Your Consultation and Evaluation
It is important that a patient receive a complete evaluation to ensure that he/she is a good candidate for hair transplant surgery. Even if a transplant is done perfectly, a patient will not be happy if the results are not what was expected. Patients have certain goals and expectations in mind when they seek a physician's help. They need to be educated about the procedure, what can realistically be accomplished, and if this will meet their goals. At SMG we go through the following consultation and educational steps with all patients.
STEP 1 - DETERMINE PATIENT'S GOALS AND EXPECTATIONS
Evaluate the patient’s expectations and desire for coverage. Every patient is different. Some desire very aggressive work with total coverage. Others want more subtle coverage that will result in a less drastic a change. Some want to do their crown, and others don’t care about their crown. Some want a very lower hairline, while others want a more mature, receded hairline.
STEP 2 - EDUCATE PATIENT ABOUT THE PRINCIPLES OF HAIR TRANSPLANTATION
Educate the patient about the number of grafts needed to accomplish certain goals, the issue of a limited donor supply and how this affects the degree of coverage we can offer different patients, and potential future hair loss and how this can affect the future look of a transplant. Some patients with very good donor supply and smaller balding areas can cover their entire balding area. Others with large balding areas and very small donor supply can only cover only a small amount of the balding area.
STEP 3 - EVALUTATE PATIENT'S SPECIFIC DONOR AND RECIPIENT AREAS
Evaluate the available donor supply both in terms of total amount and the characteristics of the hair that may influence its effectiveness at creating the appearance of density (color, curl, caliber, etc). Every patient is different with donor supply ranging from 4,000 to 9,000+ follicular units.
Evaluate the size of the area of alopecia that needs to be treated and predict, as best as possible, how much progression may occur in the future. Every patient is different based on their age, current severity of loss, family history, etc.
STEP 4 - DETERMINE IF PATIENT'S GOALS ARE ACHIEVABLE AND REALISTIC BASED ON ABOVE EVALUATION (A CRITICAL STEP!)
If the patient’s expectations are realistic and achievable, he/she is a good candidate for surgery and may move ahead. SMG will present a plan for his/her hair restoration that will meet the patient's goals.
If the patient’s expectations are not realistic or achievable, then he/she should not have surgery and should be re-evaluated and re-educated at a later time. It is possible that, at a future date, as either techniques change or the patient’s expectations change, he/she may be a good candidate.