Hi there,

In Feb 2009 I had a 2,085 (3,945 single hairs) graft hair transplant in Melbourne, Australia. I think I had fairly realistic expectations but I am quite disappointed in the results.

I am attaching the before and afters as I wouldn't mind some feedback and I am currently looking into my second procedure and I hope to get it right this time, so any advice is appreciated.

Attached Images

before.jpg (182.2 KB, 816 views)

And here is the after picture - I really thought I would have had better coverage by now, nearly 12 months on.

Attached Images

IMG_0419.jpg (48.6 KB, 755 views)

hi juz,

I can see why your disapointed.. who in Melb performed your HT.

Hello , i too was dissapointed in my results here in Australia , i just this week had 2896 grafts from Dr. Path in Thailand , judging by the work i will be very happy.... if you have any questions please PM me as i can relate to having unsatisfactory work here in Aust and Dr Path is a great surgeon and a great option for those of us here in Australia.

Champion: Do you know the policy of this forum re: naming surgeons whose work you're unhappy with? I am happy to do it, but I don't want to break any rules.

GilesLavery: Thanks for your response, I am keen to ask you some questions and have posted you privately.

Doesn't look like you got any yield. Are you sure you got a hair transplant? It is ok to state who your surgeon was. If he was a member of the HTN, then Bill and Pat could vouch for you.

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2008 Dr. G – presumably 1,000 grafts / 2,142 hairs
2009 Dr. Paul Shapiro – 2,348 grafts / 4,258 hairs
2011 Dr. Paul Shapiro – 1,999 grafts / 3,624 hairs

My Hair Transplant Journey with Shapiro Medical Group

Just as a further aside to this. I have been back to the clinic to see the surgeon's main assistant. She is recommending that I have a second procedure with them of a 1,000 grafts, but instead of cutting the grafts into follicular units of 1, 2, 3 or 4, she recommends only cutting into units of 2 or 3. I've spoken to some other surgeons and they said this doesn't make sense as you cut the units into their naturally occurring clusters. I've also emailed some other surgeons and they all recommend that I have between 2,000 to 3,000.

I wish I knew now what I know before I spent $11,000 AUD on a HT. It would have been cheaper to go to Thailand straight away. Hell, from what I can tell it would have been cheaper to go anywhere else in the world for one!

You would not be totally off-base to request a full refund. Do not return to that clinic for another procedure. Stick around this site for awhile. Do some research. And most importantly, don't let travel dissuade you from a particular surgeon or clinic. It doesn't look like you've been mangled. It just looks like nothing grew, probably due to poor handling of the delicate grafts by the technicians.

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2008 Dr. G – presumably 1,000 grafts / 2,142 hairs
2009 Dr. Paul Shapiro – 2,348 grafts / 4,258 hairs
2011 Dr. Paul Shapiro – 1,999 grafts / 3,624 hairs

My Hair Transplant Journey with Shapiro Medical Group

Ok - the surgeon's name was Dr Les Blackstock and the procedure was performed at the Aesthetica Clinc in Melbourne on the 25th of Feb, 2009.

Apparently he guarantees that up to 80% of the grafts will take. However, this was only verbally communicated and not by the surgeon himself. To be honest, I am pretty sure several of the "cutters" were being trained on the day. I remember one commenting that this sort of work was not for them and they wouldn't do it again. This concerned me quite a bit.

When I spoke to the assistant at the 10 month mark, she just said I had had further hair loss, but when I look at the pics I can't see how I had further hair loss when there was no hair there to begin with!