Due to a lack of sufficient regulation in the hair transplant industry, clients must be very careful. When talking with different clinics, look at the doctors experience, make sure you look at before and after pictures, talk with actual patients and find out about the experience of the technicians that will be assisting the doctor. In fact, on this last point, the importance of an experienced and technically masterful clinical team cannot be understated.
An Expert Hair Transplant Needs an Expert Team
Hair restoration requires a high level of specialized skill on the part of both the surgeon and the assistant team. Recipient-site problems can manifest from either surgeon or assistant error. The surgeon can create an unnatural hairline due to lack of knowledge of natural hair-loss patterns or badly executed recipient sites. He must also be cognizant of how hairs naturally are angled on the scalp to re-create a pattern that appears natural when making recipient sites. Assistants can also greatly contribute to the success or failure of surgery in their task of graft dissection and graft placement.
As hair restoration procedures grow in popularity and accessibility, there has sprung up a dangerous class of doctors and clinics who have no business even approaching a patient’s scalp. These clinics simply hire poorly trained or unlicensed technicians to perform substantial aspects of hair restoration surgery – this is both unethical and dangerous.
Unlike almost any other cosmetic procedure, an excellent hair transplant requires an excellent team. The surgeon is part of the equation, but he or she is not the sole player in the game. The surgeon is part of a dedicated and specialized team. At Modena Hair Institute in Newport Beach, Dr. Amir Yazdan is responsible for hairline design, donor harvesting and closure, and recipient site creation; Dr. Yazdan’s team, however, is responsible for graft dissection and placement. Having an excellent team is mandatory.
Almost any surgeon or physician can claim to do hair restoration, but very few do it well. An expert hair transplant surgeon will know if the client is a proper candidate for such a transplant, he or she will be very discerning about how to do the surgery, what will suit the natural structure of the face, and more. Knowing as much about safety regarding when to transplant and when not to is very important. We believe that good judgment must involve both understanding the medical aspects of hair loss (types of hair loss that you can’t operate on, medical management, etc.) as well as surgical expertise (artistry and technical skills). Finally, ethics is key.
Beware of False Advertising
Too many clinics have hard driving salesmen to push you to do a case that the surgeon might otherwise think is dangerous or inappropriate. Ethical judgment on when not to operate is very important. Some clinics will prop up an eloquent sales campaign and web presence to sell consumers a trap. Over the years we’ve sadly received many patients seeking to repair and correct the damage done by bad hair transplant procedures.
Understanding What You Need
At Modena we recommend being evaluated by a board-certified transplant surgeon like Dr. Yazdan to discuss your medical and family history to better understand the nature of your hair loss and possible treatment options. A careful and experienced hair transplant doctor will scrupulously plan, design and execute on coverage options which you will find most pleasing and attractive.
Dr. Amir Yazdan, MD, is an internationally renowned hair transplant surgeon, expert guest on Dr. Phil and The Doctors, creator of the GroMD hair restoration product line, ISHRS member, and a visceral advocate for patient care. Learn more about Dr. Yazdan or read rave reviews from his patients.