2500 grafts by a surgeon or 3500 by techs?

[wheredidmyfolliclesgo]

 What's up my fellow hair loss warriors? I'm in a position where I can get a 2500 graft HT done from start to finish by Dr. Kul, or 3500 grafts by techs in Dr. Acar's Cosmedia clinic for the same price. Dr. Acar would be doing preliminary incisions but nothing else. Both are in Turkey and seem to have good reputations. What do you guys think? Which will yield better results: 2500 grafts placed by a real MD, or 3500 placed by techs overseen by a doctor? Which would you do in my situation? I'm currently a NW2.5 stabilized by fin. Here's pics for reference. Cheers.

[chris39]

If I were in your situation , I'd do a lot more research .

The fact that you're asking the question of trusting tech's to do the full procedure suggests to me that you're setting yourself up for a potentially disastrous outcome .

Don't mean to appear harsh , but as you'll see repeated time and time again ,cost is only part of the considerations to take account of . If the tech's fuck up up , that's precious donor that you're never going to get back .

[wheredidmyfolliclesgo]

22 minutes ago, chris39 said:

If I were in your situation , I'd do a lot more research .

The fact that you're asking the question of trusting tech's to do the full procedure suggests to me that you're setting yourself up for a potentially disastrous outcome .

Don't mean to appear harsh , but as you'll see repeated time and time again ,cost is only part of the considerations to take account of . If the tech's fuck up up , that's precious donor that you're never going to get back .

There are dozens if not hundreds of successful HT stories from reputable tech clinics on here. Though I will concede there are also failure stores as well. Cost may be only part of the consideration for you, but for me it's the biggest consideration. I can afford one or the other: 2500 from a doctor or 3500 from a tech clinic with doctor incisions. I get what you're saying and appreciate your feedback though.

Edited April 29, 2019 by wheredidmyfolliclesgo

[DrTBarghouthi]

A very interesting question. I do ofcourse understand the fact that cost plays a role in the decision for many people and so does the number of grafts that are on offer. Nonetheless, there is s bit more to it than these two things. I will share with you my point of view as a doctor. I will break down my answer into points to make it clearer:

1. I am a firm believer of the fact that if a client doesn’t trust that what we’re providing him or her in terms of graft numbers or cost is fair and appropriate, then there is some sort of lack of trust. In such a case, the client shouldn’t have the procedure done with that specific doctor. So if you think you’re not getting s good deal with the Doc you mentioned, then you probably have not reached the level of trust needed to undergo the procedure with him. Trusting you providing doctor is a must. Ofcourse, I am talking in general terms and do not imply this doc specifically.

2.  Part of the higher cost of surgery with docs vs tech clinics is the continuity of care (in most cases). A doc is more likely to remain in his clinic and run his business for many years. Hence follow up and continuity of care has a price. I also do know that many doctors (including me), would always offer an incentive in the form of discounts for further procedures or even few hundred free grafts if needed for a touch up. You are more likely to get the level of aftercare that you deserve in a doctor run clinic. Doctors will also hold themselves accountable for the work done especially if they are the ones involved.

3. I agree there are always nice results in tech run clinics. Nevertheless, HT is a team based procedure. It involves a lot of tedious work, ethics and quality control. I do not mean any disrespect to anyone, but I do think that once things get delegated, some of these essential qualities could also begin to disappear.

So I do suggest you do your research and see which one has better overall value.

 

[wheredidmyfolliclesgo]

8 minutes ago, DrTBarghouthi said:

A very interesting question. I do ofcourse understand the fact that cost plays a role in the decision for many people and so does the number of grafts that are on offer. Nonetheless, there is s bit more to it than these two things. I will share with you my point of view as a doctor. I will break down my answer into points to make it clearer:

1. I am a firm believer of the fact that if a client doesn’t trust that what we’re providing him or her in terms of graft numbers or cost is fair and appropriate, then there is some sort of lack of trust. In such a case, the client shouldn’t have the procedure done with that specific doctor. So if you think you’re not getting s good deal with the Doc you mentioned, then you probably have not reached the level of trust needed to undergo the procedure with him. Trusting you providing doctor is a must. Ofcourse, I am talking in general terms and do not imply this doc specifically.

2.  Part of the higher cost of surgery with docs vs tech clinics is the continuity of care (in most cases). A doc is more likely to remain in his clinic and run his business for many years. Hence follow up and continuity of care has a price. I also do know that many doctors (including me), would always offer an incentive in the form of discounts for further procedures or even few hundred free grafts if needed for a touch up. You are more likely to get the level of aftercare that you deserve in a doctor run clinic. Doctors will also hold themselves accountable for the work done especially if they are the ones involved.

3. I agree there are always nice results in tech run clinics. Nevertheless, HT is a team based procedure. It involves a lot of tedious work, ethics and quality control. I do not mean any disrespect to anyone, but I do think that once things get delegated, some of these essential qualities could also begin to disappear.

So I do suggest you do your research and see which one has better overall value.

 

Thank you for the detailed response Dr. Barghouthi. You helped me answer my question. Dr. Kul's price actually makes him more trustworthy because it's competitive with the clinics at 1euro/graft. In my case I'm lucky enough to need a relatively lower number of grafts, so the price is almost the same as tech clinics like Cosmedica. I think the aftercare is what sells it. I may get less grafts, but I trust a doctor's commitment to his work more than a random tech's.

[chris39]

1 hour ago, wheredidmyfolliclesgo said:

There are dozens if not hundreds of successful HT stories from reputable tech clinics on here. Though I will concede there are also failure stores as well. Cost may be only part of the consideration for you, but for me it's the biggest consideration. I can afford one or the other: 2500 from a doctor or 3500 from a tech clinic with doctor incisions. I get what you're saying and appreciate your feedback though.

Apologies - I just read your post again and misread the initial post  . I thought that you were talking about going to a tech clinic where the techs do the incisions and the placements ( of which there are many in Turkey ) .

There are very few clinics in Turkey where the Drs do the incisions and the placements , and where this is done the surgeons will only do relatively small sessions.

I also travelled to Turkey partly for reasons of cost , and was happy with my result .

Good luck and hope it all goes well with whoever you decide to go with.

 

[DrTBarghouthi]

You’re welcome and I’m glad I could help. We all value our techs, their experience and dedication. Nonetheless, at the end of the day, good reputation takes a lot of time to build and very little to destroy. So any good practice understands this and takes each graft seriously :))