What to ask at a hair transplant consultation

A hair transplant consultation is the one chance to find out whether the person planning your hairline knows what they are doing. Price is the easiest question to ask and the least useful one — every clinic has an answer ready.

Who performs the procedure?

Ask whether the doctor you are speaking to will be in the room on the day, and which parts they do themselves. In a lot of clinics the consultation is with a doctor and the procedure is largely done by technicians. That is not automatically wrong, but you should know before you book.

How many grafts, and how did you arrive at that number?

A graft count given without examining your donor area is a sales figure. Ask what your donor density actually is, how much can safely be taken, and what that leaves for a second procedure in ten years.

What happens if I need a second procedure later?

Pattern hair loss carries on after a transplant. A hairline planned as though the loss has stopped looks strange a decade later. Ask how the plan accounts for that.

What will it look like at three months?

• Most transplanted hair sheds in the first few weeks — this is expected.
• Month three is usually the low point, when nothing visible is happening.
• Most of the visible change arrives between months six and twelve.

A clinic that only shows you the twelve-month photograph is not preparing you for the nine months before it.

Am I a candidate at all?

The most valuable answer is sometimes no. Diffuse thinning, active hair loss that has not been stabilised, and unrealistic donor expectations are all reasons to wait or to treat medically first. A clinic willing to say so is telling you something about how it works.