Hair Transplant Industry Profits

Dear Dr Rassman,

thanks for creating such an informative website. I was wondering, how profitable is the hair transplant industry? What is the difference between the actual cost of the hair transplant and the price surgeons charge (i know price varies from surgeon to surgeon but an approximate would be useful).

thanks

The hair replacement industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. The difference in results between medical groups is highly variable because the surgery is NOT standardized. As such, the consumers (patients) are mostly left with the burden of researching through a massive number of ads and advertorials on late night TV, though these days there are many web forums that allow consumer input. The difference in cost is highly variable. I have seen and heard of surgeries that range from $1000 to $100,000!!! A few months ago I saw a patient who came to me for a second opinion after spending $152,000 on a hair transplant surgery and was angry that he did not get good results.

On the average, I believe the cost of the surgery as we do it at New Hair Institute should be between $3,000 to $15,000 depending on the number of hair grafts a patient needs. The cosmetic industry has hit hard times lately, so gross revenues are down, bringing down profits to marginal levels. When the surgeon uses experienced teams, the cost of labor is high (our practice) as we pay good wages and expect long term people to stay with us.