RecessionProof

Either of the first two will make you look substantially better. I’d go with Konior I’d you don’t mind the wait

Very tastefully done

There have been a few iffy cases but he's still considered one of the top hairline surgeons by most people who have done a lot of research. I would search his name by "topic" on this forum and look at a large sample size of results so you can decide for yourself.

I’d second the Shapiro recommendation, I haven’t seen as many results from his clinic recently but he too has a great reputation for natural hairlines. I agree that for one pass mega sessions, Hasson and Wong are excellent.

Had the same shortlist, went with Konior. All three are hairline masters — Rahal’s hairlines are probably the most aggressive of the three (his best results might be the most aesthetically pleasing overall), while Konior really excels at naturalness and using relatively few grafts to make a huge cosmetic difference. H&W is great too but I think they tend to use slightly more grafts to get similar cosmetic results. They all do seriously top notch temple work. Konior is the most expensive and has a waitlist of over a year, but IMO these are really pros as much as they are cons. He also performs the majority of the procedure himself while the others utilize techs more extensively. Is that worth the extra money and longer wait? Only you can decide.

Konior is known for doing most of the procedure himself. I’m pretty sure Gabel and Cooley are similarly very involved with minimal use of techs (as well as Nadimi, who also works at Konior’s clinic). There’s a lot of debate over how much the balance between doctors and techs matters. Some would argue that utilizing techs for the heavy lifting is often beneficial, as it’s very difficult for most surgeons to perform this kind of meticulous surgery over the course of several hours. Many techs are very skilled and have years of experience, so I don’t think a tech heavy clinic is necessarily bad as long as you talk to the clinic and make sure you’re on the same page about who will be doing what. Personally though, I wanted as few variables as possible for my own surgery so Konior was a no brainer.

How’s the redness in the recipient zone now that you’re a little over a month in?

I'm a fan of a lot of Rahal's work but the marketing was definitely a big turn off for me (one of the reps seemed very pushy, emailing me day after day). Went with Konior partly for the reason you describe. That being said, I still think your hairline has the potential to look great in a few months. Once you get a little more density it's gonna be a killer result. Rahal's best results remain some of the most aesthetically pleasing hairlines I've seen.

FUT with Konior would probably give you a great result if you don’t mind the wait. He’s really good at making every single graft count. Hasson and Wong are also worth looking into for mega sessions that cover a large area, and they’re able to move a lot of grafts in a single surgery. Wong in particular is known for his crown work, and they’re fairly inexpensive for a world class clinic.

Melvin’s recommendations are the big names in NYC, I would also recommend looking into Carlos Wesley. He was one of my top choices as well, lots of strong results on here and his site

Cooley's work is seriously top notch. Always enjoy watching videos from his clinic

Your crown looks pretty solid in the before pic. Most doctors recommend you wait to deal with the crown until absolutely necessary, as it tends to suck up a ton of grafts to effectively cover it. Hair fibers like Toppik can work really well for crown coverage if you end up needing it

Immaculate work as usual, looking forward to seeing how this pans out! Your strategy with the doctor sounds like a smart way to proceed and optimize those grafts.

I've heard of a few top doctors doing this, many docs agree that the best way of maximizing yours grafts is to do as much FUT as you can and then move on to FUE. Depends on your goals, but I would consult a few other really good docs to make sure it's what you want.

Just curious to see how short everyone has been able to cut their hair without the scar showing, especially after the 12 month point. I've seen some people buzz down to a 3 guard without the scar being noticeable, while others keep their hair much longer. I understand that it can vary quite a bit based on patient physiology and surgeon ability. Thanks for your insight!