What we appreciate about our customers is how knowledgeable they are about the industry:
By the time they visit us, they have often done extensive research on hair loss. This includes the causes of hair loss, medicaland surgical treatments and even very specific details on the actual FUE procedure.
Questions such as “what kind of punch do you use? I heard the suction punch is the best. I heard the xzy forceps are the best at implanting, are you using them? What is your extraction technique” are common.
These are fantastic questions and demonstrate great knowledge about the procedure, however, one needs to be careful of not falling into a trap:
While a certain product may be shown to be effective, it is the sum of the all parts that create a successful transplant. So, similarly to considering what type of rubber is used in a car tyre, there are many more factors which will decide on whether this car will win the race.
In simple terms, we differentiate between patient and surgery factors.
- Patient factors are factors such as your age, medical conditions, medications that you take, your body’s response to healing and whether you consume alcohol or smoke. These factors will influence your success of a transplant.
- Surgery factors include (but are not limited to) the surgeon’s skill, the medical equipment used for the procedure and how the procedure is conducted ie. Specific technique.
Let us take a brief look:
- Surgeon’s skills can vary hugely. Important here is that the surgeon is doing the transplant and not a technician and that your surgeon has been trained to international standards and has such accreditation.
- Medical equipment includes punches , forceps, lighting, magnification devices, hair storage mediums, implanters etc. Each of these branches out many more times i.e. what type of punch? What manufacturer? What material? How fast does it oscillate and what oscillation protocol does it use? Just like a car manufacturer, most medical companies advertise their products to be superior to others. In depth medical knowledge and experience is required to make decisions in this regard.
- Specific Technique includes the technique that the surgeon has learnt or which technique is most suitable to the surgeon. Also, is the surgeon trained with this specific equipment or did he merely order it off the internet (as it was advertised as being the best)? In addition, is the procedure comfortable and safe?
Taking the above into account, you can easily see that there are an incredible number of factors and an even greater amount of combinations in which these can be used.
Therefore, the question “which punch do you use” cannot give you an even partial idea of the success of your transplant.
So, what questions would help you make this assessment? What questions should you be asking in order to determine whether a clinic is right for you?
We would recommend asking the following:
Where has your surgeon trained and what international accreditation does he/she have?
What results can you provide?
How up to date is your surgeon? Does he update his knowledge via congress/training?
What support is offered after the transplant?
Here at the Hairfront, our goal is to offer the best possible service to our clients. We are here to guide you through the process of restoring you hair, as well as confidence.
We also recently completed a video to show the process of a hair transplant from consultation to finish. Click here to view.
Contact us for a consultation and we’ll be happy to answer any questions that you have.