Are You a Surgical Candidate?

[drcarloswesley]

Patients often come into an office wondering whether or not they are "good candidates" for surgical hair restoration. Even when told "yes" or "no" by the physician, a patient may want to better understand why they are or are not deemed a good candidate and where he or she may fit into the overall spectrum of candidacy.

While young patients can certainly refer to a helpful publication authored by our practice (view here) that helps provide a ballpark for the ultimate number of donor hairs one may anticipate over their lifetime, it is helpful to know about the "miniaturization" rule. Using magnified images of a patient's donor hair, a physician can determine the number of miniaturized hairs (those of the finest caliber compared to the regular caliber terminal hairs). As a general rule of thumb, young patients who possess 25% or more of their donor hair in miniaturized form are not great candidates for the surgical procedure. Not only will a large number of the transplanted hairs likely not be permanent hairs, but also the donor scarring (either FUT or FUE) will likely become exposed over time if the surrounding donor hair continues its anticipated course of MPB.

The following image depicts a relatively poor candidate for HRS on the left and a better candidate for HRS on the right. This is based on the relatively low number of miniaturized hairs present in the righthand patient's donor area. Both were of the same age.

This next image also compares a poor candidate (left) with a much better candidate for the procedure (right).

There are also a number of more subjective variables that help determine a patient's candidacy: the wave, curl, frizz, and color contrast between the hair and scalp. These can also influence the ultimate appearance of a patient after a full session.

To put it all together, here is an image of a good candidate's donor area, recipient area prior to treatment, and his recipient area after treatment as seen under a magnified lens. The same patient's transformation after a 2701-graft FUE session with me can be viewed in the accompanying video montage.

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[bullitnut]

Fantastic post Dr Wesley, i found it very intersting and informative and it should help many looking into the possibility of restoration surgery.

Thanks for taking the time to post.

 

[Bigmac]

Thanks Dr Wesley for sharing this post, very interesting and informative.Regards Bm.

 

[Nightowl]

Greetings to everyone on this forum. This is my first post on any internet forum so please take this into consideration. I freely admit i have no knowledge of Hair transplants at all but would like to ask a few questions related to the above post if that's ok.

How can i find out if my hair is undergoing miniaturization?

Is this something i can check at home?

If not do i need to go to a specialist doctor or can my primary care doctor check for this?

If i had a consultation with a Hair loss clinic will they all check for this?

Thanks.

 

[ziggs11]

A dermatologist can look at your hair and prescribe propecia, but a hair loss clinic consultation will be a lot more thorough. You'll want to go to a reputable clinic so you're getting real info and not a sales pitch.

I would also ask how Dr Wesley et al, how does a strict routine of hairloss meds affect the equation?

 

[hairtech]

Good thread with good pics. I do have to comment on ziggs11 post.

Here are the hard facts on hair transplant physicians. First of all hair transplantation does in fact fall under dermatology and sometimes a plastic surgical residential training. The problem is... is that both dermatology and plastic surgical residencies barely focuses on hair transplants in most traditional medical schools and is severely limited to a single rotation. I do believe this is changing though.

The fact of the matter is... is the most respected hair transplant clinics that I have experience with are: pain medical doctors, emergency room doctors, internal medicine doctors, ear, nose and throat doctors, and even general practice doctors.

What made these guys flourish and do good in this industry was the fact that they only focused on hair transplants and most(not all and especially in FUE) of them shared their information. This is the truth.

 

[bullitnut]

ziggs11 wrote:

You'll want to go to a reputable clinic so you're getting real info and not a sales pitch

Welcome to the forum Night Owl, ziggs is correct here....make sure you go to a reputable clinic dude. The way to establish who is reputable and who is not is to stick around on the forums and do plenty of research.....don't just visit the nearest clinic because they have a nice looking website or a good advert.

 

[bullitnut]

hairtech wrote:

What made these guys flourish and do good in this industry was the fact that they only focused on hair transplants and most(not all and especially in FUE) of them shared their information. This is the truth.

Gret comment Tom....Doctors that care about the industry and their patients should and do share techniques and information......doctors who keep things secret and think they know it all are after a quick buck imo.

 

[Nightowl]

Thanks all for the replies to my questions. I obviously need to do some serious reading on this forum before i make any plans concerning my hair. I have decided i should speak with a hair loss clinic too and book a consultation.

 

[Sparky]

bullitnut wrote:

hairtech wrote:

What made these guys flourish and do good in this industry was the fact that they only focused on hair transplants and most(not all and especially in FUE) of them shared their information. This is the truth.

Gret comment Tom....Doctors that care about the industry and their patients should and do share techniques and information......doctors who keep things secret and think they know it all are after a quick buck imo.

good call

 

[Jessop]

Very interesting. Thanks for posting it.