Hi hairexplore,
I see you just joined this forum, so welcome. There's a wealth of info on how to evaluate and select a hair transplant doctor on the various hairloss forums so have lots of fun with your research. I was hoping others would respond to your thread ahead of me because I like to read other opinions.
Any reputable hair transplant doctor will encourage you to start Propecia if you have not already. You're still very young and no doubt have lots of hair left right? You certainly would not want to start any hair transplant without first trying to stabilize your hairloss and especially if there is extensive genetic hairloss in either side of your family history. That's what the good docs will no doubt tell you to start with.
Informed patients usually will only consider hair transplant doctors that have long, proven reputable track records with lots of references and pics. They have demonstrated artistic talent and are continuously looking for ways to improve their methods "in the interest of the patient". They look for ways to improve the technology and prove this by their own clinical studies and trials, and then ultimately share their findings with the hairloss community. They will want all patients to benefit from any advancement in surgical hair restoration and dialogue it all with their colleagues.
Is the hair transplant doctor PASSIONATE about his/her work and is it also reflected in the staff? Does the doctor exhibit "genuine" concern and care for you as an individual partient or does that doctor appear complacent?
Here's a BIG one. One that almost NO ONE asks about but I tell every patient who contacts me to verify in their choice of doctor. IT IS THE DOCTOR'S DEMEANOR meaning how that doctor interacts with patients AND the staff. What is that doctor's temperament day-to-day? A hair transplant surgeon can have the proven artistic talent BUT if he/she is having a bad day, and EVERYONE appears to be walking on eggshells, that's a bad, BAD sign. That's a big confirmation that this doctor intimidates and even arises fear in his staff. Ask the doctor if you can meet any techs or surgical staff and if they appear to be nervous or somewhat fearful to say much, that's also a bad sign. Some docs are good actors so you want to hang around long enough to see how that Doctor interacts with multiple individuals.
Any doctor or anyone else for that matter who manages his/her staff by fear or intimidation is someone to STAY AWAY FROM. I mean maybe most of the procedures go well but if that doctor is having a bad day not only will that be reflected in the quality of the doctor's work, BUT ALSO THE STAFF. I knew of one hair transplant Doctor who's worst days were Mondays and Fridays because he had alot of conflict in his marriage and personal life. Mondays he would be coming back from his personal life and Fridays he was going home to it. His own staff would say "he's fine most of the time as long as you don't do your hair transplant on a Monday or Friday!" Sure his own staff knew that but how many new patients know it?
So a good thing to ask patient references is "how did the doctor interact with the staff during the procedure?" Did he/she exhibit patience and promote a team effort and contribution? Was it a positive environment or did the staff appear tense and/or nervous whenever the doctor entered their presence? You should also ask to meet any of the staff at your consultation. Really assess the atmosphere including non surgical staff. Do the employees appear to enjoy what they are doing? These are all things that we sometimes overlook, but can have large implications especially when it's YOUR turn in the OR. :freaked:
Also ask the hair transplant doctor to explain their surgical methods and why they employ such methods. You will find out that any hair transplant surgeon who is not utilizing ultra-refined techniques in FUT and FUE methods are not worth considering. Ultra-refined methods include the clinical use of micro-scopes in graft dissection, advanced closure techniques, etc.
So with time the more you research, the more questions you will know to ask.
