Charging for Transplants Per Graft vs Per Hair

Hi i am quite confused about charging by graft and by per hair.I recently met up with a doctor and he told me that i would need about 1700 hair for the transplant.The transplant will cost me around $4500.The doctor told me that there will not be any side effect and that the new hair will look very natural but i was told by a friend that transplant might cost swelling face and that the new hair will look different.Is theis true.Overall is FUE method effective?Thanks

In the United States, surgeons generally charge per graft (follicular unit). One graft contains anywhere from one, two, three, and sometimes 4 hairs. In general, one graft averages 2.2 hairs. Some doctors add to the confusion about pricing by switching to a charge per hair, to make it appear less expensive. So if 1700 hairs were placed at surgery, it would be like a 773 graft surgery. At our NHI standby rate of $5/graft, the surgery would cost $5 x 773 = $3,865.

Hair transplantation has many risks along with the many benefits, and they should be discussed in detail between the doctor and the patient. Some of the risks include (as you stated) post-operative swelling and shock hair loss, just to name a few. FUE is a great method when done correctly (with an experienced doctor and experienced team, as it is very labor intensive).

For more on ethics and hair transplantation, see How Do I Know I Am Getting the Number of Grafts I Am Paying For? — and be sure to check out the links at the bottom of the post for even more reading.