A hair restoration patient’s process of selecting the right hair specialist has become more difficult with the number of doctors joining the industry. One of the most important suggestions is to choose a hair specialist with a great deal of experience and skills in order to receive great results. The following are a few factors to look for in finding a true hair restoration specialist among the “weeds:”
Doctor’s Resume:
If you read through a doctor’s resume, if he or she don’t have a great deal of training, industry associations, publishing and/or years of experience exclusively in the hair restoration industry, then chances are they are not a specialist.
Before/After pictures:
If you’re considering a certain doctor and they don’t have a vast number of patient before/after pictures, it’s a bad sign and highly unlikely they exclusively specialize in hair. One thing to look for are pictures that are loaned out to doctors using a specific Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) equipment. If you read the small writing under the picture, it will say it actually belongs to that company instead of the results being of patients from the doctor you’re considering.
Offering Various Cosmetic Services:
If a doctor offers face-lifts, liposuction, breast augmentation AND hair restoration, then they are not a hair restoration specialist. Instead, search for a hair specialist whose sole practice is based on hair restoration.
Ask tough questions:
During your consultation, ask the hard questions and listen and study your doctor’s body language. Who actually harvests my donor? Who makes the recipient sites for my grafts? Are you an actual attending member of ISHRS (International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery)? Many doctors pay for membership but never actually attend meetings and lose out on continued education in hair restoration (you can actually check how many years a doctor has attended meetings by visiting www.ishrs.org).
If you use the above guideline in your decision-making process, you will assure yourself of choosing the right hair restoration surgeon and assuring yourself of great results.