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The
interview basics and interview preparations
The interview with your prospective hair transplant surgeon is
a key step in obtaining a hair transplant. The interview will allow
you to obtain information about hair transplantation in general,
your hair transplant in particular, and about the transplant surgeon
who will be conducting the procedure. This is your opportunity
to obtain answers to all the questions you may have about your
hair transplant. Your objective is to obtain as much information
as possible to satisfy yourself that this surgeon and clinic can
do the job well. After all, a hair transplant is an operation,
something that involves personal risk, and quite a lot of money,
for a result that will be very difficult to fix if a mistake is
made. Don’t sign on the dotted line until you are absolutely
sure that a hair transplant is right for you and that you feel
you are in safe hands with the surgeon you are interviewing. Remember
you are in control. You are doing as much interviewing as being
interviewed. If you still have doubts at the end of the interview,
or are feeling pressured to make a decision there and then – walk
away. You can always contact the clinic later or find another clinic
and surgeon that you feel more comfortable with.
Interviews can cause anxiety, but you need to be as relaxed as
possible. The more relaxed you are the more likely you will be
able to take in what the surgeon is saying, to understand the information,
and to ask pertinent questions. If it helps, take a family member
or friend with you. Most surgeons are quite happy for you to have
a friend in the interview with you. They can give you moral support,
they may feel less anxiety and be able to view the proceedings
more objectively, and they may ask some questions that you won’t
think of. An interview will take at least 30 minutes, often one
hour, and for some, particularly if you need reassurance, it may
take up to 2 hours. If the surgeon has other appointments then
he/she may ask you to come back at a later time to complete the
interview. Don’t take this personally or in a negative manner,
the surgeon needs to spend as much time interviewing with other
prospective hair transplantees as they do with you.
While the interview is for you to obtain lots of information and
have your questions answered, the surgeon also has objectives in
the interview with you. He/she needs to provide you with information
about the different hair transplant procedures used in the clinic
(there are many and most clinics use more than one depending on
the particular nature of your hair loss) and to identify the particular
procedure most appropriate for your hair loss pattern. More details
of what to expect are given elsewhere in this section of the web
site. You might be given this information verbally or it might
be in the form of a printed booklet. Ideally you want both so that
you can ask questions when the procedures are being described to
you during the interview and you have a summary sheet to keep and
read later – because you won’t remember everything
that is said in the interview. Before the interview think about
what questions you have for the surgeon. Write them down and take
them with you to the interview.
The surgeon will probably outline a short term and a long term
plan. Hair transplants are not a quick fix. It often takes a couple
of years with multiple surgical procedures to get a good result.
There will be multiple steps and a lot of planning to achieve the
final result. The long term plan actually extends over your entire
lifetime. Whatever hair transplant you get, you have to live with
it for the rest of your life. A hair line that might look good
in your 30s is not going to look right in your 70s. The plan to
design your hair transplant hair line needs to take into account
not only how it will look at your age now, but how it will look
as you grow older. Usually there needs to be a compromise in what
hair line you want in your 30s and the appropriate hair line when
you are older. Be realistic in your expectations and remember the
surgeon has a lot more experience with creating natural hair lines
than you do. Similarly, the eventual end stage extent of your hair
loss has to be taken into account when developing a long term plan
for you. You only have so many hair follicles in the donor area
at the back of the scalp so they need to be used judiciously. Predicting
future hair loss is difficult, but it must be taken into account
so that some hair follicles can be left in the donor area for use
in the future. Before the interview take some time to think about
what you want from the hair transplant, but remember that there
are limits to what the surgeon can do. While you may have an indeal
result in mind, be flexible and recognise your ideal hair transplant
result may not be possible.
A
summary of preparations to make for your interview
This is by no means a comprehensive list so check with the transplant
clinic in advance and see what they want you to bring to the interview.
1) Make sure to write out a list of questions to ask. If you try
to remember them all you will probably forget some. Write them
down so you have all your questions ready.
2) Write out a list of any medications you are on. Take the drug
packaging (most drugs usually come with a datasheet) with you
in case the surgeon needs
to know more details. Also include any alternative health medications (herbs
etc.). Sometimes drugs and herbs can interact with the anaesthetics or antibiotics
used in hair transplantation, so the surgeon needs to know what you are using.
3) Take with you any information regarding your
hair loss. If you have had a diagnosis from a dermatologist, or
have been
prescribed drugs for your
hair loss, make sure to bring a copy of the details with you.
4) Take any details of recent blood test results with you. Usually
you have to take a blood test in advance of a hair transplant for
things like
HIV
and Hepatitis C, and also to determine your health. If you have had a
blood test
for other reasons, the surgeon may use this and waive the requirement
to get a separate blood test done specifically for the hair transplant.
5) Take the contact details for your doctor and dentist to the
clinic. Most hair transplant clinics contact your doctor and dentist
after the
initial
interview to confirm your health status and make sure you have not
forgotten to tell
them something important in your medical history!
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