Hair Transplant Surgeons - Or, Why I Wouldn't Entrust My Lamborghini to a Backyard Mechanic

Of course you can have a cosmetic surgery done by a lay person, but you wouldn't entrust your Lamborghini to a backyard mechanic, would you?

The same goes for hair transplants.

Physicians are integral to the process and bring a wealth of medical knowledge, training and understanding of complex medical issues in a way that technicians or nurses cannot.

Although, highly skilled and trained, technicians or assistants do not have the formal academic medical training that a physician or surgeon has and according to the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISRHS), it is imperative to have a physician perform this type of surgery because he or she is well-versed not only in hair issues, but in viewing the person as a whole entity.

Says the ISRHS, "The reason for hair loss must be understood and the likelihood of successful hair restoration established. Before hair restoration is undertaken, the patient's whole-body status must be considered and any underlying health problems addressed."

They go on to say that hair follicle functionality is related to heredity and hormones, thyroid levels and nutritional status, meaning that sometimes there may be underlying medical reasons for hair loss.

You can understand the argument for having a specialist and one whodedicates himself exclusively to this procedure.

The physician hair restoration specialist is a physician who has a holistic approach to hair loss, combined with the technical specialty of a surgeon and additional training in surgical hair restoration.

This specialized training involves study and knowledge of hair follicles and the physiology and anatomy of the scalp and its blood supply. This knowledge is critical to avoid blood loss during surgery, and avoids compromising the blood supply to recipient areas.

An experienced hair surgeon will also have the ability to minimize scarring and to conserve available donor hair for possible future procedures.

Once you've identified a surgeon that meets your criteria, you should also ask about the qualifications of the technicians and the overall reputation of the clinic.

Like a well-oiled machine, both physician and technicians work together, in a labor-intensive process.

Without this teamwork the entire surgery would be too arduous for one doctor to accomplish alone.

It is not unusual to have 4-5 technicians working alongside the doctor in a large case transplanting in excess of 3,000 grafts over a span of 6-7 hours.

The doctor harvests the donor hair and makes holes the size of pinpricks in the recipient sites. The technicians process the donor grafts and feed it into the recipient sites. These technicians must be highly skilled. If the grafts are not handled gently, or are left out for more than a few seconds, they may die.

The direction, angle, and distribution of hair are predetermined by the holes made by the doctor, and not by the technician who implants them.

According to ISHRS guidelines, technicians can cut and place grafts, assist the physician during the procedure, but should not administer injections, perform donor site harvesting or recipient site incisions. These procedures should be performed only by the physician.

For additional information, please contact the following organizations:

ISHRS: International Society of Hair Restoration SurgeryABHRS: American Board of Hair Restoration SurgeryAMA: American Medical Association

For more information, please visit our website at: http://www.GreatHairTransplants.com - Where Density Matters - or call: 1.877.424.7535.

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Cost Comparison - The Cost of a Hair Transplant Versus the Price of a Hair Piece

ByCasey Corine Hutson

As a woman I cannot understand why any man would waste his money on a hairpiece that clearly looks fake instead of investing in a modern day hair transplant. The price of that hairpiece might cost you a date as well as your dignity because when your glue line shows or the hairpiece has faded three shades lighter than your hair, trust me it doesn't look natural. Toupees belong in the past! There is no reason a self-respecting individual should put themselves through the vicious cycle of a non-surgical system by putting on a hairpiece.

The cost of a hair transplant is so much less than the price of a hairpiece. When a toupee costs $1200 for initial installation and on average $500 a month for maintenance, you are looking at paying at least $6,000 a year to have and upkeep a toupee. If you wear this toupee for 4 years you have just spent $24,000 and then what happens after 4 years? Do you go through the trials and frustration of a hairpiece and pay another $24,000? And that's looking at the average cost, sometimes it can be twice as much for upkeep. You do the math.

On the other hand, the average cost of a hair transplant is $12,000. If performed by a full-time hair specialist some people will only need one surgery and a person gets their own hair growing and it looks completely natural with a soft hairline and density. For many people one surgery is all they will ever need and in comparison that is half the cost of only 4 years with a hairpiece. Even if one surgery did not accomplish the density you had hoped for and you need a second surgery, which if performed by a good hair surgeon two should suffice, you have just spent $24,000. The good news is you won't have to pay $24,000 every four years and you will have your own natural looking hair back. No glue. No upkeep fees. No is my hair still on questions, just natural hair you can't wait to show off.

Cost alone should make a hair transplant the obvious choice, but even if that doesn't do it then the idea that your toupee is not as discreet as you want to believe should convince you. For one thing, the amount of time you will spend in and out of the hair facility to do the upkeep on your hairpiece is ridiculous. You will be in and out every couple of weeks, and time is money. Oh, and along with your time and your money, what you are getting in return is a toupee. If you have a hair transplant surgery it takes between 4 to 6 hours and then about two weeks of recovery time. That's it.

Now that we've looked at the cost of a surgical transplant and a non-surgical hairpiece, the important thing for someone to look into before committing to anything should be to do plenty of research before committing to a non-surgical method because it will cost you around $6,000 a year. For instance, a young man at 25 who gets a non-surgical system and is now 30 has now spent $30,000 and is still bald. However, another 25-year-old man who understands the advantages of a modern day hair transplant will save money and have his own hair.

Casey Hutson
http://www.GreatHairTransplants.com

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Hair Transplant FAQ - Should I or Shouldn't I?

After a transplant, will I have the same head of hair I had when I was younger?

No. Although results can be dramatic and cosmetically enhance your looks, patients will not achieve the same level of density as they had in their youth. Emphasis is on achieving maximum density in the front of the scalp and behind the hairline where it creates the illusion of a fuller head of hair.

What is Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) and how is it different from Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE)?

In Follicular Unit Hair Transplantation hair is transplanted as it grows, in naturally occurring groups of 1-4 hair follicles. A donor strip of hair is removed from the patient's 'safe zone,' from which these units are taken and dissected. That area is then sutured closed, leaving a linear scar, which will not be perceptible under an expert surgeon's skilled hands.

Is there a way to prevent hair loss?

Yes. Finasteride (Propecia) and Minoxidil (Rogaine) are two of the most prescribed medications to slow or stop the hair loss process.

Finasteride is available in pill form to men by prescription only and should not be used or handled by women, as it has been known to cause birth defects. In clinical trials it has been shown to stop progressive hair loss and can even re-grow hair.

Minoxidil (Rogaine) is available to men or women without a prescription. It is a topical application and can be administered by rubbing it into the scalp twice a day. New hair growth may be wispy and thin. Best candidates for Minoxidil are those younger than 30 years of age with less than 5 years of hair loss.

How does the quality and quantity of my donor hair affect the results?

Obviously, you need to have a good amount of your own hair to be used for the transplant. The higher number of hair follicles you have per square centimeter of scalp, the more donor hair is available.

As coarse hair is thicker than straight hair, it can be transplanted using fewer hairs per graft while giving more coverage. Fine hair has less bulb and can deliver a natural look but with less coverage than coarse hair. Wavy and curly hair lend themselves to good visual results and can camouflage thinning areas better than straight hair while giving the appearance of greater coverage.

When will my new hair start to grow?

Immediately after the transplant, the newly grafted hairs will continue to grow, but will shed by week three. Approximately 25% of hair from the transplanted follicle cells will become visible within 3-4 months and will become more apparent as time goes on.

Some people have faster growth than others. Smoking, health status and age can contribute to a slower rate of growth. At six months, you should see approximately 50% of potential growth and 80% at month nine. Growth occurs in a staggered fashion with some areas experiencing faster growth than others. It can take up to one full year to see fully optimized results between 90-100% of new hair growth.

For more information, please visit our website at: http://www.GreatHairTransplants.com - Where Density Matters - or call: 1.877.424.7535.

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Hair Transplant FAQ: Reality Check

Do hair transplants really work?

Yes. Because the procedure uses your own hair, the body does not reject it as a foreign body. The transplanted hair maintains its own color, texture, and curl. With current expertise and technology such as micro-grafts and follicular unit transplantation, grafts are spaced closer together, allowing for results that mimic your own hair growth patterns and look completely natural and undetectable.

Is an undetectable transplant really possible?

Yes. Since the old days of 'corn-rows,' or hair plugs, when it was obvious that you had a transplant, new technology, microsurgical advances, improved instrumentation, and state-of-the art techniques known as follicular unit transplant (FUT), make it possible to have a soft and natural head of hair that grows, blows in the wind and requires styling.

Harvesting and isolating small groups of donor hairs they way they naturally grow in your scalp, i.e., micrografts (1 hair grafts) and follicular unit grafts (1-4 hair grafts) from the patient's own head, allows more transplanted growing hairs in one procedure than any other method to-date.

How long does the procedure take and will I have to miss work?

Depending on the type of procedure you have done and the type of work you do, it is often possible to go back to work the next day. Physicians typically recommend taking it easy for at least one day and refraining from exercise or heavy lifting until approximately 8-10 days after surgery when the stitches are removed.

Should I use the same doctor as my buddy?

Did your buddy get a good result? Is he satisfied with the procedure? Would he use the same surgeon again and refer you to him? Obviously, personal referrals are a good way to find a doctor.

If your buddy had a less than satisfactory result or a negative experience, by all means, continue your research and find someone who can deliver the results you desire.

Should I use Propecia after a hair transplant?

Yes. Most physicians will prescribe this medication after (or before) the transplant, to prevent further hair loss. Think of it as a dual-pronged approach to hair loss remediation. A transplant can restore hair to areas that medication doesn't affect, and the medication can prevent or retard further hair loss in areas not covered by the transplant.

How do I take care of my new hair?

You may gently wash your hair with a mild shampoo after a 24-hour waiting period if you must, although many physicians recommend waiting 3 days before shampooing. Immediately after surgery, small scabs will form at the graft sites which will disappear between 4-7 days post-op. Be careful not to pick or disturb these scabs. You may resume your normal shampooing habits after one week.

For more information, please visit our website at: http://www.GreatHairTransplants.com - Where Density Matters - or call: 1.877.424.7535.

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Is A Female Hair Transplant For You?

Losing one's hair is not a nice thing, especially for a woman. There is so much stress in the world to be beautiful and to have nice hair, and when the hair is falling out, the self esteem can take quite a knock. Female hair transplant is a new thing that has just been launched in recent times, and a lot of women who are experiencing thinning hair let out a sigh of relief that at least now there is something that can be done about the hair that they are losing.

In the past, women had to rely only on wigs to hide the fact that their hair is falling out. Hair styles had to be carefully manipulated to hide the ranks with out hair. products that were claiming that they can slow down hair loss knowledgeable huge profits as more women were battling to hang on to their hair, and those that were claiming to restore the hair were also given a chance.

And now, women can opt for doing a feminine hair transplant. Now women have the option of restoring their hair with this procedure and there is an air of excitement.

The feminine hair transplant is not a complicated procedure, all that is required is that the surgeon implants healthy thriving hair follicles to your head in which you are losing the hair. The hair transplanted can be from your own head or it can be that of a donor.

To make the transplant a success, you need to get hair that has healthy progress, in any other case if thin hair is transplanted, it will also be thin and unattractive. Also, you have to pick the right surgeon to do the job. Surgeons who know how to do the transplant properly will have a successful transplant performed, and the hair that they transplant will thrive beautifully.

It is also important to know that not all women who are losing their hair will be able to qualify for a feminine hair transplant. There are factors that the surgeon has to think about earlier than he gives the go ahead that someone qualifies for the transplant. The woman's hair follicles and the quality of the hair will be analyzed to decide their quality. Also, her epidermis will also come under scrutiny to decide if she qualifies to have the procedure or not. Those are the determining factors for the surgeon to think about ahead of he agrees to perform this procedure.

The feminine hair transplant is a great option for women to have. A lot of women might have the desire to do this procedure, but even if they qualify, it is out of reach for a lot of women. It is costly, with the price tag ranging from two thousand rand to $150 000. If more transplants are needed because the one that was done ahead of was not successful, this has a high cost implication, and the cost can get up to $150 000 and even more. For this explanation, it is out for reach for a lot of women.

There are other options that involve lost cost, and they should be explored in their entirety. If you can afford it and you qualify, get the female hair transplant and enjoy showing off your hair again.

Matthew G. Bedford

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