Sure Hair

There are a lot of people talking and wondering about Neograft FUE. If you don’t know what it is – here’s a link to read up on it: http://www.hairlossspecialists.com/articles/neograft-hair-transplant-review/69/

The question everyone is asking and the debate on may hair transplant sites are quite simple: is this an advantage or a hinderance?

Got Questions? Say Hi! Paul-Joseph. Hair Transplant Guru (Technically Advisor – but Guru sounds cool!)
Hairtransplants@surehair.com or call 416 747 7873

On the bald truth not too long ago, Spencer Korban and Dr. Bauman had an in depth discussion on the subject and weighed out the pros and cons. You can youtube the video to see it.

The reality of Neograft, like any new technology is that it allows/enables surgeries or cosmetic surgeries to improve or hopefully improve. The question is simple: is Neograft one of these technologies which will enhance and revolutionize the hair transplant field? Maybe yes. Maybe no. Frankly it depends the people working with the machine.

At the end of the day, and I can not stress this enough, a hair transplant is an extremely difficuly cosmetic procedure that only a handful of Doctors have truly mastered through experience via thousands of surgeries and by god-given artistic ability that can not be learned. You either have it or you don’t.

While technology always helps us improve – if you have an amazing performing vehicle but little to no experience driving and high speeds and handling such a vehicle, the outcome looks gloomy. I would suggest the same for Neograft. I will always refer to the same principal over and over – whenever getting a hair transplant, you MUST go to an extremely experience clinic who has produced thousands of results consistently. If a clinic with experience adopts the Neograft procedure, it is much like an racecar driver getting into a new car – it’s still new – but the experience is there and the learning curve will be far less.

To this day – when the debate of FUE vs STRIP comes up, I always state the same – STRIP will always yield a higher growth rate and will cost less money and give you more grafts than by FUE – be it Neograft or any other type of FUE technique. Thus, Neograft falls into a category that all FUE falls into with the same limitations and pros and cons apart from it being faster to extract and plant grafts and increase survivial rate – to what degree at this point is still speculation. If you insist on having Neograft FUE done on you – the same rule applies. Who’s the Doctor performing the procedure? How much experience does the Dr. Have in the Hair Transplant Field? I for one, would not be in the first 100 procedures and admire those who are confident enough to go through with it; however, if I’m a gamblin man, I bet on the best gaurantee I can and as of right now Neograft is not it.

This is not say that as the results come in the opinion will not change; however, as of right now, it’s still new and the verdict is still out.

One of the most confusing things for patients about hair transplants concerns the ever increasing high number of grafts quoted by different hair transplant clinics. This can be confusing and some doctors worry that it can be misleading as well. As the science of hair transplantation has evolved, doctors have been able to harvest and transplant a much higher number of grafts than just ten years ago. You can read about “megasessions” and grafts counts of 2000-7000 on the internet.

A hair transplant procedure is a very delicate procedure which is technically challenging at almost every step. Transplanting a large number of grafts takes cooperation between the doctor and his team. The follicular units (grafts) must be delicately handled to ensure they survive. It is a time consuming process and it take all day to transplant a large number of grafts.

The human head has collections of mostly one, two or three hair follicular units (grafts). Rarely, more than three hairs are found in one follicular unit. The human head has approximately 15-20% single hair grafts and 80-85% twos and threes.

Many clinics try to increase the graft yield by cutting the two and three hair grafts into single hair grafts. This does increase the number of grafts but it does not increase the amount of hair! Also, cutting a three hair graft into three singles may result in a decreased survival of that graft compared to leaving it in its natural state. Furthermore, most doctors believe that a large number of single hair grafts in a transplant decreases the density of the transplant. Many doctors agree that more two or three hair grafts gives a fuller look than a lot of single hair grafts.

It may even be tempting to “inflate” the graft count since it means charging more for the transplant but, as explained this may not yield better results. However, there are times when a doctor may use more singles as part of a specific design strategy.

So what is a reasonable number of grafts? The distance from ear to ear at the back of a person’s head averages between 25-30cm. The average density of human hair is between 50-120 follicular units per square centimeter. A little mathematical analysis reveals that on a new patient, who has never had surgery before, one can get 2500-3000 grafts. Many doctors believe that this is a good “safe” number. Taking a strip that is very wide can result in poor scar healing. Cutting follicular units into singles to increase the graft count also has potential problems such as decreased survival and less full appearance. Some people with a lot of density can get very high grafts counts. I would say that, counts above 3500 usually means taking out a very wide strip or increasing the graft count by splitting grafts.

I think it is time the public was informed. If you are thinking of a hair transplant do not be too “impressed” by very large graft counts promised by one doctor. A good doctor should be able to mathematically explain why you need so many grafts and how such a high number will be achieved. Most doctors should be able to accurately estimate the graft yield. I explain to patient that, in my hands, a ” megasession” means we take out as much hair as we safely can in one sitting. I can measure the back of the head (donor area) and then make estimates of graft count. Measuring the back of your head is a reproducible measurement that any doctor can perform. The number should be very similar between different doctors. In contrast, you will never be able to count the number of grafts a doctor says he will give you. You must rely on the doctor’s word.

The vast majority of doctors are honest hard working people. However, I have noticed a tendency over the years for patients to tell me that “Dr. X” promised me ____________ (a very large number of grafts e.g. 4000, 5000, 6000, 7000). Often I tell the patient that this seems very unlikely to me in his case. Furthermore, it seems to me that in many patients, this large number of grafts would not even fit into the thinning area! Also, transplanting hair into an area that already has good density is a waste and may even damage healthy hair and make you look thinner!

So what to do? Make sure you have a chance to speak to the doctor. I myself use sales associates because of the high number of surgeries that I perform. Many of our patients are from out of town and out of country. However, every patient is given chance to speak to me directly or meet with me before surgery. Ask the doctor to explain how such a graft count will be achieved and if such a high count is necessary. After all, the donor supply is limited and you do not want to “waste” grafts. Don’t just jump at the largest number of grafts promised. Think of it this way; what is better for you: an all you can eat buffet of cheap, unhealthy, junk food; or, an appropriate amount of high quality healthy food? More is not always better.

If you shop around you may find that the count for each clinic just gets higher. Be sensible. It can get a little crazy for a patient who is trying to get a clear answer. I have performed many transplants over the years and I think we are reaching a time where the patients can be empowered with good information. Try to understand what it means to have a good high quality hair transplant with the appropriate number of grafts. Try to understand that the donor area is a limited supply. Find a doctor you can talk to who seems to be honest and straightforward.

 Not only are there an abundance of myths about hair loss, there are many myths about hair transplantation as well! Here are the most common hair transplant myths debunked.

 

Myth one: You can tell if someone has had a hair transplant.

 

Happily, this myth is false. Older techniques of hair transplantation might have been easy to spot, but today’s focus on transplanting the smallest possible follicular units has changed the end result considerably. Transplant procedures that use follicular units, in combination with an understanding of the esthetics of how the hair is placed, results in a completely natural result.

 

Myth two: Hair transplants are not a permanent solution.

 

This is a yes and no. Transplanted hair from healthy follicles will last as long as the hair in the donor area lasts. It’s really that simple. So, the procedure itself is permanent. However, you may have to have more than one transplant session, depending on how your hair loss proceeds. This can happen if the original transplant is affected by new hair loss around it. It does not mean that the transplanted hair falls out.

 

Myth three: Get your transplant as soon as possible after your hair loss starts!

 

This myth is definitely false. At issue is that no one can predict exactly how your hair loss will proceed over time. Will your temples recede and then stop? Will you develop a bald crown? In the early stages of your hair loss, no one will be able to tell you for sure. So, it’s better for your hair loss to have stabilized so that your hair transplant surgeon can better plan for the best cosmetic result.

 

Myth four: Everyone is a good candidate for a hair transplant.

 

Sadly, this is not true. In order to be a good candidate for a hair transplant, you must have a good donor hair area, which will allow for follicles to be harvested for transplant. You also need to have a healthy scalp; there are some autoimmune conditions which affect the skin and which can also affect the scalp. Some of these conditions will prohibit a transplant procedure. The best way to know whether you could get the hair transplant that you want is to consult with a qualified hair transplant surgeon.

 

Myth five: You can have a hair transplant from someone else or from your body hair.

 

Here we have two myths in one! You cannot get a hair transplant from someone else’s head. You need healthy follicles that are your own for the procedure to be a success. Further, you cannot transplant body hair follicles to your head and expect that hair to start growing like your other scalp follicles. As a result, you must have a suitable donor area of hair on your scalp in order to get a hair transplant.

For those wondering about some of the general FAQ’s of hair transplants I’ve listed them here for your review. Of course – a before and after photo to motivate you as well!
Paul-Joseph
Hair Loss Advisor
hairtransplants@surehair.com

The procedures involved with overcoming hair loss and hair transplants often lead to numerous questions including:

Why am I suffering from hair loss?
How do hair transplants work?
Are there other options for treating hair loss besides surgery?
Will the results look natural?
Is the hair replacement procedure painful?
Is my procedure kept confidential?

Education is a big part of the hair replacement process.

1) Why am I losing my Hair?

There are a number of causes of hair loss. Androgenetic Alopecia (AA) is the most common cause of hair loss in men and women. It is genetic and can be inherited from the mother or father. In AA, DHT (a testosterone derivative) attacks hair follicles resulting in miniaturization and alopecia.

Hair loss is progressive throughout our lifetimes. In certain areas of the head the cells around the hair shafts have more 5-alpha reductase (the enzyme that makes DHT), as a result these areas have more DHT and generally demonstrate greater loss.

If Hair loss is progressive then why does hair transplant work?

The donor area is and hair at the back and sides of the head that is genetically programmed not to fall out. Even very bald individual will maintain their donor area. You can remove about half of the donor area before it becomes noticeable cosmetically. Average available donor is 6,000-8000 follicular units, not all of which can be harvested at one time.

Why cant you do all 8000 thousand grafts at once?

The simple answer is that it would be difficult to get a good closure at the site of incision.

By doing scalp strecthing exercises prior to surgery you can increase your skin’s laxity to allow a us to remove a larger area and still get a good closure.

I see hair in the shower every day is that normal?

There are 100,000 hairs on the average head of hair. Hair cycles between growth and resting phases. In the normal head, 100-150 hairs enter a resting phase and fall out every day. The vast majority will begin to grow back in three to four months. This should not create anxiety as it is a normal function and is not noticeable. In fact your grafts will also cycle like all normal hair.

Is Hair Transplantation Painful?

The only discomfort our patients talk about is receiving local anesthetic. This is very similar to going to a dentist and is often referred to as the closest comparison of surgeries.

Can I just tell the surgeon where I want the hairline and have him do it?

Usually yes. However, some patients that have unrealistic goals, or do not understand how a transplant is going to look once it grows in. We need to ensyre that you look natural for your age and as you get older, race, and gender and will work with patient to find a compromise where everyone wins.

Are there certain hair types or styles that make transplants look better?
Yes, light hair on light skin has minimal contrast and results in a very natural look. Dark thick hair on light skin is the most surgically challenging. Curly or wavy hair can also give the appearance of greater density. When styling it is better to part the hair to one side. This will create a layering effect and the appearance of greater density.

There are a lot of myths about baldness and why men become bald. Perhaps this is driven, in part, by the fact that as many as two out of three men will begin to lose their hair by age 60. With so many men developing a hair loss problem, theories of why will abound! This article will look at three of the most well-known myths and find out what the truth is.

 

Myth 1: You inherit your tendency to lose hair from your mother’s side of the family.

 

The answer to this myth is yes and no. You do inherit part of your tendency to hair loss from your mother, but you also inherit part of the tendency from your father. While the mother’s contribution has a greater impact than the genes from your dad, if your father has lost his hair, you’ll be more likely to as well.

 

Myth 2: Only older men can lose their hair.

 

Unfortunately, this is false. You can actually start to bald in your late teens! While this is rare, a certain percentage of men will have this happen. Further, others may begin to bald in earnest by their 20’s and 30’s. Another unfortunate fact is that if you begin to bald at an early age, your hair loss is likely to be more severe.

 

Keep in mind that the primary cause of hair loss is androgenic alopecia. This hormonal hair loss is caused by DHT, or dihydrotestosterone, which is a form of the male hormone testosterone. This type of hair loss results in the starving of hair follicles, as DHT blocks their receptors. Hair follicles then die, and the hair is permanently lost.

 

Qualified hair transplant physicians, such as the surgeons at Sure Hair, can help with this type of hair loss, right from the earliest stages. Medications are now available that address hair loss, which may allow you keep more of your natural hair. Once your hair loss is stable, the same doctor can then evaluate you for a hair transplant, to improve the cosmetic look of your hair loss.   

 

Myth 3: Wearing a hat makes your hair fall out.

 

It’s hard to tell sometimes if the hat precedes the hair loss or the hair loss precedes the hat! But the truth of this myth is that those beloved caps that most men wear are not the culprits behind their hair loss.

 

However, dirty caps can be a problem. If your hat is dirty, it can lead to a scalp infection. Scalp infections can lead to permanent hair loss, because the infection affects the follicles. You can make sure that your favorite cap doesn’t impact your hair by following a couple of simple rules: 1) rotate your caps so that your scalp cannot be irritated by the same cap worn constantly, and 2) have your caps cleaned periodically to ensure that they are not harboring dirt and bacteria. 

 

FUE: Realities

I have had the fortune to meet a lot of FUE cases in person. There really are numerous factors that need to be take into consideration – it’s not so cut and dry.

1) Donor density of a patient,

2) Hair shaft thickness in the donor and

3) Healing conditions for a patient’s skin

There are constant questions about FUE creating a moth eaten look. I have seen patients with 1500 FUE using a .9mm punch which looked horribly moth eaten below a two guard.

This case had 1) Bad healing regarding scar tissue 2) Lower density (80 grafts per cm 2) and ligther skin with darker hair which make the small scarring looked more pronounced when compared to the hair colour with shorter hair.

I have seen other cases with 2500 grafts where the scarring was barely noticeable. This was due in part to the fact that the candidate was a better healer, had less skin to hair colour differences with a higher density.

This made all of the difference.

In both cases they experience about 70% growth. I.e. of 1500 grafts about 1100 grafts grew, of 3000 about 2200 grafts grew.

I’ll always say that if you are hell bent on doing FUE the average patient should be careful exceeding the 2000 graft mark in one session to see their healing characteristics. I would strongly suggest not exceeding 1000-1500 grafts in a first surgery. That being said, if you know you are a good healer (looking at previous scars you have on your body and how well they heal and skin pigmentation differences) and have the positive characteristics outline above then you may be a better FUE candidate.

When discussing FUE with any potential doctor ask a few questions: 1) What size punch for FUE do you use? Commonly you should be using under 1mm punches. 2) How displaced are the extractions? Ideally you would want each FUE hair removed to be every 4th hair. If they are closer you risk a more moth eaten look due to the scars being closer together. You want to spread the FUE hairs out over the donor area as much as possible to spread the scars out.

Got questions?

Email me at

Hairtransplants@surehair.com

Paul-Joseph
HTP Advisor
416 747 7873

To have a hair transplant or to not have a hair transplant – that is the question. For the last several decades, there has been a large divide among the transplant community (avid transplant connoisseurs and doctors alike) about what is appropriate regarding a hair transplant.

I have very much changed my opinion on the subject over the years as I have seen case after case. It’s very easy for someone to say to a 22 year old – DONT GET A HAIR TRANSPLANT! However, I had my first transplant at 23 and it was the best decision of my life going forward. It’s not so cut and dry.

This article is going to discuss the ethics, pros and cons and the ultimate question you are wanting to know: Am I a good Candidate? Should I get a hair transplant?

The article posted on March 12 2012 on how to calculate how much hair you have lost and how much donor you have would be a required read on top of this article as we discuss.

There are five parts to this question:

1) Age of patient
2) Current hair loss and final hair loss pattern
3) Type of Extraction method in the donor and how many grafts are required
4) PATIENT EXPECTATION!!
5) THE CLINIC DOING THE TRANSPLANT

I want to talk about a client from 2 weeks ago. I’ll call him Jim.

Jim is 22 years of age. He is a NW 3 clearly progressing to a NW 6.

My first opinion of him was that he was very young for a transplant based upon 1) Age 2) Current hair loss and final hair loss pattern.

However, I have learned that inevitably it all comes down to 4 & 5 – Client expectation and what the clinic will do.

My first question was (and this is something you should consider when you have hair loss) – “What are you hoping in a perfect world we can do for you and worse case what would you be happy with?”

He of course, as everyone does, said he would love a full head of hair but had done enough research to know this was not possible. MISSION 1 accomplished. Now you see, if I was unethical – I would have told him like many B.S. clinics out there – that he had 15000 grafts in the donor and we could give him a full head of hair. He would have loved me and I could have said “let’s get aggressive and dump 4000 grafts into your hairline and give you a very low hairline you had a 18. This is of course deep down what he wanted. Who would not at 23?

I told him – “You only have probably at best, 3 surgeries in you, and 6000-8000 grafts over those surgeries. If you go to a NW 6 you can only achieve a solid frontal hairline, and a thinning crown unless you decided to get into BHT (Body hair transplants) which is costly and largely ineffective when compared to the price. “

I have him an erasable pencil and asked him to draw the hairline he wanted. What I had expected is what happened. He drew the hairline he had when he was 18. (**Funnily enough most people always tell me they had a very low hairline when you can see it’s not that low – we imagine things always to be better when you’re younger…sigh. I used to be able to not sleep for days on end in Uni and party all the time…yet really – I probably slept more than as I didn’t have to wake up at 7am for work!)

So this poor 23 year old draws this hairline. I explain to him that 1) With this low hairline you’re going to look ridiculous in 15 years even if you had a full head of hair. 2) You would need about 3500 grafts in the hairline to achieve what you want leaving at best 3500 grafts to cover ¾ of you head which will leave you with this huge pie shaped hole at the back of your head and looking stupid.

I then asked him – what would be the highest hairline you would go with. He was not sure. I drew a hairline with receded temple points and a higher mid-frontal tuft point. He was not over the moon with it; however, I said to him – what would you prefer – 1) To have a lower hairline and look stupid in about 10 years and not have enough hair to cover future loss 2) Have a hairline that looks a little higher now, but still frames your face which you can always grow longer if you want to give the allusion of a lower hairline and leave enough hair for future loss.

He thought about it and realized he’d still be much happier with the hairline I was proposing then not having a hairline at all.

I also explained to him that with what I was suggesting he’d use only about 1500 grafts which would be reasonable to FUE on him and 1500 grafts would not be so significant in the donor to make it look thin and moth eaten.

I’m going to take second here and talk about FUE. SIMPLY: YOU ARE AN IDIOT IF YOU THINK YOU CAN HARVEST 4000+ GRAFTS FROM FUE AND YOU WILL NOT SEE SCARRING OR YOUR DONOR WILL NOT LOOK THIN! I HAVE SEEN DOZENS OF PATIENTS WHICH HAVE COME TO OUR OFFICE FOR REPAIR WORK FROM THOSE CLINICS CLAIMING AND DOING 3000+ FUE – AND THE RESULTS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN POOR AND THE DONOR LOOKED LIKE SHIT. SORRY – THAT’S THE WORD TO DESCRIBE IT – SHIT.

I also explained to him that 1500 grafts of 8000 would leave so much more hair to be used in the future as he aged. If he wanted to shave his head or keep it at a 1 guard, he would see the dots yes, but he wanted to have at least that Vin Diesel outline of a hairline – which I completely empathize with and cosmetically agree with. If I was a NW7 – I would want to at least have some hair in the hairline to at least frame the face and keep it short- buzzed with FUE.

I told him at his age I would not do STRIP on him thus leaving a very long scar which would remove the chance of him ever shaving his head. I also said that if he wanted to do further surgeries he would have to convert to STRIP if he did not want to have that moth eaten look in the Donor which does exist and looks far worse. I also told him he MUST do treatments or I would not agree to do the surgery.

He agreed. I felt this was reasonable.

When I talked with the Dr. F about it – he was hesitant at first, but then I said to him one simple thing.

If this kid was 40 years old and evolved to a NW6 – we would have drawn a lower hairline than I was giving him at 23 and would have taken 3000 + grafts. So what is the issue with taking 1500 grafts, being conservative, giving the kid what he wants, allowing him the ability to shave his head in 10 years if he stops caring?

There was no downside to this and Dr. F agreed to do it.

Thus:

1) Age: While young we went with a higher hairline
2) Knowing he would go to a NW 6 – we went with a low density hairline of 1500 grafts to allow for much more donor hair to be used in the future
3) Allowing to use FUE to minimize scarring and allow for the option to shave his head later in life
4) The patient was happy with this compromise
5) I DID MY JOB HONESTLY, WITH THE PATIENTS BEST INTEREST IN MIND. We are not doing anything wrong.

It is of my personal opinion that most clinics who do these young kids will take 3000 grafts and dump them into a low hairline. This is not in their best interest and is nothing short of an unethical money grab.

However, the reverse is that we don’t give this patient a hair transplant and he will always find someone who will do it and ruin them for life.

So what do you do? Refuse them? NO. You explain to them the realities, take the several hours to really go through the pros and cons and find a compromise to make them happy now and also make them not regretting the decision in 20 years.

I would say 99% of patients are receptive to the realities when you explain to them the TRUTH about what can and can not be done. For those rare few who do not want to hear it – what can you do? However, I feel no pity for a 22 year old – who is old enough to be smart about what they should not do and still do it anyway.

Bottom line is:

No matter what your age and degree of loss, if you appropriately plan for the worse case scenario of hair loss and plan this out properly and are aware of what may happen and use common sense to COMPROMISE between what you want vs what is realistic – you will ultimately be satisfied and happy with your decision.

It’s not just an AGE VS Degree of loss situation. It’s mostly proper planning for future loss with realistic expectations.

Paul-Joseph
HTP Advisor
Sure Hair International
416 747 7873
hairtransplants@surehair.com

Hair Transplant Cost: Why you don’t cheap out to get a hair transplant.

Today, I had 3 gentleman come into our clinic and 2 via email saying they were not willing to pay more than 5000 dollars CAD to get a 3000+ graft transplant. I can not tell you how frustrating it is dealing with this type of ideology. The number 1 rule of hair transplantation – do not let cost be a factor when getting a hair transplant. I have written so much about bad transplants, repair cases, poor results; however, it seems as though the general population remains determined to not understand this is a surgical procedure and it is not the same as going to a dentist where the average dental clinic can give you a good result. In North America – there is only 8, maybe 10 clinics I would actually go to for a hair transplant of the thousands of clinics out there. Why? Because that is how many truly do excellent, undetectable work with amazing results.
Before I got into the industry I sympathized so much with people who had bad hair transplants done. However, in this day and age with so much information available on the internet, with so many horrible stories and visible bad results we see in real life and the stereotype of horrible results – it amazes me that individuals still seek out cheap hair transplants and thus get butchered and I have honestly stopped feeling bad for those individuals who do not listen to logic. The logic is this –> There is a reason a good clinic charges more money – there is a lot of overhead for staff and the cost to run and perform a great transplant costs a lot! I can tell you matter of fact that by the time you pay 6 staff, consisting of Doctor and Nurses, for a 10-14 hour surgery date, supply medications, pay for the leasing at the hospital office, the secretary, me!, everything – no clinic in a first world country can do a truly high end transplant with high end staff for less than 6000-9000CAD in order to make a profit.
Think about this logically – when you excel in a highly specified field – what happens? Other companies want you and they offer you top dollar. You then go to your current employer show the offer and they either match the amount or you go to work for the competition. This is no different with Nurses and techs how do such a highly specified job as Hair Transplants. If a clinic is doing a transplant at 5000 + HST for a 2000+ case then one of several things are happening.
1) Their staff is paid low. If the staff who is performing your surgery is not paid well, then they (as in any profession) are either new or not good at doing the work. This is why in so many cases you see horrible results – poor growth, unnatural looking transplants, bad scars etc
2) They rush the surgery. Again – when you pay staff hourly – if you want to truly transplant 3000 grafts – you can’t do it in 7 hours which I hear many patients from other clinic’s say happened to them. Hence why I see over and over a “3000″ graft case that looks more like 800 grafts. It’s impossible. You must either be throwing out grafts into the garbage or planting so fast you damage grafts which result in them not growing. Hence again – poor growth, bad results, noticeable hair transplants.
Hence the rule – do not let cost be a factor when getting a hair transplant. The only thing worse than being bald is paying some hack job of a liar a few thousand dollars to butcher you . You’ll regret it and that is why you hear so many people saying online “I can’t believe I got a horrible transplant and I wish I could shave my head!” Whereas those who are smart go “Wow, I spent good money but I got all my damn hair back!”
It’s your choice, it’s an easy one to make.

Hair Transplants: Coverage! Losing donor hair. Why you don’t go to just ANY Clinic –

Having worked as a Hair Transplant Specialist for 5 years, I field questions, myths, realities and wake up calls on a daily basis. I do so because I myself once looked in the mirror and saw hair loss and decided to get a hair transplant at a random clinic which resulted in a horrible looking, unnatural and pluggy hairline which sent me into a depression for years. My salvation came at the hands of the Surgical Centre of Sure Hair International in 2006 who repaired my bad transplant and gave me the natural hairline I enjoy today. It was several years after my hair transplant which I began working for the company which changed my life. I spend most of my time fixing patients who have had horrible results from other clinics. If you have questions email me: hairtransplants@surehair.com

—–

This article talks about one of the most important problems I deal with every day – individuals who tried to cheap out and get a transplant done at low cost – they get screwed over, poor growth, unnatural results, large scars…the list goes on and on. I have hundreds of guys who scoff at me when I tell them the price of a transplant and I warn them about what you are about to read and they go on and spend 3k for a hair transplant. I have had almost all of them return several years later with horrible results which limits what we can (keep reading for why) do and I have to charge them more money than what we would have originally as we have to repair the work which takes much longer.

The first message I always say and the rule of law in the online community “Do not let cost be a deciding factor when getting a hair transplant.” I know the industry and I can tell you matter of fact that you will not get a good transplant in North America for under 6000-10000 CAD. That being said, just because someone (like the Hair Mills of the world) charges a lot does not mean they are good clinics but just good at advertising and not good at doing good work.

This article talks about 1 part of a successful or horrible transplant…donor hair.

1)Most people get lied to about how much hair they have, how many hairs they need to fill up their head (I get people telling me they were told that with 1200 grafts they would get a full head of hair and they were completely bald!). I have also seen precious donor grafts lost in the 1000’s…once they are gone we can not get them back and sadly for some they are forced to hide their results underneath hair systems, wigs and hats.

See this case: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXJe48y6FHs&feature=player_embedded

2)I hear all the time wild claims by clinics saying you have 15000 grafts available! OKAY (smacking head to desk)! I bought into this at one time too – however math does not lie.

Here’s what you need to know regarding how much hair you have lost and how much you have and how much you need.

The average person has about 80-110 grafts (1 graft = appx 2.6 hairs) per Cm/2. If you are Caucasian you will have likely around this. European similar. Middle eastern: slightly less (90 grafts/cm2). Asian – 80-90grafts cm/2. African American – 80-100 grafts/cm 2

If you want to know how much hair you have lost – take a measuring tape and take a length by width area of the hair loss in Centimeters and multiply it by your ethnical background. If you are Caucasian and have an area of loss 10cm2 multiply by 100 = 1000 grafts pr 2600 hairs lost. If you have 20cmX10cm area of loss = 200cm2 X 100 = 20,000 grafts lost.

You can calculate this very easily when looking in the mirror. The general rule of thumb is that you need minimum 30% of the hair you have lost to give a decent level of coverage, 50% of your original amount of hair you have lost to have the appearance of almost a full head of hair. You will not notice you have lost hair until you lost about 30-60% of your hair!

So let’s take a guy who is a Norwood 6 (completely bald in hairline and crown) with an area of loss of 10X20 X 100 grafts per cm2 = 20,000 lost grafts.

He would need about 8000 grafts to give adequate coverage in hairline and a thinning crown. Now – how many grafts can you get in one surgery?

3) I don’t care what anyone tells you – you don’t have 15000 grafts available in the donor area. What is the donor area?

If you look at any man – no matter how bald he is – he always has hair at the sides and back of the head – just above and below the ears. This is a ridge of hair known as “Donor” hair as we know that this area will never fall out on men (it may thin but slightly) – this is where we take hair during a transplant. So how much hair can you get in one surgery?

To begin – lets start with the strip method (where we take a long linear strip of hair to be transplanted)…FUE we will discuss later.

Take a measuring tape and put the measuring tape above your left ear towards and wrap it around behind your head above and in front of the right ear as far as you can where you have hair. You will see you have likely somewhere between 25cm-33cm on average. Based upon your background you can multiply this number by number of grafts per cm2. So if you are Caucasian and you measured 30cm in length at the back multiply by 100 = 3000 Grafts or 8000ish hairs. We only remove a strip of skin approximately 1cm in with as if we go wider the scar will become very wide. If you have good laxity (loose skin) we can usually go a little wider than 1cm to get more hair.

So if you find you have an area of loss of 10cm 2 = 1000 grafts lost – you would need at least 500 hairs to give you the appearance of a full head of hair. If you have lost 20,000 grafts you would need 8000 which would mean you would need multiple surgeries to get the coverage. If we place 3000 grafts over an area which has lost 20,000 grafts, the density will be so low you will still look bald with some hair. This is why we always, in the first surgery, do a dense transplant in the hairline to give you the best cosmetic benefit – when someone looks at you.

The issue is that most people get lied to about how many grafts they need and how many are needed to give a good appearance. If you are reading this an unsure how to do this calculation – email me and I can help you figure it out: hairtransplants@surehair.com

Having worked as a Hair Transplant Advisor for 5 years, I field questions, myths, realities and wake up calls on a daily basis. I do so because I myself once looked in the mirror and saw hair loss and decided to get a hair transplant at a random clinic which resulted in a horrible looking, unnatural and pluggy hairline which sent me into a depression for years. My salvation came at the hands of the Surgical Centre of Sure Hair International in 2006 who repaired my bad transplant and gave me the natural hairline I enjoy today. It was several years after my hair transplant which I began working for the company which changed my life. I spend most of my time fixing patients who have had horrible results from other clinics. The medical staff at Surehair international saw a problem with the hair transplants being done and addressed this issue by creating a FUT technique that has since been patented and called Uni-Strand®.

Uni-Strand® method has been developed over a 15 year period thanks to our many doctors, technical staff, designers and our hair dressers which brought a unique artistic design and style component to a whole new level. This input gives the Uni-Strand Method the best of all worlds. You will never hear doctors discussing style! Yet the final look is the most important aspect to you. The truth is’ if you plant the hair a certain way, it will grow a certain way. You want a transplant to reproduce what mother nature gave you: i.e. widows peak, the natural swirl in the crown, density placement and dense packing in key areas to give you the best and most natural result possible. This is the Uni- Strand difference! Style, design, lots of hair transferred and careful placement…that’s Uni-Strand method summed up.

Doctors have been doing hair transplants for over 25 years. Over the past 10 transplants began looking natural; however, it is only in the past few years through honing the Uni-Strand Methods that a hair transplant can look, be styled and perform as good as, or better, than the hair you once had.

Uni-Strand® techniques have consistently evolved and been improved upon from our core surgical team that has completed over 5000 hair transplants and transplanted over 6.5million grafts! Think about this: it took us 6.5 million transplanted grafts to perfect Uni-Strand® techniques.
What is so unique about Uni-Strand® techniques?
Uni-Strand® builds upon and combines the most state of art technology and methods while adding our own specialized techniques to:
1) Achieve High Density Transplants 50-75 grafts/cm2 with consistently high (95%) survival rate of transplanted grafts;
2) Ensure a lack of density discrepancies and unnatural angulations between native hair and transplanted hair;
3) Ensure Hairline designs and angulation techniques perfectly recreate the natural head of hair you once had and can have again;
4) Allow huge Mega Hair Transplants above 3000- 4000 grafts (7000-10000 hairs) in one session for those with the available donor hair. We use special closure techniques which allow us to harvest once unimaginable amounts of grafts which while ensuring extremely thin scars. Compare this to most clinics that typically require 2 or more surgeries to achieve 4000+grafts, which result in wider and more noticeable scars.
5) ‘Create the gentle touch technique. Back in 1996 we started offering hair transplants. At all the hair transplant conventions, it was often discussed how painful transplants were and doctors would stand up and say things like’ no pain, no gain its surgery.’ This was the norm and accepted standard. Naturally you have to go through some discomfort but we believed there would be ways to minimize this. One of the directors of the company consulted with dental surgeons, especially children’s dentists to see the techniques used to minimize pain. We also went to a series of pain management seminars to build on their techniques and the gentle touch technique was born. Instead of heavily drugging our patients, which can have other side effects, we give a mild sedative and that’s it. Nowadays, we rarely hear that our procedure results in discomfort and most of the time patients fall asleep during surgery. In the past several years, we regularly get feedback from patients who have had the procedure elsewhere that they were amazed at lack of pain and discomfort when compared to the other clinics. Not to mention the results are always superior.

Sadly, mamy clinics still struggle to do achieve only one of the above benefits of Uni-Strand®. You will find a select few clinics who can achieve one, two maybe even three of the above points, but to date no clinic has truly ever combined all the above consistently. You may have a natural hairline but will not get a high-density transplant. You may get a large number of grafts with a high survival rate but the transplant will look pluggy or the angulations will not be natural.

In essence Uni-Strand® is designed to solve all the pre-conceived worries of a hair transplant. Typically one surgery is needed (versus 2 or 3 surgeries) as we can take 4000+ grafts in one session with minimal scarring. Our Angulation techniques and planting patterns recreate Mother Nature’s imperfect perfections leaving you with a truly undetectable hair transplant in one pass.
It is for this reason that our surgical centre performs over 300 surgeries a year and are currently training doctors worldwide on our techniques. (NICK what would you like me to say about our doctors we are training and what it takes for them to qualify as a Uni-Strand® clinic.)

The informed consumer understands:
“Why would I go to another clinic for two or three hair transplants when by using Uni-Strand® techniques I can get the same amount of grafts in 1 surgery saving me half the money and downtime with truly undetectable results and a head of hair I thought I could never have again?”

Be an informed patient.