Guest post, by a DHI patient
Let’s say that you could have a discretionary medical operation neither vital nor crucial, but you have two mutually exclusive options: to do it or not doing that. In either case the selected option would be ok for your well-being.
Now, suppose that, for some reason that we will investigate later, you decide to go for that medical operation involving your body. Wouldn’t you want to be very sure that such a decision will bring the best possible outcome minimising any risk and any negative consequences? Won’t you look for putting
yourself in safe hands to rely on?
Well, common sense would say so… but it’s an hairy problem here (pun intended 😁) Recent studies estimate that 70% of men population suffer from the AndroGenetic Alopecia (AGA)
baldness pattern. Such a particular problem involves a lot of facets, one of them being the psychological one, often undervalued, having vast repercussions on the individual for aspects such as self-confidence, personal discomfort, social embarrassment, and so on.
As per statistics, with a high rate of incidence, a demand exists so that any profit driven entrepreneur would love to enter such a juicy market. Many do that by selling more or less dubious remedies “for hair loss” with many possible market strategies, for instance selling one or more products to be used over lifetime and increase revenues. They can be marketed by the barbershop you trust, you may think that he knows such things and be convinced to have a try. Unfortunately such things generally are not addressing the roots of the problem and are not a real solution. Well, the good news is that today scientific advances allow for the most part of people suffering from baldness to definitely solve such a problem. One could be
simply not interested in that and not doing so. But for some others worrying about his hair loss, such information could be life changing and would turn any dubious recurring remedial buyer into a buyer of the definitive solution, budget permitting. So the market reacted by offering this definitive solution, namely a
hair transplant. Indeed, we observe no shortage of advertisements about hair transplants.
A recent report by Bloomberg entitled: “Why Men Everywhere Are Going to Istanbul for Hair Transplants” states that “experts are raising questions about whether safety is taking a backseat to profit”. That is the main point of the matter in my opinion.
For the large part of male population AGA reactions can range from being concerned, worried, to even panic. Just a spare minority considers the problem “normal” or feels indifference to it.
Whether he realizes that or not, any male interested in curing and solving definitely AGA with that medical operation we said initially, faces some fundamental questions that I deem should be deepened as soon as possible. And they are:
1. What kind of treatments are on the table for my specific case?
2. What about safety for each of them?
3. What about costs?
If our John Doe is interested only in minimizing the hair transplant’s cost (full weight only on point 3), his
perspective is inevitably compromised and unfortunately what is really happening is that he is maximizing
health risks involved. When no external advice is able to change his mind, we wish him good luck and find
a cheap plane ticket to Istanbul. Since I wanted to solve my AGA with a medical hair loss restoration option, I’ve tried to find myself
answers to the above questions.
Discarding options not compatible with having natural living follicles redistributed where the hair loss
occurred onto my head, I’ve found that there are, roughly speaking, three different techniques to solve the
problem:
- Direct Hair Implantation (DHI)
- Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE)
- Follicular Unit Transplant (FUT)
You can find summarized details of each one in the following synoptic view:
Now that we know their names and how they are performed on our remaining scalp follicles, it’s time for an answer to the second question: safety.
To make the long story short: FUT, also known as Strip Surgery, is a no-no for a number of reasons comprising sutures, surgical staples, bleeding, scar formation, trauma, pain and sub-optimal results as per nowadays standards.
Although FUE historically was fundamental to flee away from FUT and was a part of a paradigm shift bringing to the most effective methodology at the time of writing, to be discussed immediately after, using FUE, follicular units (grafts as they say in jargon) are extracted from a donor area rather that a removed scalp strip. Nevertheless such important improvement, it is now a thing of the past: hair follicles need to be handled causing a relatively low success rate of transplanted grafts and an inferior hair density, including impossibility of alter the angle, direction and depth of any follicle, finally it is still needed a scalp incision prior the implantation itself, just like FUT. Therefore like in Strip Surgery, dealing with FUE methodology one can still experience bleeding, trauma and scar formation.
Now: what is DHI in a few words. The safest and most aesthetically effective way to solve AGA nowadays. In brief, such technique allows a fine control of the angle, direction and depth of each single implanted follicle! Moreover no damage is caused to over-manipulation of the extracted follicle since it is implanted within seconds in a nearly total non-invasive way, being able to achieve a very high density, unfeasible with the previous techniques …and forget once and for all about bleeding, trauma or scar formation!
In regards to the last question, it’s time to shell out money and… the good news is that DHI is comparable to the cost of a FUE but excelling by far its safety and aesthetic results.
But DHI is not only the name of the technique, it is also the name of the company behind such technique and related innovations.
This is why after a proper diagnosis for my case by an easy-going and very professional DHI Certified Medical Assistant, last July I scheduled and flew to Athens headquarter where I’ve found an outstanding close-knit team so well organized that I am still amazed by that. Needless to say that my expectations were fulfilled and I strongly believe that I’ve received the best and safest state-of-the-art hair medical treatment available today, performed by a real doctor and a highly qualified assistant at a very reasonable price.
In DHI, they are so committed to solve hairy hair problems 😆, that they spread education about the topic since half a century, both in the scientific community and in the general audience, innovating with their internally developed new techniques, devices and products specifically tuned for ensuring the best possible hair growth under strict safety. They also offer training and academic certification and as cherry on the cake finally clearing up and helping authorities to standardize processes to ensure total quality in
the field.
You can fill in the form below to download instantly your fresh copy of the informative book “Hair Scalp Disorder. 7th edition” by Konstantinos P. Giotis.
So if you are planning your hair transplant and restore your self-confidence, do your homework and make a mindful decision. And please help to avoid such irony of fate: John Doe coming to DHI Corp. to repair damages perpetrated in Istanbul…
Thank you for your attention.
Disclaimer:
Opinions are my own based on my current state of knowledge on the matter.
I did not receive any form of compensation, benefit or incentive from DHI to write this article.
