Four myths about hair transplant surgery

If you are thinking about having a hair transplant, you need to have all the facts.

As with any surgical procedure, there is a lot of misinformation out there or, to use the more topical term, fake news about hair transplantation.

Crown Clinic’s owner and hair transplant surgeon Asim Shahmalak wants to help you make an informed decision over whether hair restoration is right for you.

The most important consideration for Dr Shahmalak is that his patients are happy with their transplant and feel they have received value for money once they have visited Crown Clinic. Patient satisfaction is everything to us.

Dr Shahmalak wants to dispell four of the most common myths about hair restoration

1 Hair restoration is expensive

You are embarking on a procedure that will last you for the rest of your life – bringing benefits to your self-esteem and body confidence.

The hair you have transplanted – whether by FUE (follicular unit extraction), the method favoured by Crown Clinic patient Calum Best and Wayne Rooney, or by FUT (follicular unit transplantation, also known as strip surgery), the method favoured by Crown Clinic patient, TV doctor Christian Jessen- will last you for the rest of your life.

Martin Roberts, the Homes Under The Hammer presenter, came to Crown Clinic for an FUE procedure covering his balding crown. He likened the cost of upgrading or replacing a car which most people do every five to ten years. This costs anywhere between £5,000 and £12,000 – the same cost as a hair transplant.

What is going to bring you the most benefits in the long-term – a new car or a new hairline? We like to think that most patients realise that it is money well spent.

2 Any doctor can perform hair transplant surgery

The most important decision you make when embarking on a hair transplant procedure is the choice of the surgeon. It is vital you do your research before picking a surgeon who is right for you. A great place to start is the testimonials on a surgeon’s website. You want to be looking for lots of happy patients who have been treated recently – hopefully, supported by photos showing a real change in their hairline. It is important that your surgeon is respected in the industry he or she works in. Look to see if they are members of respected industry bodies such as the International Alliance of Hair Restoration Surgeons (IAHRS). The IAHRS is an invitation-only body representing only the very best hair transplant surgeons in the world. Crown Clinic’s Asim Shahmalak is a member of the IAHRS.

Hair restoration is a speciality – and you want to be seeing a specialist. The difference a skilled surgeon can make is in how the transplanted hair blends in with a patient’s natural hair. The very best surgeons make this blend entirely natural so that no one can tell what is natural hair and what is transplanted hair.

3 Results are immediate 

You didn’t lose your hair overnight – and you cannot restore it with any immediacy either. A hair transplant is the redistribution of hair from one part of the scalp to another. Virtually all men have a permanent ‘horseshoe’ of hair around the back and side of their scalp that is permanent, no matter what their age. Hair loss most commonly occurs on the crown, across the mid-scalp, on the temples and hairline. Hair transplants involve extracting hair from this horseshoe and using it to fill in the balding areas. It takes between six months to a year for the transplanted hair to full grow back and be shown off to its best effect.

4 Hair loss will stop after a hair transplant

Sadly this is not the case – hair loss is a continual process. It does tend to slow down in men after middle age but there is a danger that you will carry on losing your natural hair even after a hair transplant. The transplanted hair is permanent but you can still lose natural hair around the newly transplanted hair.