KiwiGuy500

haha bonker, always straight to the point, I love it! Give that man a cigar!

oooops sorry benny, I should say, that's a great start....and the research, yep you're getting it...

H&W Rahal Armani Feller Shapiro Path from Thailand for bang for buck There's your high percentage list....go with anyone else, and who knows.

haha, tom139 signed up YESTERDAY and was straight to the defense of Dr Martinick. Here we go again fellas!

Its true Dream big, you can take the chance for a holiday if you got the coin. I did and I probably will next time too, may as well. But for some it just comes down to having enough to get the basic procedure and younger dudes with hair loss have to try and put the desperation aside and somehow make the best long term decision, and we both know that is a very tough task.

The above is great advice from these guys. Unless family can help, then often someone under 30 can struggle to afford a HT and ends up with the dodgy surgeons hoping it will all be okay. These guys have often ignored the cautionary advice of others too. Then, if the result is bad it can be even harder to get it fixed because you MUST then be repaired up by someone who knows what they are doing with tons of experience. This is slower in every respect (you've already wasted 1-5 years, can only handle smaller procedures so can take years to get things done, higher costs due to small procedures and more logistics/travel, grows slower, lower growth survival), and results are then never as good as just going to the best in the first place. I had my first at 23 and more at 24, NZ doctor, followed by attempt at repair twice by an Australian Dr, with poor results....this then affected my career options. It took until 36, (starting my own company to work fro myself and post paying off an apartment and finding security) before I could afford to be repaired, and I'm 2 surgeries into 3/4 repair procedures! I'm just right now trying to find the next bundle of cash for the next one late this year, trust me you don't need the nightmare. Hence Benny, Jollyfolly is right to say your are lucky. In Australia, just about the best you can get out of the medical review process is your money back cause if your results suck then that's what the surgeon will offer this to you to make you go away and everyone takes it. But, even that's hard to get because most surgery from Australia looks semi-okay, not real or cool, but it sits up there on your head so you technically aren't bald anymore. But it doesn't do you any favours in the social department and I for one think being bald is a better option that whats on offer in Australia. Yes Trico closure came from an Aussie, and FUE/BHT advancements for those without any donor came from Aussie, but after that, there's not even one surgeon trying to recreate the high standards being achieved by the top 10 clinics in the world. I believe this will change, but, not for a while, (what a massive business opportunity there is for a doctor who want's to put in the hard yards). Lastly Ben, I'm one of those ones who think you are too young. Consider the meds as an option. Plus the nizoral, msm, vitamins. Do the research and wait until 25 at least. Rodg has gone the more cost effective route and he's a proponent of this, often giving other guys something to think about with the cost effective options he's taken himself. If you want Hasson, Wong, Rahal or Feller, you're gonna need to bide.

Benny Boy, Look mate, please let us save you all the hassle here, I back up dreambig all the way with his assessment of the top few and the bad eggs. Yep the Aussie surgeons seem to talk a great game right, and afterall, why would a fairly industrialised modern country NOT have a kick ass HT master, why why why? Australia has just about everything else after all. Well we all wonder. I'm a kiwi and had the old style plugs year ago. Then I tried an australian, supposedly the BEST (according to him of course) and it looked even worse. How do you get it look worse than plugs? They're insured the hilt, the whole lot of them, and thats for a reason. He's a butcher and his work just doesnt stack. The answer to your question could be: A) its purely a financial decision and there's more to be made by doing things in the 1990's style work, B) They're lazy old dogs who've done their dash, C) the ones who do it just aren't that talented (and yes a great HT takes REAL TALENT!), D) All of the above. So, to keep with the multi-choice theme..... You can A) take our word for it, B) Go ahead and risk it all on someone with a less than stellar reputation C) Do alot more research D) Not get a transplant (better than option B by the way) The basis upon which people have arrived at the conclusion is that our collective experience and trust of each other has helped us identify those doctors doing both the very best and the very worst work. The old hacks have seen it, done it, heard about it. We have no interest in putting you wrong and the vast majority of us are not involved in the industry making money. So please, if you're gonna do it, consider meds, do your research, and be prepared to travel. Your bonus is, Perth is closer to the world than the rest of the antipodeans!!

Carthago, its great you've hit 'sanity point' with hair loss. Took me ten years longer than you. Well done and now you can apply that perspective to making the best decision for you. Aaron, couldn't agree more about finasteride and evaluating. But after the wait of a year or more, if the prospect desires frontal restoration plus some 'evening out' through the scalp, the only way is a small procedure. Granted he likes a mature look but finasteride wont re-create a better line and his issues about frontal uneveness seem quite valid to me. Just my thoughts.

Love your writing style Dutch! Ive been the Dr Wong patient there an hour before the Dr Hasson patient - first thing in the morning....weird things going thru my head wondering whats about to happen! Lorenzo brother, only you Italians would do that!!

Hope the rays don't penetrate his brain and make him crazy

Although the before pics don't show the very worst old transplant look, the after pics are top shelf. 2000 grafts? They've been made to look like 3500 were added. Extremely natural effect the patient must be proud of.

I agree this patient had a 'fair' result for the old method. Only in the hands of someone very very skilled, could plugs look 'okay'. I received kindof 'okay' looking plug surgery in the late 90's early 2000's (in repair now tho). But it wasn't until the popularity of the internet that I saw what had been done to others with this technique to destroy many lives. Great to see Dr Simmons being so thoughtful in the improvement of a patients life, really working with the patient technically, aesthetically, and personally. Grey hair obviously gives more variation and tricks the eye but clearly 600 plugs have made an excellent improvement in this case. Its a shame people still think of modern HT's as plug surgery.

Well, several people all telling you to go visit the same guy, sounds like a no-brainer to me. I would thought one of these 'senior' posters would have backed me up on the stabilization stuff, but go see Rahal, he'll back me up cause it'll be one of his first questions.

Are you kidding, you live pretty close to Dr Rahal considered 'King of Hairlines' by his fans. And is many guys top 5 clinics. You would have have to consider him. Dr Rahal also comes in at very fair rates so is going to be closest to your budget. Hasson and and Wong are in Vancouver and are high on most lists, pretty darn good at what they do. Canadians are so spoiled for choice! If you go to the states you'll generally pay more per graft, although there are 4-5 clinics who have earned excellent reputations. But you don't need to endure such a trip with what's in your 'backyard'. Before you think about a transplant though, you should consider doing all you can to stabilize the loss!!!!! How long did you stay with finasteride/propecia? It can take a few months or even longer to do its work. Unless you were one of the few to experience side effects you need to consider this may still have something to offer you. Are you using Nizoral or similar once or twice a week? It is a pretty stock standard treatment shampoo to mix in with your regular shampoo routine. I would give the lasercomb a miss, I'm not saying laser can't work wonders in a few cases, its just that you need 50 diodes plus and that costs alot to use. Many don't respond to laser anyway, but lasercomb as a form of laser is like expecting 1 slice of pizza to feed a village. It's your lowest percent bang for buck return for sure and its a pain in the proverbial. And you won't find many touting the laser comb whether it has FDA or not!! Rogaine foam seems to be on a lot of peoples treatment lists, and deserves its FDA approved status. The above treatments are FDA approved, but don't expect to try them for a month or two and see results - it will take time, perhaps a long time. Propecia works for most but it really takes a while. Transplants are best in combination with hairloss stabilization cause its unlikely most of us will have enough donor to cover what we would naturally lose. So please consider discovering the combination that works for you. Outside of these are the slightly less popular things such as certain suppliments, MSM, and these too have their guys that swear by them. Lastly, you are young, not so young that you wouldn't consider a transplant, but young where you still may be better waiting. So the treatment stuff could be the best direction in the long run. No it won't save your social status, (I know you don't want to be the thinning / bald guy), but it still may be the best outcome for you.

Maherel, I very much back you up on this opinion. And I not know why some people think their view must be accepted at the truth simply because they are being the most aggressive and 'vocal'. At times we all must agree to disagree. This becomes hard when the original themes are forgotten and suddenly it becomes more about someone feeling their need to the one who is correct and moral (blah blah blah!). This is not to say there is no place for watch dogs, but they too need to consider how far to berate others with their opinion. Shampoo, I too see stvobadia in a no win and there was no attempt to 'go public'. I've seen that before too but this was not one of those situations IMHO. And, as has been said, the stvobadia's post was relevant to the thread!!! Stvobadia, I hope you continue to be with us on this forum and lots of us back you up and wish you well.