Hair transplant:Melbourne vs Turkey.

Compare the same five things at every clinic you speak to. Who the doctor is, whether they are AHPRA registered, and whether they are named before you pay. Whether the clinic operates in its own surgical theatre or a hired room. Whether the price is published and what it includes. Who does the extraction and the placement on the day. And when you will be reviewed after surgery. At Hair Doctors South Yarra those answers are Dr Callum Prosser, our own theatre on Claremont Street, the fixed prices on this page, Dr Prosser with his team of nurses, and reviews at day 2, month 6 and month 12.

Once flights, accommodation, insurance and time off work are added, a mid-size case in Turkey costs about the same as our $7,999 tier. Here, the regulations are stricter, infection control is held to Australian standards, you are not on a flight days after surgery, and if something needs looking at in three months the doctor is a tram ride away.

Hair comes from the back and sides, where growth is denser. We use micro FUE punches far smaller than traditional FUE tools, so the marks in the donor area are much smaller and easier to hide. Most people are back to a short haircut within a few weeks. Ask to see the donor area in every case photo you are shown, not just the top of the head.

The scalp is numbed with local anaesthetic. The injections sting for a minute. The procedure itself takes most of a day and you are awake for it. Most people describe the days after as tender rather than painful.

Transplanted hairs shed within the first few weeks. That is expected and it worries people who were not warned. Regrowth starts around month four, about half the final density shows at six to eight months, and twelve months is the point at which you judge the result.

Dr Callum Prosser designs your hairline, plans the surgery and sets the graft distribution. Under his clinical care, his clinical team performs the extraction and placement. Dr Prosser is there throughout and does not leave until the whole procedure is done.

FUE with smaller punches, 0.75 mm and below, and instruments designed to cut less skin per graft. Smaller wounds mean smaller donor marks and less trauma to the follicles around them. It is what we do at Hair Doctors, with the WAW DUO system, sapphire blades for the recipient sites and grafts held chilled in HypoThermosol between extraction and placement.

Possibly. A transplant moves hair, it does not stop the loss around it. If you are still losing hair, the pattern keeps changing underneath the work. We will tell you where you sit before you book, not after.

Infection, poor growth in part of the area, numbness that lasts longer than expected, and a result you are not happy with. Every one of these is in the written document we send on day two. Read it before you pay a deposit.

Level 4, 25 Claremont Street, South Yarra, with our own private surgical theatre on site. Free consults with Jess, our clinic nurse, run in the clinic or by video call, and you can book online without a phone call.