2 links from this forum...

http://hair-restoration-info.c.../m/9231032383/inc/-1

http://hair-restoration-info.c...981046663#5981046663

Thats all that comes up....

So has anyone ever went to this guy? Just wondering....

I went to Dr. Chao on 9/18/2009. I paid $6,000 for 3500 grafts FUSS. They do not do FUE and since I had a scar from a 2002 operation there was no point in doing FUE. I also have no plans to shave my head and if I do, I'll worry about that then. I suppose any clinic will do FUE if you offer to pay them but it's labor intensive and the transection rates are high.

I have diffuse thinning on top with the potential for a NW3v so this is hopefully my terminal hair transplant. I have been taking 1.25 mg generic proscar every day. I am 32 years old and my loss seems to have stabilized.

From my donor area, they were able to extract 3,703 follicular unit grafts as follows: 602 1's, 1676 2's, 1020 3's, and 405 4's. No 5's but very few people have those. I have typically "Jewish" hair so it is wavy and brown. I have a very light complexion so that might add a complication but I can always get a tan later

I was leery of going somewhere that charged so little but the facility does hair transplants six days a week and is a very lean operation. The owner of the company, Rob, also does the consultations and he is a patient of Dr. Chao. I have every reason to believe that they make a ton of money. There were no hidden fees. I paid a flat $6,000 and it included all medications. It does not include graftcyte but you can probably buy that elsewhere.

I was very pleased with the attitude and the cleanliness of the clinic. They do make money selling other products such as laser hoods and they do other cosmetic procedures which are probably higher margin. A hair transplant is very labor intensive but you can make a living as an individual doctor doing these if you have loyal support staff. I've studied the financials of it and it's very similar to the cost breakdown for any small doctor offices. I believe they are completely happy with their take home.

All of their advertising is done on Google and by referrals and every time I have gone in there, even on Saturday 10/3 to have my sutures removed they were doing a procedure.

The hairline design is very reasonable. I'd call it a NW2 with conservative density in front. You don't need more than about 30 follicles/cm2 at the hairline anyway so he was able to populate the other diffuse areas on my head.

I spoke to several other doctors including MHR, who did my procedure in 2002 but I got a really good feeling about Dr. Chao. Some people are obsessed about hairline design and hair transplantation and he is one of those people.

I am not paid in any compensation by Dr. Chao but I am definitely willing to put in a good word. I'm more than willing to be a reference. I think you should give them a chance. If you don't have a good feeling, then go somewhere else. It's really an interview process.

The price is very nice too. I paid by check and have no debt from this procedure. I will not speak ill of any other doctors but I knew from my thinning that someone trying to sell me a 1500 graft procedure was trying to under-sell and get me in later, and there were several of those.

Best of luck.

KLD2246,
First off, I'm not being compensated nor have any benefit for what I'm about to say....
And that is, Dr. Ron Chao, is legit. I had my procedure done with him last year July 2010.
One of the main things that I could comment about is that of his professionalism and hospitality of his staff. They even treat their patients to a free lunch due to that the procedure takes so long. I had the Norwood 4-6 done. I have no complaints about my experience except that I wasn't informed as to what my actual graft counts was when my procedure was completed. I'm not sure why they did not respond to me, but in any case... I have no complaints about how my results came out. Dr. Ron Chao did exactly like I asked and spread it around the top of my head in the spots that I requested. However, I now found out that this was my wrong doing due to that the implantations didn't give me the density that others have gotten from their one procedure.
In any case, to answer your question... Dr. Ron Chao is legitiment and I don't think you would be in any better place for your procedure to be performed than with Dr. Ron Chao. Like I said, his professionalism, hospitality, friendliness, and his staff's ability to make one feel so comfortable is well worth the price being paid. In fact, I now believe that all those other Dr.'s out there are really overpricing their procedures. When it comes to a Dr. that knows what he's doing and is that experienced and trained, but still that Dr. only charges like $0.60/ per graft??? That just tells me all those other Dr.'s out there are just taking advantage of their customers. There really shouldn't be any reason why one should be charged anywhere from $3.80 - $6.00 / graft. It's just highway robbery!
Bottomline, I assure you, you have nothing to worry about when it comes to going to Dr. Chao for your procedure.

Peter,
I agree with you. I had my procedure done with Dr. Chao last year July 2010 as well. And I too, had a great experience with him.

I'm not putting down this doc, but i would be careful about this so-called "deal." I learned from this and if it sounds too good than it probabley isn't. You should be careful because u dont want to look worse off than where u are right now.,, U don't want some clinic telling you a year after your surgery that they did what they did to u because of your "situation" and then request more money out of you to get your desired result or fix what they screwed up. Just a warning!! Not saying this doc will do this either. but it is a possibillity.

If u don't have the funds than dont do it.