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Hair Transplant Consumer Alert

online hair loss prescriptions
Over the years we have found that patients were misinformed and even mistreated at other clinics. That is why Dr. Amir Yazdan formulated and distributed an official Consumer Alert document last year that clearly explains to consumers their rights, and to give them an idea of what to expect from a hair provider. We are digitally publishing the consumer alert for educational purposes.
WARNING to Potential Hair Restoration Surgery Recipients
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. Many clinics offer hair restoration surgeries as a menu item alongside breast augmentation, rhinoplasty, and other peripheral cosmetic operations.
These clinics are neither specialized nor experienced in hair restoration and their operations can often result in harmful and botched procedures. We urge potential patients to only seek out board-certified physicians who specialize in hair restoration.
To further ensure that your rights are protected, be prepared for your consultations. Prior to each meeting, compile a list of questions that you would like addressed. Reviewing the information on this website will help you formulate some of your queries. Always ask the provider if the replacement method you are interested in will work with your particular type of hair loss; if you’re unsure of your type, first see a doctor who specializes in hair loss for a proper diagnosis.
Beware of False Advertising!
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.
Top Hair Transplant Practitioners Will:

  • Have expert consistency and perform close to one surgery per day.
  • Oversee and participate in the entirety of the hair restoration procedure.
  • Be board-certified.
  • Be willing to share case studies and provide reliable testimonials.
  • Be affiliated with distinguished hair restoration societies like the International Alliance of Hair Restoration Surgeons (IAHRS).
  • Provide a thorough exposition of the surgical or medical plan. What will the surgery entail? How many future sessions or appointments may be needed?
  • Be extremely patient friendly. They should not try to sell or seduce you into a quick and hasty decision.
  • Specialize exclusively in hair transplantation and hair restoration.

Protect Yourself. Partner with Excellence.
Dr. Amir Yazdan of Modena Hair Institute is committed to medical and surgical prowess of the highest order. Dr. Yazdan holds affiliations with the most prestigious institutions and societies in the hair restoration industry.

As the only IAHRS member in the Orange County and Las Vegas area, acceptance into the society demands practitioners meet high ethical standards, own decades-long experience and a visceral commitment to the art and science of hair transplantation. Dr. Yazdan is also a member of the ISHRS and AHLA.

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, accredited member of the IAHRS and a visceral advocate for patient care. Learn more about Dr. Yazdan or read rave reviews from his patients.

The Tools Used by Hair Transplant Surgeons

hair transplant toolsHair transplant surgeons use a wide range of instruments and utensils during a hair transplant operation. The primary instrument hair transplant surgeons use is the punch tool. Punches can be manual, robotic, suction-assisted, motorized, or take other forms. Depending on the sharpness, shape and size, the punch will exhibit different capabilities and executions.

It is our expert opinion that the manual punch is the most accurate and effective of the surgical punches due to its very small diameter aperture (Dr. Yazdan uses the smallest size for maximum detail, 0.7 millimeter) and tremendous free-from aesthetic capability. By free-form capability we mean that it is capable of handling extremely difficult angles (associated with curly hair for example) and skin types (whether loose or tight). A manual punch – when under the direction and usage of a master transplant surgeon – can create high quality grafts and a most natural-looking hairline.

The punch incises the skin surrounding the hair follicle (follicular unit), freeing it from the surrounding tissue in order to be implanted safely in the scalp.

Dr. Yazdan’s State-of-the-Art Instrumentation
Dedicated to research and improvement in the field, Dr. Amir Yazdan is one of the foremost innovators of specialty FUE utensils and devices. Over the span of a decade, Dr. Yazdan has engineered punches that are the sharpest in the world and made from the highest quality materials. Dr. Yazdan’s micro punches boast a unique design to minimize scars and have a transection risk rate of below 2.5%, the lowest in the industry.

Moreover, Dr. Yazdan only conducts manual extractions using the smallest possible punch, for purposes of maximum accuracy, aesthetic precision and natural-looking design.

Manual vs. Robotic FUE Hair Transplants
Based on clinical experience and a study of the various hair transplantation methods and instruments, Modena Hair Institute maintains that manual FUE operations done by hand from start to finish result in the most natural and symmetrical hair line. No machine or robotic device (yet developed) can mimic the artistic finesse and pure design of the work done by the hand of an expert hair restoration specialist.

Even as many come to understand that high tech machines and surgical devices are simply neutral tools which provide no guarantee of even half-way decent results, many hair clinics continue to market FUE machines like the NeoGraft and Artas as immediate routes to excellence and success. Yet usually the opposite is true, based on our clinical experience. Any hair restoration practice that markets a machine more than a surgeon is cause for suspicion and concern, as only a highly competent and skilled surgeon can use a robotic instrument successfully – and even then there are no guarantees or special advantages to using a machine.
On average, based on the repair clients we have received and deep

knowledge of the technical advancements in hair restoration over the last decade, hair follicle/transection damage can be higher when using robotic devices as opposed to manual extraction by an experienced surgeon. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of manual and robotic punches below:

  • Smaller incisions when done manually, due to small diameter punches
  • Smaller scars when done manually
  • Larger incisions and deeper punches when done robotically, which can mean larger scars
  • The vacuum suction of certain robotic machines can damage the follicle and dry out the graft
  • Larger grafts require larger recipient site incisions which can mean lower density and unnatural appearance

Robotic Devices and Unskilled Technicians
We’ve discussed the disadvantages associated with the method and application of robotic devices, but there exists another great area of concern: such devices are operated – many of the time – by poorly trained and outsourced technicians who are often performing the surgery without a doctor present.

Why would manufacturers of state-of-the-art robotic devices market their product to doctors and clinics with little to no hair restoration experience? The answer: to gain a bigger return on their investment. It has been reported that since the NeoGraft company markets primarily to physicians with no prior hair restoration experience that the physicians can hire teams of hair transplant technicians who often perform the entire procedure for the physician.

The International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) has issued a consumer alert regarding this practice. Many hair transplant surgeons simply found no need or advantage in purchasing such surgical devices, and so these companies began to advertise and sell to doctors with little to no hair restoration experience.

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, accredited member of the IAHRS and a visceral advocate for patient care. Learn more about Dr. Yazdan or read rave reviews from his patients.

When Is It Time to See a Hair Loss Doctor?

As is the case with many health issues, most people start on the road of proactive action only after significant symptoms begin to appear. Hair loss is no different. Given the very gradual and subterranean (hidden) nature of hair loss, many men and women who find excessive amounts of hair shedding on their pillow or in the shower simply chalk it up to an abnormal occurrence, and not something indicative of future loss.

Over the last decade at our hair clinics across California and Nevada, we’ve come across thousands of patients who all tell the same story: although I noticed excessive shedding and hair follicle miniaturization, I felt blindsided by the extent of my hair loss.

Nutritional deficiencies, high stress levels, unhealthy lifestyle choices, traumatizing hair care regiments and genetic disorders are all common causes of hair loss and pattern baldness. The average hair loss sufferer has little to no background knowledge of the causes and origin of his or her hair loss, and so is helpless in their road to aesthetic restoration.

If you are noticing hair miniaturization at the temples, thinning of the crown or just lots of general shedding, it’s imperative that you correctly answer the question: ‘what is the cause behind my hair loss?’ For the wrong treatment or action taken towards treating hair loss could further the damage or pose unnecessary health risks. As such, if you are noticing signs of abnormal hair loss, you’ll want to contact a board-certified hair restoration surgeon as soon as possible.

Control and Prevent: Medical Management

Once you’ve set up your first consultation with your hair loss doctor, expect to receive a brief biographical and physiological examination. Many think that they have to go straight to a surgical option when choosing a hair loss restoration treatment, but an experienced and reputable hair loss doctor will exhaust all non-surgical options first before recommending more invasive solutions.

Usually if your hair is thinning, the doctor will like to start you on a medical management regiment. Your doctor may recommend taking biotin, iron or other supplements, or massaging 5 percent minoxidil into your scalp once daily. With many younger patients, Dr. Amir Yazdan recommends “combining over-the-counter minoxidil treatments (Rogaine) with GroMD shampoo and Follicle Activator Spray as well as Nizoral shampoo has shown impressive results in hair regrowth and density”.

Hair Transplant

Depending on the severity and extent of your hair loss, going in for a hair transplantation may be the strongest and most effective solution. Medical management of hair loss is important, but it’s objective is to control current hair thinning and prevent further loss, not grant you a new hair line. A hair transplant, on the other hand, can give you that life changing hair line that you desire and restore any ailing confidence. A good hair restoration surgeon, working alongside the patient’s aesthetic goals, will identify the best areas on the scalp for transplantation and touch up. Flawless artistic design is as important as technical precision when it comes to a successful hair transplant, so make sure you ask to see past results or testimonials.

The two types of hair transplant are the follicular unit extraction (FUE) and follicular unit transplant (FUT or Strip Procedure). The former procedure involves the use of a micro-punch circular blade that individually harvests follicles from the donor area and places them into the desired areas. FUE has come to be seen as the gold standard of hair transplantation due to the extreme precision, fragility, complexity involved, and its ability to consistently deliver natural looking results. The latter procedure – FUT – involves the surgical transplantation of a strip of donor hair from the back of the scalp. From the donor strip, naturally occurring follicular units, usually groups of 1-4 hairs, are dissected into natural groupings under a microscope to preserve every follicle and then transplanted into the desired regions.

There are indeed other options to consider as well, such as platelet-rich-plasma therapy, scalp micropigmentation and Low-Level Laser therapy.

At our hair restoration clinics in Orange County, Beverly Hills and Las Vegas, we prioritize long term hair restoration results over quick fix procedures. We develop life-long relationships with our patients, many of whom return for advice and friendly consultation once a year, because we care about real life-changing results.

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, accredited member of the IAHRS and a visceral advocate for patient care. Learn more about Dr. Yazdan or read rave reviews from his patients.

How do you prepare for hair transplant surgery?

Congratulations on making the decision to go forward with hair transplant surgery. Upon scheduling your appointment with us you will receive detailed information on how to prepare for your upcoming hair transplant.
While hair transplants are considered a minimally invasive procedure, they are still a surgical procedure and must be treated as so by the patient. Your results will be determined by not only the surgeon but also by how well you yield pre- and post-operative instructions.
Below is a list of helpful tips and things to keep in mind as you prepare for your surgery. If you have any specific questions, don’t hesitate to call your doctor’s office.
Be sure to read through your pre-operative instructions carefully, as some preparations begin 2 weeks prior to your surgery date. Please note you should always follow specific instructions given by your doctor over any helpful tips seen here.

  • Avoid drugs that cause the blood to thin. 1 week prior to your surgery you should avoid taking aspirin, ibuprofen, or vitamin E supplements. 3 days prior to surgery you should avoid taking blood thinners such as warfarin, heparin, etc. Make sure to discuss this with your prescribing physician. When the blood in thin, it can cause increased bleeding as the clotting factors are not there to naturally halt bleeding. This can complicate the surgery and make it more difficult to complete. If you are taking these medications as instructed by your physician, please check with your physician before stopping any medication. Tylenol/Acetaminophen is fine to take as it does not thin the blood.
  • Avoid all alcohol and spicy food 2 days prior to surgery. These too can cause the blood to thin.
  • Eat breakfast. It’s going to be a long day and eating a full breakfast will help you stay nourished, hydrated, and feeling good throughout the procedure.
  • Wear a comfortable shirt with a loose neck-hole. When you get home post-surgery, we don’t want the shirt to rub against the extraction and recipient zones of your scalp. This could cause potential damage. Consider wearing a shirt with a bigger neck-hole like a v-neck or button shirt.
  • Bring your iPad/tablet. Many individuals like to browse or get work done during the procedure. Feel free to bring your tablet. We will also have music and movies available for you.
  • Don’t shave your head. The doctor needs to have some length of hair present in order to assist him in locating and placing the grafts. We recommend not going shorter than a 2 on the clippers.
  • Wash your hair the morning of the procedure. This helps to remove all dirt and oil, making the scalp clean prior to the start of surgery.
  • Use minoxidil (Rogaine) pre- and post-op. Shock loss can occur in some individuals. Use Rogaine pre- and post-op to help reduce the risk of shock loss and promote hair growth.