THE GORANA AND JEFFREY EPSTEIN FOUNDATION
Charitable Works
Hair loss isn’t simply a matter of time and genetics. There are many who suffer and struggle with hair loss from trauma, injury, or congenital conditions. For example, a man who’s had cleft palate surgery early in his life may need a hair transplant to grow a well-groomed mustache.
Specialists in Hair Restoration and Plastic Surgery
Dr. Jeffrey Epstein as a facial plastic surgeon, and Dr. Gorana Epstein as a plastic surgeon, apply their aesthetic and technical skills to hair restoration to help people address some of the most visible and emotionally damaging forms of scarring and other impairments. They are able to combine various therapy modalities for the treatment of people with facial and scalp trauma, burns, prior surgical issues, and congenital disabilities.
A Helping Hand
The doctors volunteer their time and provide financial contributions to fund surgeries through the Gorana and Jeffrey Epstein Foundation. This includes providing pro bono hair procedures through the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery’s charitable organization Operation Restore.
The doctors are able to help the following groups without any expectation of payment:
- Children with congenital disabilities or scarring from trauma or burns.
- Children and teens suffering from alopecia areata, areata totalis, and other forms of hair loss.
- Adults who had poorly performed hair transplants that most commonly were performed not by hair specialists but by “for hire” technicians or overseas in Turkey
- Adults with significant scarring from military service or domestic violence
Operation Restore
Burns and Scars
Anyone who’s suffered a severe burn or a deeply puckered scar will likely lose the ability to grow hair over that damaged skin. Dr. Epstein and the Foundation for Hair Restoration offer surgical hair implant procedures to those who have suffered such severe trauma to their scalp, brow line, and face that hair follicles have been permanently lost. This includes victims of:
- dog bites
- injury in the line of military service
- domestic violence
Congenital Scar Repair
Someone born with a cleft or split lip will need the upper lip either built or joined to have a normal smile, and these repairs can continue on to the roof of the mouth. For a cleft lip patient such as Nebojsa, this repair may not offer the chance to grow a mustache, often a rite of passage for young men.
Once a young man has had his last reconstructive surgery, he can get grafted implants in the scarred area that will allow for the same growth as the rest of the facial follicles, making a mustache a simple grooming process.
Scalp Reconstruction
Should anyone suffer severe scalp damage or suffer an illness that requires the removal of scalp tissue, the result may be that hair doesn’t grow on the new skin. To return to normal activities and feel confident, a hair restoration procedure can turn an obvious site of injury or cosmetic repair into a barely noticeable scar.
It’s important to note that Dr. Epstein’s goal as a surgeon is to help people overcome cosmetic challenges that cost them confidence. The goal of a nose job isn’t to get an observer to think, “What a beautiful nose!” but to make the repair unremarkable and draw attention to the eyes or the smile.
Failed Hair Transplants
While traveling for cosmetic procedures is not uncommon, it can put people at risk for a failed procedure and may even lead to permanent damage. One of the targets of Operation Restore is to help those who’ve had failed hair transplants at the hands of unskilled technicians.
The hair transplant procedure known as FUE or Follicular Hair Extraction requires skilled professionals to remove hair follicles from the back of the head and put them into the scalp where the hair follicles have withered away. This procedure is done in small zones and includes inherent risk. Any procedure that pierces the skin can put the recipient at risk for infection, scarring, and even shock.
For those who’ve gone to another country to get hair transplants at a reduced cost, the injury can be catastrophic. Repairing the damage can take multiple treatments, which Dr. Epstein and his team can do free of charge to anyone injured by a failed hair transplant.
Final Thoughts
A properly done cosmetic hair transplant can be the difference between being confident and happy in your appearance vs. facing your day feeling anxious and uncomfortable. For those who’ve suffered trauma or experienced poor medical care, getting their injuries and cosmetic damage repaired effectively can truly be a new lease on life.