pre ht questions

[Jojo]

hi there i have my ht coming up soon and was wondering what questions any of you folk have asked your doc's before surgery. I've put my faith in the fact that i chose a top doc and he knows wat hes doing etc. The only questions i can think of rite now is a) the construction of the hairline b) future hairloss i.e. am i being wise asking for the number of grafts i'd like? Can anyone else add or advise any questions i should be asking? thanks

[Jojo]

hi there i have my ht coming up soon and was wondering what questions any of you folk have asked your doc's before surgery. I've put my faith in the fact that i chose a top doc and he knows wat hes doing etc. The only questions i can think of rite now is a) the construction of the hairline b) future hairloss i.e. am i being wise asking for the number of grafts i'd like? Can anyone else add or advise any questions i should be asking? thanks

[Dewayne]

If you want a scar to be undetectable, be sure to ask what kind of donor area closure he will use. The tricho closure is popular, as it allows hairs to grow through which makes the scar hard to detect.

 

Ask him how long the procedure will last. I think some of the follicals can die if out of the head too long, so I wouldn't want a 2,000 graft procedure that's going to take 12 hours as I'd think it would produce a low yield.

 

Ask him / her to give you some referrals, or better yet, try and find some of his patients on your own. What I did was email / pm some of the patients from a couple years ago who don't post much anymore. They were all (3 or 4) very, very helpful.

[badger_01]

Since you say that you've already scheduled your HT I'm guessing that you've already interviewed your surgeon. Assuming thats true, you want to meet him the day before, finalize your hairline, take pictures so that you can review them at home and like Dewayne said ask him how long the procedure will be and how many staff will be assisting.

[baldeagle11]

I would definitely ask a couple of questions about how your head will look a few years down the road...what is the long-term plan?

[Bill - Seemiller]

JoJo,

 

In my experience, most hair loss sufferers just know they want more hair and often take a leap of faith that their selected hair transplant surgeon will give it to them. Most of these patients don't have a good understanding of realistic expectations and expect miracles to be performed.

 

Selecting a world renown physician is vital, but I am a firm believer that patients are better when they are educated and know what they are getting into before getting into the surgical chair. In my opinion, before entering into hair restoration surgery, a patient should already have a good idea of:

 

1. How many follicular unit grafts are needed based on current hair loss

 

2. Available donor hair supply

 

3. The risks of future hair loss and how it may impact your long term hair restoration plan

 

4. The understanding that hair transplant surgery is not a "cure" for the progression of male pattern baldness.

 

5. Available medical hair loss treatments and how they may "complement" a hair transplant

 

6. The philosophy, tools and techniques used, and size and experience of staff of all surgeons a patient is considering

 

7. Whether or not surgeons they are considering have a proven track record of consistent positive results and are using state of the art techniques.

 

8. What to expect and what not to expect in terms of the surgical experience and end result after each session including benefits, risks, and limitations of surgery.

 

There is a lot of meat to be digested in these 8 points listed above and I recommend spending your time doing some research before surgery. Know all the risks and limitations to surgery and not just the benefits.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill