You won’t know if you’ve found the best hair replacement doctor for your needs unless you talk to a few doctors and patients, so plan to meet with several surgeons for consultations before you make a final decision. This will also give you the opportunity to compare costs, but you shouldn’t make your decision on cost alone. It’s more important to have the transplant done correctly than it is to save a few dollars on the procedure.
Make sure that when you’re planning and budgeting for surgery, you include the cost of consultation fees in your budget. Not all hair replacement doctors charge for consultations, but some do. At the Hair Transplant Network, you can schedule a virtual consultation with all of our recommended physicians.
To help you choose the right hair replacement doctor, the Hair Transplant Network connects previous patients and surgeons to ensure you receive as much information as possible. All the physicians on our website are recommended from real patients within our community, and are carefully selected and reviewed by our team.