What to Ask a Hair Restoration Surgeon
One of the most important things you can do before jumping into a hair transplant is to fully understand what the operation entails, and what techniques your surgeon is most comfortable with. It’s incredibly important that both you and your physician are on the same page regarding the surgery in order to avoid any unwanted surprises later on down the road.
To start with, you will want to know how long they have practiced medicine. You specifically want to find out how long they have been doing hair transplants. Hopefully, they have been in the field for at least a few years, although obviously the longer the better. The more experience your doctor has under their belt, the less likely you are to suffer from post-operative hair loss- also known as shock loss. If they’ve done less than at least a hundred transplants, you should consider finding a doctor with more experience. As long as they have done more than a hundred successful surgeries, you should be able to feel confident in their ability to correctly do your own. Obviously, there are exceptions to this- some excellent doctor’s have only just started their career, and other more seasoned ones still have a lot left to learn.
You might consider asking what motivated them to start providing hair restoration in the first place. While this isn’t necessarily going to tell you if they are the right doctor for you, it will at least provide you with what motivates them. Is it obvious that they have a passion for what they do? Sometimes, this can be just as important as experience itself. If it would put your mind more at ease, you’ll also want to ask to arrange meeting with other patients that have had hair restoration surgery. This way you will be able to actually see what the results can be expected to look like, and get a feel for what the former patient’s thought of the surgeon. At the very least, ask if you can see pictures of their prior success stories.
And finally, you will want to ask the prospective hair restoration surgeon what technique they prefer. The two different methods of hair transplantation are follicular unit transplantation and micrografting. Before scheduling your appointment to talk with the surgeon, it would be advisable to do some preliminary research on what each method offers regarding the pros and cons, and how they are executed. If the surgeon you are questioning hasn’t had very much experience doing the procedure you would prefer, then you should take the time to a few other surgeons that have.
After you have discussed your concerns with your physician, don’t forget to ask yourself a few questions. You want to make sure that you walked away from the conversation feeling like they valued you as a person, not just as a dollar sign. They should have expressed concern and been willing to explain anything that you felt like you needed more information about. Take care to make sure the surgeon was able to describe what happens during the procedure in a way that you can clearly understand. You shouldn’t be left unsure of what will happen during and after the surgery.
Try to meet with your surgeon well before the actual day of surgery so that you can thoroughly prepare yourself. Remember to ask about any possible complications the surgery might have, or any barriers that may present themselves after the surgery has been done. And most importantly, don’t consent to a surgery with a physician that made you feel uncomfortable in any way during the pre-surgery consultation.
