HAIR TRANSPLANT
CONSULTATION SINCE 2004

   

The Hairforlife leaflet for hair transplantation

Andreas Krämer Hair4life

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ANDREAS KRÄMER

Hair loss sufferer, consultant since 2004, co-author of the book “Hair Transplantation Guidebook” by Alliance4Hair, founder of Propatient with lawyer Chr. Bomke, co-founder of the HTTC training center for doctors. Known from SWR, SAT 1, ZDF, Spiegel and many others. About Us

You have certainly already read and heard a lot about all the medically relevant risks and side effects of an hair transplant in the worst case. Perhaps you have already attended consultations and have been explicitly informed about this. In the following I would like to address and illuminate further aspects and therefore ask you to take a little time and read what decisive influence your own behaviour has on the success of your hair transplant. But please also read carefully what can have a negative effect. A résumé of the recent past has clearly shown that there is still a need for clarification and advice in many cases.

You know it from every medicine – there is an instruction leaflet enclosed to inform you comprehensively about all matters concerning this medicine. Hairforlife would like to take up this approach and has prepared an “instruction leaflet for hair transplants” for you.

Your Hairforlife package insert for hair transplantation

Help for self-help and recommendations for a successful cooperation for your all-round care with a hair transplantation

Take advantage of a detailed and serious consultation

Many of you read up on the internet, in relevant forums and thus learn how immensely important serious, detailed and comprehensive consultations are when a hair transplant is planned. However, not everyone chooses this path of information sources, which is why the topic should be explicitly addressed here again. Why not simply go to the cheapest clinic and invest trust there? Patients ask this question again and again. Pictures presented on the internet and even the most well-founded website texts cannot prove who you are dealing with and what specialist background the respective surgeon has, especially when it comes to so-called low-cost providers in faraway countries. In the case of an appendectomy, one immediately goes to the nearest hospital and entrusts oneself to the doctors there for the operation. In the field of cosmetic surgery and hair transplantation, however, it is not only about the actual operation, but also about successful aesthetics, so that not only the medical skills in medical terms may be highlighted, but also the aesthetic skills and know-how with regard to a careful, conscientious planning for the current operation and also for possible later hair transplantations are of serious importance. In order to take all aspects into account for an all-round successful hair transplantation, you should at least attend a detailed, in-depth consultation in order to get to know all the issues, to be able to assess the consequences yourself and to be absolutely seriously informed about the possible and expected results in your particular case. Unfortunately, many of those affected have already had to bitterly regret their imprudence and their leap of faith, so you should not get involved in adventures, but orient yourself on experience, control, absolute seriousness and proven, documented expertise.

If you are interested in a Hairforlife consultation in this context (feel free to write an email to service@hairforlife.ch): Hairforlife travels to all recommended doctors and clinics worldwide at regular intervals in order to be able to maintain the claim to the best possible quality.

Please do not conceal anything regarding your own health situation

Hair transplantation is undoubtedly the best solution for regaining a full head of hair. Nevertheless, it is a surgical intervention on one’s own body, therefore such a measure must not be treated lapidary. Give your consultant and also the hair surgeon everything important about you and your health situation – do not conceal any detail! Perhaps you belong to the group of people whose skin has poor wound healing or perhaps you are prone to above-average scarring? Every detail, no matter how (supposedly) insignificant, can in case of doubt determine the course and success of a hair transplant. Your information will be kept strictly confidential by your consultant as well as your hair surgeon, so please do not hesitate to disclose everything without exception!

After the hair transplant, please be sure to follow the instructions of your hair surgeon

Please adhere as closely as possible to your doctor’s advice and instructions regarding behaviour and procedures after your hair transplant (→ Post-op instructions). Misconduct immediately after an autologous hair transplant can have a decisive negative influence on the result. If you have any questions or uncertainties about this, please do not hesitate to contact your hair surgeon or consultant immediately.

Take professional advice and adapt your own ideas if necessary

Sometimes it is not easy to reconcile the real possibilities of an affected person with the ideas and wishes of that person. Of course, people have the desire to have a full head of hair, and it is not uncommon for these people to come to counselling with very specific ideas. However, as a professional counsellor, I (as well as all reputable doctors) focus on your entire situation, so that not only the current situation and your wishes are taken into account, but also all aspects for your future and possibly further interventions. Only a holistically balanced planning can lead to full success with the least risk. Neither Hairforlife/me as a consultant nor any of the hair experts/co-operating doctors will advise you to transplant a smaller number of grafts without a valid reason. However, should this occur, you will be informed in detail. In addition, you will be able to discuss a projection and thus find out if and when further hair transplantations can be undertaken, if necessary, so that you can later achieve at least approximately the goal you have set for yourself. Please try to have a certain tolerance in terms of ideas and expectations, because your donor area only offers limited possibilities for further measures. Again, you should invest your trust in expertise and experience to avoid disappointment.

Waiting for the final result of your hair transplantation

Anyone who has already undergone a hair transplant can probably relate to how long the maximum 12 months can feel until you can speak of the final result. This waiting time is certainly felt differently, but there will probably be a lot of patients who can hardly wait and explicitly examine their reflection several times a day. The waiting time can become a real test of endurance, especially for patients who are still experiencing considerable new growth towards the end of this period. Unfortunately, however, there is no other option than to find a way to help yourself through these months in the best possible way. With luck, you will be one of the people who can see the first results relatively quickly and very clearly in the first half of the year. If not, please be patient, because premature panic will unsettle you and put a strain on the already psychologically stressed phase caused by the experiences and excitement of the last few months.

Plan your waiting time for the final result in advance

As already mentioned, you will certainly be exposed to a not inconsiderable hurdle during the waiting time for the final result. But time will pass and later, when you are in possession of your new hair and are enjoying your newfound quality of life to the fullest, you will certainly have quickly forgotten the efforts of the preceding months. However, people are different and everyone knows themselves well enough to be able to assess well in advance whether the waiting time for the result of the hair transplant could be an excessive burden. If you are one of those people who are less able to cope with stress, who are perhaps at risk of going off the rails psychologically, then you should explicitly prepare yourself for the months after the hair transplant – well in advance. Can I take care of all my needs in life with a Cappy? Also professionally? What other alternatives could I choose? Can I possibly save up leave and then take it at a stretch when the time comes? Who can do the shopping and help out of the house in the first few days after the operation so that I don’t have to show my face outside the house, at least until the wounds have healed? Take the tension off yourself and prepare yourself calmly so that you can experience the waiting time for the new hair as a joy and not be exposed to any additional stress.

The possibly tense psychological situation

Especially if the result of a hair transplant is (supposedly) a long time coming, or if you belong to the group of people mentioned above who tend to get psychologically off track due to serious circumstances, you should not hesitate to call in professional assistance. Hair loss and consequently the steps taken against it (lengthy therapies with medication/hair transplants etc.) very often represent a great burden for the entire family. The hair issue is often the focus of attention for many months or even years and not only puts a strain on the person affected, but also on the partner and the entire family atmosphere. Accompanying therapy by a psychologist has already helped many people to cope with special phases (sudden deaths, other strokes of fate, etc.). Despite today’s modern times, it is still often perceived as a stigma to make use of such help. Do not let yourself be influenced or even discouraged from taking this important step for you when it becomes difficult to bear the particular tensions and burdens. Often, talk therapy with an experienced therapist can help you to gain confidence and a new sense of self-worth, to involve your family/partner in a trusting way and to build up a constructive relationship for the duration of the stress. There is absolutely no reason to be ashamed of getting help, on the contrary, it is simply a shame for both the affected person and their family if someone is not prepared to admit to themselves that help is needed.

Contact directly if you have questions about the result

It should go without saying, but I would like to mention it explicitly here: Please always contact your hair surgeon and/or your consultant first if you have any questions about the result of your hair transplant, because many questions can already be answered during a confidential exchange, so that you no longer need to worry. Furthermore, due to the excellent cooperation with the cooperating doctors/clinics over many years, Hairforlife can usually mediate and support you if discussions with the treating doctor should become necessary during the waiting period for the final result.

Even the best doctors with a worldwide reputation cannot perform miracles

Hairforlife recommends only renowned, reputable and experienced hair surgeons, who are always and regularly subjected to a quality standard check on the part of Hairforlife. Nevertheless, and one must always keep it in mind: Every medical intervention on the human body carries risks that cannot be completely eliminated even by the world’s best doctors. Certainly, you yourself can help minimise your risks by turning to explicitly specialised doctors and clinics from the outset. But here, too, people are at work – and people can make mistakes in exceptional cases. The reasons for this can be very different. What is considered the best option for the patient today may already be outdated tomorrow by procedures that prove to be even more efficient and advanced. A similar situation is found not only in this field but everywhere in the medical field: New findings and technical progress also lead to changes in application techniques and procedures. However, the introduction and implementation of innovations cannot always be realised immediately by every doctor, no matter how successful they may be. This means that in change phases, this or that hair expert may currently be the most experienced in this particular field, and consequently, the Hairforlife recommendations are always adapted to the latest state of affairs. If you have any questions regarding details of your personal procedure or other problems, or if you are unsure about the results after 10/12 months, please contact me/Hairforlife and describe your concerns in detail in an e-mail. As a rule, a solution can always be found in the best interest of the patient.

A medical intervention cannot offer a guarantee

In all medical fields, people are treated and also operated on by doctors according to “Lege Artis” – interventions of a hair transplant are therefore also part of this. This means for patients: Doctors act according to their best knowledge and conscience, using the most advanced methods and possibilities, the latest findings and standards, and applying themselves and their skills in the best possible way. Nevertheless, the care of people can never be guaranteed, because no one can assess 100% how a patient’s body will process a medical intervention. There always remains a certain residual risk – with hair transplants just as with any other medical intervention. From a patient’s point of view, this may not always be clear and obvious; one has paid a considerable sum of money and naturally expects everything to go optimally and very satisfactorily in return. Doctors, however, also take other points of view into account, because a doctor is in fact performing a service contract, the success of which cannot be guaranteed, despite all the necessary care, because it is a medical intervention. Factors can occur that negatively influence a successful outcome because every human body reacts individually. Thus, influences can affect the success of such an intervention that cannot be attributed to the doctor’s actions. This leads to the following conclusion, which also corresponds to the legal situation: A doctor always owes the patient a treatment according to “lege artis” (explanation: see above), but not the result.

In the case of a hair transplant this is a special case:

It is certainly understandable that reputable, successful hair surgeons are concerned about a good reputation, so they are usually accommodating and offer free “touch-ups” in a fair, pleasant atmosphere.

FAIRNESS – a small word with a big meaning!

Dealing with internet forums or other public formats

This paragraph is of particular concern to me personally as your advisor!

At Hairforlife you can rely on me to stand by your side and stand up for you, should there actually be an unsuccessful hair transplant. Unfortunately, however, unpleasant things have also happened in the course of my professional career, so I would like to ask you to give me your full attention here again in conclusion.

If a patient case can be proven to be unsuccessful, if there are proven reasons to contact the performing hair surgeon to discuss a successful solution for all parties involved, then there is basically little room for speculation and contingency. As with all other “business matters” that one deals with in daily life, in such a case one naturally and first and foremost addresses the people who were directly involved: The clinic/doctor and the consultant. Without exception, all doctors and clinics recommended by Hairforlife are in a good and pleasant cooperation with Hairforlife/with me, so that I, as your consultant, can usually help to ensure that your follow-up care (or another arrangement) in the case of an unsuccessful hair transplantation comes about in the best possible way for you.

However, this requires a high degree of fairness and honesty on all sides!

Surely everyone can understand that a doctor can be quite displeased if he is not informed by the consultant or patient that something did not turn out well, but has to see himself portrayed in public as a “bad hair surgeon” through posts in internet forums. Not infrequently, such reports spread, one word leads to another and in no time at all the reputation of an excellent doctor is immensely damaged. Understandably, the meetings that take place later between the patient and the doctor will be tarnished by this preliminary publication, despite my best efforts to exert a positive influence. Based on this, one can probably also assume that the subsequent discussions on, for example, agreements and/or offers for free follow-up care would have been more pleasant if the patient had behaved fairly. In the end, there can only be losers, because no one involved is happy with such a fraught situation.

To make it a little clearer:

Documenting patient cases in internet forums is definitely helpful for those affected and those among them who are themselves just looking for a suitable doctor for their own care! However, if in the course of the usual waiting period of 12 months it becomes apparent that the expected result may not be achieved after all, possibly a complaint is pending and one hopes for goodwill in the process, then experience has shown that a considered, fair and level-headed approach has always helped to achieve the best possible and also an accommodating solution for both sides.

This topic is close to my heart, because I myself/Hairforlife would like to be able to say goodbye to you as a satisfied customer after the end of my care before and also after your hair transplantation, with the certainty that you have received everything imaginable in a positive way. I am sure that fairness is just as important to you as it is to me, so that in retrospect you can look back on a successful cooperation and now look forward to a happy, successful future with your new hair.

Thank you very much for your attention!

Yours sincerely, Andreas Krämer

Hairforlife – Counselling Centre for Hair Transplantation