Hi folks,

I'm new to this site but wanted to ask some advice. I'm 26 and receding quite badly and in a bit of a panic I paid a deposit with the Hospital Group for a HT, but recently decided to cancel the appointment and lose my ??500 deposit because:

1) I was never given the opportunity to meet with the surgeon and only spoke to a sales man
2) They offered me a discount if I agreed to the procedure within a couple of days of meeting with the sales man (which seemed a bit unethical)
3) I read a lot of bad reviews about them on this site
4) Having second thoughts about the procedure

I've started looking again now at having a consultation with another, more reputable, clinic, and I wondered if anybody had any recommendations, especially people from the UK who may have advice on how easy it is to travel abroad?

I was also interested to hear whether people chose to tell people they knew that they were having the procedure and how easy it is to 'cover it up'? I would be happy to tell my friends but would rather keep it quiet from my work colleagues.

I'd appreciate any help I can get and sorry for the long post...

Hospial Group are butchers, I'm glad you cancelled, they botch all thier operations not just HT's.

I've just been to Dr Bisanga in Brussels, took me 2 hours to get there, and he does very refined work. Google him.

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My Hair Loss Website

Cheers for the suggestion, just checked out Dr Bisanga (Sounds like a bond villain!)'s site and it looks very good and professional. I'll probably do the online consultation and see what they say.

Saint John, from what I have seen on this forum, a lot of patients from the UK take the short flight across the pond, and do their HT surgery in North America. That's mainly because there are so many reputed HT doctors to choose from in the US and Canada.

Search around this forum, and you'll see the doctors who get a lot of patients from the UK.

Hello SaintJohn

Although I am older than you, I am also from the UK and had a similar experience with the Hospital Group. You did the right thing. Better to lose ??500 now than pay much more further down the line in repair costs.

I suggest you go through this process:

1. Reflect on whether this journey is for you. Have you tried buzzing down your hair? Are you prepared for all that comes with HTs - the expense, the "hair greed" (see other posts), etc. Believe me when I say that it is much better to have no procedure at all than to get it done by a clinic whose main virtues are lower price and closer location.

2. Try medical treatments and see if they make a difference first. The only two treatments that have proven results (although they don't work for everyone) are minoxidil (regaine) and finasteride (propecia or proscar).

3. If you still wish to go for an HT, seek a number of consultations and ask lots of questions. Farjo is a very good clinic, and the only one in the UK that this forum recommends. You could look into European clinics as well, e.g. Devroye as well as Bisanga. Don't let geography determine your choice, so you should consider US/Canada as well. Travelling out there costs money obviously, but it otherwise straightforward.

4. Keep researching. You can never do too much research into the issue. It's a big decision and you need to weigh up the pros and cons. Like all surgery, it can have tremendous benefits but it is not without risk.

5. On the covering up point, this depends on whether you go FUE or strip. Strip needs more down time. I went back to work at 21 days; see here for pictures - http://hair-restoration-info.c...=318108471#318108471

Good luck.

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17 Feb 09 - 3,200 FUs by strip surgery (Dr Feller)

My Hair Loss Website

Cheers for your post Acrobaz. I have to date generally followed the suggestions that you have made. I think in my head I've decided that I'm not one of those people who will be able to 'buzz-it' as I'm just one of those people who that look doesn't suit! I have been using minoxidil for about a year and finasteride for about 6 months and not really noticed any difference (although it's not easy to tell!).

I'm not desperate to restore my hairline I just don't want to lose any more but I think over the next year I'll keep researching and maybe get a few consultations and just see what happens and how much more hair I lose!