Will The Army Pay For A Hair Transplant?

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Will The Army Pay For A Hair Transplant?

army hair transplant
John M

John M

Hi, I'm John. About age 30 my hair started receding. After trying lots of products I eventually decided on a hair transplant. And now I have my hair back.

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Is the UK army going to pay for my hair transplant? It may surprise you to learn the army does not pay for hair transplants. Veterans in the US may qualify for financial assistance for hair replacement surgery.

Hair transplant surgery is considered non-essential surgery and deemed to be cosmetic. The army will not pay for cosmetic surgery of this kind unless it is continuing treatment after being wounded on active service.

Will The Military Pay For A Hair Transplant?

Ultimately the money for the military comes from taxpayer money as all public services do. As such cosmetic surgery is considered non-essential surgery.

If you are brave enough to apply for funding while serving in the military, you will indeed receive a short rift from your commanding officer and be the laughing stock of the regiment.

However, if you are savvy enough to have medical insurance while serving your country, you may find that cosmetic surgery is included in your health care plan.

Many health insurance policies include cosmetic dental surgery, so it would be reasonable to expect cover for other cosmetic procedures.

How Long Will I Be Off Work?

If you are serving in the military, this will be your next stumbling block. Hair transplant surgery is invasive and takes a long time to heal.

If you were working in civvy street, you might be back at work within seven days, but as an active member of the armed forces, you would be required to be off work for a more extended period, possibly a substantiation time would be required.

Why? Understanding the nature of hair transplants is a crucial decision if you should proceed or not. Hair transplant surgery is invasive.

The procedure includes harvesting your hair follicles, making punctures in your scalp, and implanting the hair follicles individually.

In some cases, you could have more than one thousand 1000 puncture wounds.

It is not as bad as it sounds, and the surgery’s discomfort subsides quickly with the use of painkillers.

However, keeping the wounds spotless could be a challenge for an active soldier as he practises and trains for any event where the military could be called upon.

Best Conditions For A Successful Outcome

You will need to provide the very best conditions for your new hair transplant to be successful. This would include daily maintenance and taking care when sleeping to reduce friction and further hair loss.

Wearing a helmet as part of your daily work does not provide the best conditions for a successful outcome.

It may seem as if the assumption is that all military personnel are infantrymen, which they are not in the worst-case scenario. An honest appraisal of the working conditions should be part of your pre-surgery assessment.

If you are a serving military person, you may consider postponing hair transplant surgery until you leave the army, or at the very least, you could be granted an extended leave of up to four months.

How Much Does 1200 Hair Grafts Cost?

Hair graft costs vary significantly across the country. To give you an idea of the variance in pricing, you can get a price for each hair grafted. The range is from two pounds to five pounds for each follicle implanted.

On the higher end, 1200 hair implants would cost you 6000 pounds. That’s not the whole package, and you will need to consider all of the add ons. 

On top of this, you will need to pay for medication such as pain killers and any unique solutions that you will need to moisten the scalp with during the healing process.

The next thing you will need to consider is will 1200 implants give you a look you want?

You will need to decide on the density of hair that will make you have the desired appearance. Hair transplants clinics will help you evaluate your hair loss using the Norwood system.

Yes, there is a standard used in the medical profession to evaluate the level of your baldness!

One thousand two hundred hair implants may sound a lot, but if you have a full head of hair,~ then for every square inch, you have one thousand two hundred and ninety hairs, 1,290.

So now you get a better picture of how pricing can vary so much.

How Much Does 1500 Hair Grafts Cost?

We can use the same method for calculating how much one thousand five hundred hair implants will cost.

One thousand five hundred hairs, 1,500, will cost you seven thousand five hundred pounds.

We discussed how many hairs per square inch, but that doesn’t mean you need that many hairs to be transplanted to look natural and plentiful.

Hair transplant clinics are skilled practitioners at achieving your desires; with realistic expectations, you can get a good result from a UK hair transplant clinic for the price of a good used car.

How Much Does A Hair Transplant Cost?

Again prices varied, but on average, you could purchase a package to transplant up to five thousand 5000 hair follicles for a little over two thousand pounds.

New techniques are developed in this still immature medical service. If you opt for a hair transplant using a puncture technique, it will be more affordable than having each hair follicle sutured into place.

The time alone and skill required to justify the price increase.

Is It Cheaper To Have A Hair Transplant In Another Country?

The answer is yes, depending on your destination. Your transplant will be more expensive in the US because most clinical services are covered by insurance, and insurance companies negotiate discounts with clinics. Unfortunately, if you pay cash for your hair transplant and are in the United States, it will be pretty expensive.

When travelling from the UK to mainland Europe, hair transplant costs can be significantly reduced.

Budapest Hungary

Budapest has become a centre of excellence for hair transplants with a wide choice of clinics, and competition for your business keeps pricing very competitive.

You can expect to pay competitive prices at a third less than UK pricing; if you shop around and negotiate well, you could see more significant discounts.

Budapest hair transplant clinics are regulated by the government and accordingly operate to strict international standards.

Skilled surgeons employ the best techniques to give the best results, such as Follicular Unit Extraction, known as FUE.

FUE is tried and tested and is considered a revolutionary technology in the hair transplant industry.

The method of extraction and implanting your hair follicles leaves no linear scarring and provides the patient with a fast healing method of hair transplant surgery.

Blood Tests

Before any hair transplant surgery, there are some requirements to be fulfilled, and one is a blood test.

The good news is you can get the blood test at your local GP ( he will probably Charge a nominal fee).

When the results are ready, you can email them directly to the surgeon and wait for his response.

Should I Go For The FUE Technique?

It’s a personal decision, but there are distinct advantages to using FUE. You can typically return to work within a few days, the surgery is very discreet, and your colleagues will only notice you have miraculously grown more hair!

Is FUE Suitable For A Serving Army Person?

It is suitable for an armed forces soldier and could be infinitely more cost-friendly if you pay out of your pocket.

However, there are the same considerations to achieve the best results; without extended leave, you should wait for hair transplant surgery.

Conclusion

Balancing everything, your best option is to travel to Budapest for hair transplant surgery.

The price is more cost-effective, and you can certainly save a significant portion of the cash you would have spent in the UK for the same procedure.

Most of the preoperative requirements can be done from your home as they would be in the UK.

The surgeons are skilled, and Budapest has become a centre of excellence for hair transplant surgery.

Don’t forget when calculating the total cost of the hair transplant surgery. You will need to add in the flights and a few nights of hotel accommodation.

What are the downsides of travelling to Budapest for surgery? Just leaving the city! 

Top 5 Reasons to go abroad for a Hair Transplant

1. Save at least 60% on the cost

A hair transplant in Europe is at least 60% cheaper than in the UK. And most packages are all inclusive, including your accommodation and airport transfers.

2. Europe has some of the most experienced surgeons in the world

Europe has more clinics, which have been established and running for much longer than clinics in the UK. The price is also lower, making it more accessible for people.

Surgeons in Europe will have carried out hundreds, if not thousands more procedures than UK based surgeons. Because of this some UK clinics will bring in surgeons from Europe to carry out your procedure.

3. Hair restoration clinics in Europe are state or the art

Many facilities in Europe are dedicated hair restoration clinics. They only perform that type of treatment. As such all equipment, facilities, techniques and staff are specialists in hair restoration. 

Hair restoration is only now becoming more popular in the UK, so many UK clinics are general cosmetic facilities that carry out various procedures.

4. Get even more value by making your transplant into a holiday

Europe is such a popular holiday destination for many reasons, the culture, history, sights, cuisine, shopping, great weather, your money goes further, it’s widely English speaking, and it’s just 2 or 3 hours away by plane. 

The list goes on! So why not travel a few days earlier, grab a low cost Airbnb or hotel, take a friend or partner and enjoy the city for a few days before your transplant.

5. Hassle free process

It’s so easy to get an assessment and price. Contact the clinic, arrange an initial consultation in the UK with your surgeon, or do an online consultation by sending a few pictures and answering some basic questions. 

Once you’re happy, pick a date and you’re done! The clinic will send you all the paperwork and itinerary so you know exactly what’s happening. You don’t pay until you go for treatment. 

You just hop on the plane. A transfer car will meet you as you get off the plane and take you to the clinic. It’s such an easy process. Easy!

Top 5 Hair Transplant Tips

1. Know your post-op timeline – The key dates!

  • You need to take the upmost care in the first 7 days
  • You can leave the house after 7 days, but I advise you take at least 2 weeks off work.
  • You won’t be able to wear a hat or exercise for up to 4 weeks after.
  • Around 2 – 4 weeks your new hair will fall out, you’ll look a little red and sore – similar to sunburn.
  • Around 4 months your new hair starts growing and looking good.
  • By 6 months you can’t tell you’ve had a transplant.
You can get a haircut after the first month, or you can keep it short yourself with clippers until it starts to grow back.

2. Pick the right time to schedule your treatment

Good clinics will be busy, so you may have to wait 2 months to get an appointment – this is a good thing. So knowing that and knowing your post-op timeline (above) means you can plan the perfect time around your social or work calendar. 

If you have important social events coming up, particularly if you know you’ll be photographed then you may plan your transplant 6 months in advance, or wait until your calendar is free.

3. Set your expectations

If your hair has receded at the front you’ll want the clinic to draw an expected hairline on your head or on pictures of you as soon as possible. They’ll then also talk about the number of grafts or hairs you’ll need and how thick the result will look. 

The sooner you can establish this, the sooner you’ll know exactly what to expect. A good clinic will also take into consideration a natural looking hair line for your age and your face and head shape. Have an honest conversation and be open to their expert feedback.

4. Knowing what the journey home looks like

There’s no way around it, you’ll have to go out in public to travel home. The worst part is sitting at the airport for 2 hours or so whilst you wait for your plane. 

I found it was best to embrace it. People are nice for the most part and won’t stare, and if one or two do who cares – you will never see those people again! You may even be at the airport with other transplant patients, I wasn’t the only one! 

Take a travel pillow and have someone pick you up if possible, so you can exit swiftly and get back home as soon as possible. It’s natural to be self-conscious, but it’s over fast and well worth it.

Tip! Just take carry-on luggage to keep your check-in and wait time down.

5. Choosing the right clinic

  • Pick somewhere you can travel to and from easily
  • Check their reviews online, not just on their site!
  • Do they have a good quality website and professional looking emails?
  • Can you see actual case studies of previous patients online?
  • Do they have an address? Can you see it on Google street view?
  • Can you meet your surgeon for a consultation beforehand?
  • Do you know someone who’s been there before – first hand opinion is amazing!
John M

John M

Hi, I'm John. About age 30 my hair started receding. After trying lots of products I eventually decided on a hair transplant. And now I have my hair back.

Do you want to keep your hair without surgery? I get it … surgery can be expensive and frightening. Although it’s the most effective solution when things go bad and it helped me, you still experience some discomfort and have to take some time off from work.

Fortunately, researchers in Norway succeeded in stopping hair loss and promoting regrowth in 63.9% of test participants by using fish proteins!

Although not flawless … fish proteins, minerals, and antioxidants have a positive effect on strengthening hair.

Click here to get a 60 day money back guarantee.

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