Is a Hair Transplant Worth It?

One of the many questions you may ask before committing to a hair transplant is – is a hair transplant worth it? By this you may mean worth the money or worth taking the time to undergo the procedure to achieve the results you want. The biggest concerns we discuss with KSL Clinic patients include worries about the natural appearance of a hair transplant, comparing the cost of a private transplant with the likelihood of achieving the ideal outcomes, and reservations about the risks inherent in any surgical procedure.

Of course, we believe the benefits of a hair transplant far outweigh any negatives or concerns you may have!

Data shows that demand for professional hair transplantation has also surged, with an increase of 152% in the number of people seeking treatment and a larger 240% spike in requests for hair transplantation across Europe.

The Advantages of a Personalised Hair Transplant

The first step when finding out whether a particular hair transplant clinic is ‘worth it’ is to consider the reputation and professional standing of the clinic you may be considering using. At a minimum, a clinic should be registered and regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and follow exacting quality standards and practice guidelines to protect your safety.

We’ll discuss risk factors later, but it is absolutely paramount that you work with an established, trustworthy provider who will share authentic before-and-after pictures and refer you to real-world client testimonials.

Having treated over 2,800 patients, including a large number of celebrities, influencers, professional sports people, and TV presenters, we have complete confidence in the talented and precise detail our hair transplants achieve. Patients often note that, after years of deliberation, their hair transplant is the best experience they have had.

Digby Edgley, reality TV star and entrepreneur, who underwent an FUE hair transplant with us three years ago, said in his one-year review:

It’s been nearly a year since my hair transplant, and I couldn’t be happier! My hair was my biggest insecurity, and it just doesn’t bother me anymore – when it’s windy, wet or not styled. I absolutely love it, and it is probably the best thing I’ve ever done.

His comments are echoed by the feedback from Rob Wotton, Sky Sports presenter, who also had an FUE hair transplant. Rob says:

Don’t consider it, just do it! It was brilliant. I was lying there thinking I’ve been meaning to get this done for years and I can’t believe I’m actually getting it done now. I’m feeling great; I think I’ve completed Netflix – watching that all day was great! The guys were fantastic; they looked after me very well.

Factors in Deciding Whether to Opt for a Hair Transplant

Of course, a hair transplant isn’t always the best option for every patient. Our specialists can recommend a diverse range of alternative therapies and treatments. While a transplant is the only assured way to achieve permanent hair restoration results, other supplementary therapies can prevent further hair loss or assist in recovery following a hair transplant.

We provide a comprehensive range of services, including:

• PRP therapy: plasma-rich platelet therapy, where we extract valuable platelets from your blood and inject them into the target area to activate dormant follicles and assist in scalp and skin healing.
• Laser light therapy which achieves similar outcomes by using high-strength lasers that encourage stronger hair growth.
• Prescription medications pre and post-procedure, including well-known hair growth treatments such as Minoxidil and Finasteride.

Your decisions may also depend on your circumstances, where factors related to cost, the extent of your hair loss, and the viability of your expectations may dictate the recommendations we make.

Considering affordability, your age, the success of other hair restoration medications or treatments you have tried, and the nature of your hair loss will ensure you think about all of the relevant details before committing to a transplant or making a different decision.

Hair Transplantation and Costs: Is a Transplant Good Value for Money? 

Undoubtedly, a bespoke hair transplant isn’t a cheap procedure, and neither should it be. The skills, years of experience, high-quality medical-grade equipment, and relaxing, comfortable environment we pride ourselves on are designed to ensure your procedure is pain-free and you are delighted with the outcomes.

It’s also impossible to provide an indicative or ballpark figure as to the cost of a hair transplant since this depends on elements such as:

• The number of grafts required to complete your transplant
• The size of the area of hair loss or hair thinning
• The availability and access to healthy donor hairs

However, we also find that thousands of patients perceive hair transplantation as unaffordable or assume a customised procedure will cost tens of thousands of pounds, which simply isn’t true.

You’ll find more information on our pricing pages and can also use our interest-free payment plan, which helps to spread the cost of the transplant procedure over a year, ensuring that quality transplants are available to all patients, not solely celebrities and affluent hair transplant candidates.

Many of our patients report that the outcomes and the convenience of a zero-interest payment plan have augmented their experiences throughout. Keely visited our Maidstone clinic and scheduled an FUE hair transplant, which has now fully healed.

She says:

‘The team at KSL in Maidstone were fantastic – from making me feel welcome and at ease during my first consultation to ensuring I was comfortable and pain-free during surgery. I would recommend this procedure to anyone suffering the emotional torment of hair loss.’

You’ll find many similar stories from everyday hair transplant clients through our vast library of patient testimonials. 

Verifying Whether a Hair Transplant Will Achieve Your Desired Results

The next factor to think about is whether a hair transplant will achieve the outcomes you are hoping for, and to discuss your aspirations with one of our surgeons. Every client is different, and you might hope to:

• Reverse extensive hair loss
• Correct minor thinning
• Replenish your crown or hairline
• Restore thinning or patchy eyebrows
• Achieve a thick, full beard
• Deal with early-onset pattern hair loss

It is common for patients to think that more severe hair loss, or thinning hair over a wider area, is impossible to treat or that their hair loss has been ongoing for such a long period that they are past the point at which a transplant would be effective.

The only way to verify the available options is to speak with a hair transplant consultant. Although it is important to schedule a transplant before hair loss results in complete baldness, there are also scenarios where we may feel hair loss is at too early a stage to make a transplant ideal.

Alternatives such as hair loss medications and non-surgical therapies may be perfect at this time, followed by a hair transplant in the future. 

If hair loss is severe, a transplant surgeon will need to assess whether enough healthy follicles are available to cover the required area. We use a clinical grading system called the Norwood Scale to quantify the degree of hair loss you are experiencing.

As a general rule, hair loss past stage five may make a hair transplant difficult, but this could still be an option, often combined with PRP treatment to stimulate new growth in inactive or dormant follicles and medications to prepare your scalp and hair for a successful transplant.

Common Reasons Individuals Regret Having a Hair Transplant

While our patients experience unparalleled results with thousands of fantastic testimonials, we also speak with clients who have undergone a hair transplant with another provider or in an overseas clinic and are unhappy with the outcomes. The vast majority fall into one of the below categories.

Regrets Following a Substandard Hair Transplant

Unfortunately, the demand for hair transplants has given rise to an increasing number of low-quality clinics, many of which are overseas and offer very cheap transplant procedures. 

These clinics do not adhere to UK safety and clinical best practice standards and, in many cases, may be black market clinics with no formal qualifications, regulation, or licensing.

“Botched transplants can have serious outcomes, causing infections and impacting the client’s appearance – often meaning that the unfeasibly low price they have paid is a fraction of the cost of putting the failed procedure right or treating the damage caused.”

There have been several campaigns in recent years to try and make clients better informed about the risks of low-quality and low-cost hair transplantation, given that as many as 77.5% of professional transplant surgeons deal with rectifying six or more cases of poor transplantation every year. [3]

Issues With Post-Transplant Recovery

Aftercare is just as important as the hair transplant itself, and a lack of guidance or instructions can mean that the transplant is destined to fail, where the follicles are not protected, are exposed to contaminants, and the client is unaware of the steps they should be taking to preserve their hair and generate new growth.

Professional consultants and surgeons offer detailed instructions from the initial consultation and throughout recovery, whether prescribing medications, performing periodic reviews, or instructing clients on sleeping, exercising, nutrition, and hydration.

Hair Transplant Results That Do Not Achieve Expectations

The third and final most common reason patients come to us with problems caused by a previous transplant is that the results they expected or were led to believe were possible haven’t materialised.

That may be because the clinic they attended lacked the skill and precision microscopic instruments needed to achieve dramatic results or because the surgeon failed to advise that their hair loss concerns could not be remedied to the degree they had expected.

Consulting with your nearest KSL Clinic is the best way to ensure you make clear decisions about whether to have a hair transplant and have all the time and information to judge whether the procedure is worth it.

We are always happy to provide advice and guidance to ensure you are happy that – whether you choose to book a hair transplant or not – you are confident it is the right option.