NeoGraft Hair Transplant Warning - Let The Buyer Beware!

[tbtadmin]

Follicular unit extraction (FUE) has come a long way since it was first introduced through The Bald Truth to North America by Australian hair transplant pioneer Dr. Ray Woods. Early adapters of the technique found it to be extremely labor-intensive when performed correctly, and limited by the number of grafts that can be safety [...]

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[Cappy]

So let me get this straight. The Neo Graft is now gaining popularity, more and more surgeons are starting to implement this in there practice, and Dr Bauman now releases a public warning stating that results may range from mediocre to disastrous if the machine is used by the inexperienced?

Isn't there some type of training from the manufacture of this "tool" that can help surgeons achieve the desired results? Perhaps similar to the training a once inexperienced Dr Bauman received?

I don't get it.

[hudson]

Winston
Your comment makes no sense. Do you think that the only training someone gets on the NeoGraft machine is to "punch some holes in a person's head and throw some hair in it?" Do you not think doctors who acquire the NeoGraft device are given training in creating a hairline or angling of grafts if they are new to hair transplantation? Do you think the NeoGraft company wants to allow doctors to use the NeoGraft machine on patients and have them do bad hair transplants? I do not want to burst your bubble but the established hair restoration doctors want patients to believe that it takes years and a lot of experience to learn how to do a hair line or place grafts. The truth is that this is truly not so. These are skills that can be learned quite easily and within a very reasonable amount of time depending on the natural abilities of the doctor. These natural abilities cannot be controlled by NeoGraft. That is why they offer ongoing training for doctors who need more time for learning or practicing.

Furthermore, do you think doctors who acquire NeoGraft are not interested in learning to become proficient hair transplant doctors? Your comment is an insult to both the NeoGraft people and the doctors who are purchasing the NeoGraft device because you are making implications that neither the company nor the doctors care about the patients enough to make certain the doctor gets adequate training. I think you and the rest of the writers on this site should stop using scare tactics on the public in order to dissuade them from going to doctors who have purchased the NeoGraft machine. It is obvious to everyone reading the articles on this site that some of the established hair restoration doctors are fearing the competition from the new doctors buying this device and this is the reason for the misleading warnings given on this site to "BEWARE of new doctors using NeoGraft". Dr. Bauman was once a Newbie himself and I am certain he did not post that on his website! So let other doctors make their way into this field, as is their right, and leave it to their trainers and their own integrity to know when they are sufficiently trained to begin doing transplant surgery, just as Dr. Bauman knew when he was ready to do his own first case.

[Delphi]

I viewed the interview last night and thought it was extremely well done and very balanced. I heard nothing negative about Neograft during the interview that I can recall. To me the focus was on inexperienced doctors doing hair transplants. Whether they use the NeoGraft or if they are just bad at doing regular hair transplants, I think patients need to know. Good idea about the list of doctors who train the new doctors Winston! I wonder if we’ll ever see that list?

[Jeffrey Epstein, MD]

Actually guys, Winston is quite correct- hairline design is not something one learns over a 1 or 2 day course- instead, it takes years and years to develop an ability to convert an aesthetic design into reality and that is assuming the doctor even has an aesthetic design, something of which many doctors do not have much of an understanding.

It has been pretty clear, at least to most of us more experienced and in the "know", that it was the intent of the NeoGraft to be promoted to non-hair transplant specialists to get them to use the device. Otherwise, there would simply not be anywhere near enough surgeons already performing hair transplants to spend the $60,000 or so to purchase the machine. The NeoGraft offers essentially nothing to my practice, other than a potential marketing edge (if I chose to utilize that), as I certainly do not need to use a machine to harvest FUE grafts nor plant them, to do the work that I and my highly experienced team of assistants are already capable of performing to the very highest standards.

The "threat" that the NeoGraft device poses to experienced surgeons is quite minimal in my opinion, as I believe that the majority of prospective patients are wise enough to do their homework and realize that the aesthetics of hair transplantation cannot be duplicated by a machine, nor taught over a day or two course. I would think that spending some time on this site would not question that wisdom.

Jeffrey Epstein, MD, FACS
Miami and NYC

[Jeffrey Epstein, MD]

Training can be sufficient if it is intended to train on the technique on how to use the maching to harvest grafts and then plant them, although I'm sure there is a learning curve.
What cannot be trained in just a week, or even months, is outstanding hairline design. Even with my background in facial plastic surgery aesthetics and 16 years of performing these procedures, I am still developing new appreciations and approaches for hairline design, the single most important element in the hair transplant procedure.

Jeffrey Epstein, MD, FACS
Miami and NYC