IAHRS accepted member Dr. Baubac, explains the importance of patients having a full understanding of the hair transplant process as well as their particular needs before even considering undergoing hair transplant surgery. If you don’t know at least as much as the consultant, you have not conducted enough research. Do your homework

Dr. Baubac: It's really, really important that the patients take as much time as they need. There's no urgency in this procedure. You must really research not only preventative care but surgical, procedural, cellular therapy, just basically really explore what's out there. Speak to a few different clinics if it's something that you're interested in and learn as much as possible before deciding.

What I tell patients is, by the time they decide to have the procedure, they should really have as much knowledge as a consultant and in terms of their own specifics, in terms of knowing, okay, this, the plan, is frontal restoration and I know that's gonna last me X amount of years and there is definitely a possibility that hair loss can progress. If it does, then this is what the plan would be, this is what my donor availability is. These are the things I must do in terms of preventative care, whatever it may be: [inaudible 00:01:03], orally, topically, minoxidil, whatever percentage, whatever organic compound [inaudible 00:01:08].

Whatever is right for that person, they must really look into exploring preventative care because it is really, really, really critical. As we age, our drive for hair loss decreases over time and if the follicles can drive and survive by a certain cycle, each cycle that they undergo through is another three to six years of viable hair that they can produce, and further

Spencer Kobren: That is actually a very important point that I try to drive home. You are the first physician who's ever said that on this program. People believe that hair just either sticks in your head somehow or, and just falls out. They don't really understand the process of hair cycling. You're right, for every year that you're able to maintain that through medication, that can give you an extra three, six, seven, depends on the person's cycling of your own native hair.

Dr. Baubac: Absolutely.

Spencer Kobren: And your own coverage. So even if for some reason and I am not a believer that finasteride actually loses its effectiveness. I think it has to do with more of your body may have possibly reacted differently, your genetics being maybe overriding or being stronger.

Dr. Baubac: Which I agree with.

Spencer Kobren: eah, than other guys, perhaps. But it's just an important point. When I tell people, I had a guy who called the program actually last night, the live show, and his whole thing was he went through a doctor, saw the doctor on Dr. Oz, by the way, chose not to take finasteride, and had a transplant. He was very unhappy with the result because the guy brought his hairline down too low. He was told that he may have to come in for subsequent procedures, but he wasn't told that he would have to go and have more work done in the area that was transplanted because it wasn't going to match his current density. Now, this is a 23-year-old guy.

Dr. Baubac:  That's a little young.

Spencer Kobren:  Yeah, the first thing I think that most ethical doctors like yourself would have done is said, you know what, depending on, I haven't seen his images, but if he was a candidate for a transplant, maybe you would have retained his natural hair line, work within that area, and made sure that you at least educated him on finasteride and said, look, this is the bottom line. Surgery might be able to help you, but it's a temporary fix. You want to save as much of your native hair as possible.

Now this guy regrets his surgery, he has a linear scar that he's unhappy with, he went to see two IAHRS  members, Dr. Nusbaum and Dr. Rose, who suggested that he actually have the hairline lasered off because it was so unnatural, and that maybe not do anything else for a while and get on finasteride because, at least according to him, these doctors said he looked pretty good. I mean, his natural hairline seemed pretty appropriate, even for his age.