Posting Patient Results

[Spanker]

Some people have different ideas on what is and is not important when posting results. I would like to chime in on what is important to me when looking at photos, and if anyone wants to add to or rebut, please feel free:

 

1. Obviously, the method of extraction

2. Age of the pt: This is important so we can gauge the clinics philosophy on hairline placement and graft use according to age.

3. Goals of the clinic and/or pt, especially if it is a special circumstance. i.e. The goal of the pt was to have full coverage instead of concentrating on the frontal 1/3. This allows a fair evaluation of the result, especially if it works against the result due to patient requests.

4. A level shot to gauge the hairline, a top shot, and profile shot. If work was done in the crown, please show the crown.

5. Shots that are in focus, if it is fuzzy, your shutter speed is too slow or you have shaky hands. Photograph documentation is an important part of your business.

6. Pre-op, immediate post-op, and result photos are nice if you are able to do that as well.

 

These are just some of the things that come to mind when I look at results as a consumer. I always ask myself, "How old is this person?" or "Where is the the photo from the top?" and so on.

 

Again, if anyone would like to add to this, feel free. Many of the clinics follow this format, but many don't and as a consumer, these are the things that I like to see, so I assume that others do well.

 

Thanks for reading.

[chrisdav]

I think is a very good topic Spanker. There are individual components that I would take from several clinics having noticed them and combine them altogether to form the ideal way in my opinion of how a clinic should present their work.

[Rootz]

The thing I like to see are pictures that present the results objectively with unbiased comparisons made between the before and afters. Sure, throw in a shot or two with the hair combed and styled but this isn't a beautfy pangent I want to see the result for what it really is. Pull back the hair, show close ups of the hairline with good lighting, show the actual density, etc.

 

All too often the before pics are shown in the worst case scenario (i.e. wet, combed back and apart to reveal thinning areas) then in the after the hair is in the best case scenario (i.e. strategically combed and styled).

 

I've seen results where the hair transplant itself had a relatively minor impact, because a small number of grafts were used and/or it was unsuccessful... but because of the apples to oranges comparison it looks like a great transformation and people are posting "Wow, amazing!". It's analogous to taking pictures of girls with and without makeup, and then trying to prove the ones with makeup look better for completely different reasons. That makes no sense.

 

Edit: Yay 200 posts!

[hsrp10]

in addition to those stated above, I also want to know in each case if the patient is on meds like Fin, because suddenly jumping on meds can have a big impact on the before/after shots especially for the mid-scalp and crown

 

would like to see the same lighting if at all possible as the before shots too, but not all patients can or will make it back for the 1 year post-op consult

[Spanker]

in addition to those stated above, I also want to know in each case if the patient is on meds like Fin, because suddenly jumping on meds can have a big impact on the before/after shots especially for the mid-scalp and crown

 

would like to see the same lighting if at all possible as the before shots too, but not all patients can or will make it back for the 1 year post-op consult

 

Good point in the meds and how long they have been on them before the operation.