The Quality of Service

We live in a Wash-N-Go society.  A country full to the brim with cheap, fast solutions to any of life's problems and inconveniences. Our service industry has changed drastically with advancement in technologies, increase in population, and the ever-diminishing quality of products and service. The downwards turn that the economy has taken over the past decade does not help matters, either.  The service industry (particularly the hair world) is always one to suffer in times of frugality. Many people try to save a buck by opting for cheap, do-it-yourself dyes, synthetic hair extensions or hairpieces, and 15 minute haircuts over a relaxing experience in the hands of a skilled professional that knows your name and asks for the long version of how your day has been.
There's nothing wrong with watching your wallet. Everyone has to take cuts somewhere. A lot of people, however, have had the experience of a terrible cut, hairpiece, or dye job from an inexperienced stylist who has had an overbooked day. Bad attitudes, bad experience, and an unwelcome atmosphere. Once the cut grows out, they try a different discount cuttery, jump on the conveyor belt, and have the same poor treatment over again. All in the name of fiscal conservativeness.
There are several facts that should be made known for the skeptics. There are differences in service a client experiences in a private hair salon in comparison to a corporate one. There are also a few key factors that come into play when making a decision.
1. Corporate discount hair salons charge separately for a shampoo, a haircut, and a style-out (blow-dry).    So your haircut might be $15, but a shampoo is an extra $10 (sometimes &15), and a style-outs run between $20 and $35.  Thats a general range of $45 to $65. Plus tip.  Also, forget about specialized cuts. These are people who are used to doing quick, simple cuts and blow-drys without too much muss, fuss, or client consideration. I personally have never known anyone to get the best cut of their life at one of these places.
2. Most private salons charge anywhere between $35 and $75 for a haircut. However, this includes a full shampoo and conditioning (most also involve a scalp massage), a haircut that is EXACTLY (not someone else's version of) what you asked for, and a style-out that is appropriate for your cut. There is usually a complementary drink, and friendly conversation in an environment that is comfortable and private. So, you are getting a better full experience for roughly the same price.
3. Men and women are different. Women enjoy displaying their new hairdo, color, or extensions. It is a point of pride. Men, however, usually prefer to look natural. Needing a haircut is one thing, but incoming grays and male pattern baldness can be a sensitive issue for most men. Sensitivity that is not acknowledged by 'discount' hair clubs. Nor is it recognized in regular salons that agree to cut in that hairpiece because they assume it is exactly the same as any other cut. At a private salon or hair replacement studio, each visit is confidential. Each stylist is knowledgeable in their craft. And they recognize that if their job is done right, no one will notice it at all.
4.  You don't stay in business for 50 years if you are terrible at what you do.  Private businesses like David Hansen Custom Hair Replacement have unparalleled experience at the helm.  That much experience and passion in a career results in perfect pieces, every time. Consistency is one of the most important things lacking in the cheaper experience. Why get it right some of the time, when you can get it right EVERY time?
5. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but attitude tells all. Who would be more inclined to be genuine to a client, someone cutting 20 heads a day for minimum wage, or someone who has the time and confidence by building their own business?  It's not an easy thing to do; and men like David Hansen do not get to where they are today by treating his clients like numbers on a page.
6. Quality of product is the final major factor in choosing a hair experience. When it comes to specialty products like hairpieces, isn't it worth it to have something that will not only look amazing but will last? Quality custom pieces last longer, and undeniably look much better than their cheap, synthetic counterparts. Why waste money on some cheap throwaway?
So, yes, times are a little tough, but if you are considering something as important as a hairpiece, it is time to get old fashioned. Look for the best quality, and the most experience. The experience will be better, you will have better results, and feel better about the money well spent.

Your insurance company may pick up your bill for your hairpiece purchase!

Did you know if you are someone who is dealing with alopecia, medical related balding or cancer related chemotherapy and/or radiation and need to wear a hair system, toupee, wig, or hairpiece, that your health insurance plan may cover the full cost.  You’ll be surprised to know that most insurance companies will cover between 80 - 100% of a “cranial prosthesis.”  Insurance companies are starting to realize the important role that cranial hair prosthesis plays in the life of someone suffering with the side effects of these medical conditions. 

Here are a few tips that may help you figure out if you can go through your insurance and be reimbursed for your new purchase.

- When filing your claim, be sure to refer to your hair system as a cranial hair prosthesis   

- Read over your policy and double check your coverage portion. 

  (Make sure your policy covers expenses for prosthesis or prosthetics)

- Request a prescription from your physician for your full or partial cranial prosthesis

- Check with your physician for details and referrals for proper specialists and procedures in the field

-Write a letter to your insurance company to clarify the necessity of your prosthesis

- Make sure you, your physician and your specialist fill out and sign all proper documents

- Be sure to keep personal copies of all your paperwork and invoices  

Good Luck & Good Looking!

David Hansen

www.davidhansen.com

Surgical and Non-Surgical Hair System Procedures: What’s the Best Method for You

Many suffer with the nightmare of hair loss and search high and low for an answer to their problems.  This blog is to help, educate and guide you in making such an important decision and investment.  As they say “Different strokes, for different folks,” but when you breakdown some of the pros and cons that you face when deciding on a system, much of the real information is left out or not even mentioned. Dealing with such a stressful condition and trying to find a solution, can easily add up to you being persuaded into a decision that you live to regret.  Be sure to research the best possible hair system for your circumstances.  A desperate person would jump to the possibility if it’s presented or advertised the right way. Be aware!!!

When exploring the options of having or deciding on a surgical procedure to fix your hair loss problems, there are many things and steps you might want to look into like; the best doctors, cost, risks and results.  Here’s a short list of a few uncovered and lost facts about surgical hair system methods.

-Most surgeons today are still using outdated procedures

-It requires a very high level of skill, experience and a full staff

-Your hair will never be as full as it was before you start to thin

-There are only 2 FDA approved products that have been clinically proven to stop or prevent                       hair loss (Minoxidil {Rogaine} & Finasteride {Propecia})         

-Only a handful of surgeons performing surgical hair restoration to the state of art standards

-Extensive research required by you; the patient

-The 2 FDA approved products only have an effective outcome for a limit of time and then began to wane

-Most surgeons have a no refund policy regardless of the your results; They don’t guarantee

-Sometimes the procedure can damage your existing hair therefore eliminating any future hope for donor hair

-Many scar, swell and/or suffer from redness, irritation and even infection

- Most prices average at $9.00 per graft (It usually takes a few hundred to a couple of thousands for the treatment)

-Results takes up to 6 months – 2 years

If time, risk, cost and results play a significant role on your list, maybe taking the non-surgical route is best for you.  Having a background and over 50 years in the business, I think it’s the most resourceful and stress-free way to go.  My argument is clarified in the below list. 

-Absolutely no pain involved

-The set up or molding process takes all of a hour and 6-7 weeks to receive your system

-Very safe and sanitary

-Cost comes in under $2000

-Great investment

-A one- time molding process

-Custom fit, undetected, and natural hairline

-Color match from cut samples of your existing hair

-No contracts or memberships required

-Minimum services involved with the care of your system

-Overall affordable, convenient and safe     

Non-surgical hair replacement is a great option for individuals suffering from excessive hair loss. Non-surgical hair replacement refers to any hair replacement solution that is non invasive. This is the safest way of restoring your natural hair. There are many risks that come with surgical hair replacement that can be avoided with non-surgical hair replacement. There is never a guarantee that the hair implanted to the balding area will adapt. This option is also very time consuming, expensive, and painful. You have to consider a certain recovery period as well as a possible infection.  Even though there are many companies out there that are simply trying to make profit by selling the hair replacement systems using stock pieces for a low price, there are also companies that care about offering a customized and undetectable results. David Hansen’s offers the highest quality undetectable systems that are custom designed for every individual to fit their specific needs. Just remember to do extensive research into either method you decide to choose or even change.  Good Luck & Good Looking!

Hair Transplants

If you are looking for a permanent type of hair replacement, something that can become a part of you, chances are that someone will recommend a hair transplant.

Its greatest advantage is that you'll be able to say it's your own hair--because, in effect, it will be. It is the most permanent type of hair replacement available. Once it is completed and your system has accepted it, you can work, play, sleep, and even swim, and never have to remove your hair.

It may sound tempting, but a transplant is not something you should jump into blindly. It is strongly recommended that you look, and look carefully, before you leap. It may be for you, but if you find out that it isn't and you already have had the initial steps performed, it could be a disaster!

A transplant requires more of an investment, both in time and money, than any other method of hair replacement; and although it can be quite attractive if properly carried out, there are no guarantees.

A transplant is a minor operation carried out under local anesthesia in a doctor's office. The patient can usually sit upright in a chair while healthy hair from the back of his scalp is transferred to the balding areas on the top and top and front of his head.

With the use of a circular punch, the doctor bores out plugs of bald scalp and switches them with plugs of scalp that are capable of bearing hair. (Various shape punches have been known to be used, but the circular punch remains superior.) The entire operation requires more than one session, so the patient returns for more punching and plugging at two-week intervals.

It is important to realize that the newly transferred hair stubs will shed within a few weeks. It takes as long as 10 to 20 weeks after the operation before new hair begins to grow, because the hair roots go into a resting stage after the trauma of being transplanted. The patient goes through a period of nearly a year of having the transplanted area resemble cornfield stubble much more than it does hair.

Blonde hair, grey hair and red hair gives less impressive results, since they do not have the appearance of being as thick as dark hair of the same thickness.

No matter how minor the operation, a transplant is surgery, and one must be concerned with the usual surgical questions such as wound healing, clot formation, bleeding tendencies, etc. In addition, there is also a possibility that patients having diabetes could develop hypoglycemia associated with the stress of the procedure, and those who fail to admit to underlying cardiovascular ailments may also be in great danger.

Usually, a certain amount of pain can be expected when the anesthetic wears off, and patients must often put up with black eyes, tearing, swelling, etc., after each session. Itching and a discharge of sebaceous matter at the donor site are also common nuisance. For this reason, if a man is being forced to get the operation by a wife or girlfriend, the minor discomfort may turn into major problems as a result of the psychological trauma.

The procedure is open territory for anybody in medicine who feels qualified, be he a dermatologist, a general practitioner, a head and neck plastic surgeon, a psychiatrist, a pathologist, etc. According to the American Hair Loss Association “It is also important to note that surgery should always be your last resort after all attempts to stop the progression of your hair loss have been exhausted. Currently in the United States the field of surgical hair restoration is completely unregulated by both the government and the medical community. In the US any licensed physician can legally perform hair transplant surgery without any prior surgical training or accreditation of any kind. Every physician, MD or DO, has the legal right to pick up a scalpel and proclaim him/herself a qualified hair transplant surgeon”. in some cases much of the work is entrusted simply to technicians. As you can imagine, with such a variety of operators, many of whom have never shown any surgical aptitude before, the results are sometimes failures, and the patient suffers severe emotional and physical scars.

If the procedure is not planned properly before it is begun, failures can result. Perhaps a patient really does not have enough healthy hair left to donate to the balding area. The fact must be accepted that progress in balding of the scalp will require additional transplants to the newly naked areas.

Doing transplants in the frontal area of a man in his twenties may commit him to transplants for the rest of his life as male pattern alopecia progresses. No one can guarantee that he will have sufficient healthy hair left for subsequent operations required. Furthermore, grafts of hair-bearing scalp taken from an area which is becoming bald will themselves bald at the same time as the area of the scalp from which they were removed.

Failures can also result if the procedure is not executed properly by the physician. Some doctors are not realistic about what a man's natural hairline should look like, and they are seen devising new hairlines never before seen in the history of human nature!

The size of a graft must be no larger than 4mm to survive. However, since skin punches are available in large sizes, a number of surgeons are tempted to use them. Then, there is little or no hair growth. Several of grafts become red, granulating, and ulcerated, because the epidermis did not survive. All that remains is scar tissue, just as occurs when a technician goofs and puts the grafts in backwards or lets them dry out before they are planted.

To make matter worse, if the transplants do not take, the patient will then not only have surgical scars on the bald area.

Perhaps the most prohibitive factor in selecting this method of hair replacement is the cost. Plan on investing at least 5,000 to 10,000.

It is only fair at this point to acknowledge that numerous hair transplants have been successfully completed. But when you consider what is involved in order to achieve success, the fact remains--it is a gamble. many have bet on it and have come out winners. Only you can decide if you want to take the risk. The stakes are high. the jackpot is a tempting target. But to lose could be quite a financial, a physical and an emotional set-back!

The hair doctor David Hansen
www.davidhansen.com