RoadWarrior

I started losing my hair around the age of 18. By 26 I had gotten to a pretty progressed stage where it was quite obvious that i was going to go bald. I had turned to several (3 to be exact) different doctors (all highly reviewed and belonging to ISHRS of course). They all told me that my hair loss was inevitable, my natural hair is fine making the donor area not that great, and the best that could be done was a conservative 1500 graft transplant to maintain a semblance of a hairline. This was pretty dire news to me. I then consulted with Dr. Mohebi in Los Angeles, who gave me a totally different suggestion. He said that he would suggest that I do an aggressive 4000 graft transplant to restore a significant portion of my hairline, add some density to the crown as well as reduce the density somewhat of the horseshoe donor area so that I get a much more uniform look as opposed to the funny pear shape that the head gets when you have a dense horseshoe pattern. To be honest, I struggled at first to trust him for a few reasons: 1) Other doctors' warnings that I should be very conservative 2) A fear that even with FUE if it's too aggressive then I won't even have the option of going fully bald 3) Dr. Mohebi's very assertive marketing - which though admittedly effective for a business also made me skeptical (I come from an academic background, so I'm also biased). That said, there were 2 things that convinced me: 1) In my consultation with Dr. Mohebi, he was very detail oriented and measured things such as density of the hair, hair loss extent, pattern and size of thinning areas. He also recorded things meticulously and explained his reasoning in a very objective way. Most other doctors I had been to would take a look, move their hands through my hair and make a very artistic but assertive assessment. I liked Dr. Mohebi's more cool and scientific approach 2) His reviews were stellar on sites like this one as well as RealSelf and other such trustworthy sources. But, more importantly, he had posted several reports himself on sites like these. The reports were equally meticulous in their description of the procedure, the reasoning, the results. He was a man of facts and it was hard to dispute them. His website photos were also very honest (none of the after picture having different lighting tricks). In short, my rational mind knew that he's the right choice. I also called him once and told him about my hesitation. He empathized with me, told me I'm right to be skeptical and also curious, and then he said in a very earnest way that if it were his son, he'd recommend the 4,000 graft full restoration. I was sold after that. The operation was a breeze (I did two back-to-back days for the full 4000 graft). I was treated incredibly well and all the comforts were provided. I didn't need to buy anything myself for the whole post-op procedure. I found that to be extremely classy. Many other reviewers have already praised him about his excellent patient care, so I won't expand any further. In short, you always feel you're in good hands and he has thought through the post-op journey in detail and provided you with everything you need. Even his washing instructions are excellently easy to follow. I'll let the pre- and post-op photos speak for themselves. But let me just say a few things that highlight the transformation after: 1) 3 months after the op a balding man from my training program made a self-deprecating joke about his hair and then (in good humor of course) winked at me and said - "you get it, right? You're almost there yourself." 2) 6 months after the op I went to a doctor and when he asked if I'm taking any medication, I said finasteride for hair loss, and he looked at me puzzled and said "why do you need it?" Note: he didn't really examine the top of my crown in case you're thinking "it's not THAT perfect!" 3) My mother who was the most skeptical about the operation has been encouraging me to go in for further touch-up of the crown. You have no clue how miraculous that conversion is. Honestly, if it weren't for Dr. Mohebi I'm fairly sure that I would either be discontent or completely shaven right now. He's good. He's artistic in his design and scientific and meticulous in his execution. He literally did with me something many other doctors couldn't.