ISHRS Announces First “World Hair Transplant Repair Day”

The International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) has announced its first-ever “World Hair Transplant Repair Day” on November 11, 2021, in honor of those who have been victims of botched hair transplant surgeries from fraudulent clinics.¹ The event is a part of the ISHRS Fight the Fraudulent, Illicit, and Global Hair Transplants (Fight the FIGHT) global consumer awareness campaign and those who are interested in participating can apply for a free reparative surgery at HairRepairDay.org.

“Our members are reporting an increasing number of patients coming to their clinics who have been victims of these botched hair transplant surgeries and are desperate for correction,” says Ricardo Mejia, MD, chair of the ISHRS communications and public education committee, Jupiter, Florida. “The ISHRS’s World Hair Transplant Repair Day is our way of raising awareness of this growing problem and helping people find solutions with qualified physicians of the ISHRS who have the education and training in the art and science of hair transplantation.”

ISHRS was launched in 2019 as a response to concern about the risk of unlicensed technicians illegally performing hair restoration surgery, which is safe and effective when performed by a qualified physician. The ISHRS states in the press release that it is committed to patient safety and continually strives for the best outcomes for all patients, offering members superior education and training to improve their techniques.

“Clinics using technicians to perform hair restoration surgery pose a severe health risk with serious side effects for patients, including permanent scarring, infection, and depletion from over-harvested donor areas,” says Paul McAndrews, MD, FISHRS, president of the ISHRS, Pasadena, California. “World Hair Transplant Repair Day was created to raise awareness of this illegal worldwide practice and offer affected patients a means to work with a qualified hair restoration physician to try to correct their poor outcomes.”

ISHRS, in the press release, explained that clinics around the world may promote themselves as affordable experts in hair restoration, but are actually illegal, operating without the proper knowledge or training. Many times, physicians do not perform the surgery and delegate the procedures to unlicensed technicians which can lead to results that are devastating.

“The number of hair transplant surgeries has increased in recent years, but, unfortunately, this also brought about many inexperienced and illegal people to take a role in the industry,” says Ozgur Oztan, MD, Turkey, member of the ISHRS Fight the FIGHT subcommittee. “Poor planning, bad judgment, and sloppy techniques in hair transplantation will result in an unnatural look, cosmetic defects, and poor hair growth. Due to this fact, a lot of patients have endured unsuccessful and unnatural results, and this still goes on.”

For more information or to take part, contact fightthefight@ishrs.org and visit www.HairRepairDay.org.

Reference:

1. ISHRS world hair transplant repair day. ISHRS. Published September 14, 2021. Accessed September 24, 2021. https://ishrs.org/2021/09/14/ishrs-world-hair-transplant-repair-day/