Factors Affecting the Cost of Hair Transplants in India

If you are someone facing a receding hairline problem, then it is possible that you have already looked at some web search options for hair transplant costs in India. You must have come across multiple options of different hair transplant clinics and seen the different prices charged by each of them.

During your search, you may have come across terms like ‘charges per graft’, charges per hair’, ‘charges per hair follicle’, or ‘hair transplant package cost’. Looking at all of these might be confusing for someone without any medical knowledge.

In this blog, we look at some of the most prominent factors affecting the cost of hair transplants in India. Getting an understanding of these will help you to get an estimate for your final hair transplant price.

Factors Affecting the Cost of Hair Transplants in India

The final cost of a hair transplant surgery depends on a wide range of factors. We take a close look at each of them below.

1. Credentials of Hair Transplant Doctors

It is very important to choose an expert surgeon to perform your hair transplant. Nowadays, you will find plenty of hair transplant clinics around, but you should be looking at the credentials of the doctors. Your doctor should ideally be MBBS, MS, or MCh in Plastic and Cosmetic surgery.

There will be some doctors who are diplomats of the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery (ABHRS). Being an ABHRS-certified doctor means being one of the most skilled and capable doctors in the hair transplantation field. Most patients prefer to get hair transplant treatments from doctors who are experienced and ABHRS-certified.

Being a member of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery is also a good sign to spot someone capable and skillful. Make sure your hair transplant doctor is updated with the recent advancements in the field and employs the latest technology and tools in his/her way of operating. You shall choose doctors who are dedicated to learning more about the new technologies so they can offer the most advanced solutions to their patients. The hair transplant price in India will be higher for doctors with the right credentials.

2. Credibility of the Doctor

Before choosing a hair transplant surgeon, make sure you meet them and see their approach and consultation style. As a doctor, it is their duty to inform you of all the available treatment options and guide you on the latest techniques. They must devise a treatment plan that is customized for you to treat your individual hair fall condition. While looking for hair transplant doctors, you must check previous patient reviews on Google. This will give you confidence in the credibility of the doctor you are choosing. Patient reviews are a good measure to check the credibility of the doctor and the hair transplant clinic. When you go with the best option for treatment, expect your hair transplant cost to go a little higher.

3. Trichoscopy

Choose a hair transplant clinic where Trichoscopic Analysis is done for the patient at the very first consult. This is a software-based computerized hair analysis which is a great way to examine the patient’s hair characteristics. This examination gives an estimate of how successful a hair transplant might be for an individual, the availability of the size of donor area, the density of hair follicles in the donor area, the thickness and texture of the donor hairs, and so on. The results of a Trichoscopic Analysis let the surgeon know if the patient is eligible for a hair transplant or not. It also helps doctors in determining how many sittings will be required for the successful hair transplant. Since this is an advanced examination, it increases the final price of hair transplant in India.

4. Planning of Hair Transplant

As part of the pre-surgery consultation, a good and credible doctor must take the time to explain each and every step of the procedure to the patient. Ideally, the doctor should present both FUE and FUT as an option to the patient and explain the pros and cons of each procedure. But most clinics in India focus on only one technique of hair transplant, so they offer only one solution to their patients. It is recommended to choose a clinic that is performing both FUE and FUT procedures with successful results. But going for such clinics might be costlier.

5. Consumables and Punches

This is an important factor in hair transplant costs. In any type of surgery, the patient is charged for the consumables or instruments that are used during the procedure. In a hair transplant surgery, the consumables must be standardized, specialized and of the best quality. Punches are a specialized tool that are attached to the FUE machine and is used for harvesting the hair grafts. These punches are usually imported and only the best quality should be used. It is very important to ensure that a new punch is used for every new patient. You must confirm that the punches used in your hair transplant procedure are never recycled or reused. Make sure that the clinic you opt for uses only imported and good-quality punches. While this will increase the price, it is necessary if you want satisfactory results.

6. FUE Machine & Counter

In many sub-par clinics, dental drills with 35000 rotations per minute (RPM) are used for FUE procedures. This is a harmful practice as the rapid rotations from such drills can damage the hair roots and follicles while harvesting and lead to follicular transection. A good FUE machine must be functional at a low RPM speed. Low-RPM machines generate minimum torque and can extract the hair follicle gently without putting any extra force or pressure.

A good FUE machine comes with a 600 to 1200 RPM value. It must also have a counter function. This feature keeps a count of the hair grafts collected during the procedure. The counter on the FUE machine makes the process transparent and is also very helpful in calculating hair transplant costs per graft in India. It ensures that the patient only pays for those many grafts that have been extracted.

7. Type of OT Facility

While choosing a clinic, you must make sure the place has properly sanitized and fumigated OT facilities. Keeping in with the COVID protocol, the OT facilities must adhere to all disinfection and sterilization norms. There must also be the availability of auto-cleared OT gowns, PPE kits, emergency kits, multi-para monitors, defibrillators, a central supply of oxygen, and so on. All of these are in line with the international norms for all kinds of surgical procedures.

A hair transplant surgery needs very delicate handling of hair grafts by the staff. To get better results, the surgeon and the support technicians should be wearing high-quality magnification loops. It is recommended that high-grade products like Carl Zeiss magnification lenses are used by the medical team, which enables them to do good work. In clinics where the FUT technique is performed, the operating microscope shall also be fitted with a Carl Zeiss lens. Using these high-quality tools and devices ensures better handling of the hair grafts. Since Carl Zeiss is a reputed German company, the price of using such magnification devices directly impacts the hair transplant cost in India.

8. Team performing the procedure

In addition to choosing a credible hair transplant surgeon, it is equally important to choose an experienced surgical team. Performing a hair transplant is a team job. There are different aspects to the surgery where different skill sets are needed. You must choose a reputable and trustworthy hair transplant clinic where the surgeon is supported by a skilled and experienced medical staff.

A hair transplant procedure can be divided into three stages. The first stage is recipient site creation and the second stage is graft or follicular harvesting. Both these steps require the expertise of a skilled surgeon. The third stage is graft insertion in which the hair grafts are inserted into the pre-made slits in the recipient area. This step also needs skilled hands but it is often done with the assistance of the surgical team. There can be no tolerance for manhandling of grafts during this step of the surgery, and hence, the team must be qualified, trained, and experienced for this part of the job.

In a good hair transplant clinic, the support staff is usually permanent ensuring that they are adequately trained and skilled. Such clinics, while a bit more expensive, guarantee successful results.

9. Proper Receipt of Procedure with Taxes

When visiting a clinic, you must enquire about their payment system. Make sure that the clinic gives a you a proper receipt where it shows the 18% GST levied on your final payment. If you’re looking for ways to cut down the cost of hair transplant in India, not asking for a receipt can help you save some money as the clinic gets exempted from paying their share of taxes. But do not take this route. Firstly, it is illegal and unethical. And secondly, without a receipt, you will have no record of your treatment at the clinic. If a situation arises where there are any complications or side-effects, the clinic can refuse from taking any responsibility.

10. Hidden Cost Charges

When you get a price quotation from any clinic or hospital for a hair transplant, make sure you confirm if the quoted price is calculated per hair or per graft. One hair graft can comprise between 1 to 4 hair follicles or hair roots. When a clinic charges hair transplant cost per graft in India, they are charging the patient for every graft extracted from the donor site. If a clinic charges hair transplant per hair, then they are demanding more money. One hair means one follicular unit, while one graft means    follicular units. These are some technical terms, which the patient needs to sit down and clarify with the hospital administration.

11. Expertise in Special Area Hair Transplant

This refers to doctors or clinics who have the skills and expertise in performing special cases of hair transplants. This includes repair hair transplant, beard hair transplant, eyebrow hair transplant, beard to scalp transplant, or body to scalp transplant. For this type of specialized hair transplant procedures, specialized tools, punches, and equipment have to be used. This invariable increases the hair transplant price in India.

Conclusion

There is a very wide spectrum for hair transplant price estimation in India. It ranges between Rs. 10 to 15 per graft to Rs. 100 to 150 per graft. When choosing a hair transplant clinic, you must take the above-discussed points into consideration. Any clinic which meets with the maximum of these above factors will surely give you positive and successful results post a hair transplant.