win200

I'll re-post with some pics later today, but just wanted to bump the thread to point out that there's very little-to-no action at this point. There are a few extremely wispy hairs growing, but nothing that will show up with a camera. It's a little disappointing because a lot of folks seem to have something pretty visible at this point, but I'm hanging in there. I honestly can't recall what I looked like at this point in my last procedure, so I don't have much idea what to expect at this stage post-op. Is it pretty typical to have virtually no growth at ~10 weeks?

Any update on this procedure?

And I'm sorry, but it's sloppy and inexcusable for a clinic rep to post un-cropped patient pictures on the internet if the agreement stated otherwise. That's not the kind of mistake that a reputable clinic should be making, even temporarily. I can't imagine H&W, Rahal, Konior, etc. betraying a patient's privacy like that. Just ridiculous.

I'm normally pretty conservative about these things, but I'm sorry, this is an atrocious result for six months. Things aren't done yet, of course, but this is way behind the curve for this point. The density is non-existent, and I suspect the angulation may be off in some instances (tough to tell with the transplanted areas cropped so short). This is also significantly redder than I've seen recipient areas at six months; I actually can't recall seeing a recipient area so irritated half a year after the fact. A lot can still change, but you asked for brutal honesty, and the truth is that this is an extremely sub-par result for this point in time. That's the big caveat. I'll note, though, that it would take a remarkable turnaround for this to turn out to be a strong result.

I agree that all recommend physicians need to commit to creating 100% of incision sites. I also think that physicians that do not extract 100% of FUE grafts themselves need to prominently disclose that on their HRN profile. They should have to periodically update their disclosures about physician participation in surgery.

I'm two months post op with Dr. R and still have some redness. I think if you have pale skin and get a dense pack, the redness is going to linger for longer. I'm getting some mild early growth at two months, too, so hopefully you'll see some action soon!

Very nice result, especially for the low graft count.

Mindblowing. What's even more surprising is that it doesn't look like you have unusually good donor. I'd only expect a 14k (or even 10k) extraction if someone had really exceptional donor. Maybe your laxity was freakishly high?

Forfeit your deposit. Seriously. This could be a huge, huge mistake. The fact that you can't name the clinic means they're not recommended here, and especially with FUE, you could (are likely to?) have an awful result. You obviously don't understand how difficult proper hair transplantation is or how surgeon-dependent the procedure is. You're treating clinics as basically interchangeable, and there's a great likelihood that you'll pay for it with a procedure that is disappointing, needs to be revised, and/or wastes a huge number of grafts.

Throw the deposit away and you'll thank us later. If you play hardball with them, you might even get it back. Fake a sob story. Be creative.

This is ridiculous thinking for your fourth month. You have no idea what the final result will look like. Focus on other things and stop getting ahead of yourself.

I hear Dr Hasson is good. Dr Rahal did a bad job for me

What went wrong with your procedure with Dr. Rahal? Was the yield poor?

I'm fine with this. The guy has essential zero loss. A miniaturization check might have indicated NO loss; what he started with was essentially a mature hairline, so he might never significantly recede from that. And it's 1,800 grafts, not 3,800. And he's not 22.

Dr. Rahal is arguably the best in the world, and he's close to you. I just had a procedure with him in October. I shaved my entire head down. It's tough because it's unforgiving. It's also liberating, because there's nothing you can do about it and you simply learn how to not give a crap. I'm only six weeks post-op and everything looks normal now. No one commented on my hair/head when the scar showed, and no one can tell the difference now. When you just own it and stop giving a rat's ass, you'll be glad you shaved. And you'll never have to wonder whether you would have gotten a better result if you had allowed the surgeon to shave you.

Disagree--I think this looks incredible. Amazing how dense a hairline a transplant can provide. But this is one of the ultimate "this guy didn't need work done" procedures I've ever seen. But if you've got the grafts and the urge, why not...

My understanding is that Konior is most widely known for doing everything himself. I can confirm Shapiro was responsible for 85-90% of my procedure. Only in the final 10 minutes did he step away for a few minutes. I would like to think H+W and Rahal and a handful of others are the same. Obvously FUT vs FUE will impact this, but it ultimately shouldn't.

 

Techs should be heavily involved, but should not be leading the most critical aspects of the procedure.

I just had an FUT procedure with Rahal in October and can confirm that the only portions of the surgery that involved techs were a) dissection of grafts (like every other FUT surgeon on the planet) and b) implantation of grafts. He and I were alone in the operating room while he made every incision and had a very nice chat.

The only thing that I think should be clarified is that patients are frequently (usually, I think) much more red than this guy at this point post-op, and that's totally normal. I just wouldn't want anyone who's red at three, six weeks to freak out because this guy looks untouched at less than two weeks.

Of course I get the WORST combination... pale skin with stick-straight dark brown hair and a low-ish hair-per-graft ratio. At least I've got really thick, rigid hair and minimal loss...

Wow--I can't imagine being 23 and having horrendous plugs like that. He must be over the moon.

Massive improvement--really terrific job. Pretty shocking that someone as young as 38 could have still experience those horrendous plugs; I always think of it as being 50-somethings that were subjected to that.

Do you know how long ago the the patient had the original work?

Win, you had mostly hairline work done which surgeons use singles on, so perhaps Rahal was cherry picking the singles. Did you have strip or FUE again? If strip, maybe he cut the doubles/triples into singles?

It was an FUT procedure. I'd be shocked if he cut doubles/triples; I always thought it was considered HIGHLY unethical to split grafts and then charge for the separate units.

Short answer: yes. Check out this amazing FUE result, just posted.

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/179160-dr-rahal-fue-2532-grafts.html

True; and I think I have pretty thick hair. I've never had an official caliber measurement taken, but Dr. Konior once told me that my caliber was above average.

And yeah, I'm just looking for things to worry about.

Oh, that's interesting. I'm still sorta disappointed that mine was so low (1.88) because it means that the bang for my buck was less.

Huge, huge difference. Those profile pics really tell the whole story. The fact that he adopted a much, much better hairstyle after the transplant helps too. (Of course, he probably couldn't have pulled it off beforehand...)

Do not go with the NY surgeons, there are way better surgeons out there if you are prepared to travel. If you must stay in NY, then Feller & Wesley should be your only two options. They are solid. Dr Bernstein is not value for money. He charges $9 a graft for FUT when better clinics out there charge $5 per graft like H&W. If Dr B was the best in the world, then he can justify that, but guys like Konior, Ron Shapiro, Hasson are better & more consistent surgeons at half the price. These are facts. I completely disagree with the advice being provided to you up above. Be prepared to travel and you will get better results and save dollars.

Well, to be fair, he asked for comments "on the following doctors," so that's the advice I gave him. It's for him to judge whether the prices are worth the results, so I just limited myself to commenting on the surgeon-patient fit from the list he cited. And I stand by my advice that, of those, Bernstein would do very good work for this particular patient's needs and expectations. If travel options are opened up, though, I might recommend differently.