Consultation Help....

[sausage]

Can anyone with experience, knowledge or people that work in the industry help me out....

I am looking at getting some consultations done to see if I am a good candidate and to see how much work I need done and how much it will cost.

Questions:

1. I guess it is better to go and see the surgeons or a representative for the consultation, are online consultations good enough? I am in England and want a transplant abroad but cannot afford to travel all that way just for a consultation. Are there any pro's/con's to either online or face to face consultations?

2. I guess it is a good idea to get as many consultations done as possible? That way you can get the best price + I am interested to see what surgeons say and how much they say will differ from each other. Has anyone had many consultations but had totally different feedback, ie number of grafts needed etc. ?

3. I have heard a few people say that surgeons do change their minds when you actually come to have surgery a few people have been told different things to what they were told in consultation, is this often the case? ie, graft numbers increase etc...

Thanks.

[sausage]

Is there no1 in here that can help me?

[mattj]

Hi sausage.

1. Seeing the surgeon in-person is always the ideal scenario. However, as most surgeons will have many patients flying in from around the world (or making epic road trips across continents) for their surgery, meeting first is not always possible. They will be used to online consultations and making assessments from viewing photographs. For most patients' needs this will be absolutely fine, with no surprises cropping up after they have made their journey for surgery.

There can be some cases where a patient's hair is borderline in regard to whether they should have surgery or not. For example, last year a patient contacted Dr Rahal and sent his photos. He has diffuse hairloss which is visible but his hair is still quite dense. Dr Rahal thought that he might not yet be a candidate based on his photos, and said that he should meet this patient in person before agreeing to surgery. As it happens, this person was travelling to Canada recently and was close enough to come by and meet Dr Rahal. This confirmed the doctor's original assessment and they both agreed that surgery wasn't the right thing to do at this time. No real time wasted.

2. Yes, definitely get as many consultations as possible. There's no reason not to. The number of grafts you are recommended will differ depending on the surgeon's style. Some are happier than others with planting grafts to higher densities; some will lower the hairline or close the temples while others might opt for a more mature hairline position. The less conservative surgeons won't be against providing a more conservative result if that is your desire. They're flexible.

3. The recommendation given during an online consultation is an estimate, and could possibly change once you meet face-to-face. However, as surgeons are used to assessing photographs then in most cases there will be no change. Like I said above, if a patient's hair is tough to judge from the photos then the surgeon will want to avoid creating a situation where a patient travels a long way only to have their time wasted.
The most common form of 'mistake' is for the surgeon to underestimate donor density, or for the patient to have above average scalp laxity, leading to a higher number of grafts being available than originally thought. I think it's probably better to be cautious and underestimate during an online consultation.

That's my advice. I hope it helps.

[sausage]

Thanks Matt. Thats exactly what I wanted to know.

I have sent you an email, with some further questions I need answered. If you could reply that would be great.

Thanks.