According to the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery, well over 600,000 people have hair transplants performed yearly. Almost 90% of these people are men. This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise when you consider that about 40% of men experience hair loss to some degree by the time they turn 35.
If you’ve lost some or even all your hair and you’d like to potentially have a hair transplant done, you should aim to learn more about your different hair transplant options. You may also be trying to answer the question, “How much does a hair transplant cost?”
Hair transplants range greatly in price and often cost between $5,000 and $20,000. But the price you’ll have to pay for a hair transplant will be based on a wide range of different factors.
Today, we’re going to break down these factors so that you can get a better idea of how much you might have to pay for a hair transplant. Check them out below.
Type of Hair Transplant
There are different types of hair transplants. The two main types differ in the method of donor harvesting.
A Follicular Unit Transplant (FUT) is one option in terms of type of hair transplant. It involves taking hair follicles on the sides and back of your head as a strip and then suturing the area together which typically leaves behind a thin line scar. The strip is then dissected under the microscope into individual follicular units or grafts. These grafts are then placed into the recipient area one by one.
A Follicular Unit Excision/Extraction (FUE) is another popular type of hair transplant. It involves using a handheld punch device to remove follicular units one by one from the sides and back of the head. These follicular units are then moved to regions with thinning or balding.
Many centers will have different prices for the two procedures depending on the amount of the surgeon’s time is required, equipment, and staff needed based on their techniques. A surgeon from a hair transplant clinic like Root Hair Institute can give you a better idea of which one you should choose and how much it’ll cost during a consultation.
Condition of Hair
The condition of your hair right now will be another significant factor when answering the question, “How much does a hair transplant cost?” More specifically, the amount of hair you have and need will affect what you’ll have to pay for a hair transplant.
The larger the area needing to be covered and less existing hair in the area needing coverage the more grafts will be required and more expensive the procedure will be.
These factors help explain why it can be tricky to come up with a definitive answer when you’re wondering, “How much does a hair transplant cost?” Everyone who chooses to have a hair transplant performed is in a different boat. Your specific situation will play a big part in what a hair transplant will run you.
Surgeon
The U.S. hair transplant market has grown a lot over the last decade. And it’s expected to continue to grow in the years to come.
For this reason, it shouldn’t be too difficult to find doctor and non-doctors offering hair transplants. There a numerous people offering this surgery. However, the list of experience surgeons who perform the procedure themselves is much lower.
It is important to consult with surgeons to determine their level of experience and comfort with performing different types of hair transplant procedures. Ideally your surgeon should be able to perform different types of hair transplants including FUT and FUE to be able to tailor your plan to what is best in your individual case.
Additionally, it would be worth mentioning that not all surgeons specializing in hair transplants will charge the same prices. With this in mind, you want to weigh your priorities in terms of experience versus cost.
For example, many of the hair transplants performed at Root Hair Institute will cost between $7,000 and $20,000 as our surgeons are fellowship-trained and experts in their field.
Location
The location can affect the price of a hair transplant to some degree as rent, staffing, and other costs can be higher in certain locations. There also may be more regulations in terms of medical facilities in certain countries or states that lead to potentially better quality care and higher prices.
Travel Costs
As we alluded to, many U.S. cities have multiple hair transplant surgeons working in them. But at the same time, some cities still don’t have these surgeons.
You also might not love the hair transplant surgeons available to you in your city. They might not have enough experience in the industry, or they may not have the best reputation.
Whatever the case, you can travel to another city for a hair transplant. But you will need to be mindful that this could very well increase your hair transplant cost.
You’ll have to factor travel costs into the equation when figuring out how much you’ll have to spend on a hair transplant. You might have to pay anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars on travel costs alone.
You should also remember that a hair transplant ideally involves aftercare and follow up visits. Ask if the surgeon allows virtual follow up visits otherwise you may need to factor follow up travel into your estimated cost.
Medications
There may be some medications that you’ll be prescribed to take in the aftermath of a hair transplant to help you recover or to optimize your results.
The price you’ll pay for these medications will vary based on everything from the drugs themselves to the percentage of the medicines your health insurance company will pay for. Some clinics may include some of these post-operative supplies and medications in your hair transplant surgery cost.
Financing Options
Not everyone is going to be in a position to pay for hair transplants outright with cash. You may have to finance and pay for a hair transplant over time.
Fortunately, many places, including Root Hair Institute, can set you up with hair transplant financing. At Root Hair Institute, we offer finacing through both CareCredit and Cherry Financing. You can apply for financing and see if you can be approved for it to help make the cost more manageable.
If you have an excellent credit score and the means to repay a hair transplant loan fast, you might be able to get a 0% APR option. But if your credit score isn’t great, you might have to settle for a higher interest rate.
In this case, you will obviously find that your hair transplant cost will be more than what a surgeon will initially charge you. You’ll need to consider this when deciding if a hair transplant would be right for you in terms of cost.
Additional Treatments
Some people may need to have more than one treatment done when they decide to get a hair transplant performed. If you fall into this category, you might have to pay a higher hair transplant cost than someone who only needed one treatment.
The total number of hair transplant treatments you’ll potentially need will be another factor to consider when attempting to answer the question, “How much does a hair transplant cost?” It’s something you should bring up when you’re speaking with a surgeon.
Contact Us to See What Your Hair Transplant Cost Will Be
As you can see, many factors will affect the answer to the question, “How much does a hair transplant cost?” There isn’t just one specific price that everyone will pay for hair transplants.
Root Hair Institute would like to give you the opportunity to get more information on what a hair transplant will cost you. We’d love to help you book a consultation so that you can sit down with a surgeon and hear about your hair transplant options and the costs associated with them.
Reach out to our team today to schedule a consultation so that you can discover more about hair transplants. We can help those in Seattle, Bellevue, and Tacoma, WA. We also service Vancouver, BC. We also have patients who travel in from across the country and even internationally. So if you think you would be willing to travel to Bellevue in the Greater Seattle area for your procedure, consider scheduling a consultation with us above.