Factors that decide the Cost of hair transplant

Like the treatment, even the cost of the procedure is unique and depends on various factors ranging from the skill of the surgeon, whether your hair transplant procedure is being done in the safety of a hospital or in a showroom/shop/home/shanty structure, the severity of baldness, and whether body grafts are being done since body hair transplant (BHT) costs more.

Read more about the factors that determine the price of a hair transplant-

1. FUT Vs. FUE Cost

FUE method is more time consuming and mandatorily requires close intensive care of the surgeon. It is unlike the FUT procedure, which is done in clinics where the doctor after 30 minutes of strip harvest engages himself in plastic surgery if he is a plastic surgeon doing part time hair transplant, Laser treatments if he is a dermatologist doing itinerant hair transplant procedures, or some other specialty like Dentistry, etc. Indeed, the extraction of hair follicles and their graft-by-graft transplantation is a pain staking effort. This is the reason why many have not gone the FUE way. At most clinics in the world today, including some States of USA, a team of technicians carries out harvesting. These professionals are usually not on the payroll of the doctor but fly-by-night operators. You will mostly find them in a perpetual hurry to go to the next station of work at another clinic in the same or another city. If a hair transplant is wholly done by technicians, it is bound to be cheaper than when a surgeon with years of experience does the vital parts of the procedure- planning, hairline design, anesthesia, harvesting and slit making. FUT does require more staff but the strip excision takes lesser time- 20 minutes as compared to 2-3 hours in FUE harvesting. Due to these factors, the cost of an FUE is always 2-3 times the cost of a strip procedure, yet it remains a preferred hair transplant procedure.

2.Surgeon’s Skill Sets

It is so surprising and an enigma to me that no one ever researches the specialty of a hair transplant surgeon though this is such an important factor you need to know of. No expert other than a plastic surgeon wholly dedicated to hair transplant understands wound healing better. Other specialties are into hair transplant either since they lost their license in their specialties like ENT, Dental, Anesthesia, Cardiology, Gynecology, etc. or they are just Bounty Hunters. The day hair transplant becomes less of a money spinner, rest assured they will migrate to newer more lush pastures, since money for them is the driving force, not passion for the procedure. A burning example is when Laser treatment was no longer lucrative, dermatologists en masse migrated to hair transplant! The same is happening now as hair transplant costs become more market driven. The concerned professional should have at least 5 years of experience in hair restoration procedure. This will help you avoid any kind of potential risks attached to the procedure. If you approach one of the best surgeons in the town for your hair transplant, it will increase the cost of the procedure for obvious reasons. But an expensive FUE procedure does not mean the doctor is perfect. Hence, choose wisely.

3.The technicians

A low cost clinic would hire inexperienced technicians, which would cost low, and this would result in a low cost hair transplant procedure. Actually, the current typical current Indian hair transplant model is a replication of the initial TURKEY MODEL where a technician clinic does over 10 hair transplant procedures simultaneously with day and night shifts. This is the root cause of unnatural results, unsafe procedures, infections, etc., not giving any time to sterilise the operation rooms while rotating cases like in an assembly line, will increase chances of infection. Cross-infections with deadly viruses like HIV and Hepatitis is a grave concern today. The death reported from hair transplant at low cost clinics is a direct result of bypassing laid down safety protocols for surgery. But when surgeons today are not doing hair transplant, FUE procedures at hands of technicians and physicians lacking a surgical background and grounding will always carry higher morbidity and mortality. After all you get what you pay for, especially in a hair transplant done in India or elsewhere.

4. Number of grafts

You can roughly calculate the number of grafts required on the bald head by using a graft calculator. However, this calculation will not work if you are not a candidate for a hair transplant! Usually, the best surgeons charge the cost on per follicle or per graft basis, which in turn depends on the type of baldness and the rational realistic expectation of the patient. These assessments are based on the Norwood Scale of baldness. It is a basic calculator for grafts required and this can determine the cost of the hair transplant procedure.

5. Graft Damage rate (Transection rate)

Transection rates are dictated by the skill of harvesting, followed by the technique and equipment used by the plastic surgeon. This also affects its cost. I use state of the art James Harris Safe Scribe motorized harvesting system and this works well in my hands.

6. Hygiene and safety standards

Hair transplant is a surgical process; hence, the clinic ought to be hygienic. The clinic also has to have proper protocols for infection control and sterilisation. Most clinics run from one room shops or a showroom with several poorly venilated cubicles in a busy market. This is a perfect recipe for infection and cross infection with deadly viruses. Recently a patient could not be evacuated after he developed problems during the procedure since the building lacked an elevator and the corner in which the clinic was located, could not allow a stretcher! Most such clinics run as assembly lines giving very little time for cleaning and disinfection and sterilising the operation theatre. On the other hand, Darling Buds Clinic issituated in Dr Bhatti’s own Five Rivers Hospital and we do just 1-2 cases a day. We do not operate at night or on Saturday & Sundays, just to give enough time for sterilising the operation rooms to ensure safety of our clients and workers and much needed rest to our staff. This would reduce the chances of any infection or post-surgical complications. The procedure cost will surely increase due to this factor, but it is a very important aspect to consider for your safety. There are no free lunches. For every discount in hair transplant that you get, you have to compromise somewhat on your result or safety due to cost cutting.

7. Travel costs

Travel costs are self paid for but are an important determinant of total cost of procedure especially when people come to India from as far as USA. Canada, UK, Australia for a FUE hair transplant.

How to calculate the cost per graft

A graft calculator helps you in finding out the number of grafts required in the bald area and once you know the requisite count, you can estimate the hair transplant procedure cost to some extent. The density of follicular unit is calculated on per sq.cm basis. Each person’s needs differ according to his/her hair, which in turn affects the price of the FUE treatment.

A complete hair analysis followed by proper consultation would be the best to ascertain the cost involved for FUE. Following are the low side rates of Hair transplant, currently available at 5 Rivers Hair transplant Clinic (It doesn’t include Dr. Tejinder Bhatti’s Darling Buds Clinic Hair transplant Cost which can be found here )

• The cost of 800-1000 grafts ranges between INR 45,000 to INR 1,00,000 per sitting.
• The cost of 1000-2000 grafts ranges between INR 75,000 to INR 2,00,000 per sitting.
• The cost of 2000-3000 grafts ranges between INR 1,25,000 to INR 3,50,000 per sitting.
• The cost of 3000-4000 grafts ranges between INR 1,75,000 to INR 4,50,000 per sitting.

All these rates are tentative and give you a rough idea or a ball park figure of the cost of hair restoration procedure. Cost at Darling Buds Clinic is discounted during the peak summer months of April, May and June. Hence, the above range. Cost differs significantly depending on the surgeon you visit for the treatment. Additionally, the GST taxes may also apply at the respective clinics in India.