Dr. Edward Ball
I first met hair transplant surgeon Dr. Edward Ball in Chicago, Illinois at the 23rd annual world congress of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgeons (ISHRS) in 2015. I was there for my first meeting as an independent hair transplant patient educator so I could meet up with many of the people I’ve grown to know over the years, and many that I had yet to meet but had heard of. I also attended to see what was new and in development in the field. I already knew about Dr. Ball because of my relationship with Janna Shafer, the then senior technician at Shapiro Medical Group with Dr. Ron Shapiro, a Hair Transplant Mentor™ partner physician.
Jana had become involved with a new clinic in the UK and had moved to the Southern coast of England to help set up the new clinic and become the surgical manager. The clinic was The Maitland Clinic, with hair transplant surgeon Dr. Ball.
Dr. Ball has been on the scene as an independent hair transplant surgeon for the past few years now and from the beginning of his solo career, he has been performing very impressive work. I first started to see examples of his work on the hair loss forum, HairLossExperiences.com, which is primarily a UK based forum, around the middle of 2013. I remember thinking how natural the work was, and he was performing procedures that achieved single pass densities that I wasn’t used to seeing out of the UK. This included procedures performed using both the FUSS procedure, also known as FUT or “strip” as well as follicular unit excision (FUE). Dr. Ball has a strong background in general practice, plastic surgery and cosmetic surgery with solid training in microsurgery and dermatology. He’s also a member in good standing of the skin cancer surgical team at Southhampton University Hospital.
One of the things I like about Dr. Ball is that he’s also a hair transplant surgeon that is a hair transplant patient himself. In fact, he is one of the first patients in all of the United Kingdom to undergo an FUE procedure with the ARTAS robotic FUE system, and in the case of his specific result, it is proof to me that a tool is only as good as the hand the wields it. His result is really good and in fact, I didn’t notice it when I first met him. The website for The Maitland Clinic states that the experience Dr. Ball has had with his own hair loss and subsequent hair transplant procedure is the guiding force for how the clinic addresses their patient care support policies. I respect that, especially since that is one of the core factors I consider when evaluating a new hair transplant surgeon for membership.
Speaking of support, The Maitland Clinic has, what I feel to be, one of the most ethical and knowledgable hair transplant consultants in the industry, David Anderson. I’ve known David personally for over twelve years and we have very similar hair transplant backstories as well as similar repair stories. I know that David is honest and ethical and the last thing he’ll do is “sell” a patient their hair transplant. He knows that it is in the patient’s best interest, and in turn that of the clinics, to make sure the patient knows exactly what they’re getting into. David, along with Dr. Ball, both turn patients away if they suspect the patient hasn’t taken the time to understand the realities of hair restoration surgery and they won’t take advantage of patients that are desperate to have work done. I know this because over the years before their membership began David would tell me of cases he and Dr. Ball had turned down due to the patient’s lack of readiness. This is the kind of clinic that I can get behind.
Hair Transplant Surgeon Credentials
I’m not normally impressed by credentials but Dr. Ball’s credentials are legit. Dr. Ball has been published in the distinguished British Journal of Dermatology, the Journal of Plastic Surgery, Clinical and Experimental Dermatology, Burns Journal, and the Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. He’s a member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and a Diplomate of the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery. This means he has to actually pass a test to gain entry. If you watched my Youtube video about hair transplant associations you’ll know what this means. He’s also an active member of the ISHRS, the British Society of Hair Restoration Surgery, and associate member of the British College of Aesthetic Medicine, the Royal College of General Practitioners, and most importantly to me, an accepted member of the IAHRS and the American Hair Loss Association.
Many of you that read my blog and watch my videos I post to Youtube know that credentials don’t necessarily translate to results so obviously I’m not accepting Dr. Ball as a Hair Transplant Mentor™ partner doctor based on his credentials, they’re just nice to see in addition to one of the points that really matters; the results. Dr. Ball knows what looks natural and while some of you reading this may have your own idea of what looks natural, you know what my definition is and that is that a “natural” hair restoration has to create a result that looks like the patient was born with it. Nothing else matters with the surgical aspect of the facts. The result has to NOT look like it was created by man. This means that stereoscopic dissecting microscopes have to be used to not only identify and separate single hair follicular units from multi-hair grafts but also to allow for refinement of grafts to insure that enough singles are really going to be singles to create naturalness. Many of you reading this have already learned about this from one of my more popular videos, and some clinics are now announcing their move to include microscopes in their clinics, but they are sadly behind the curve as it takes more than just having microscopes to be able to create a natural hairline. The techs have to know how to use them properly, and that takes time to master. It is obvious that the team that Dr. Ball has assembled to assist him in performing his hair transplant procedures have mastered this skill.
Dr. Ball is a hair transplant surgeon that performs all FUE extractions himself and does not rely on the use of technicians to perform surgery on his behalf. This isn’t an actual requirement to be a Hair Transplant Mentor™ partner clinic, but it certainly helps, and it is a concept that I support.
Here’s the video I made to discuss Dr. Ball’s clinic and the team at The Maitland Clinic.
Dr. Edward Ball has passed my rigorous review process before being given Hair Transplant Mentor™ accepted member status. The review process is based on my own high standards based on over twenty years of working with world class clinics. Once accepted, every Hair Transplant Mentor™ member clinic pays a monthly retainer fee for membership and my services.