Hi folks, I am new here and thinking about a hair transplant.

Can you give me some suggestions about how to find the right surgeon ?

I live in Reno, Nevada, and I found two surgeons on your list who practice in N. Calif.is that what you suggest ?

Also, if you can give me some suggestions about how to best use this site, that would be really appreciated.

Thanks.

hairadv:
Welcome to the site!
This site is full of information that can help you decide whether or not transplantation is right for you and can help you locate a physician. My advice to you is RESEARCH! And I mean RESEARCH all aspects of the procedure, the doctor, the post op, etc.
Most on this site are here to help, so feel free to ask for it....

PS-Please keep in mind you can get great results all over the world, so may I suggest when doing your research, do so without too much consideration of travel. Best of luck to you

__________________
Jessica
HT Coordinator
Limmer HTC

Dr. Brad Limmer is a member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians

Look at the top left hand corner of this screen and click on the FIND A PRESCREENED SURGEON.

Then listen to what Jessica has to say...do your research and do not let your location dictate where you go!

__________________
My initial HT thread:
done and done!! Check it out...

Hi Jessica and Eman,

Thanks very much for the welcome and advice.

Looking at this website I have already learned a lot more about the surgical procedures than I know before.

There is a Hair Club doctor in Las Vegas (Dr. Roy Jones) and Sacramento (Dr. Eric Holzer). Does anyone know anything about these doctors ? I did not find much on the website about them.

I have not thought much about the travel issue, but I think you have a good point, perhaps I need to rethink traveling for this procedure.

Also, I did not realize how much surgery was needed in the donor area. The pictures look like this is major surgery. Is this because the scalp is stretched out to cover the donor area. It looks like severe scarring could occur, is that common ?

Thanks.

hairadv, although it is tempting to do the surgery with a local doc, sometimes it might be beneficial to search around irrespective of geographical location.

If you do the surgery with a top-notch doctor, chances of having a prominent scar is extremely low. I have seen pictures of post-ops where the donor scar is hardly noticeable.

Thanks for your advice Forrest Gump.

I am scheduled for an assessment with the Hair Club and none of those surgeons are on your list.

Are there things I could learn from this assessment or should I just cancel it ?

If so, what are the main things I can learn ?

Thanks.

hairadv:
Please understand I have your best interest in mind when I say this...
You need to do WAY MORE research before deciding and personally I wouldn't schedule a consult unless I was fully aware of all the choices I have. Sometimes when you go somewhere for a consult you may not even see a doctor and you could get the wrong impression, information, etc. But while you are at your consult you are excited, ready to get going, and the next thing you know you are signed up for surgery with a non-refundable deposit. WOAH!
Look at before and afters, talk to previous patients, watch a live surgery, talk to the doctor that does the procedure, and get several opinions. Be sure you understand all the methods available to you. There are different donor extraction (harvesting) methods, different planting methods, different closures, different healing processes (post op), etc...
Most on this site will tell you the same.
WHATEVER YOU DO - DO NOT JUMP INTO THIS PROCEDURE.

__________________
Jessica
HT Coordinator
Limmer HTC

Dr. Brad Limmer is a member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians

Hi Jessica,

Thanks for the thoughtful response. I agree you are right, I need much more education in this area before I would go ahead with a hair transplant. One of my thoughts was to go this preliminary session to learn more about it. I promise I will not make any committments to go ahead with the procedure without getting your approval .

Thanks for the summary of all the different procedures available. Is there somewhere on the site where these different procedures are described ?

I have already changed my thoughts about having the surgery done locally. I can understand why forum members suggest looking nationally. This makes sense. It does make the whole process more complicated, but I can easily see how it makes sense.

I also did not realize how serious the surgery is in the donor area. When I see the after pics, that is quite enlightening.

I have a lot to learn. Thanks for your suggestions.

Hi again everyone,

I decided to keep my appointment with the Hair Club today, and I thought I would post some of my impressions and try to get some feedback from you.

My appointment was at a small office here in Reno, Nevada. The consultant did a fairly quick exam. She took 4 pics with a camera and then some pics with a portable microscope, she said was a 50x magnification. She did a nice job of explaining the procedure to me and went over a couple of phamplets that she gave me to take home.

She asked me a few questions about how extensive the degree of coverage that I would like and answered all of my questions. I will come back to these later.

The two doctors that are in my region are: Dr. Roy Jones, Las Vegas, and Dr. Gaffney, Orange County, CA, does anyone know them ?

She told me that I could either do 2,500 - 3,000 grafts or 5,000 grafts. The cost for 5,000 grafts would be $17,750.

Dr. Jones will be visiting Reno on Sept. 1, so I made an appointment to meet with him.

I feel that I am still in the early stages of my research.

Any thoughts ? Thanks.

Hi Again everyone,

Well, I kept my appointment with Dr. Jones at the Hair Club today and I did learn a few more things:

1) He measured my hair density, and it is 175 hairs / sq. cm

2) He thought I would need multiple procedures, he said the first should be 2,000 grafts. He said I would need a second and maybe a third procedure.

3) So I do have another question now. I know some doctors are now doing transplants with more grafts. I have heard of over 4,000 grafts in one procedure. If a doctor can do that would there be any reason to still do two procedures at 2,000 grafts each. Which approach is better ?

4) He said he would transplant to the front of my head, so he would leave the open space toward the middle and back.

So now I am at the next step of my research. Given where I live I would like to get a consult with 1-3 more surgeons in one of the following cities: San Francisco, Los Angeles, or Sacramento.

Any suggestions how to proceed ? Does this make sense ?

Thanks.