Committing to a hair transplant can be a big decision. For many patients, it takes months and even years of consideration and exhaustively exploring alternative methods that have been problematic. The best way to make an informed decision is to attend a hair transplant consultation. However, it’s important to ask all the right hair transplant consultation questions.
Before coming in for the consultation, it’s important that you have some information at hand, like your family history or any active treatments you’re on. This will help in the diagnosis of the cause of hair loss, helping the surgeon decide the best course of action for you.
What Are the Qualifications of My Surgeon?
The portfolios of different hair transplant surgeons will be shared with you from where you can find out more about their qualifications as well as training and experience. It’s important to ask this as your surgeon needs to be licensed, and board-certified with malpractice insurance. You can get a better idea of their skills by looking at the before/after pictures of their patients. This is one of the most important hair transplant consultation questions.
Where Will My Surgery Be Performed?
In London, your clinic should have a CQC registration, and in Turkey, it should have the registration from the Ministry of Health. However, you should further ask if the clinic belongs to the private or public sector. In addition, is the facility going to be office-based or a hospital?
Am I A Good Candidate for a Hair Transplant?
There are many factors taken into consideration to determine whether or not someone’s a candidate for a hair transplant. Your donor area, health status, medical history, skin condition, and age can all influence it.
The surgery is most suitable for those who have had permanent hair loss since hair loss from temporary conditions is reversible. There are some active conditions in which a person cannot get this treatment.
In addition, if the donor area is very weak, the surgery may not be possible at all. If you have certain diseases, also you may not be suitable for hair surgery. It should also be a part of your hair transplant consultation questions.
Which Hair Transplantation Technique Should I Choose?
This is something patients frequently ask during their hair transplant consultation questions. Normally, FUE is recommended. This is because it does not leave any visible scars, and the recovery is also not as long or difficult. In addition, it will give you natural-looking results.
However, depending on your particular needs and expectations, you may be recommended other treatment options. For instance, if the donor area is small and you want a dense coverage, direct hair implantation might suit you better.
Or, if you are concerned about scarring and quicker recovery, Sapphire FUE can better meet your needs because of the special surgical instruments used. If you’re unable to achieve a higher density because of your donor area, you might also be recommended scalp micropigmentation.
Your surgeon can recommend other treatment options to you if you’re unsuitable for a hair transplant altogether. The transplantation technique will be discussed with you in the initial meeting and during the face-to-face consultation with the surgeon.
What Is the Aftercare & Recovery of Hair Transplant Like?
It’s important to know about the recovery process of the surgery in advance so that you can make all the preparations. With a hair transplant, you’d have to make a few adjustments for a while before you can go back to your normal routine.
Depending on the kind of work you do, how soon you can get back to it can be different from another patient. Therefore, you should discuss it with the surgeon in advance so you can take time off accordingly or plan it around a better time like the holiday season.
In addition, you should ask about how your hair will grow during the recovery so you’d know what to expect. Again, you shouldn’t skip this during the hair transplant consultation questions.
What Are the Risks & Complications of the Surgery?
It’s very important to be clear on all the risks and complications of the hair transplant, long-term or short-term. The very nature of surgery carries certain risks with it, and so does the use of local anaesthesia.
In addition, some medical conditions can affect the success rate of the surgery, which you should know about in advance so that you have realistic expectations. For instance, those with auto-immune conditions may experience damage to the hair follicles even after the surgery (which the surgery itself can trigger). Be honest about your medical history with the surgeon.
Will I Need a Second Session?
Asking this during your hair transplant consultation questions is important as you may or may not need a second session. This is something else that will be decided during a consultation. If you want to achieve higher density or have large balding areas, you may need to have another session to achieve your desired results.
Will I Lose My Hair After Hair Transplant?
Other than experiencing temporary shock loss, you should not permanently lose your transplanted hair. Its results are permanent. However, there are some cases in which you may end up losing your hair permanently even after the surgery, such as chemo, hormonal imbalance, etc. You may be eligible for another surgery in this case.
Do I Really Need to Have PRP After the Hair Transplant?
Platelet-Rich Plasma treatment can promote hair growth. However, it is just a supplementary therapy that can be done on the day of the hair transplant surgery or even some time afterwards for a few months to years. It is recommended but not necessary.
Will Consultations Be With the Hair Transplant Surgeon?
Your initial online or over the phone consultation will be held with a Case Manager. They will understand your needs and convey them to a hair transplant surgeon, who will then assess your case. For this, you will also have to send in pictures of your head. After that, the surgeon will prepare your treatment plan, and you will be sent that.
It’s possible to have a face-to-face initial consultation with the surgeon too at the London clinic. Of course, in any case, you will have a final face-to-face consultation with the surgeon before having the surgery.
What Kind of Follow-Up Can I Expect?
If you’re getting surgery abroad, this is especially important. The day after the surgery, you should have a check-up appointment with the surgeon, and after that, you’ll be ready to travel back home. However, even then, the clinic should keep up with the progress of your recovery to make sure that it’s proceeding normally.
Will the Medical Staff Be Fluent in My Native Language?
It’s important to know if the hair transplant clinic is in Turkey. How well the patient communicates with the surgeon impacts the overall satisfaction rates. Therefore, you should know if the medical team is fluent in your native language.
We will have a host/translator assist you with your hair transplant in Turkey. They will attend checkup appointments with you to ensure that there’s no problem in the communication between you and the medical team.
What If I’m Not Happy with the Results of the Surgery?
If you’re not satisfied with the results due to poor surgical technique, you can avail of free revision surgery. However, it’s only in those cases where the fault lies with the surgeon. If the results are poor because the patient failed to follow the aftercare, then they are not eligible for this.
Can I Speak with a Previous Patient of the Surgeon?
As a part of your research, you can request a meeting with a previous patient when asking your hair transplant consultation questions. The clinic can help you with that, although it’s also possible to do it online through the different social media channels.
Concluding Remarks
It’s always a good idea to prepare a list of all the hair transplant consultation questions so that you can ask about all the things concerning the surgery. You need to ask about the surgery itself, the surgeon and the clinic, along with the details of what can come before and after it.
You can go over these questions in the initial consultation and the one to be held face-to-face with the surgeon. Not only will it help you in making your final decision, but also make you feel more confident about it.
