TrixGlendevon

Dr Dereyes too! He is cheaper than the others and used to be recommended by this site. His work is good but he only does FUE. He used to be the head surgeon at a clinic that had a very good reputation. Worth emailing him too. Annoyingly, the email address on the English language website no longer corresponds to his clinic and you have to find the Flemish website and get the email address off there. Inbox me if you want it.

Hello! What would people say is the average donor yield they can extract for FUE? I had a consultation today with Dr Lupanzula (write up here: https://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/topic/51670-dr-lupanzula-consultation/?tab=comments#comment-477106 ) and he calculated mine was 9,000 which I know is above average but I do not know by how much. I would guess about 6,000 is average.

Hello! I have just had a consultation with Dr. Lupanzula in London at the Pullman hotel. I found him to be very friendly, open and knowledgeable and he did not mind me asking questions. Eva, his assistant (I assume clerical and not technical), was also very efficient and friendly and was obviously experienced as she participated in the discussion(s). A bit about me: I am in my early-mid 30s and am approximately a Norwood 4v moving towards a Norwood 5 pattern, which is what the other men in my family that have lost their hair are. The difference is that my dad was already bald by his late 20s and my younger brother too, also in his late 20s. My other brother is a Norwood 3.5. I have been active on the forum for a while now and have been doing research for even longer. However, this year I feel is the cross roads where I either have to shave it or transplant it. I am not taking medication and I will not start. For me this is a vanity surgery and has nothing to do with emotions or self-consciousness. I just think men look better with hair but if I had to, I would have no problem shaving it (although my strong preference is to not shave it). I started to noticeably lose my hair at around 28+/- He started by asking my expectations. Having been researching for such an extended period of time, I know not to expect an 18 year old hairline and I do not want one anyway. It would look silly in a few years. I have never really had a perfect hairline anyway, even when I was much younger so it would not be an issue. He was pleased about the fact my expectations were realistic. I told him I want to prioritise the frontal third because it frames the face and I want coverage on the crown but I am also aware that getting complete coverage will be very difficult. He then looked at the donor and cut a bit of my hair off in the back and the side and inspected it with a microscope. He said my hair characteristics are very good and almost perfect for the transplant. I have a density of about 100 in the whole donor area (100 at the side and just over 100 at the back). My hair is wavy and so will give good coverage. He said the width of the hair is normal (which I suppose is better than thin). He said he could extract 9,000 grafts and that this might be a bit conservative. He said with 9,000 grafts he could make a noticeable difference to a Norwood 7 so mine would be a great result. After inspecting my hairline and crown and measuring them he said I would need about 2,500-2,800 in the front and about 2,000 in the crown (I think, I need to confirm this). He then drew on the hairline and said the start of my hairline (front lock) was the perfect height at 7.5cm and suggested it meeting the temples at 9.5cm. The hairline he drew the first time was perfect and pretty much exactly what I had imagined. I have requested the photos to look again later. He suggested I take medication to preserve what I have and said it is a shame I will not. From an aesthetics point of view, he is absolutely right but I do not want to. He suggested topical fin but said there are not many studies on its efficacy but he has seen good results from it with patients. I will look into it but I am not convinced. He only does FUE and I am leaning towards FUT but will consult with the doctors on my shortlist first before making a final decision. He did say he would do FUT under exceptional circumstances and that he has not done it for a long time though. I was open about going to visit other doctors there and he said it is a good idea. I intend to pass by his clinic again once I have seen the others to see if I have further questions as I will be in Belgium next month. I asked about his technical team. They have 13, 8 and 5 years of experience. He does the extraction and the incisions and they do the insertions although he is involved in that too. If anybody has any questions, fire away!

Dr Erdogan at Asmed clinic is the only doctor in Turkey I would entertain. The best doctors in Europe are in Belgium. Drs. Bisanga, Deroye, Feriduni, Lupanzula and Mwamba. I have just this minute had a consultation with Dr. Lupanzula in London. He is here for the weekend doing consultations. I will do a write up separately but I would recommend you speak to him if you can. Just email his assistant, Eva (who is very good) and get something booked in. He regularly comes to London for these consultations though.

Hasson and Wong are amongst the best in the world! If they're too much and you're willing to travel (which I assume you are as you were looking at a clinic that prices in euros), I still recommend those I said but also Dr Bhatti is based in India. There is a doctor in Poland too but I forget their name. The few results I have seen are good and they're not expensive.

Definitely don't go with them. You will regret it. Where are you based? I assume it is Europe. Go to Belgium, Maras in Cyprus or Ergodan in Turkey

His FUE results are good though. The thing is, what he says is true though: FUT produces higher yields and the transection rate is lower. Skilled surgeons can lower the transection rate significantly but it is still higher than FUT. Ultimately, it comes down to preference.

I like his honesty. I want a top surgeon, not a best friend and a sing-along by the campfire. If they were based in Europe, they'd be on my shortlist. I also appreciate the time and effort they put into educational material on Youtube etc. It shows they are really passionate about their work. I also think their results videos are always very honest - wet hair and a comb going through it in the same lighting, situation etc.

That's great. Thanks for the reply. The scar looks very clean too (if you do mine, please do it like that ) It is a shame we cannot see another picture of the scar once it has healed but c'est la vie. See you in September!

I wouldn't go to any of the UK clinics. Get a train over to Belgium.

Well, basically because your pattern isn't a NW6 pattern hahahah I don't and I would only go to those two clinics in those two countries anyway.

Welcome! To begin with, I don't think you are a NW6. If you are going to Cyprus then Dr Maras is recommended on here and produces some really excellent work (although I haven't seen any of his work recently actually). In Turkey, I would only go to Dr Erdogan at Asmed Clinic.

That is a great result you have posted. He must be really pleased. I still disagree with your argument on FUE and FUT though - I think in the hands of a top surgeon the transection rate is low but the overall grafts you can milk out of your donor is higher with FUT. I still think I will go FUT as I don't want to take meds and I want some in the tank for the future in case something changes with my pattern. I will just have FUE into the scar when I have coverage I am happy with and then SMP it. If I need anything in the future after that I will just FUE then. I think the thing with the factories is that, at least with Feriduni et al, he is in the room and monitoring it all himself. At Asmed, he can't be in all four at the same time. I suppose it doesn't matter who does it or if the doctor is present if you get a great result though.

Thanks for the detailed reply! I am not saying that the 10-15% improvement now would be the difference. I am saying that if he had had FUT, he would still have donor left to have another 1 maybe 2 operations and that would indeed make a huge difference and/or he'd also have something in the tank for the future should his pattern worsen. Also I agree, it is more or less a NW5 when he first started out - no way would I associate that with a NW3. He looks so much better now. I am not sure I agree with what you said about there being risks involved with just FUT. It is the same with FUE - there is an active thread just now on this forum saying that an FUE patient still has donor pain years after the surgery. If you go to skilled surgeon, these risks are so small it is almost minimal, irrespective of the type of surgery you have. I am pretty set on FUT but have 4-5 consultations this and next month with the Belgian based doctors and if all of them tell me that FUE would suit me better, I will just go to Asmed. Same quality, if not more, for a lot less money. I am yet to see a bad result from him and my balding pattern is the same as HT Fanboy's plus I have a better donor and wavier hair so I think I could, all else being equal, get a similar or better result. The one thing that puts me off about Asmed is that you are not the only patient. There are 4 operating rooms. Seems a bit factory-esque.

I know the crown is very tricky and can take a lot of grafts (which is why I am hoping mine doesn't drop) and there is a risk of doughnutting. Which video are you referring to though? The first one or the second one? If it is the second one, that is because he has had the second procedure on the crown in that video. If it is the first video, if you look at 5 minutes exactly where it shows a picture of his head from above, that is definitely more than a NW3V. As I said above, I would say it is a NW4 going towards a NW5. Mine is a bit better than his, like I also said, in that my crown isn't as bad and the questionable bridge is a bit less quesitonable (but heading very quickly to Questionableville).

Good one! I will put it down. I have got what is the role of the technicians but not their experience. Thanks!

The result is excellent. There is no doubting this. However, his crown definitely needed work doing on it. It is worse than mine and mine is bad. I would say he is a NW5 when he gets the first procedure done and I am probably about a 4.5. His crown is worse and the bridge too. We both have the tuft. Have you seen his crown on the very last video he does? This is the complete result from both surgeries. This is the one I was referring to. Do you know what NW his hairline is now Melvin?

I have just watched a Youtube blog of HT Fanboy and he went to Dr Koray at Asmed for 2 FUE surgeries as a NW5. The first was 3200 at the front and the second was 2600+/- in the crown. His front third looks absolutely amazing. Very natural, great hairline, great density. Really very good. He is not on meds. I am set on doing an FUT surgery if I do go ahead with it and I am also not on meds, nor will I be convinced to take them. Whilst I was watching the first few videos, I did think "maybe I should go FUE, this guy looks great" but then he went for the second surgery and showed a video about 15 months afterwards of his hair. The result is excellent, really. Such a huge improvement. However, I do think with the crown that is still visible, he could have got a far better result if he had gone FUT as he would have had more grafts out of the donor. What does anybody else who has seen the video think? I do not want this to turn into FUT vs FUE, I am discussing this patient's case specifically. Also, what NW would you say his hairline is now? This is a link to the first video in the series.

I am visitng Dr Lupanzula in London. The three in Belgium are Drs Bisanga, Deroye and Feriduni. As I said, this will include Mwamba too if his clinic ever gets back to me. My issue is that I do not want to take meds but my expectations are also much lower than others on this forum. I am at the crossroads though where I either need to pull the trigger or just shave it so next month will be decisive. Pretty nervous. Good thread. Hadn't seen it before. How did you find out your scar potential type?

I have just turned 33 but my situation is worse than yours. I also don't want to take meds and will just shave my head if a surgeon won't operate on me unless I do. The consultations will be interesting. Is there anything in hindsight you wish you had asked before that you didn't in the consultation(s)?

I completely agree with this. I have spent about 2.5-3 years researching this and will pull the trigger later this year after consulting with my shortlist next month in Belgium. I would like to think after so much time, money and effort invested into this that I will get a good result. Time shall tell though.

Great result. I have a consultation with Dr Bisanga next month. Looking forward to it. How old are you?

I agree. Heading there next month for 3 consultations. Four if Dr Mwamba ever gets back to me.

He said earlier in the thread he had given his permission and even posted email exchanges with the clinic

Hi! How long do you have to wait, post-op, before you can lift weights and do martial arts again? Also, how long before you can swim again? Thanks!