hairsearch

What the doctor at PAI told me is that he handles the anestesia, makes the incision and stitches it back, and plans where the hair is placed. The technicians make the grafts. I'm not sure what questions to even ask about the qualifications of the technicians, or how to verify these qualifications. I guess what it boils down to is talking to people that have had work done, and if possible, looking at this work. There is an organization called the International Alliance of Hair Restoration Surgeons. The doctor at PAI is not a member, but I'm not sure this is even relevant considering how much the outcome depends on the technicians. Any thoughts, suggestions?

So you're saying that most grafts are placed by techicians rather than doctors? The only other doctor/clinic that I've been able to locate in Nashville says that the doctor places each graph. Not sure which is the norm, but it seems that the success of transplant is highly dependent on the skill of the person/s actually doing the graphs. Do you agree?

Maxxy, Thanks for your post. It's somewhat reassuring to know that placing 6500 hairs is common. I probably mis read some of the other doctor's sites I visited. One doctor says he can do up to 3000 grafts in a session, which would average a little over 2 hairs per graft. If this session lasts 8 hours, this means a graft every 10 seconds. This still seems almost superhuman for one person, especially considering how close the graphs are to each other, and that they are being placed among existing hair. I'd like to understand this a little better before having a transplant done by anyone.

I evidently did not look far enough to see that fishman35 had actually gone through with the transplant and posted results at 8 months. Fishman35, if you're still participating in this forum, I appreciate some comments. I understand that the doctor does not actually place the transplants. I OK with this, I guess. A lot of doctors and dentists have technicians to do tedious, repetitive tasks for them, but the technicians have to be VERY good. Do you have any comments about this? Also, PAI claims that they can place 6500 hairs at one session, one to four hairs at a time, and that over 90% do not fall out. From what I can tell, 6500 hairs/session is not a typical claim. Did you have this many hairs transplanted? It's hard for me to imagine how this much work could be done in 6 to 8 hours.

I was doing an internet search on PAI Medical Group Reviews, and this forum was the first hit. The last posting was well over a year ago. Fishman35, did you ever get a hair transplant from PAI? Has anyone else had first hand experience with them?