mav23100gunther

Dr Bloxham,

Firstly, hearty congratulations for the potential recommendation! I am yet to meet with you in person, but from what I can see, you are a true professional and a gentleman. The results above are solid enough to support your recommendation, but....

1) Bill mentions that you have almost 3 years of experience, and my understanding is that you were only admitted as a practicing partner with Dr Feller about 21 months ago. It is also my further understanding that you were still being supervised by Dr Feller, or at least watched over by Dr Feller in "joint procedures" as recently as a year and a bit ago during that whole Professor fiasco. In this context, I feel that it may be slightly premature to add you as a recommended surgeon at this time. It takes 12 - 18 months for a procedure outcome to be judged, so I am wondering how many of the above procedures were performed without any assistance or supervision by Dr Feller, and whether enough time has passed to truly be able to make a solid call that have proved yourself with CONSISTENTLY high quality results that are yours and yours alone, without Dr Feller handprints. Hope I make sense, and hope I am not coming off as too harsh, because the cases shown look real good.

2) On a slightly lessor point, it's been under 2 years since Dr Blake was a moderator of this site. Just want to ask the question if enough of a cooling off period has passed to avoid even the slightest appearance of a conflict of interest that can taint the recommendation. I feel that another year or two should pass. Just me

Based on the above, with a heavy weight towards the first point, I feel it is still too soon to be admitting Dr Bloxham as a recommended surgeon. I personally feel he should be given more time to demonstrate high quality results that are at his hands alone on a consistent basis. Dr Bloxham, if you do get it, then I will be the 1st to raise my glass and toast your recommendation.

Hello everyone,

 

Doctor Erdogan is in my list of doctors and am considering to see him. Is there anyone here who has had a procedure with him? Could you share your experiences and any problems?

 

And how did you pay for the procedure?

Milo / Taurisrisen

No disrespect to you once again, but I am LMAO at this thread. You do realize that there is a search function on this forum that allows you to search and find the Erdogan patients with their own detailed write-up on their experiences, including pics? If that is too scientific for you, then did you consider using a search engine called GOOGLE?

Goodness me, just when you think you have seen everything.

:confused:

Yes the chance increases with subsequent procedures, and for touchup-up procedures I like stick and place where the surgeon places one graft at a time.

But Rahal has a good reputation so it should be fine, are there are any posts of Rahal doing second procedures with success into existing hair here?

I know he's a master at dense packing but would like to see cases of existing hair.

I hate to toot my own horn, but he did my 2nd procedure into existing hair. I was nowhere close to Ernie's density though but ....

*http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/181957-dr-rahal-2-245-graft-procedure-fut.html

Some more pre-op pics on page 21

This is exactly what I'm going to do. Been getting a lot of good advice via PM from you guys --> collectively you've been saying privately that my age is in my favor (turn 42 on Feb.19th), my donor is above average (from the pics anyway), my crown is intact, and I'm experienced enough to know about scar stretching, shockloss, etc.

 

So, i'm going to get a 2nd FUT on March 28th -- just not sure on the graft count yet. Waiting per Rahal's reply to my one-year pics.

Good stuff buddy. How did you get such an early date though? Did Rahal fit you in last minute due to a cancellation, or had you reserved that date months ago? Reason I ask is that Rahal's waitinglist can get long at the best of times

My post got flagged for moderation, so here goes again.

As I said before, you seem to have the luxury of being able to have some hair greed. Especially seeing age is in your favor, great donor supply left over to tap in, your hair loss is stabilized. I say, put your head down, stop asking people for their opinions, call up Dr Rahal tomorrow, and book the procedure. Don't look back, and you won't regret it a year from now.

My post got flagged for moderation, so here goes again.

As I said before, you seem to have the luxury of being able to have some hair greed. Especially seeing age is in your favor, great donor supply left over to tap in, your hair loss is stabilized. I say, put your head down, stop asking people for their opinions, call up Dr Rahal tomorrow, and book the procedure. Don't look back, and you won't regret it a year from now. Why settle for Jennifer Aniston when you can bang Scarlett Johansson.

Hello mav23100gunther and other gents,

 

Below is a condensed version of the responses I got back from armani's clinic in Beverly Hills.

 

1) Regarding the high number of transplanted grafts, some warn that high grafts of 100/cm2 may create shock loss. What do you think?

>>> This is based off of the skill of the clinic and the physician performing the procedures. We implant 70-75 per cm2 for normal patients as more would be a waste of grafts, celebrities would need 100/ per cm2. We do not experience shock loss at our clinic

 

2) Can I request FUT instead of FUE? It appears more follicles survive under FUT than under FUE which creates more density than FUE.

>>> No, we do not perform FUT as this method is outdated, painful, leaves scars, and will damage your donor region. This again is incorrect. This would be correct for a clinic that does not perform FUE, then their yield rate would be a lot less. We can harvest over 4,000 FUE grafts in one single session and our yield rates are over 95% that grafts will take and grow. We have been performing the FUE method since early 2000’s, no other clinic can perform the FUE procedure, density, artistic design, and graft count that we perform daily

 

My thoughts:

What bugs me is they transplant 100 grafts/cm on celebs but not on regular joes. Regardless of shock loss risk, what is the difference between a celeb's scalp and a non-celeb scalp that celebs get more grafts?? Are their scalps endowed with special powers the average person lacks?

 

As for FUT vs. FUE I do not have enough info to say for sure that FUT is outdated. Reputable clinics still perform FUT although transection rates over the years in FUT have reached the level of those in FUE. Maybe someone may shed light on this.

 

Let me know what you gents think. Thanks!

How is anyone supposed to give you constructive feedback if you havent posted any pics? It's the blind leading the blind. I can't give you any more feedback without knowing or seeing your current situation.

Hello mav23100gunther,

 

Excuse my unaware lack of sensitivity. Truthfully I did not realize I was making others uncomfortable with the same question. My intention was to find out the possibility of adding more density to a previous transplant that failed to achieve an expected, dense enough result, that is all. This is why I posed the same question to various people to ascertain what direction they were headed in their quest for more density.

There, you are doing it again. You say a transplant that failed to achieve an expected, dense enough result. That's insulting to someone who had a procedure that met expectations, and the expectations were kept in check that a dense result is not possible for many. Transplants create an illusion of density, not the super thick density of teenagers. A higher NW with an average donor is unlikely to ever have enough grafts to achieve that 100 grafts per cm density you are chasing. I have personally used about 4,500 total grafts on just my frontal third to restore my hairline and temples. I am over the moon and never expected perfect density in my misdscalp and crown, because that wasn't the goal, and I refuse to use all my remaining lifetime grafts now trying to chase that. It's insane and unrealistic. Yet you go and say it's a procedure that failed to achieve an expected dense enough result - what the hell are you talking about??? I look 10 years younger and have an age appropriate hairline that frames my face. On contrary, my transplants changed my life and surpassed all my expectations. In addition, I still have a couple of thousand grafts in the bank to chase further hair loss in the future. Same with David, his results look great, and we have no idea how many grafts he has left - yet you go and insult his procedure by saying it's not dense enough? Are you out of your mind? In addition, you really want to go get 100 grafts per cm placed into existing hair in your midscalp and crown? That's absolutely insane.

I'm sorry, but it is extremely disappointing that Bill and David continue to let you roam free on this forum hijacking threads; asking a million questions to help yourself only, yet you refuse to upload any pics; and then you go around insulting veteran posters by pointing out results that lack in perfect density and calling them trolls. We all know who you really are. I am all for giving you another chance even though your previous behavior as Taurus was utterly disgusting. Even with you biting your tongue and trying to be nice, you somehow find a way to piss people off. Either you need to go, or just own up to who you really are, apologize for your past behavior, be tollerent and respectful to other posters, and post some fresh pics. I don't see why the moderators wouldn't give you a second chance, and that way, the community can actually try to help you, including myself.

Hello mav23100gunther,

 

No offense taken whatsoever. I highly appreciate the question. There are two reasons for this. One, I got an old camera with poor resolution. Will be upgrading that. And two and more importantly, I embarrass myself and get nervous when looking at my scalp. Years ago I had a good set of hair, no complaints. But now I try to avoid the mirror believe it or not. Yes, it has gotten that bad. .

You don't have a mobile phone with a camera?

Hello HTsoon,

 

I got to disagree with you. Jroze posed a good question about FUE. I do not see anything wrong with it nor does he exude issues beyond hairloss. No offense but if you are not satisfied with his thread you should not comment on it. Just remember he is suffering from the same issue you face with hairloss. Everyone here is in the same boat.

 

The best thing to do? Support everyone regardless of their situation. Again we are in the same boat. No one here is better than anyone else regardless of skin color, ethnicity or type of questions asked. So let us help one another in positive spirit. Hope this helps.

 

Good luck!

Milo, a word of advice. It is extremely insensitive when you keep on asking posters if they plan to add grafts to areas that lack density, especially seeing you have been bringing it up to posters who haven't even been asking for options on the matter. I agree that it's appropriate to mention it when someone specifically asks for that feedback, but you keep bringing it up to posters like David and me who are both perfectly happy with our results. Quite frankly, I didn't even ask you for your opinion on mine. The reality is that very few HT candidates have enough lifetime donor supply to achieve this perfect full density you are chasing, especially the higher NWs. I have to accept that my crown will always be see through. Sure, you have HTsoon who is an incredible success story, but he is the exception rather than the norm for a higher NW being able to get the coverage and density he got/is getting.

Looking real good Ernie. I personally don't think you need the touch up, but seeing that it's already on your mind and it's bothering you, you should go for it. You also have a supply of donor hair for the future, and if you carry-on with propecia, any not even need to tap into all of it, therefore you have the luxury of a bit of hair greed. I think 500- 1,000 grafts to fill those gaps will do you wonders. I would also stay with Dr Rahal though, especially seeing the procedure was such a success. Don't mess with a winning formula

Hello sean,

 

Thanks for the input. Today I will be in touch with Baubac's clinic to ask him questions. When I get my answers I will let you know what he said. That way you could help guide me into whether or not he is the right doctor for me or not. Thanks.

Milo no disrespect, but why won't you post any pictures? You keep asking the community to share their pics with you and now you want Sean to help you, but it becomes impossible to do so if you don't post any pics. Let's see some pics, or should we just use the ones Stig posted?

Results are all I care about. Particularly right now. Whatever the "right move" is I'm open to it.

Honestly, if it were me, I'd go with a small strip again, simply because that's what you started with. Not sure how many grafts Dr Shapiro estimates you have left, but if you can tolerate the staples and all that recovery that goes along with it, then carry on getting FUT until stripped out, and then switch to FUE later. If it's only 1,000 grafts, then it will be a very short strip anyway.

That's just me, but I think this is the exact question you should be asking Dr Shapiro, Dr Konior, and whoever else you go see. What is the best recommendation for now and which menthod will give me the best results short term and will give me me the best use of grafts for the future. But I know you already know this.

I think I'm understanding.

 

So you're saying that a small FUE would not necessarily take away from the primary strip zone that we want to factor for the future, but nearby real estate that would remain available even after stripped out? Further, that to strip for an area so small would actually prove counterproductive?

 

When I first asked Dr. Ron it was suggested we could strip to reinforce some of the weaker areas of my hairline (noticeable when pulled back) while reinforcing the forelock.

 

After some thought, however, my hairline outline satisfies for now. Id rather address "cherry on top" scenarios later and tackle the remaining frustration-forelock sooner.

 

I'll inquire further. Thanks boys.

Yes Sir, your understanding is correct.

Even though a small FUE makes sense if you are reluctant to go under the knife again, I personally don't think a small strip procedure is counterproductive at all. On the contrary, I believe it's actually a lot safer to get multiple smaller conservative strips then just 1 or 2 large ones, as it substantially reduces the risk of of a stretched scar. That risk is going to be far greater with a single strip session where the Dr is trying to grab the maximum number of grafts in one pass. Something I learnt when researching. At the same time, if it's just a thousand grafts, then I can totally understand the reluctance to get a strip.

Hello. Please help me decide between Dr. Konior and Dr Shapiro for my first hair transplant. I live in Chicago so Dr. Konior is close, but also Dr. Shapiro is a short flight away. I'm intereted only in FUE ( I keep my hair short). I have average to below average donor area, so every single graft counts. Your feedback is greatly appreciated based on your experience or what you know. Thanks

It's a tough one, only because 1 year is a really long time to have to wait just to have the actual procedure itself. Then once you have the procedure, it's another year to see the finished product. That's 2 years before you get to where you want to be. If you have that kind of patience, then kudos to you, but man oh man...... I would not blame you if that alone is reason enough to try seek a surgeon just as good. If Ron Shapiro is that man, then you trade convenience of a hometown procedure for a year. Now that's a no brained for the average person like myself with little patience.

@ HTsoon

 

Good to hear from ya brotha and appreciate the feedback. I was looking fwd to getting your input. Could you explain your strategy for me a little further? I was under impression you max out FUT before you move onto FUE. I will admit that getting cut open again for a smaller session doesnt appeal at the moment, even though the scar looks solid. What # of grafts do you think would suffice?

 

@Mav

 

My dude, sorry for the disappearing act. I just had to detach and get some perspective over the whole thing. I know you get it. Agree that PRP probably wont get me there. I guess my logic is that I have a lot of wispy hairs in the forelock that Im not sure if are old or new and want to maximize before i go under the knife. Open to your thoughts too on best next steps. Looks like you crushed it. So very happy for you.

 

Overall, I feel the density is reasonable, except in forelock, which is far below native, which in my case is further magnified, due to my high natural density #. Paradoxically, by "recreating" the widows peak from scratch, we now have more room to cover, given the low yield.

 

I'm very open to ideas/strategy.

Completely understand why you do not want to go back under the knife for such a small procedure. Makes complete sense. I do agree with HTSoon that FUE probably makes the most sense. Even though it is better to strip out first and then go FUE, I don't believe that you have to extract grafts from the area that will be subjected to the strip. I.e., when you picture the safe zone, not all of it will be stripped out unless you have incredible laxity and a very small safe zone. My understanding is that once you strip out, then there is still an area in the safe zone that can be used for FUE. All you should be doing, is asking Dr Shapiro to estimate how much real estate he expects to be used in future strip procedures until you get stripped out. Then you can plan to only extract FUE grafts from the real estate within the safe zone that will not be subjected to strip procedures. Therefore your can have a small FUE procedure for now without compromising a future strip procedure. Hope that makes sense?

That is just my understanding, will leave it to one of the veterans to tell me if I am off the mark.

Welcome back buddy. I completely agree with HTsoon. Looking at your pictures, I hardly think it's a failure, but can also see that it fell short. A definite improvement from where you started, and not too bad for 2,450 grafts. I think it's important that you have gotten your expectations in check, but I also do think that another small procedure will do wonders for you and get you over the line, maybe even closer to where you want to be than you think. By no means is this going to be a repair, so that's a positive. Is there a particular reason you are reluctant to get another procedure to touch it up and add density to the forelock at this stage? I'll be honest and say that I don't think PRP alone is going to get you to where you want to be, although no harm in giving it a shot. I appreciate why you are taking the cautious approach, especially after the 1st procedure fell short, and excellent idea to be doing consultations elsewhere to get different perspectives. Go meet with as many top surgeons as you can. Good to hear from you and welcome back.

Hello mav23100gunther,

 

Very good to hear that. But as a correction I am not taurus. Hopefully you can cover those areas if possible. I know it can be frustrating when hair is unevenly distributed and creates a see through look in some areas of the scalp. My friend from work is in the same boat. He is frustrated that he cannot do anything about that same uneven look. His doctor said that adding hair to cover those see through areas can create risk of shock loss. So he is stuck. Good luck my friend.

 

Keep us posted and keep up the good work. Good luck!

The see through look really seems to bother you a lot more than it bothers me. Like I said, it doesn't bother me at all because most people can't even notice it. It is easily covered up by a sprinkle of Toppik, but I don't even bother with that. Great point about the shock loss and another reason I would be careful about getting that work done.

Hello, mav23100gunther,

 

I just looked at your images, appreciate the link. Hey it is a good turnout. Wondering if you will get another procedure done to add density to cover the front and top parts? It is not that I do not like it but those areas appear a bit sparse, with all due respect to you. But good enough turnout though. It would be a great result if you got another procedure in those areas.

 

No need to get testy about your transplant. You are doing well. Appreciate the images to your link. Good luck!

Thanks Taurus - It's a great turnout considering where I started from. The sparse areas are not really visible unless you tower over me, which not many people do. At some point I will go for another pass to address those areas, but I need to manage my remaining donor supply of grafts, and as it currently does not bother me, I am good for now. I am also dating a really hot girl now, so it really worked for me. I have a great hairline that has made me look a decade younger, so can live with the sparseness.

Hairsgone, i get what youre saying but was my expectations really high from the beginnig?

 

If i came from this and after 3800 ended up like this? I dont get the logic i that i would have to high expectations? My hairline barely changed, it got a little better but after using 3800 grafts i cant barely style my hair and my hairline is just just just a little bit better.

That's because he placed a large number of grafts into a large area that didn't need it at the time. Grafts that grew were then probably offset by permanent shock loss of existing hairs, thereby creating a wash, and is why it looks like little has changed. in the long run you probably would have thinned out anyway. Good news is you have transplanted hairs there now which will help you down the road. I do like the fact that he did a touch up in just the frontal third, and that's probably what he should have focused on in the first place, so if it grows, then I think it may make the aestestic improvement you are looking for. Moving forward you just need to be smart about how you manage your remaining donor supply, and be very cautious about trying to lower the hairline. What you may need to do is fill in those side temples some more. 4,000 grafts left in the bank to play with is really good and should be more than enough to get you into a good place. Just research research and find a good surgeon that can present a good long term plan for them that also meets your goals.

I also Recommend you have a conversation with Dr K regarding the poor approach from him upfront, and push for a refund based on the new grafts being offset by the shock loss. Not sure if that's possible, but you should hold him accountable as he should have known better.

Other than that, it will be okay man. Don't dwell on the could of or should of, try move forward and focus on what can be done moving forward. I think the touch up will help a lot.

Hello, mav23100gunther,

 

I tried looking for your image gallery on the forum but could not find it. Would appreciate it if you can provide a link. Would like to see your before and after. Good luck.

Ditto for you. You keep asking for advice, but no pics other than in the links provided by STIG. Share some pics.

My pics are spread out in the link below. You are not going to like them as Dr Rahal did not go high density over a large area. He only focused on the frontal third so the midscalp wasn't touched and is see through. Just pointing that out as I already know what you are going to say

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/181957-dr-rahal-2-245-graft-procedure-fut.html

Can we refocus this thread back to the original topic. If you want advice, create your own thread and post some pictures

mav23100gunther, I am lover NW, need 2000 for the hairline. What made you decide to go with Dr. Rahal?

Sounds like Rahal is most likely a better fit for you. It was so close choosing between the two of them, and I actually connected more with Dr Hasson when I met with both of them in person. What ultimately threw me to Rahal was the hairlines the guy delivers. I literally spent hours and hours looking at patient pictures from both surgeons, and I won't lie, I wanted a Rahal hairline. Now that I have a Rahal hairline, I am completely and utterly over the moon. Dr Hasson will be more conservative with the hairline than Dr Rahal, although Dr Hasson is more aggressive when removing the strip to shoot for more grafts. He will most likely estimate a higher number of lifetime grafts he believes can be grabbed. There are pros and cons to that too. Pros being more lifetime grafts with Hasson (if you think you will need every last one of them). The con is that there is an increased risk of the scar stretching, especially if Hasson was too aggressive in cutting out the strip. Dr Rahal was extremely conservative in the strip he cut for me, although I did tell him not to try push it. Also, there are small differences such as the fact that Dr Rahal makes incisions with needles, whilst Dr Hasson uses custom cut blades. Also Rahal uses sutures and Hasson staples. If aftercare is more important to you, then the aftercare post op provided by the Rahal clinic is phenominal, whilst the aftercare at H&W non-existent. Rahal's clinic followed up with me regularly leading up to the procedure, weekly for the first month afterward, and then monthly until 3 months, again at 6 month, 9 months, and at 1 year post op. Looks like with H&W, you won't hear from them again after the procedure unless you call them

Bottom line, for me, it was the Rahal hairline that got me. In the future, when I need to work on my midsection and/or crown, then it's no slam dunk I will return to Dr Rahal. In fact, if I were to get that specific work done today, Inwould lean towards Dr Hasson or Dr Ron Shapiro

Hope it helps

Hello, mav23100gunther ,

 

Let us say that you consult with a doctor yet something in your gut tells you he may not be a good fit for you despite the fact that his results are excellent. Would you go withr your gut or results of his work?

I personally usually always go with my gut. When deciding on my 2nd procedure, my gut was actually telling me to go with Dr Hasson over Dr Rahal, because I did not have that good a consultation with him as I caught him on a bad day. It was so close, but I got some excellent insight from Jo T (who cannot be named) and I just thought that Dr Rahal was better suited for what I was looking for, so rolled the dice and with him, and he absolutely delivered. Hasson would probably have gotten more grafts with a bigger strip, but Rahal gave me a killer hairline and I am over the moon with what he delivered.

Hope it helps you Taurus / Milo. I know you have been researching and going back and fourth on this for years, but my advice is if your gut feel is that the surgeon is not the best fit for you, then absolutely listen to it. He may deliver an outstanding result, but if he delivered a result that wasn't what you are looking for, then it is always going to bug you. I.e. If you didn't like the hairline design he gave you, yet you went with it anyway, I guarantee you that it will bother you every time you see it in the mirror. You are looking for high density, so do not pick a surgeon who is not going to give you that high density. Even if the result is good, it will bother you when you look in the mirror or feel your hair and realize it's not as dense as you wanted it to be, even if it's just a little off, it will eat at you.

Hope that helps mate

What is your opinion on Doctors Baubac and Erdogan in relation to H&W??

What the heck does that question have to do with the title of this thread? None of those surgeons are New York surgeons. Weren't you going to go with Dr Rahal? Why did you change your mind about him? I think Erdogan and H&W are completely different. Go with Erdogan if you want a mega-session via FUE and go with H&W if you want a megas-session via FUT. Baubac seems like a good fit for you though as he will give you the high density you are chasing.

If you se the hairline that we did. If that hairline will get ok density i can live with it. Not perfect but i can live with it.

 

Regarding how many grafts i have left. We only took strip from one side of my head. Because the other side was so good and we didnt need so many grafts. The laxity was very good, what the doctor said. Like i havent had any surgery before.

 

So i hope i can get around 2000 from strip , 2000 fue, and maybe 1500 from beard.

Okay that's very positive then. Let's see if the touch up can get you to a good place, and then you will have grafts in the bank for later. I definitely see light at the end of the tunnel for you mate and looks like it has the potential to work out Just remember to keep your expectations realistic and in check - like you are doing with the hairline. Expect the worst and hope for the best.