whispy

I started a thread along the same lines a while back and chose Dr Lorenzo for this reason.

you can see it here

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/172708-techs-qualifications-experience-disclosed.html

Looks fantastic.

Out of interest have you used hair dye as the pictures pre op look lighter brown?

Do you have time for a little update?

He states he paid for 3000 with 600 grafts free which would have cost

14,000 pounds .

normally would have cost 16400 pounds = (19759 euros or $26,427)

The shorter the length of time grafts are outside the body before implanting the higher percentage survival rate.

I have discounted procedures with several surgeons because after further investigation I have established that they do not carry out the entire extraction and implantation personally.

This was on occasion only found out through patients personal experiences posted on various forums.

You are after all basing your decision on the reputation of the surgeon.

Technicians are not reviewed by name so it is almost impossible to gauge your potential end result.although many are very skilled.

Whilst I would choose a surgeons total involvement method I have a question regarding the length time grafts are out of the body.

With my preferred method of the surgeon carrying out all extractions and implantation this will slow the whole procedure down in comparison to a team of technicians doing extractions and implanting.

Based on a surgeon extracting all grafts in the morning and then implanting all in the afternoon.

So for example the first graft was extracted at say 8.30am and it was the last one to be implanted at say 5pm that is a long time to be out of the body(worst case scenario)

The best case scenario would be that a graft was extracted just before lunchtime and implanted just after.so you see you can have a difference of say 30 minutes to 8.5 hours!

If grafts were used in rotation ie. first out/first in then that would give a standard out of the body time of approx 4 hours for every graft,but I cannot see that possible in practice due to different size grafts being needed at different times of the procedure.

Question

Could the 1st half of the morning be extractions and the 2nd half to lunchtime be implantation? repeat for the afternoon 1st half extraction 2nd half implantation?

This would potentially reduce the time grafts are out of the body by half.

The only consideration I have with this approach is the anesthetic having to be administered in both donor and recipient areas in very short succession,but it would only be for half the normal area so it may not matter.

Any thoughts from patients and surgeons would be appreciated.

Congratulations GoTime I am sure you will have great results,it looks very tidy work as expected from Dr Lorenzo. Well done!

Hi Blake

I do have one question,Dr Lorenzo uses the implantor pen not scalpel slits.

Which do you think leaves the least noticeable scarring ?

Whispy

Thanks for clarifying your comments Future_HT_Doc I appreciatewhat you say it just came across a different way.

I havenowcrossed off Dr Feriduni from my shortlist as the only involvement he has is the anesthetic injections and making the recipient site incisions but from what I can find out still wants a highish fee for this limited involvement.

I am not paying top dollar for a technician to carry out the entire extraction and install of grafts.

Dr Lorenzo however carries out the entire procedure which is what I would expect for my hard earned money.

and so the research continues!

Thank you Scar5 and fables for your replies, my sentiments exactly.

Your posts have confirmed my concerns and from first hand experience.

DO YOUR RESEARCH AND ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS.EVEN IF THEY SEEM OBVIOUS AS YOU MIGHT BE SURPRISED BY THE ANSWERS YOU GET.

ps. When I read the post raising the hospital analogy I thought here comes the surgeon biased pressure of the forums!

Thanks that is a very good example,lacking in qualification information and procedures involved in but very good.

What do you think of Dr Feriduni`s medical team information I was recently looking at?

Seems a bit vague to me and provides little meaningful information.

Future HT Doc

I would be very interested if someone would post examples of which clinics websites provide the background information of their technicians so that I could see what level of detail they provide.

Whispy

I think that would be fair enough if patients could easily research their technicians as they can with their surgeon and also write into the contract for their procedure who is going to be working on them on the day of their transplant.

.

It is apparent that a large number of patients are leaving the clinics not knowing anything about the techs that have worked on them!Scary.

A lack of research on the patients part or an easy situation to find ones self in due to the non transparency of some clinics.maybe both.

We are after all talking about techs carrying out procedures which are ILLEGAL outside most of the US.

Thanks for your input MAGNUMpi I will certainly investigate the surgeons you mention.

This is the I.S.H.R.S`s position.

This leaves no room for ambiguity but is not what is happening in some clinics.

"The following is the position of the ISHRS: ISHRS Position Statement on Qualifications for Scalp Surgery

The position of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery is that any procedure that involves tissue removal from the scalp or body, by any means, must be performed by a licensed physician in the field of medicine. Physicians who perform hair restoration surgery must possess the education, training, and current competency in the field of hair restoration surgery. It is beyond the scope of practice for non-licensed personnel to perform surgery. Surgical removal of tissue by non-licensed medical personnel may be considered practicing medicine without a license by state, federal or local governing boards of medicine. The Society supports the scope of practice of medicine as defined by a physician's state, country or local legally governing board of medicine."

Whispy,

 

"You raise some good points. When I was researching clinics, I had the same questions like who are these techs and how much will my result will depend on them. I think these are fair questions to ask the doc prior to deciding. Most of the clinics I consulted with assured me that the techs they use had been with them for a long time and had implanted millions of grafts. One doc even took me into his clinic, introduced me to the techs and allowed me to watch them work for a few minutes.

 

You are also correct that techs are utilized more in some clinics than in others. I would imagine though that the various doctors have already factored that in when setting their prices."

 

Levrais

Thanks for your reply it seems you have had a long journey but a successful one well done.Do you wish you had done anything differently?

Purely with regard to pricing relevant to the involvement of a surgeon the information below is a breakdown of costs from Dr Bisanga`s website when a surgeon is fully involved as he is in all the `cutting` of the skin.

ALL FUE

First 1000 Grafts 5 euro, Additional grafts 3 euros,

Grafts COST

1000 = 5000 euro

2000 = 8000 euro

3000 = 11000 euro

3500 = 12500 euro

Terms 50% Non refundable deposit with a few exceptions.

Does anyone have examples of pricing for surgeons that do not perform the scoring/extraction as it appears nearly all surgeons do the new site incisions ?

I would expect it to be much cheaper as they can be carrying out other work at that time, but we shall see from the replies.

Whispy,

 

"You raise some good points. When I was researching clinics, I had the same questions like who are these techs and how much will my result will depend on them. I think these are fair questions to ask the doc prior to deciding. Most of the clinics I consulted with assured me that the techs they use had been with them for a long time and had implanted millions of grafts. One doc even took me into his clinic, introduced me to the techs and allowed me to watch them work for a few minutes.

 

You are also correct that techs are utilized more in some clinics than in others. I would imagine though that the various doctors have already factored that in when setting their prices."

 

Levrais

Thanks for your reply it seems you have had a long journey but a successful one well done.Do you wish you had done anything differently?

Purely with regard to pricing relevant to the involvement of a surgeon the information below is a breakdown of costs from Dr Bisanga`s website when a surgeon is fully involved as he is in all the `cutting` of the skin.

ALL FUE

First 1000 Grafts 5 euro, Additional grafts 3 euros,

Grafts COST

1000 = 5000 euro

2000 = 8000 euro

3000 = 11000 euro

3500 = 12500 euro

Terms 50% Non refundable deposit with a few exceptions.

Does anyone have examples of pricing for surgeons that do not perform the scoring/extraction as it appears nearly all surgeons do the new site incisions ?

I would expect it to be much cheaper as they can be carrying out other work at that time, but we shall see from the replies.

Hi JohnnyDrama

Did you know your technicians details and experience before you traveled to your procedure?

and do you know the details of the other technicians that worked directly on you?

Happy Healing to both of you!

Whispy

Hi Modenese

I did not say that Dr Bisanga or Dr Feriduni use any particular procedure.

I am just asking the questions in general in the industry.

I am,however aware that Dr Bisanga does what you say.

Regards

Whispy

Thia is my first post here, so please be gentle!

I am currently considering an FUE procedure and have noticed that some non US surgeons are not performing the scoring and harvesting of grafts or new site incisions but are being performed by technicians.

Whilst I believe this practice is legal outside the US I am concerned for the following reasons.

1. Do you think the names,qualifications,period of experience in this procedure,number of procedures carried out,length of time employed at that clinic should be made clear on the clinics website ?

2. Do you think a reduction in price should be offered if technicians are effectively carrying out the whole procedure(possibly training on you!).

3. How are members supposed to compare results when the actual person/s(technician/s) carrying out the procedure may not be known.

Some surgeons appear to be leaning more and more towards merely administering the anesthetic,possibly making the donor incision sites(but sometimes not even that) and of course popping their head in now and again to see how its going.

I can see some advantages and disadvantages of the surgeon not carrying out all the work,but there needs to be more transparency upfront so that patients can make an informed decision.

Personally, if point 1. was fully disclosed and I was happy with the techs backgrounds I think the possible larger quality graft numbers achievable(due to rotation of techs and lack of fatigue) and limited time the grafts would be out of the body could be an advantage.

On the downside I would be concerned to think that a tech might be in training with my precious grafts and I think I might feel cheated if the surgeon was just popping in now and again,

After all we are could be talking about a circa 10,000euro one day procedure.

The surgeons currently in my scope are Dr Christian Bisanga (BHR Clinic) and

Dr Bijan Feriduni (Dr Feriduni Hair Clinic) both in Belgium.

I welcome your comments.