3. Cost to patient is almost double when using SFUs only
The cost associated with a hair transplant surgery is also an important issue. We work hard to earn our incomes – why should we waste it if we have a more affordable alternative to achieve our goal.
For example, here is a cost estimate for a typical SFU-only hair transplant for a hypothetical patient.
Assumes:
A recipient area of 80 cm2
A donor size of 40 cm2 needed for a 50% transplanted density
Donor area contains about 100 FUs in one cm2
Total grafts needed are around 4000 SFUs
Total cost is around $20,000 at $5 per graft
In reality this surgery would likely cost much more than this estimate; in this calculation we didn’t take into consideration potential hair loss during surgery or the growth rate.Remember that hair loss is a life long process. A patient needs to receive touch-up hair transplants once in a while to maintain a good “look”. Over the longer term, the exclusive use of SFUs adds up to quite a sum!