1. Medical Expertise Optional
The educational standards required for hair transplant surgery are surprisingly low. Let us qualify this admittedly inflammatory statement with the following:
There are some truly gifted and artistic surgeons who do beautiful work. We have seen some impressive surgical hairlines over the years, and in these cases, it was a pleasure to add SMP density to compliment their beautifully-configured texture. There are reputable clinics who treat their patients with expert and ethical care, and who surgically improve the bad results of their industry counterparts.
However…
In many cases, hair transplant surgeries are carried out almost entirely by a surgical tech who has no medical education or certification. Often, surgeries are performed by these techs with distant—and sometimes completely off-site—medical oversight by an M.D. Far too often, this M.D. may have extremely limited experience and training in hair transplantation—they simply sign-off on the work of the tech or clinic and lend their “M.D.” stamp of approval (for a pre-arranged fee, of course).
As explained in our Robotic FUE Article, highly-specialized robotic equipment has been developed, establishing better survival rates for transplanted hair and smaller scar diameters—in short, far better results than manual FUE procedures.
2. One Surgery Won’t Be Enough
We’ve said it many times before, and we’ll say it many times again: hair transplant surgery does not RESTORE hair. It is a relocation of a dwindling supply.
A surgical hairline restoration is not a permanent “fix”. Here is the typical sequence of events:
* Hair is surgically excised from the “donor site” at the back of the head
* Small groupings of the excised hair are surgically implanted in areas of Hair Loss
* Once the transplanted hair finally grows (see “Patience” below), the results can look very good—until the hair loss progresses
* As time passes, the hair surrounding the transplanted hair continues to recede—after all, surgery does not stop hair loss, and can even speed it along.
* The transplanted hairs begin to have an “orphaned” appearance, as many of the native hairs around them are lost.
* At this point, the patient often returns to the surgeon, where another procedure is recommended in order to “restore” the lost density. Again—relocation of dwindling supply.
* With each additional surgery, more scar tissue develops, and hair loss continues. With this “you can run but you can’t hide approach”, undergoing multiple surgeries becomes an increasingly expensive but ineffective effort, with the result being a heavily-scarred scalp and increasing hair loss.
We have worked on thousands of hair transplant-scarred clients over the years. Of these clients, most of them underwent multiple surgeries—the highest number we’ve personally seen being fifteen surgeries!
Repeat procedures are good for the surgical business–bad for clients. Enough said.
3. Shock Loss Happens:
Hair transplant surgery does not stop hair loss. In fact, the trauma to the scalp created through multiple incisions—even tiny incisions—can cause Shock Loss. This is a seldom-discussed side effect that often accompanies surgery. Basically, the scarring response and damage from the thousands of incisions in the transplant site creates a rapid shedding of the native hairs surrounding the transplanted hair. So, rather than increasing density through surgery—Shock Loss causes a net loss of density.
What will likely be recommended to the transplant patient suffering from Shock Loss? Please refer to #2—repeat procedures are good for the surgical business.
4. You’ll Need Some Patience:
Strap in—you’ll need to wait upwards of nine months before you can evaluate the success of your surgery. The “seedlings”, or transplanted hair, can take nearly a year to appear. The results are far from immediate, and the discomfort can be significant.
While Scalp MicroPigmentation cannot add the three dimensional texture of a transplant surgery—the immediate results, complete illusion, and the non-invasive, non-scarring nature of SMP make it a superior choice.
As in all professions, there is a wide range of skill and experience in service providers. Price should never be the determining factor in a decision that will affect your life as much as hair transplant surgery will—for better or worse.
For help in choosing a reputable FUE Provider, please contact BRAVI™ at info@bravi.com.
BRAVI Provides Superior Scar Coverage
BRAVI provides unparalleled coverage for hair transplant scars through the use of prescription pharmaceuticals combined with our proprietary scar pre-treatment protocol.
BRAVI succeeds where transplants fall short.
Hair Transplant surgery can provide 3D texture, but can never restore full density.
BRAVI SMP provides the illusion of full density that cannot be achieved surgically. BRAVI is the superior choice to turn hair transplant damage into natural-looking hair loss coverage.
