Surgery vs No Surgery

I just had a patient (a 26 year old with very early class 6 thinning) who really does not look bald at all. I wish I could show you his photos, but I respect his wishes to not have his images published at this time. Anyway, he went to another hair transplant clinic (one of the chain operations) and was told that he needed 1,500 grafts. He had minimal thinning and looked good to me. I discussed it with him and he wanted to know if it would be a bad decision if he decided to just do nothing. I told him that his miniaturization was in the 30-40% range and that with his hair color and texture and considering that it really did not bother him, that just Propecia (finasteride 1mg) alone could be adequate until such a time that his situation changed. I recommended no surgery at all. He was happy to get that advice and was a bit frightened at the urgency created for a surgical procedure at the other clinic. As my consultations are free, my only satisfaction was that I saved him from unnecessary surgery or even accelerated hair loss due to shock loss after a surgery.

The reason I wrote this brief post was to point out that as a doctor, my priority is whatever is in the patient’s best interest. I’m not trying to line my pockets. I’m not trying to sell unnecessary procedures. I don’t split grafts to charge the patient more money. Unfortunately, not every physician follows this same line of thinking.

Yes folks, honesty is absolutely the best policy. Please remember this when choosing your hair transplant doctor. If you feel pressured, take a step back and remember that you aren’t buying a car, you’re having a consultation about cosmetic surgery.