Is it normal for hair transplant surgery assistants to place grafts too&g

[pete24]

I was just wondering how many hair transplant surgeons allow their surgery assistants to place grafts aswell as the surgeon himself.

It happened to me, and while I didnt think much of it at the time,
my so-so result after 11 months is making me wonder.

BTW, these were the girls who sliced up the strip. The Doctor placed all the hairline grafts, and its seemed that the girls were filling the rest in.

he came back and checked every now and then.

 

[Follically Challenged]

With Dr. Antonio Alvi Armani, the girls sliced the grafts, and inserted all the grafts.

 

[Optimist]

Re: Is it normal for hair transplant surgery assistants to place grafts t

I was just wondering how many hair transplant surgeons allow their surgery assistants to place grafts aswell as the surgeon himself.

It happened to me, and while I didnt think much of it at the time,
my so-so result after 11 months is making me wonder.

BTW, these were the girls who sliced up the strip. The Doctor placed all the hairline grafts, and its seemed that the girls were filling the rest in.

he came back and checked every now and then.

I think the most important thing is that the Doctor places the grafts, but i'm sure the rest is important too. I think a doctors staff would play almost as much of a role in the outcome of a surgery as the doctor. Who did you get yours done with?

 

[s.a.f]

Its very common for the techs to place the grafts, its a long tedious job that requires lots of concentration. Therefore the surgeons dont like doing it. They see their job as the initial surgery ie: the first few hours taking the strip and punching the holes for the grafts to be inserted. In my experience not many Docs would also place the grafts aswell, it would take 1 person all day to do it.

 

[fnlostish]

2 techs placed my graphs

1 on each side

took quite awhile

 

[CCS]

yes. it's standard. the Doctor does the poking, the techs do the inserting. The Doctor cuts out the strip, the techs cut it up.

 

[pete24]

thanks for the replies. Treatment was with Dr. Rogers in the UK

I did like him, but Ive not been totally thrilled with my result,

Will wait another couple of months before I go back. as it will be fourteen months or so by then.
I will look at the costs of getting another treatment done here by him in the UK against going abroad to Feller or one of the big names, as the dollar is so weak at the moment.

I just want the area thickening up now. Is it possible to tranplant hairs between previous hair transplant sites without shaving the recipient area??

Im really after twice the density.

 

[Optimist]

Its very common for the techs to place the grafts, its a long tedious job that requires lots of concentration. Therefore the surgeons dont like doing it. They see their job as the initial surgery ie: the first few hours taking the strip and punching the holes for the grafts to be inserted. In my experience not many Docs would also place the grafts aswell, it would take 1 person all day to do it.

When you say place do you mean cut the hole where the graft will go or insert it in there? In my understanding the Doctor cuts out the strip and punches the holes where the grafts will go and the techs cut the strip up and put the grafts in. I think a doctor would need to be the one deciding where the grafts would go.

 

[s.a.f]

When you say place do you mean cut the hole where the graft will go or insert it in there? In my understanding the Doctor cuts out the strip and punches the holes where the grafts will go and the techs cut the strip up and put the grafts in. I think a doctor would need to be the one deciding where the grafts would go.

He does by making the slits. He decides where the grafts are going to be inserted, makes the appropriate amount of slits in the places he chooses, then the techs are left with a scalp full of tiny holes and they just begin filling them with the grafts they just cut from the strip.

 

[s.a.f]

Pete24, If you are not happy with your result dont go back to Rogers :roll: The U.S and Canada are the only places worth going. Rogers is the only non butcher in the UK and he knows this thats why he charges so much. For the same money you could get a better result abroad.

 

[pete24]

Pete24, If you are not happy with your result dont go back to Rogers :roll: The U.S and Canada are the only places worth going. Rogers is the only non butcher in the UK and he knows this thats why he charges so much. For the same money you could get a better result abroad.

thanks,

who would you recommend when taking distance into consideration..i.e. would prefer NY to california!

and is it possible to place the new grafts between old ones without shaving my head??
that really worries me.

 

[Guest]

Hopefully, I can help clarify this whole thing.

You see, years ago, the docs placed the punch out grafts, and even the micro and minis. But the cost was so high per graft that it kept many guys from getting their hair transplants. The bottom line was that most patients could not afford it.

Then the docs thought, let's train surgery techs to cut and place them. Techs cost much less in overhead than docs. Obviously this approach also allowed the Doctor to do more grafts per day. That's also when the hair mills started doing assembly line production, with that same Doctor doing two, three, and even more patients in one day. They started focusing on volume and that's when graft prices started coming down across the board. But you see many more patients could now afford the procedure so in the end, it was viewed as good for everyone. I do not completely agree with that.

But here's the bottom line. Some docs got kind of lazy since they had techs doing the graft dissection. They did not have to worry about it anymore. And you know human nature. most people will not do the things that they no longer have to do.

But here's the problem. COMPETENTCY!!! Trust me, over the years, there are docs out there "that you don't want cutting your grafts" because they either don't have, or they lost the touch. Some of them were not used to microscopic dissection either. THE BIG QUESTION IS, how many surgeons do you see actually dissecting the strip? Proficiency comes with training and practice, under a microscope. Oh sure, there are techs that are not competent, but the whole issue is skill under the scope. I have seen many very talented techs that can cut grafts as lean down to the peripheral size of the recipient site. That skill is worth its weight in gold. The truth of the matter is that most docs will tell you that their senior techs or other team members are far more skilled at dissection than he is.

But don't get me wrong. There are still a number of surgeons who are very much invloved with the placement, especially if they utilize the "stick and place" method. They want precise acute angulation with the single hair grafts. And as a result of their hands on approach, their skill level is greatly enhanced.

So really, it's not always an issue of whether the Doctor or tech is doing the dissection and placing, "IT'S AN ISSUE OF SKILL AND COMPETENTCY" in that dynamic aspect of the procedure.

 

[Gorpy]

Good post Gillenator. There is a big difference between the doctor cutting the strip and making the incisions and then leaving the room for good and a Doctor who supervises the placement and is involved in the final stick and place for the final hairline touches.

 

[LookingGood!]

I agree, the post brought alot of interesting points to light. The idea of an much older surgeon that may have lost some fine motor skills due to age, working on your head is of great concern and should be considered when choosing a surgeon whether it's hair or any other body system.
hair transplant surgery is a team oriented approach and without very competent support techs the success of the surgery will be in jeopardy.
FUE surgery is a great example b/c it's so tedious. I couldnt imagine a Doctor doing all those duties himself. He would burnout fast and be apt for errors in judgement.

Great posts guys.

 

[Petchsky]

Pete24, If you are not happy with your result dont go back to Rogers :roll: The U.S and Canada are the only places worth going. Rogers is the only non butcher in the UK and he knows this thats why he charges so much. For the same money you could get a better result abroad.

thanks,

who would you recommend when taking distance into consideration..i.e. would prefer NY to california!

and is it possible to place the new grafts between old ones without shaving my head??
that really worries me.

Hi Pete, I'm thinking of using Rodgers for my hair transplant so you saying your not happy with your results pricks my attention.

You say that you don't have the density you would have liked, but is this Dr Rodgers fault or your own, as you are in control of how many grafts you have transplanted, although, granted Dr Rodgers would have recommended how many you should have.