Dr. Bhatti- 1800 FUE grafts for a female patient

[California]

Patient: 53 year old, Caucasian female

HT technique used: FUE

Number of scalp grafts planted: 1800 (to lower the hairline)

 

The "after" pictures are from 10 months post-op.

 

Best regards,

California

[TakingThePlunge]

What a difference for this lady! Well done!

[humble1]

Great hairline transformation!

[Shadow of the EMpire State]

From what I've seen, women with naturally high hairlines tend to benefit more from a scalp reduction than from a transplant.

[harryforreal]

Eh....

 

The real question is she pleased with the outcome or does she think it looks wooly in the front?

 

I get tired of doctor photos without input from the patient with regards to client satisfaction.

[California]

Eh....

 

The real question is she pleased with the outcome or does she think it looks wooly in the front?

 

I get tired of doctor photos without input from the patient with regards to client satisfaction.

 

Hi Harryforreal,

 

The Patient is happy with her HT results. As you might notice, the "after" pictures have been taken in our Clinic (Darling Buds India). This Patient had come back from another follow up procedure to increase the density of her hair in other areas of her scalp.

 

I believe that it would be safe to assume that if a Patient is not happy with an HT procedure/HT Surgeon, he/she would go back to the same Clinic/Surgeon for a follow up procedure.....that too traveling internationally.

 

Best regards,

California

[harryforreal]

I believe that it would be safe to assume...

 

So you are assuming she is happy with the result?

 

Which result? The first one? Or you mean the second? Or both?

 

I hope that she is indeed happy with her result, but I have learned the hard way never to assume anything.

 

To be fair, I am not criticizing the outcome per se, but rather the practice of clinics on this forum of posting photos without any evidence of client satisfaction - which is the norm but I think needs to be re-examined. A successful medical hair transplant does not necessarily equate to client satisfaction with regards to the aesthetic outcome - though for many it certainly does as evidenced by the numerous members of this forum who have expressed their satisfaction with their results.

 

After years of looking at photo results - which are indeed important and I am glad that this forum exists to provide such photographic results - I feel it would be considerably more helpful if there was a way for clients to provide verifiable critiques of their outcomes, positive and negative and everything in between.

 

The science of hair transplantation has truly advanced, and this is good. Still, one must always examine how to improve and refine one's work, regardless of the field, and client satisfaction is a very important component of this advancement.

 

For me, in general I am not happy with the aesthetic outcome of many hair transplants, especially I think at the front of the hairline (beginning with my own). This dissatisfaction is quite different from the medical success of a hair transplant.

 

For example, if the client were to rate her satisfaction with this outcome on a scale of 1-10, what would it be and why? A 10? If only an 8, why? And if an 8, what would need to be done for it to be a 10?

 

And what would the doctor rate the outcome and why?

 

As a professional artist I evaluate my work constantly - and the standard is perfection, an essentially impossible goal. This to me is what makes art art - the constant search for refinement. Art is a process, not a final product.

 

It's hard to submit one's work to criticism - I know.

 

The term artistry is used frequently when speaking of hair transplants; and I think it's a fair term to employ, even if strictly speaking hair transplants are a medical procedure, since the aesthetic component is indeed central to the outcome.

 

But thank you for sharing these photographs - clearly Dr. Bhatti is a capable hair transplant surgeon.

[California]

Hi Harryforreal,

 

For the record, this Patient has told us herself that she is very happy with her HT results. Because of that she came back to our Clinic for a follow up procedure....... making a second trip to India from a Western country just for getting her HT done. I am relating this Patient's satisfaction only with the first procedure (for which I posted the pictures) because the second/follow up procedure was done recently and the results are awaited.

 

In regards to having a way/process for the Patients to grade their satisfaction level, I think that is an interesting idea. I do agree with you that aesthetics play a big role here. What might look like a great result to one Patient might not look so great to another. We all have other personal preferences and the "one size fits all" cannot apply when it come to HT. I agree with your views that HT is an art and that perfection should be the goal.

 

That said, as you might have noticed, this Forum encourages Patients to share their HT journeys....good, bad and ugly. There is a place for the HRN recommended Surgeons/Clinics to post their Patient cases and also a place for the Patients to post. Hundreds of our Patients have already posted their pictures showcasing their HT results and personal opinions, for everyone to see. We, as a Clinic are not able to post Patient cases along with a barometer of the Patient's satisfaction level. We post one or two Patient cases every month but our Patients post a lot. So, the satisfaction level of the Patients would be easy to gauge.

 

Thank you for your kind words. They are highly appreciated.

 

Best regards,

California

[harryforreal]

In regards to having a way/process for the Patients to grade their satisfaction level, I think that is an interesting idea.

 

Hundreds of our Patients have already posted their pictures showcasing their HT results and personal opinions, for everyone to see.We, as a Clinic are not able to post Patient cases along with a barometer of the Patient's satisfaction level. We post one or two Patient cases every month but our Patients post a lot. So, the satisfaction level of the Patients would be easy to gauge.

 

I don't understand why it would not be possible for patients to indicate the degree of satisfaction when posting patient photos. For example, patients could easily hold a placard with the numbers 1-10 on it and circle the number that represents their degree of satisfaction; in this way they would not have to reveal their identity per se. And I'm not saying this is the way it should be done - I'm just "shooting from the hip" as we say, simply throwing out the first idea that comes to mind. But with thought and consideration I think something could be implemented.

 

Yes, I know patients post their own photos, and that doctors similarly have their own place to post their results. But searching out patient postings is somewhat tedious. In contrast, one can visit a doctor's page and see lots of examples, but no patient feedback.

 

The main reason I have replied to this posting as such (and several others as such, just for clarification) is that posting photos without any accompanying patient feedback provides no context with regards to the client's goals and level of satisfaction towards achieving those goals - I just see photos that exclaim, "Here be hair!"

 

I would like to see more constructive critiques of posted examples, and input from the patient is central to that process. For example, and again I don't mean to call out this clinic's work per se, this is just an example, if I were going to rate the aesthetic result of this photo on a scale of 1-10 I might rate it about a 7? If 10 is perfection, 7 is still good, so I don't mean that in a bad way. However, I look at the softer, thinner, whispier hairs at the front of the original hairline and note that the transplanted hairs are thicker in the subsequent photos. Ok, this is a pretty typical result I think of a successful transplant. Even so, for my personal aesthetic tastes, I would like to see softer, thinner, whispier hairs at the front of the transplanted hairline as well. But maybe the client wanted thicker hairs at the front? And she might rate the result an 8, 9, or 10 even?

 

Now some say that it is not possible to transplant such softer hairs at the front - it is a limitation of medical technology. But if clients who want such an aesthetic quality at the front of the hair line don't keep pushing for it, will both the science and the art continue to progress bringing us all ever closer to such an aesthetic result?

 

A slight divergence from the posted photo result perhaps, but nonetheless relevant and hopefully constructive.

 

Sincerely,

 

Harry

[California]

For example, patients could easily hold a placard with the numbers 1-10 on it and circle the number that represents their degree of satisfaction; in this

 

Hi Harry,

 

I respect your views and opinion but personally feel that having a Patient hold a placard grading the HT Surgeon's work, while sitting in that Surgeon's Clinic, would be like putting that Patient on the spot. I would be skeptical of that grading method.

 

Patients that post on their own do so without any pressures or prejudices. To me, that feedback is golden.

 

Best regards,

California

[harryforreal]

I respect your views and opinion but personally feel that having a Patient hold a placard grading the HT Surgeon's work, while sitting in that Surgeon's Clinic, would be like putting that Patient on the spot. I would be skeptical of that grading method.

 

That is a good point - as I said I was shooting from the hip, and I never claimed to be a good shot in the first place ^^

 

Still, as I always say, if we can put a man on the moon, we can do anything if we put our mind to it. I don't want to simply let this go as I believe it could be highly beneficial if implemented correctly - but a format for client feedback doesn't have to be developed this night.

 

My main point is that photos posted by doctors without any context of the patient's satisfaction is rather limited and leaves me with lots of unanswerable questions. If the work is good, and patients are indeed happy with the outcome, I don't see why patients would be reluctant to share the degree of their satisfaction along with doctors' postings. It would only serve to further validate doctors' work. Without it, it seems a bit lacking - to me, at least, makes me wonder about things...And usually the conclusions I start to draw are not very positive - which is probably unfair to the doctor! But I can't control my thoughts!

 

But again, thank you for responding, and I'm glad to hear the patient is happy with the result!

Edited February 2, 2016 by harryforreal

[Dr Tejinder Bhatti]

Hello Mr. harryforreal,

 

Thank you for your suggestion on how to improve the knowledge of the viewing public with regards to our patient satisfaction. I know your heart was in the right place with your suggestion.

 

The challenge with implementing something as you suggested is that it is difficult to get patients to share their result to begin with so asking them to act as a more blatant billboard for my services is not something I wish to do. I feel incredibly blessed when they agree to photos being taken to document the result and to be shared on the internet. For you to even see these photos in the first place means that the patient is very happy with the result. That is the whole point of sharing results photos (and videos) in the first place. I believe this to be the case with any clinic that shares photos to document results as it would be illogical for patients to agree to being displayed on the internet if they were not happy with their result.

 

Ultimately, if the patient is willing to write their own review, then that is the ultimate yardstick of determining one's level of satisfaction. Unfortunately this is not something we can insist upon but it is however something we feel greatly honoured to receive.