Dr Martinick - Choosing a hair restoration doctor

Dr Martinick advises patients, when choosing a hair restoration clinic,  it is critical to conduct extensive research about the surgical techniques used by the physician as well as the clinical procedures for staff - including the cleaning and sterilization of instruments.

Martinick Hair Restoration’s Dr Jennifer Martinick said while thorough research was important wherever surgery was conducted, extreme caution was needed by those who were considering travelling overseas for surgery.

Dr Martinick, the immediate past president of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS), said Australians were increasingly taking the risk of going overseas for cheaper cosmetic procedures. 

She said there were important questions to raise when considering options for  cheaper hair transplant surgery in some other countries.

Instead of just comparing price, it was important to consider a broad range of other factors including the safety and sterilisation practices of the clinic, the experience of the surgeon, the surgeon’s qualifications and experience and their commitment to ongoing training.

Dr Martinick said it was crucial to ask to speak to former patients and see the results that had been achieved for them.

While travelling to some countries for surgery could certainly result in a significantly cheaper transplant, it was important to remember that many of these countries placed fewer regulations on doctors and clinics.

Dr Martinick said key factors to consider for those who chose to have surgery overseas were the availability of ongoing after care and the additional risk of travelling after a surgical procedure. 
If something went wrong, patients would have fewer legal rights and entitlements, she said.
This was significantly different from clinics in Australia which were subject to many layers of control through the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).

Patients should ask themselves if the doctor was legitimate, how long the physician had been performing transplants for and they should also ask about the doctor’s approach to a transplant, Dr Martinick said

“Prospective patients must make sure the surgeon is committed to the highest clinical procedures and to providing patients with a natural looking transplant,” Dr Martinick said.

Dr Martinick said while performing a natural looking hair transplant looked deceptively easy, there were still too many examples around the world of inferior work.

She said sub par transplants continued to be a problem and this was often due to inexperience of the surgeon, poor technique, poor quality control in surgery and failing to properly plan surgery.

“Research, research and research, Dr Martinick said.

“You would do plenty of due diligence for so many other areas of life.
“A hair transplant is in such a highly visible area and the patient has to live with the consequences, good or bad, for a very long time.

“One should never take surgery lightly.”