The doctor will explore both the hair loss you have suffered, and the hair growth you still have. This is very important, because knowing where the donor hair for the hair transplant will come from is imperative. The doctor will also want to know the patterns of baldness and hair growth in your family history. Have I lost confidence at work because of my hair loss? It is possible to become so attentive to your balding problems that you feel that others look down on you at work. If you can maintain your self confidence, that will probably not be the case at all. However, if you feel inferior when you are dealing with new customers or clients, you will likely not do well at your job. This is done very carefully in order to ensure a good result. The surgeon will make tiny incisions into the scalp where the hair transplant grafts are to go. These are called the receptor sites. They are made with a very thin surgical needle. The surgeon must have an eye for detail to properly set the receptor sites. In this case, you might go to the telephone directory. This is just a starting point. Many of the doctors who advertise there are simply trying to start up a practice in the field. They may have little or no experience. This is just a way to get names that you can check out. When you contact a hair restoration surgeon, ask to see a portfolio of patients' photos before and after hair transplant surgery. There is still room for improvement, though, as the results still do not look completely natural as they should. A new method of hair transplant that is being used by some doctors today is follicle-unit micro-grafting. In this procedure, grafts are made up of 1-4 hairs and are placed over the balding area. This is important because smoking makes you heal slower by inhibiting blood from flowing to your skin. It may be hard to do, but if you quit smoking just for the surgery, it might not be so hard. Then, once you have done that, you may find that you want to stay off the cigarettes or cigars even after the hair transplant have healed.