"THE PLAIN TRUTH ABOUT HAIR TRANSPLANTS"

In 1978, Carlos Puig already had 5 years of experience in professional Hair Transplantation, and was the Medical Director for the Cleveland Hair Clinics. So I can only conclude that the false claims made by Dr. Puig in this booklet are deliberate, because misleading patients can help boost sales.

The Medical Director for a national chain of clinics couldn't possibly be making "innocent mistakes" about "The Plain Truth About Hair Transplants" when hair transplantation had already established a twenty-year history at that time.

There are three major lies found in this booklet: That the grafts will be placed at "a natural angle to duplicate your individual growth pattern". (It is impossible for crude plug grafts to "duplicate" a patient's original hair). null That the skin around the open donor sites will "close in", and the donor sites will then become "undetectible". (Open donor wounds form scar tissue from the inside-out. The massive scarring they create is NOT "undetectible"). null That a hair transplant is "a natural alternative to hair loss". (There is nothing "natural" about cosmetic surgery).

Just as important as the false claims being made in the "Plain Truth" booklet, are the well-established facts that were deliberately left out. The word "scar" is never mentioned once, even though the clinic's "open-donor" technique of punching out skin grafts and leaving the large donor sites wide open to heal on their own creates massive scarring. There is no mention that a hair transplant can often result in permanent loss of scalp sensation, or that a hair transplant can accelerate the patient's hair loss. It is not mentioned that the transplanted hair can differ in color or texture to the non-transplanted hair. There is no mention that the transplanted hairline will not look entirely natural. (These facts were certainly NOT disclosed by the clinic at my in-person "consultation", either.)

It's a disgrace that a booklet that claims it is intended to "aid" and educate patients, would actually contain distortions and outright lies, and also leave out important facts, but still have the nerve to call itself "The Plain Truth About Hair Transplants".

I pull several quotes from Dr. O'Tar Norwood's 1973 textbook "Hair Transplant Surgery", in order to contrast the "conventional wisdom" in this textbook against the misconduct of the Cleveland Hair Clinic. Click this link if you have not already read the notes on why I chose to quote from a textbook that was written in 1973, when I could have easily made the same points by quoting from a more modern textbook.

Any statements I make on this website are my opinion.

On the first page, Dr. Puig falsely claims that the purpose of the booklet is to "aid patients" (instead of boosting sales).

Dr. Puig also falsely claims that hair transplants are a "natural alternative to hair loss." There is nothing "natural" about cosmetic surgery. Hair transplant surgery is as much a "natural alternative to hair loss", as a facelift surgery is a "natural alternative" to wrinkles. It's a totally bogus claim.

On the next page the booklet makes the false claim that the physicians working for Cleveland Hair Clinic are "trained medical specialists" in hair transplantation. However, hair transplantation is not something that doctors train in at medical school. The only way for a doctor to learn hair transplantation is to read about it in a textbook, or have another doctor who already does hair transplants show the new doctor how to do it. The booklet makes it sound as if there was some official way to be trained in hair transplantation... NOT TRUE.

And at the time this booklet was written, Dr. Puig's only board certification was in Emergency Medicine, certainly not in Plastic Surgery or Dematology.

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It is not so much the SURGICAL TECHNIQUE that I am criticizing here (although the technique was crude by anyone's standards)... What I am criticizing are the LIES in this "Plain Truth" booklet, about the results that prospective patients were told they could expect.

Look what Dr. Norwood writes about natural-looking hairlines in the 1984 version of his medical textbook Hair Transplant Surgery:

It's a LIE to tell patients that the crude plug grafts will "duplicate your original natural hair pattern":

The following page claims that the clinic's "consultant" will explain the surgery step by step "in detail". In my case, the consultant spent that time trying to sell me a surgery, while leaving out important facts. He did NOT explain how the surgery was performed.

This page also claims that people with an "insignificant" amount of hair loss would be turned down for surgery. In my case, the consultant at the Cleveland Hair Clinic urged me to "take control of your hair loss", even though at the time of my consultation I only had an "insignificant" amount of hair loss (20 years old with some minor thinning in the crown, not even a "bald spot".)

This next page also claims that the typical patient only needs "one to four" procedures. However, it was already well-established by experienced surgeons that at least four procedures of plug grafts were necessary to fill even the smallest area. By claiming that some men might only need one procedure, and implying that nobody ever needs more than four procedures, the Cleveland Hair Clinic is "Lowballing" the customer on the total amount of surgery that will be needed.

Look at what Dr. Norwood says about how many surgeries will be necessary:

"After the initial four procedures, it will appear that there is no more room for grafts. At about six months to a year, when the hair is grown, it will be apparent that many areas will tolerate considerable (sic) more grafting." Chapter 5: "Procedure" p.64 "If grafting is to be extensive, as many as ten or more sessions may be required." Chapter 3: "Patient Selection" p.34 excerpts from the textbook Hair Transplant Surgery, O'Tar T. Norwood, MD. 1973, Charles C Thomas, Publisher

The booklet also claims here that a "agreed-upon pattern" of grafts will be used. However, when I asked Dr. Puig during my first procedure why he was making recipient sites in my hairline where I had no real hair loss, and not my crown, he told me that they "always do it that way", or words to that effect. So much for the "agreed-upon pattern".

The clinic also minimizes how serious this surgery is, claiming here that patients can go to work the next day. (A common sales pitch is that getting a hair transplant is "like going to the dentist".) That is false. There is a post-surgery "cosmetic disability" that lasts for several days or weeks.

"Cosmetic Disability" "Since this is a multi-stage procedure, subjects should be aware that there may be some degree of cosmetic disability for some time following each session. The crusts adhere to the grafts from ten days to three weeks depending on the size of the graft. After the crusts are removed and before new hair growth appears, the grafts may be quite noticeable. With time they usually gradually blend in and are hardly apparent. Probably the most common and distressing immediate cosmetic problem is swelling. When more than 50 grafts are done at one time and placed primarily at the frontal hairline, practically all patients will develop some degree of edema on the second or third day. This is not a serious problem, but can cause considerable cosmetic incapacity. It usually lasts about 5 days beginning at the hairline and gradually descending to the eyes." Chapter 5: "Interview" p.25 excerpt from the textbook Hair Transplant Surgery, O'Tar T. Norwood, MD. 1973, Charles C Thomas, Publisher

The day after my hair transplant, my donor sites were open wounds and were oozing blood. Patients are still routinely lied to about the serious surgical nature of hair transplantation surgery.

Notice that the minimum time between each procedure is only two weeks. Modern patients are often confused about how a "smart" person could have been so badly fooled by a crooked hair transplant clinic back then. During this period, surgeries were done only weeks apart, too rapidly to know what your results would be until it was TOO LATE.

This fellow had a major "permanent wave" after getting his transplant. Guys who got hair transplants during this era often got "perms", to try to conceal their pluggy hair transplants. In those cases it was not a "styling choice" but a necessity. However, it was typical for clinics to claim that the patient could "style the transplanted hair any way you choose". Of course, telling patients the "Plain Truth" about that is not good for sales.

The following page repeats the false claim that grafts will be placed at "a natural angle to duplicate your individual growth pattern".

Read what modern surgeons say about plug grafts, then compare that to the false claims being made in the "Plain Truth" booklet:

"For the first 20 to 25 years of hair transplantation, 3-4mm (millimeter) round, "plug" grafts were the standard units generally placed in balding areas... Probably the most widely recognized negative effect is the so-called "doll’s hair" "toothbrush" or "cornrow" appearance. This results from a dense, round graft set in the midst of bald scalp; the effect is worsened by the fact that, as the graft heals in place, scarring causes it to contract. This increases the density (compresses the hairs into a bundle) even more, to a level not found anywhere on the head, therefore appearing unnatural. When these round grafts were placed at the frontal hairline, they often appeared as an inhumanly straight, regular row, which is not the way hairs grow in nature. Furthermore, if the patient’s balding progressed, these grafts stood out even more, to the point of becoming a cosmetic nightmare. Also, if the hair behind the grafts was lost, there developed an unnatural look further back in the scalp; this appears as a posterior, or "rear" hairline. In addition, the normal, natural direction of hair growth was not honored. Hair from the crown up to the front grows in a generally forward direction; there is a "whorl", or circular effect at the crown, and at the temples the hair abruptly changes to a downward, and then backward, direction. Often the large grafts pointed up at right angles regardless of location, which added to the less than natural appearance, and could severely limit styling options." Patient Guide to Surgical and Medical Hair Restoration "Surgical Treatments for Hair Loss", Truett Bridges, MD, Paul Rose, MD, and John Cole, MD http://www.forhair.com/Chapter_07.htm

Yet here the Cleveland Hair Clinic falsely claims that the plug grafts will have a "NATURAL ANGLE TO DUPLICATE YOUR INDIVIDUAL GROWTH PATTERN".

I invite you to look at my "Results" page which shows all of my grafts emerge from my scalp STRAIGHT UP, and NOT at a "natural angle" as claimed in this booklet.

This poor woman has a hellacious comb-over. It deceptively looks like she's restored all of her hair. But actually, a lot of it seems to be combed over from the rear. This photo is misleading about how much hair can realistically be transplanted, in my opinion.

The following page makes the bold-faced lie that the "open donor" area will be completely "undetectible".

According to this "Plain Truth" booklet, the healing of the donor sites is SO "undetectible" that Dr. Puig claims it is actually "even more amazing" than the fact that transplanted grafts will grow in the balding zone.

The booklet claims that "the skin will rapidly close around the donor sights" (sic). That statement is not medically accurate. The wounds are actually healed from the "inside out", and with the formation of scar tissue. The skin does not "close in". My consultant also told me the donor sites would "shrink" and "dissappear". BULLSHIT!!! Notice that the word "scar" is not used anywhere in this booklet, or in ANY of the other materials I document on this website.

I invite you to look at my donor area results to see just how TRUTHFUL Dr. Puig was about the "undetectible" donor sites.

When a medical clinic is willing to LIE to prospective patients about major issues (like significant scarring in the donor area) the patient has been prevented from giving "informed consent" about this surgery.

Dr. Puig does not deserve the PRIVELEGE of practicing medicine. Dr. Puig and Dick Malmin should be in JAIL for telling patients these disgraceful LIES.

This page also claims that the clinic always makes themselves available to "answer any questions or concerns". But my "follow-up" checkups weren't with Dr. Puig... All of my pre- and post-surgical examinations were done by the clinic's salesman ("consultant") Dick Malmin, a person with no medical training.

I feel sorry for any teenagers who were duped into getting a hair transplant by Dr. Puig at age 17.

I was 20 when I had my "consultation" at Cleveland hair Clinic, and 21 when Dr. Puig operated on me. At that time, I was naive enough to place my trust in doctors. As a result, my life was ruined.

I no longer trust doctors, certainly not the doctors in the Hair Transplant Industry. They are a disgrace to legitimate medicine.

Getting your clinic endorsed by a hair dresser is one of the sleaziest promotional angles imagineable. The Cleveland Hair Clinic was all about marketing and sales, and not about good medicine or patient satisfaction.

This "Plain Truth" booklet has a scant handful of sentences devoted to explaining the surgery, but page after page of cheesey testimonials. Yet the clinic pretends that this booklet is supposed to educate patients about "The Plain Truth About Hair Transplants".

This page claims that the Cleveland Hair Clinic "would never pressure you" into getting a hair transplant. Actually, lying can be considered a form of pressure.

When patients have been misled, they have been prevented from making an informed decision about surgery. That is ILLEGAL and IMMORAL.

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Below, we see the Cleveland Hair Clinic "empire" in 1978.

In my opinion, their rapid expansion can be attributed to their cut-throat sales tactics and their willingness to lie to patients.

Continue reading the rest of the promotional material I document, which came from Dr. Puig's clinics; In my opinion it shows a consistent long-term pattern of deliberately misleading patients with his marketing efforts.

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