Do You Think I Am Overpaying For My Hair Transplant?
Written by Robert J. Reese, DO on February 5, 2009
I went in for a consultation and was told I would need about 200-250 grafts for a bald area that I have that is the size of a quarter on the hairline of my temple from birth. I was quoted $3,000. Not FUE just a regular transplant. I have never believed one should shop around for medical procedures, but everyone tells me it’s way too much. Based on this quote the grafts would come out to $12 if I implanted 250, and $15 if I implanted $200. My research online told me grafts normally range between $5-9. I live in a major metropolitan city and granted the doctor is a recognized doctor, but by comparison this seems a bit much. Am I overpaying? Please advise. -Leeanne
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Dear Leeanne:
Thank you for your question. There is an old adage that goes, “In life, you get what you pay for.” This is especially true in the field of surgical hair restoration. I have encountered many, many patients over the years that have chosen to have a transplant procedure with their primary decision making factor being “price”. They comfort themselves into thinking that their procedure will be performed by another “qualified” physician. And they go on to regret their decision in the end. They discover that they are disappointed in the “naturalness”, and/or “density” that was achieved with their procedure. Then they go on to have additional procedures performed by the same “qualified” physician that leaves the patient similarly disappointed. And when the costs of each of these lower priced procedures is added up, they find that they paid much more than they would have paid in a single procedure performed by a very talented, dedicated hair restoration surgeon, (such as those recommended by the International Alliance of Hair Restoration Surgery). And they may have to pay additional fees to “correct” the work that had been previously performed.
In your case, you will need to be especially careful because the area of concern is located either near or involving your frontal hairline. Does your “qualified” physician understand how to best match the surrounding hairs for ultimate naturalness? Does your “qualified” physician understand how to choose the correct instrument to create the appropriate densities, angulations, and depths of the recipient sites? Did your “qualified” physician explain that a “regular transplant” would only necessitate harvesting two or three centimeters of donor scalp, which would leave an incision that would be virtually invisible under any circumstances? Did your “qualified” physician explain that the follicular unit extraction technique may be associated with anagen effluvium in your donor zone, (long term shedding of your donor hair related to the micro trauma that may be experienced to the surrounding follicles in this zone)?
There are so many considerations that go into creating the most appropriate surgical plan. In my opinion, the least important of these is cost. In my practice, I would call your procedure a “specialty” procedure, (i.e. similar to eyebrow, or sideburn reconstruction). I charge $5,500. for a “specialty” transplant. From the physicians standpoint, there is also a cost to provide excellent care, (i.e. qualified staff, supplies etc.).
My recommendation would be to proceed with several consultations for your condition. You will “feel” most comfortable with one of these recommendations. And this is who you should have your procedure with. Certainly cost is an important consideration in your procedure. But in my opinion, it should certainly not be the primary consideration in the decision making process.
With Best Regards,
Robert J. Reese, DO
Member, International Alliance of Hair Restoration Surgeons
Member, American Hair Loss Association
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Another factor in the cost of the procedure and the price per graft is that the set-up costs are similar for a small or larger case. That is most likely why the cost per graft seems out of line as compared to larger procedures. I also would charge a similar amount for this size procedure.
$3,000 for 250 grafts does sound a bit high, even for FUE. For strip it’s in the stratosphere.
I must respectfully disagree with Dr. Reese wherein he wrote:
Did your “qualified” physician explain that the follicular unit extraction technique may be associated with anagen effluvium in your donor zone, (long term shedding of your donor hair related to the micro trauma that may be experienced to the surrounding follicles in this zone)?
Donor area shockloss from FUE is certainly possible, but highly unlikely when only 250 extractions are required. In fact, the chance for anagen effluvium in the donor area is HIGHER with a 250 graft strip because the trauma is much greater compared to properly performed FUE.
Proper FUE requires the right instruments and the right training. Without them a physician may very well cause donor area shock as Dr. Reese mentioned. The best thing is to surf the web for a while to find an FUE doctor who has performed thousands of FUEs with documented results.
Thank you. I agree–you get what you pay for and one’s main concern shouldn’t be price when considering any medical procedure. Honestly I don’t mind paying $5-9k to get the procedure done, but, I don’t want to overpay for excellent quality if it is not necessary so I wanted to get an unbiased opinion from a knowledgeable professional. Also, the possibility of long term shedding in the donor area was never ever discussed as even a slight posibility during my consultation. This greatly concerns me and I wish it would have been discussed with me prior thank you for discussing this risk possibility here. Thank you all for your responses.