Need and Want - buyer beware

Need and Want - buyer beware
I just want to share something very important ! IMHO

I am seeing only too regularly so many people dismissing the actual FACTS of hair transplantation and choose to ignore the potential limitations and risks involved as they just get so tunnel visioned into thinking they will be absolutely fine to forge ahead with a HT based on what they WANT rather than what they NEED.

Its as though they convince themselves and know best if they say it often enough then they can achieve what they want based on solely what they have seen and ignore the limitations and various actual variables that reside. They want the full coverage, no scar,, no shockloss.. yet ignore the facts that each individual has their own variables and limitations and proceed anyway in the sheer hope they can get what they want.

Even though advised by certain credible sources against a HT all together in some cases.

Patients need to be aware of what it is they NEED - not what THEY want if they want to avoid serious short term and long term issues.

Eg : a patient kept emailing me telling me he wanted 4000+ grafts in one session and wanted the entire top of his head addressing even though loss was minimal throughout - a diffuse thinner.

He ignored advice that surgery was not a good idea at all and that he should be aware of the limitations and the potential consequences of going for surgery especially so aggressively as it truly was not appropriate for him.

That wasn't what he wanted to hear however - And he felt he knew best. I informed him the larger you go the higher the risk of scaring too, he didnt believe me there either.

He ignored the advice and had a session with a clinic based on what he wanted to hear and ended up getting 3500 grafts 12 months ago.

The patient 12 months on has limited to no growth, a large wide 1cm scar and permanent shockloss throughout the entire top of his head. His situation is 100 worse than it ever was or possibly ever going to get.

Need and want.

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Originally Posted by Spex

The patient 12 months on has limited to no growth, a large wide 1cm scar and permanent shockloss throughout the entire top of his head.

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Everything you said was spot on, but isn't "limited to no growth" a bad outcome that has nothing to do with whether the patient's expectations were realistic or not?

Indeed that is the RISK of any surgery, however was the surgery appropriate in light that they should NEVER of had surgery in the first place. Did the patient just get told what he wanted to hear ... to get him in the chair..

The outcome is the outcome expectations or not. The patient should have NEVER been accepted or treated for HT surgery. He should have understood what he needed to hear rather than rolling into what he wanted to hear. He choose to roll the dice against advice given in his best interest .

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Spex

Indeed that is the RISK of any surgery, however was the surgery appropriate in light that they should NEVER of had surgery in the first place. Did the patient just get told what he wanted to hear ... to get him in the chair..

The outcome is the outcome expectations or not. The patient should have NEVER been accepted or treated for HT surgery. He should have understood what he needed to hear rather than rolling into what he wanted to hear. He choose to roll the dice against advice given in his best interest .

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Yes. A doctor should NOT perform a higher risk surgery.