Questions to ask the doctor/clinic when booking a transplant

[smhn100]

Hi all 

I'm fairly new to the hair transplant world and weighing up my options currently. I have a few consultation calls booked (all clinics in Turkey) but I want to be fully prepared beforehand. What questions should I be asking the clinic? Some that come to mind:

1) How many grafts extractable?

2) How strong is donor site?

3) How many days required at clinic?

4) Does package include picking up/dropping off at airport? And from hotel to clinic and back?

5) Do you require deposit?

6) Do you prefer cash or card? What are the fees for card? If cash, what currency do you take?#

7) Ideally what time should the flight land and depart?

8) How many people can I bring with me? Will their hotel, travel and food expenses be covered also?

9) Can I do extra days at hotel? If so, how much do you charge extra per day?

10) Do I need to bring anything with me?

11) Post transplant, what are the things I need to be aware of and avoid?

12) Can I come back post transplant for check-ups? (for free)

13) What aftercare do you include in the package?

14) Is hair transplant done by the doctor or technicians?

15) What method will you use for transplant?

16) What is the plan for the days?

 

Have I missed anything else that I should be asking? Please let me know, thanks. 

[AlexMeister21]

Hi there. I think a lot of the questions you have here aren’t too important regarding the success of a potential transplant, which is understandable if you’re new to this world. As someone who had a bad surgeon and then needed repair in the future, you want to treat consultations as if you’re interviewing surgeons to screen if they’re suitable to hire or not, especially if you’re going to Turkey.
 

Here are some questions that I think would be important:

- How long will grafts be out of body from extraction until they’re all implanted? (Out of body too long lowers chance of graft survival)

- What is the surgeon’s involvement in the surgery? Will they be involved in every aspect of the procedure?

- What is the surgeon’s transection rate?

- What are the experience of the technicians and how long have they been working together as a team?

-  How many grafts per square centimeter can be achieved?

- What punch sized will be used (if you’re doing FUE)?

Edited June 12, 2023 by AlexMeister21
Misspelled "transection"

[slartibartfast]

This is all good, but ultimately there are too many details of the procedure that are not under our control. It's more important to focus on their patient posted results online and your general comfort level with the surgeon. Otherwise the list of questions you could ask is literally endless and doesn't change much at the end of the day. The proof is in the pudding.

[smhn100]

15 hours ago, AlexMeister21 said:

Hi there. I think a lot of the questions you have here aren’t too important regarding the success of a potential transplant, which is understandable if you’re new to this world. As someone who had a bad surgeon and then needed repair in the future, you want to treat consultations as if you’re interviewing surgeons to screen if they’re suitable to hire or not, especially if you’re going to Turkey.
 

Here are some questions that I think would be important:

- How long will grafts be out of body from extraction until they’re all implanted? (Out of body too long lowers chance of graft survival)

- What is the surgeon’s involvement in the surgery? Will they be involved in every aspect of the procedure?

- What is the surgeon’s transaction rate?

- What are the experience of the technicians and how long have they been working together as a team?

-  How many grafts per square centimeter can be achieved?

- What punch sized will be used (if you’re doing FUE)?

Thanks! For the first and last two questions, what should the ideal answers be?

[AlexMeister21]

2 hours ago, smhn100 said:

Thanks! For the first and last two questions, what should the ideal answers be?

Not too sure how long grafts can be outside of body for. For me, I had procedures that lasted 14 hours and I had poor growth. I had a repair that lasted about 7-8 hours using same amount of grafts, but it's too early for me to determine growth on it at the moment.

Natural density is about 90 per sq cm and most surgeons do around 40-60 to achieve good density. It can be higher if you're a proper candidate with good donor and your hair loss isn't too aggressive.

Here's a good thread regarding punch size