Not a hair mill, but a professional doctor service

“Not a hair mill, but a professional doctor service”

Have you heard of the term ‘hair mill’? It’s used in the hair transplant world to describe clinics where 5 to 25 patients are operated on under one doctor’s name daily.

Initially, doctors work ethically and produce good results to build a brand. Later on , these clinics build a brand using celebrity photographs, influencers, creators, social media, or other means. Then, they hire inferior-quality surgeons to perform your surgery, or the surgeon limits his role to 5 to 40 minutes, leaving the rest of the procedure to less qualified doctors or surgical assistants.

 In Turkey, for example, 99% of clinics state on their websites that the doctor’s maximum role in all follicular steps is merely making incisions in the recipient area (40 minutes in 6 – 8 hours of surgery ). Gradually, incision-making is also passed to less qualified doctors or surgical assistants.

When you pay around 4000 to 5000 euros for your hair transplant, they provide a facility where the expert senior doctor himself will make the incisions in the bald area; otherwise, incisions are also done by junior doctor or surgical assistant staff rather than doctors. This means the doctor will devote about 40 to 45 minutes to a 6—to 8-hour surgery, provided you are paying 4000 to 5000 euros, and the rest of the transplant will be done by surgical assistants.

Currently, donor-area hair extraction by the doctor is not an option in 98% of Turkish and 95 % of Indian hair clinics. This is done by surgical staff ( hair technicians or hair techs ) . This approach has even spread to the USA and developed countries like Australia.

These clinics suggest that a doctor’s only role should be surgical planning and making incisions in the recipient area, with the rest of the work done by nursing staff or surgical assistants.

Due to the reduced or nonexistent role of the doctor, under one doctor’s name, there are 10 to 50 patients getting operated on the name of one doctor on the same day.

It’s very common to see 5 to 10 patients under the name of one doctor in these clinics, and each hair transplant procedure requires 6 to 8 hours. So, if ten patients’ surgeries are ongoing in the theatre of a particular clinic, how can he contribute 3 to 4 hours to each patient? It’s impossible for him. He will briefly visit you, spend about 10 minutes, and then hand over your head and hair to a surgical assistant, nursing staff, or a less qualified doctor, who will also do only the incision-making and nothing else.

These clinics thrive because they have so much volume; they benefit from their social media accounts and celebrity endorsements. Because their volume is so high, they accumulate thousands of Google reviews, so you don’t doubt their service. But that is not a professional doctor’s service, for sure.

They consume almost 1.5 – 2 times the donor area to produce hair transplant results. However, because they operate on 10 – 20 times more patients than a professional doctor, they have a lot to share on social media or collect google reviews.

It is a hair mill where you are entrusting your head to surgical assistants in hopes of a positive outcome. If everything goes well, it’s good, and if something goes very wrong, it’s a disaster for you and your donor area, with no scope for repair. Even if you are getting good hair transplant results, then it is also at the cost of your donor area. They can consume 1.5 – 2 times the donor area to produce the same result which you can expect from an expert doctor.

It is not a phenomenon of cheaper clinics alone; it is prevalent even in the most expensive hair clinics worldwide. Patients cannot be sure whether even paying $3 to $4 per graft, they will escape this phenomenon of the hair mill. If you don’t inquire about the doctor’s role in your surgery or the doctor’s name involved, there is a 98 to 99% chance that you will be cheated on the day of the surgery.

Always get the doctor’s exact name, qualifications and role in your surgery. You can check his qualifications and other details.

At AKESO, we ensure that we don’t take more than two patients in a day, and if one particular patient has more than 3500 grafts, then we try to do only one hair transplant case per day.

This is our policy: An expert plastic surgeon devotes 3 to 5 hours to each hair transplant patient who is getting operated on at AKESO. We have very affordable pricing for international and Indian patients despite delivering high quality. I hope you have understood how we operate.

So, if you want a professional doctor service for your hair transplant, then come to AKESO. You will not be disappointed because all the transplants are done according to the board certification requirements or guidelines of the Indian National Medical Commission, the American Board, or international boards.

According to the Indian National Medical Board (NMC ) and US Board – planning, follicular excision ( FUE ) from the donor area is the duty of the Doctor. In the front area or in the bald area, to decide the direction and density, the doctor makes incisions (also know as channels, or slit pattern)

Assistant role according to Indian NMC and US Guidelines – The assistant can pluck them out after the Doctor makes the excision. Then, the assistant counts the grafts. Then they insert the grafts into the incisions or channels or slits, which the Doctor makes to decide the direction and density of hair in the bald area.

According to these guidelines, the doctor will give you 3 to 5 hours in your surgery in 5 to 8 hours, which is the minimum requirement. I hope you now understand how we at AKESO help you get a better hair transplant and avoid a hair mill.