How did you pay for your transplant?

[wooly7]

Long time reader, first time poster.

 

Started losing my hair at age 18. Have had a steady supply of Toppik, mixed with curly hair to get a result I was happy with. Within the last 2 years, it's been harder to get away with this look and have just now completely clipped my hair short. I'd say on the Norwood scale I'm a 5A or possibly a 6. I've done a lot of research and I want to go with FUE.

 

The best results I've seen are with Dr. Umar. After filling out a consultation, I was told 7500 grafts from my scalp would give me the results I'd want. However, at $8 a graft, you can see how expensive this would add up. That final number is easily over double what I thought I was going to pay.

 

So, my question is, to those of you who have transplant surgeries, (possibly in the 7500 graft area) how did you pay for it? Loan? Credit? Cash? What was the monthly figure alone?

 

Is there another doctor out there with comparative FUE results to Umar who is possibly cheaper simply because they're not located in California?

 

Your help is much appreciated.

[aaron1234]

That's freaking expensive - but FUE is typically more costly than strip in general. Have you consulted with other elite surgeons? Have you considered strip? I would look into consulting with other clinics.

 

Care credit is what I have and many other members have used to pay for their transplants.

[N-6]

If you have credit cards, I would also check with them to see what promotional offers they have and check your mail to see if you have any promotional offers coming in. I got approval from Chase Advance but opted to place mine on a miles accruing credit card at 0% for 12 months which aint bad. Figure I could get a favorable interest rate and get miles at the same time.

 

And I don't think I've ever heard of anyone getting 7500 grafts (especially by FUE) in one procedure. That's a lot of $$ at once, even for FUE.

Edited January 3, 2012 by N-6

[irishsailor]

Most people who need that many grafts would normally go down the strip methed. More and more people now a days want FUE but it's normally in small cases due to the amount of grafts you need i would suggest you look at strip method.

 

Regards

[wooly7]

I have actually looked into the strip method. However, I was told by a fairly well known surgeon, that it would be "unwise" due to the results I want and my blonde hair. I constantly see that people have to turn around and have second and third transplants and end up going with FUE at the end anyway. I also don't want a scar. Plain and simple. Dr. Umar has great results. I can't find other surgeons who delve into the 7500 graft territory who offer the same results.

 

It would be awesome if I could search for clients who have had mega session surgeries like the one I need.

Edited January 3, 2012 by wooly7

[MrJobi]

Hello

 

I did my surgeries ( 3 FUT and 1 FUE) over the course of 6 years for cosmetic and monetary reasons. I too had to conceal my hairloss AND the surgeries which was not easy. It was a long road but today, I am very happy!!I do not really care about my scar because I do not go below a 2 guard due to the fact I have hair now and can have normal hairstyles (when I was losing my hair it had to be short)

 

The FUE road for 7500 will be quite an expensive one. We are talking a minimum of $8 a graft and that is best case scenario. Also remember, you WILL have scars with FUE however, not a linear one.

 

My FUE was of 600 grafts to just finish up the crown and 100 in the left hairline area. No sense in getting a strip for that little.

 

If resources are not an issue then great but 60K for hair is a pretty penny!

Edited January 3, 2012 by MrJobi

[hair1978]

I'm a Norwood 4, and my 2,000 grafts are barely enough to give me decent coverage. Most doctors would give you a better price if you do more grafts. But $8 per graft seems too high.

 

If FUE is a must, I would suggest starting a high hairline as your first procedure. The good surgeons can do at least +2,000 FUE grafts per session. The next session, you can gradually lower your hairline if you choose to. For FUE, you need to be patience for many years to get the full result.

[N-6]

Wooly, some choose to do FUE at the end because they have no more donor left via strip.

 

FUE is not as efficient as getting grafts as FUT so it would be interesting to see where the doc can possibly get 7500 grafts via that method. Ive never heard of a doc doing that many grafts via FUE and I suspect that's the case because its an impossibility for most patients.

 

FUE is not always taken from the safe permanent zone so the more grafts you try to obtain via FUE to satisfy a patient's thirst for hair, the higher the risk that the doc will be extracting those grafts from fringe areas or areas of the scalp where hairs may not be permanent. If you have discussed this risk with your doc and are willing to transplant a boatload of hairs which may fall out anyway, then that's your choice of course.

 

I've attached some links authored by medical professionals which support this. The last one is from a pioneer in HTs.

 

Medscape: Medscape Access

 

Welcome to Dr. Walter Unger | The Procedure

[Spanker]

There is a guy on here that did over 7000 fue at one time (I think it was over a few days). I cant remember his user name.

[Levrais]

There is a guy on here that did over 7000 fue at one time (I think it was over a few days). I cant remember his user name.

 

You're probably thinking of hairtoday72 on this site. 7500 fue, very interesting case

[Shampoo]

Speaking of payment, do some doctors give any "discount" for paying cash?

I have had several major dental procedures over the last 3 of years

and both my dental specialist gave a 5% discount for paying cash. Anyone

heard of this with hair transplant doctors?

[BaldWhisky]

Most or doctors will demand cash or upfront paiment, I higly doubt anyone would give a cash discount.

[finance]

I saved half of the money upfront, and financed the rest. The Bank offers 2 years interest free so I actually gave the clinic 1/4 of the cash and immediately paid the Bank the other 1/4. So I'm half way paid off and intend to pay off the bank with income tax return. Coming up with half of the money was only possible because I paid of my car so I jokingly say I have to make monthy hair payments instead of monthly car payments. LOL

[Shampoo]

Most or doctors will demand cash or upfront paiment, I higly doubt anyone would give a cash discount.

 

I meant cash as opposed to credit cards.

 

My dentists give a cash discount over credit cards because they get charged a fee by the credit card company.

 

I had three dental implants done and my dentist gave me a 5% discount for paying cash instead of throwing it on Amex.

[BaldWhisky]

Yes, and most doctors won't accept credit card.

[Shampoo]

Yes, and most doctors won't accept credit card.

 

Wow....if that is actually true that is a shock.

That must really limit their potential patient demographic if most

hair transplant doctors do not accept credit cards in this day and age.

[Khali]

Dr Umar charges $8 now ? His rate used to be $5 if you presented your picture. $4.5 if you showed your face. But now its $8 ? Maybe you should consider going to Turkey where its 2.5-3 Euros per graft. I would chose that option too, but I rather start with strip first and then use FUE to take beard and body hair.

[blkblk]

I paid for mine by credit card. No problems at all. They also accepted Bank Cheque

[hairthere]

I paid both Karamikian and Dr Feller via credit card. Bald whiskey, most doctors I know (no matter what their specialty is) accept credit cards. They would lose a ton of business if they didn't. What are you basing this statement on?

Edited January 5, 2012 by hairthere

[BaldWhisky]

I paid both Karamikian and Dr Feller via credit card. Bald whiskey, most doctors I know (no matter what their specialty is) accept credit cards. They would lose a ton of business if they didn't. What are you basing this statement on?

 

Didn't we just have another issue here where a patient had to postpone his HT a couple days because he couldn't pay with creditcard?

Except for that I'm basing it on the doctors I was in contact with and came so close to book with that I got the paiment instructions. Money transfer, cash and debitcard was the method most preferred.

Should add that paiment method wasn't part on my equation for deciding doctor.

[RCWest]

Didn't we just have another issue here where a patient had to postpone his HT a couple days because he couldn't pay with creditcard?

 

You are thinking of the site member who was refused by Dr. Arocha because he didn't accept Chase Care Credit. Those health care credit cards are a completely different ball game.

[BaldWhisky]

You are thinking of the site member who was refused by Dr. Arocha because he didn't accept Chase Care Credit. Those health care credit cards are a completely different ball game.

 

I remember that case, but it's not the one I'm thinking of. I think the main reason why doctors want cash equivalens it the delay in getting the funds and to avoid the struggle if you use creditcard refuse to or can't pay the bill.

[Shampoo]

In my business we always run the credit card before providing the service.

 

Not sure about hair transplant doctors, but I would think most cosmetic medical clinics accept payment via credit card or they would have trouble surviving. A friend of mine recently had a facelift and paid in full with his credit card.

[hairthere]

"I think the main reason why doctors want cash equivalens it the delay in getting the funds and to avoid the struggle if you use creditcard refuse to or can't pay the bill."

 

Delay in getting the funds? It takes less than 5 minutes to run a credit card and you usually get the money in 2-3 days. Sorry, but as Shampoo points out, most businesses would have trouble surviving these days if they did not accept CCs. I don't mean to be a stickler, but you said "most HT docs" don't accept CCs," and that seems like erroneous info to put out there. How many docs exactly did you have this issue with?

 

 

RC, As far as I can tell Care Credit worked just like any other CC. I had a 0% interest introductory rate and 12 months to pay it back.

[ArochaInfo]

I saw this thread, and thought I would chime in with some clarification and insight. Dr. Arocha does accept Chase and Care Credit, along with all major credit cards as payment. In the particular case you are thinking of, RCWest, the patient was under the impression that he was getting 0% interest through Chase. While we accept the Chase and Care Credit financing options at our office, we have never accepted the 0% interest, and only offer the extended payment plans at 14.9% interest to our patients. However, as I mentioned before, we do accept all major credit cards and cashiers checks. I would assume that most HT docs do accept credit cards nowadays.