hairweare

For the USA HT pt the Euro is now at a 12 year low and may likely drop even further in the near future. Time to seriously consider the experienced FUE specialists in Europe while they are on "sale"

It is difficult if not impossible to do a controlled study on yourself so you either must believe in it or not and go from there.

In general utilizing this site for research prior as to opposed to after your procedure is more useful. Regardless, I hope you get the result that you are expecting and if down the road you are considering another procedure and or clinic, spend some considerable time here first to learn as much as possible about your options.

I haven't seen enough of Dr Vories work to give him a formal endorsement but he appears to have undergone a dramatic reformation a few years ago. I surmise that he was heavily influenced by Lorenzo's technique and is the closest practitioner on this side of the pond who subscribes to that model. His fees based on what have been posted here are reasonable in comparison to other NA clinics. One thing to consider today however is the falling Euro and the experience and longterm results of the non-USA FUE specialists. At least many now have legitimate options whereas just a few years ago there was practically none.

Speed during a procedure could be either a good or bad thing. A virtuoso pianist or guitarist can play their instruments at blazing speed without missing a note so I wouldn't rate an experienced physician by how fast he is. If you are looking for a doc with a "slow hand" I would avoid Lorenzo -!

If you have not already done so take a look at Peperoni's case in which he received a total of 4000 scalp and 2000 beard grafts over two procedures with Dr. Lorenzo

Blake, he would appear to have much more than 2000 grafts available.

Personally I think that a cleanly shaved head looks much better than any of the above examples of a thin comb-over. To each his own however.

Agree 100%!

Nice conservative result. I hope the patient realizes that his hair loss will very likely be progressive for the rest of his life and that this may the the first of several necessary procedures in order to maintain his current status. I should know, I had my first 3600 graft HT at age 39 and now 61 I have had 4 more since.

It is imperative that he either maintains finasteride or initiate it immediately if he had not previously been on it.

I see you as a 6 which may progress to a 7. 7000-9000 grafts are likely needed to achieve a natural looking full coverage which would not appear as an obvious HT. I would avoid US physicians unless money is no obstacle and you are a multimillionaire. Vories is apparently more reasonable and has recently adopted Lorenzo's proven techniques of manual extraction and implanter pens. His earlier work with Neograft is certainly suspect, but he appears to have moved on, spent some time observing Lorenzo's clinic in Madrid and may be the nearest clone of Intercapillar on the Continent. The recommended Turkish and Indian FUE docs would give you more grafts for your money but I would caution against undergoing a two day mega-session. You have too much riding on the outcome and too little donor hair to lose. Be patient, play it safe and expect two or even three surgeries to get the optimal results. Under no circumstances would I undergo a strip FUT if I were you.

Evaluating the FUE donor area one month post is pointless. It takes at least four months for the area to recover. I know that my donor zone looked far better after 4 months and when shaved at 8 months for my second procedure there were no visible white dots or any appearance of an earlier surgery. Even looking under the microscope it was hard to discern a difference. I think that I also have a fairly keen eye for these things.

Just for the record Lorenzo because he does all the implantations himself and has multiple cases going has had grafts stored for up to 6 hours in my observation without much concern. I do not know what solution he uses but patients spray their donor area post op with plain saline.

Brilliant post!

Thanks Betterlate, I try to make my comments here constructive and glad to be of help. Don't despair you have a long way to go and may be quite happy with your progress in another couple of months. Even if you do require another procedure despite your reticence, you got through the first one which nearly all here would say is the toughest one. You would be surprised how much easier it is the second or third time since there is much less fear and anticipation of the unknown.

Agree that there is not much going on but at 10 weeks post op you are still in the very early stages. Your frontal zone does appear somewhat thinner perhaps from shock loss which hopefully will reverse. I think that you misunderstood my earlier comment that I would have advised two smaller sessions separated by 6-8 months as opposed to days. This would have been less traumatic to both your donor and recipient areas and more importantly would have allowed full recovery of your donor zone and observation of the recipient growth pattern where uneven areas could then be addressed with the follow up procedure. I know those of us with hair loss seem to want the fastest result possible but it is good to remember that we didn't become bald overnight and patience is a virtue when in comes to achieving the ultimate hair restoration. That said, you may still very likely achieve significant growth and be quite happy but I also wouldn't be surprised if you may want another procedure later when your present grafts have fully matured.

To be exact, there are two physicians working independently but using the same team of techs. Lorenzo assigns the techs and still does some extractions himself, particularly the more challenging cases. For his cases, he does all of the implantations using the pen. There are no slits and the tech's job is to load the pen as Lorenzo implants at lightening speed and rhythm much like a musician playing an instrument. By the way Lorenzo is also an accomplished pianist which comes as no surprise.

HTs for decades has been an overpriced procedure especially when compared to other cosmetic procedures which required more skill and training to perform. Nonetheless, there have been few alternatives and enough demand to maintain the inflated cost. I never maintained that FUE is such an esoteric procedure that couldn't be taught to non medical practitioners, my point was that by choosing such a clinic you have no idea of the skill and experience of the person(s) actually doing your procedure. If in fact these tech "mills" can maintain a respectable quality control and produce consistent and reproducible results, there will definitely be a positive effect on HT prices worldwide. This would be a welcome development and for this reason alone I hope that this model succeeds.

They are not a large operation with a slick office and support staff but are busy with 3-4 cases a day. Only a few speak fluent English and Pilar who does, usually takes care of the correspondence. Be patient, or perhaps follow up with a telephone call.

For the cost of a 2500-3000 graft FUE in NA. one could fly first class to Europe stay at a nice hotel, see some famous sites, eat well, get their procedure done and still have plenty of change left. Considering FUE in NA at this time makes no economic sense unless you are a repair patient with no scalp hair left. In that case Dr. Umar would be worth a visit but at an astronomical price.

That said Vories has apparently abandoned Neograft ( thank goodness!) and adopted Lorenzo's technique of manual extraction using .8mm punches and the implanter pen. I have not seen enough of his results to endorse him or know what his rates are, but he is on the right track. It is also my understanding that he went to Madrid to personally observe Lorenzo's clinic which indicates a certain degree of dedication.

Neither specialize in FUE and charge way too much in my opinion. Cheaper and wiser option is to consider the top FUE surgeons in Europe especially now that the Euro is weak. Many claim to have success in Turkey or India but I would stick to Europe myself.

Pepe, of the 6000 total grafts how many were from the beard?

Despite 3 FUTS only 1500 grafts were harvested so considering that you were a NW 6 either the surgeons were overly conservative or that your scalp characteristics made you a poor candidate for FUT in the first place. Ziering is an FUT doc and in the US and had a reputation no better than Bosley, which among the educated is not particularly exemplary. I seriously doubt that he did a microscopic analysis of your donor region or seriously discussed the option of FUE in your case. In hindsight it is now obvious that you had most of your donor reserve intact which appeared to be considerably above average to begin with. You were a perfect candidate for extensive FUE and as should be expected got a very good result. I think it took guts however to pick a clinic where you had no idea who would be working on your head but regardless the outcome speaks for itself so consider yourself lucky, and fortunate that you still have plenty of cash in your bank account.

The case you cite is an extraordinary one and those who go to this clinic with the expectation of similar results are leaving themselves open to dashed dreams and disappointment. We are not informed who the two doctors were that turned him down, nor do we know whether they had any expertise in FUE. Certainly if a microscopic evaluation was performed the extremely thick density of the donor area as well as favorable hair shaft caliber would have been readily identified. You can't get water from a stone nor can you extract 6000 FUs from a zone previously exhausted from 3 previous FUTs so it is fair to assume that similar results could have been obtained from any doctor specializing in FUE. That it was achieved at such a bargain is the real story for that particular individual. Personally, I wouldn't have taken the chance myself but the outcome speaks louder than words and obviously the HT Gods were looking down on him during his procedure.

The important point is that YMWV where ever you decide to go and the old investment adage, "past results do not guarantee future performance" holds true in the HT business as well. The point that has been made repeatedly here is that many informed prospective patients attempt to control as many variables as possible even if one has to spend more to do so. Those that view FUE as a technician dispensed commodity are more likely to select a clinic based on price alone and hope that "what you get is what you pay for" will not necessarily apply to their particular outcome.

I am not so clear as to when exactly Lorenzo began using techs at his clinic in Madrid. Certainly his practice and techniques have evolved since 2004. I suspect he started out performing all parts of the procedure himself and then added an associate (Dr. Villa) when the case load started to pick up. At some point he expanded sessions to more than 1500 grafts and began to utilize techs for extractions. Nuria is his most experienced tech but others are more recently trained. Personally, I would not want to be part of someones extraction learning curve regardless as to whether they were a technician or doctor. Donor supply is too limited and transection will affect yield. I was too drugged to see or ask if Dr. Lorenzo personally inspects the extracted grafts prior to being loaded into the implanter pen.

My point remains that a FUE is a personal service where quality is dependent on the summation of the parts. I don't believe that quality can be maintained if that service is expanded or franchised. Consider the great restaurant owned by a chef who then later becomes famous and franchises his name to multiple locations. Are any quite as good as the original?