matt3480

I would actully say Gabel is a good example of someone that's underrated. His results are quite solid.

Actually, yeah, he would be one of those. I think he is really good....he just hasn't been in practice as long as some of the others so some many not know about him. Good post.

Not sure I understand the subject of the thread. You are either good, or you aren't. You either product consistent and excellent results, or you don't.

Like others have said....I'll stick with someone established versus an "up and comer".

I swear......when I read some of the comments on here about certain results and doctors being "unresponsible" and the such, I think some of it is jealousy of the patient.

This guys looks like he has THICK hair and A LOT of it. That means it won't take many grafts to get him a perfect hairline....whereas for many people they probably will never have this hairline regardless of number of grafts due to the extent of their loss and donor characteristics. You don't know his family history and you don't know if he is on Fin.

What is irresponsible (correct usage of the word, by the way) is making comments like that to begin with. Also ironic they are normally made by people have never even had a HT and quite honestly have no clue what they are even talking about (Internet experts).

It's not SMP...it's Dermmatch or one of the similar spray on things. Jermaine Jackson has been doing this for years and looks like an absolute clown doing that. I mean, seriously? His temples are 3 inches wide.

Yeah, I think I would pay, too......I'm sure one day (maybe not in our lifetime) it will be do-able.

I'm kind of in that boat now...just got a second one for more density. Whatever, it's winter, wear hats a lot anyways....I just know I have a hell of a lot more hair than I did this time last year.

It's definitely challenging. Hypothetical, how many of you would pay an extra $10-15k if a doctor guaranteed they would keep growing and not fall out (I know this isn't possible....but I bet a lot of people would pay).

I think that could possibly have some effect.....going from 5% to 2% and now back to 5% (as well as stopping the Fin....as it's supposedly out of your system after a week I believe). You know how finicky that stuff is (both Rogaine and Fin).

Good thing is that now that you are back on your normal regimen, I would assume the hair should grow back.

You said you were "back on Fin" and 5% Rogaine.....as in, you just started these up again now? That could the bigger reason for the shed.

Aloe vera......I used that and it helped a lot (and I was pretty red for a couple months....more red than most). You can't put too much on.....so definitely put it on several times per day. I was nervous about putting any type of steroid, etc. on for fear that it might affect something with the grafts...even at 2-3 months post op.

Recipient Site | Shapiro Medical Group in Minneapolis, MN

 

That information sounds like it came from a salesman. If it came from a general email address it was probably someone in his office replying on his behalf.

 

Dr Konior does his own emails and well worth getting feedback from.

Exactly this. The Shapiros are good doctors.....no doubt.....but they aren't Konior (especially in FUT).

Yep, had the same thing....it goes away. I think a lot of it is exasperated by laying down on the area while sleeping (especially if you sleep on your back) as well as the pressure.

MSM......Biotin.....Multivitamin.....

I just started the MSM about 1.5 months ago as I've heard really good stuff about it. I've been keeping my hair only half an inch long from then until I had my second HT last week...so it will be hard to gauge how much the MSM works for a few months when I let my hair grow out with the new HT. I heard the powder is much better than capsules. I went to a local Vitamin Shoppe/Vitamin World and they had a couple choices. It's cheap....maybe $15-20 for a thing of it (each teaspoon is 1000mg). I heard 3000mg is optimal.....but your body gets rid of the excess and doesn't use it (so in other words.....it's better to take 3 servings throughout the day versus taking 3000mg all at once).

I'm only taking 0.5mg per day of Propecia so it costs much less for me versus others. That being said, I was initially prescribed generic and then insisted on Propecia after reading some of the stories about generic not being as effective....or the fin not being as equally distributed. It might be a bunch of BS but I figured since it was my first time on fin and I was getting a HT....that I might as well just get the real thing and not have the thoughts in the back of my head.

Your hair looks 100x better and your hair loss looks much more minor with your hair cut that way.

Keep it that way. You will look great with 2k grafts.

The thread should run.....quite honestly, it's even worse than closing it and banning him. As people have said, stuff on the Internet is FOREVER. Look at old Alvi Armani threads from 6-7 years ago.....he basically is a non-factor in HT's now. Yes, he gets patients still....but in terms of being considered a quality surgeon...that ship has sailed.....whether it's 2015 or 2035.

There are 5-10 Hall of Fame surgeons and then there is everyone else. That's just the way it is. It's not even a discussion. It's like saying there are Jordan, LeBron, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, and Larry Bird. You can't really rank them 1-5. However, there is a LARGE difference between the next class of surgeons.

You should be basing your choices on patient reviews and your own interviews/goals with the doctors.

Just because someone is recommended on this site doesn't mean a lot. Granted, I would definitely be leery of anyone not recommended only because you likely won't find much information on the doctor anywhere else. I feel most recommended doctors on here at least have several patients, etc. where you can get a better feel on their work.....and then you can move on to the interviewing stage.

I'm sorry....I've become more passionate about this recently....but I feel there are a few doctors who CONSISTENTLY GIVE VERY GOOD RESULTS. I just really think unless there is some major obstacle (money, distance, etc)....that you should stick with these doctors and be safe. Most doctors are pretty similar price-wise....so it might be a distance thing (although we all know we shouldn't let distance be a barrier).

I do agree that I wish there was a better "governing body" regarding hair transplant doctors...because a couple bad apples cause fear in everyone. I have a law degree...so I equate it to the Bar....just because you are a member of the Bar does not mean you can litigate yourself out of a paper bag.

You only get so many chances at this. You get a few screwed up HT's and you basically are done because your donor is finite. Why risk this? I know there are probably hundreds of HT doctors worldwide.....but in reality, there probably are 50 competent ones (and even many of those might not give consistent results....but they at least won't make you worse).

Yeah, this dude is definitely not someone who is mentally stable enough to have a HT.

Depends how old....I think hair naturally thins when you get older (even in non-balding areas). That probably is why.

I think it depends on so many factors.....including the size of surgery. My first one was 2,000 grafts and it just wasn't bad, at all. The donor felt like a sun burn....nothing more. Pain pills easily took care of the issue....and I bet Advil would have worked as good.

I just had a 1,300 again on Tuesday and I've literally taken 2 pain pills...I feel 100%.

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/136503-dr-alvi-armani-why-he-not-recommended-site.html

Need I say more?

I don't even know what you are talking about. Armani isn't in Turkey. He is in California. However, he WAS well known for having great hairlines because he over-harvested grafts. It's not hard to have a dense hairline when a doctor plants 85% of the your donor density in an area. The only bad part is he is wasting your grafts and there have been MANY instances where patients had bad scarring and their donor depleted because of this reckless work (not to mention half of the grafts didn't grow). Armani is minor league compared to the other doctors we are speaking about in this thread. Be serious. You have the "Google machine", use it.

Turkey could be next door for all I care....but I'm not traveling into a country where kidnapping and beheadings are going on 500 miles away...especially for a subpar hair transplant. I'm not sure why you brought up ethnic or religious or whatever beliefs....I never even mentioned that nor do I care.

People told you who the good doctors are. Not sure what else you need. I'm in no way a HT veteran.....I was firmly against getting one up until a year ago. That being said, it shocks me how much people will go for something so unsure instead of going for proven results.....it's your body for Christ sake.....just to save a few bucks or something.

I got to report this idiot. This guy continues to harass me on every thread I create. This loser has no life whatsoever.

 

…. Just reported you.

 

 

 

Have you checked out Alvi Armani? His work looks very good, even though hes in the middle east. I think hes in Turkey if I’m not mistaken. I may consider traveling to Turkey to see this doc.

 

Let me know if you think this doc is as good or even better than the docs you mentioned.. hope to hear from you soon.. thanks.

With all due respect, you really probably need to do more research. I put Alvi's first name because I thought his name was blocked on this site (and it would be for good reason). Do some Google searching. He definitely isn't someone I'd recommend.

Any of these doctors can do dense packing, simple as that. Every patient's needs and wants are different.

The Turkey stuff? Are you going to travel anywhere near Syria and trust you will get quality work? Um, no. I'd almost rather drive down to Tijuana if price is what matters. Didn't they catch an ISIS member a few weeks ago in Turkey because he went for a HT (seriously...Google it)?

I don't sit here and recommend Konior just because I had him do my HT. I did the research before and knew he was the guy. Here is a little sneak peak of my 2nd procedure with Dr. K on Tuesday....dense enough for you? I have a ton of ointment on here (the white parts), too...covering even more grafts.

Yeah, makes sense. I totally understand wanting to be able to pull the trigger ASAP instead of having to wait a long time.

Game plan is so dependent on each individual person....so I understand how that could move you towards others. We all want that 21 year old hairline and you will find some to give it to you (Alvi was one of those). However, we ended up seeing after many years how this aggressive planning caused some not to grow at all and I suspect that is why I've seen some of the others have that occasional dud. Again, that might not be related to skill....but it does relate to planning.

I thought way back when Hassan and Wong may have done a few together.....but those might have been extenuating circumstances.

But dont you think Hasson is better than Konior?

 

And in terms of FUE vs FUT, I'll go with FUT since I want to ensure that the harvest quality is high. With FUE, some of the follicles can actually die rendering lower hair count and growth.

No, I actually think Konior is the top dog....especially for FUT as his scars are about unmatched. Remember, this is the guy people go to in order to fix other doctors mistakes.

Hassan and Wong have some nice results, no doubt....but I also have seen some subpar ones. Obviously they are pretty known for their mega sessions...if you needed 6,000 grafts at once....it obviously helps to have two doctors operating on you at the same time.

I've seen subpar Rahal results too..

Ask how many doctors you know who are booked nine months out (and this is without having reps out soliciting business). Konior WROTE some of these textbooks that a lot of these doctors learned from. He does one surgery per day and does all of the incisions and placing. He is in there 100% of the surgery. My first surgery went from 7am to probably midnight.....he was there the whole time. Sorry, you just don't get that anywhere else. He enjoys his job....he does it because he likes helping people, not because he is trying to make as much money as possible. It's just not how he is. Let's put it this way...I've seen some 10 out of 10 amazing results from all of those docs. The difference is I've also seen a very rare poor result from those other doctors, too. I have not seen that from Konior.

Mav, I'm curious as to why you ruled out Konior?

Konior for sure, I think Rahal puts out some good results...Hassan and Wong puts out some nice ones....Shapiro in Minneapolis....Gabel is an up and comer...Feller is a good one...Cooley is very good...

I've also seen hundreds of great results from literally hundreds of other doctors here in the US. However, I think the ones above have the best reputation and reputation is built on results. You don't see these guys very often soliciting for business.....they get customers on word of mouth because if you do any type of research, you can see the results for yourself. Ferrari doesn't need to run commercials to talk you into thinking a Ferrari is a nice car.

That being said....I'm not 100% sure all of the docs above do both FUT and FUE so take that into consideration.