Not to beat a dead horse, but Dr. Feller has actually sent me one of his patented Feller punches.

Remember this is at a time when some clinics are clouded and cloaked in secrecy as to the tools they use.

It is this type of transparency and willingness to share that is commendable.

Dr. Feller is 100% correct--- ANY clinic doing ANY surgery should disclose ANY tools or techniques being used to ANY patient that asks.

To quote Sir. Charles "Anything else would be uncivilized"

Dr. Feller,

I was interested to read where you described 1mm+ FUE as "baby" plug work. Many people contend that, since 1mm+ punches are not necessary, they must not be used. That is sound reasoning in my mind. Still, when I see you mention "plugs," I start to wonder whether or not you've seen some 1mm+ FUE results where the grafts were obviously too big. In other words, they looked "pluggy." (?)

I think the docs opinion surrounding 1mm+ FUE is not the grafts appearance in the recipient area but the void it leaves in the donor area - scaring is very visual with 1mm+ extraction tools and resembles old plug work to a donor area - 1mm+ extraction tools are not classed as FUE - Rather plug extraction

I have never heard of having to pay for a procedure in full well in advance. The real question here is what obligation does any clinic have as far as refunds. The person clearly had unanswered questions and concerns. To keep 100% of the paid in full amount for a surgery that was never done is unethical.

If we use insured medicine as an example, this would have never happened. Somehow because the person is paying out of their own pocket the doctor feels it's not a problem. If this was an insured procedure, it would be prosecuted as insurance fraud.

quote:

Originally posted by Topcat611:
I have never heard of having to pay for a procedure in full well in advance. The real question here is what obligation does any clinic have as far as refunds. The person clearly had unanswered questions and concerns. To keep 100% of the paid in full amount for a surgery that was never done is unethical.

I've paid mine in full already and it's next Thursday. The reason I paid was the clinic offers a 10% discount for a certified check paid one-week in advance.

I don't know the whole story, but you've got to think it's a great expense for someone to skip on an appointment. But, the deposit should do imo.

I'm not worried about something like this happening though, as I'd do a lot more than $10k worth of damage if my reasons were medical or they wouldn't provide info I requested.

Either by super bad publicity or multiple ass-whippings.....

There are obviously a few important points here generally speaking.

Firstly, the point of this open discussion forum is public accountability and transparency. Physicians who are recommended on this online hair transplant community have a reputation for standing behind their patients, in fact, we wouldn't have it any other way.

Also, in my opinion, a reputable clinic would issue a full (or at the least partial minus the initial deposit if it was explained in advance) refund if a patient did not undergo surgery.

Another important issue is transparency (mentioned above). A patient has a right to know any and all information surrounding his surgery, including the size of the punch. Witholding such critical information is highly suspicious and should send a patient running for the hills.

A side conversation that is certainly worth of discussion is what size extraction tool is optimal for follicular unit extract (FUE) hair transplant surgery. I think I may start a conversation on another thread, generally speaking about this subject and welcome all physician contributions.

Best wishes,

Falc

Without a doubt, IMO, the very best tools for an experienced FUE practitioner are the .8mm and .9mm diameter punches followed by further refinement of grafts under high power microscope.

A novice FUE doctor may need to start with a 1mm punch, but after some practice they will find that a 1mm punch is no longer needed.

You should start a new thread on this topic. Be interesting to see which FUE docs chime in. I've found that most don't want to discuss what size punches they use. Shine some light on this topic Falceros.

Dr. Feller

quote:

I've found that most don't want to discuss what size punches they use. Shine some light on this topic Falceros.

Dr. Feller, already started a new topic. I'd love your input. The thread can be found here.

Falc

Spex,

That is what I thought and of course I have seen the sort on white dot scarring in the donor area that can result from "big" FUE. Still, it occurred to me that, for patients with densely growing donor hair, FUE'ing double-follicular unit groups can be a possibility...a very real one particularly if the surgeon is using punches bigger than 1mm. Hence my question about pulling larger grafts.

(That is my little disclaimer in case the initial question seemed off-the-wall...)

I'm going to move to the new thread that Falc started, but I want to mention here and now that white dotting, or what some doctors wrongly call "depigmenting" most certainly CAN happen with punches smaller than 1mm in diameter. It's just that the CHANCES for obvious white dotting is DECREASED with the decreasing diameters.

FUE is NOT a scar-free surgery. It produces MORE scar tissue by an order of 10 BUT, the scarring is more distributed and therefore harder to detect.

Dr.Feller,

Are you saying FUE causes 10x as much scarring in the donor area as strip? If so, why?

quote:

Originally posted by the B spot:

It is this type of transparency and willingness to share that is commendable.

Dr. Feller is 100% correct--- ANY clinic doing ANY surgery should disclose ANY tools or techniques being used to ANY patient that asks.

The thing about hair surgery is that only local anesthetics are used and patients typically hear and see almost everything that is going on (which I believe is a good thing).

During most surgeries patient are put asleep and dont know a thing what happened to them ... and if you know some surgical assistants than you should talk to them, you wont believe your ears when you find out who is doing what during surgery.
One of my best friend is an ER surgycal assistant and sometimes I believe patients are bettter of not knowing what is going on.