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hair_boy

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Everything posted by hair_boy

  1. I think you are in a difficult situation. You where told, pay x-amount of money and your head would be full of hair - or at least to your satisfaction. The doctor obviously agreed that the results weren't satisfactory or he/she wouldn't have provided the extra 250 grafts. Here's my whole problem with this.. when you went back and saw the doctor for the 250 grafts.. did the doctor state that the 250 grafts would make the difference and provide the original stated results? I mean: it seems strange or at least not correct that the doctor did not mention the second time: "look you are continuing to lose your hair (doctor's stated reason that you mentioned). I believe that to achieve the look you want will require another 2000 grafts. Out of the 2000 I will do 250 grafts for free. Do you understand what I'm saying...
  2. People are just looking because you look different. Think about it... if you saw some dude with a surgical cap on, wouldn't you take a look. Young people are just extra curious as they haven't experienced as much yet. But you can be sure that they aren't judging you... just being curious... And sure why not scream.. well, maybe not scream but say - "yup, that's right.. just had surgery - they say they got most of the tumor this time." And if she's hot, tell her it's affecting your arm motion and if she can give you a hand after class it would be great... work it to your advantange...
  3. Old Baldy: you know, I can't take your comments to have any value. I say this because you believe that Dr. Rassman although pulling a bait and switch and using fear tactics should be judged from his past and not his present actions. That's just non-logical and I can't respect such unfair thinking. Once a god, always a god mentality, is too right wing for me... And Dr. Feller has nothing to do with my original FUE result concerns. He being a professional jumped in to do some marketing. I said already there was nothing wrong with that.. and there certainly wasn't anything wrong with taking a closer look to what he was saying. After all, he is one of the few that is providing warnings, however, you really have to read between the lines to find them. You know, you all say you want to hear the experiences people have. And then you all take each comment so personal like we were talking about your family. I think maybe some need a break from this board... And just because doctors don't provide all the information doesn't mean we are against them, and it certaintly doesn't mean they are quacks.. (that's just rude to suggest I implied such a thought). Not being given all the information just mean:. hey you know what... step back.. take a look from this angle before continuing... I think to see before we leap is important.
  4. pmill: regarding those links again - personally, I prefer to look at people that are completely bald and how they look after. It give a much more realistic look at the quality of work performed.... after all, we don't know if part of the good results had something to do with a just started regiment of drugs the patient went on... could be part of the 'good results' factor. I'm not being negative - just trying to see it from all angles.
  5. you're correct I was off topic.. I think it's hard to answer your question because you are trying to decide between two different HT centers rather than between two HT doctors. For this reason it's impossible for me to say. Based on the photos from both centers they seem very similar and based on the photos both appear to do good work. I think when trying to decide between the top doctors it has to be a personal choice. For example, I might select a doctor because I believe they have a bit more experience with temple work... or maybe because they don't try to over density areas however still maintain a proper denseness which would be satisfactory to myself. It's all a personal thing... I think as long as you follow the 3 rule process your decision will be the right one for you, 1. select a doctor that has maintained good results that you like, 2. talk to those patients, and 3. meet those patients. I mean, what more can you really do... Topcat611: I think your suggestion is more so for someone who is interested in FUE and doesn't want to jump in with both feet. I personally believe that if a person can't decide between procedures or doctors then they should absolutely not get a HT yet. They should wait a bit, research more and the clear path will come once they understand all options to a level that satisfies them. Waiting doesn't mean months or years... it just means: kick back, call a few more doctors, talk to a few more patients and before you know it, the right decision will be right in front of you. pmill : no brainer there - who wouldn't want to have great hair like that!
  6. Please grow please: again I don't care about Dr Bisanga's results - it's just not part of what I was saying. Old Baldy: you know any doctor that pulls a bait and switch and apologizes for publishing misleading information online directly to his patients, deserves to have the story told online. And just because someone has done great things in the past doesn't excuse bad behavior now !!! I think it's great for everyone to see a bit behind the scenes as I've pointed out. And yes, you are mostly 100% correct that I'm not completely quite ready to get a HT. But then if you read all the threads you would know this because I said so... I'm really close but because of all the misleading and dishonest marketing by the doctors, I did have to take one step back to rethink which procedure is right for me. This might take a few weeks but I surely am not going to jump in a chair until I feel completely comfortable. I suppose in a way, finding out about all the dishonestly by the doctors even on a ethical marketing level is good, because, it helps provide a clear view to make a more concrete decision one will be happy with. pmill: as mentioned the numbers are just an example, I do believe the FUE risk range is about dead on from what I've seen. Now I'm not talking about 100% of the results - it just represents there is a high degree of risk of having poor results with FUE over strip and nothing more. It doesn't mean a doctor can't achieve an 80% follicle survival rate but instead represents that they will do so less often with a higher chance of low results. Also, you are taking the doctor example as actual doctors - note that was only an example to explain how ranges work on a scientific level.. If you do a search on Dr. Armani within these forums you will find a minimum of 3 patients who are said to have results in the 25% range. And do I believe this - absolutely 100%. I would think if the average top doctor was able to perform 100 FUE procedures per year.. I would think at least a few would experience a 25%-30% follicle survival rate. If you don't think they are out there you must not be looking at some of the same blogs I've seen. I've see a lot of blogs where people have transplanted high number of grafts and when you look at their results I can only wonder where the hair is... Also, what would you do if you did a procedure for let's say 3000 grafts and your survival rate was around 30%. Would you automatically go on these forums... absolutely not.. the first thing you would do is visit the doctor's office where you had it done. After all, a 3000 graft procedure is expensive and people are more concerned about recouping losses by getting a touch-up than spreading the word. And I think that's fair considering how we were raised. Don't think I'm saying that the doctors are out to get us. There is absolutely no mistake that the doctors do want every patient of heir's to have enough hair to look like rock stars. After all, if that happens they become one. So even the worst doctor will do everything in their power to provide the best results possible. Rule of thumb - find the best doctor... T.C. : you are correct the top FUE doctors do have the best results - that's the same with everything.... the best cooks make the best tasting food. However no matter a doctor's skill doesn't change risk. Sure it may curb highs and lows but the risk still remains and I think that risk should be highlighted. I think it would be fair to say to all patients: if you are interested in strip - you can expect about a 90% follicle survival rate with a fairly good degree of certainty and a scar running from ear to ear. And if you are interested in FUE you can expect an 75% follicle survival rate, however there is a higher degree of risk. Some patients do experience low growth in certain areas and this isn't uncommon. Lost my swagger: awesome post !! I love this part " there is a common thought process on these online forums that "as long as you go to a TOP DOC you will be just fine".... its FALSE... you only better your chances of being satisfied..."
  7. lost my swagger: I was agreeing with your first statement.. your second one I agree for the most part though... Please Grow Please: okay, you still aren't following what I'm saying and that's okay - maybe it's my fault and I'm not providing good examples. That's okay, I'll explain again as it's important you and maybe other follow what I'm saying: First of all, I do confirm that I said "Dr Bisanga follicle survival rate is no different than any other FUE doctor." And I most certainly believe this within the context that I'm speaking. Remember, I'm talking about the survival ranges and boundaries and not referring to ability.... My comment is more on a scientific level. Let's look again at the ranges I wrote: Strip doctors' follicle survival rate = 90-99% (this is what I believe) FUE doctors' follicle survival rate = 25-80% (this is what I believe) I believe that all quality doctors fall within the above ranges when they do transplants, no matter who they are. Sure a percentage of quality doctors will maintain higher follicle survival rates than other quality doctors, however, at the end of the day they are all working within the range that is possible as of today's technology. Success rate chart example: * total patients for each FUE doctor = 100 ** percentage represents follicle survival rate Doctor 1 - 80 patients at 70%, 10 patients at 50%, 8 patients at 35% and 2 patients at 80% Doctor 2 - 65 patients at 75%, 25 patients at 65%, 5 patients at 55% and 5 patients at 27% Doctor 3 - 83 patients at 77%, 14 patients at 70%, 2 patients at 74% and 1 patients at 25% If you look at the above 3 doctors, doctor # 3 by far has the best results but not one doctor came up and beyond the range that I'm talking about. With almost everything regarding procedures there is a range. Sure bad doctor patients might fall below the range and the occasional might raise above. But, lows and highs are usually not considered in any study because they aren't reliable - there may be other factors why the results were exceptionally low or high.. because of that we can only conclude based on the results within the range. The importance of knowing the survival range for both the strip and FUE is not to help us select a doctor but instead to help us decide which procedure is better based on risk and reward. I hope that explains my comment in more detail. pmill: I've seen only photos on Dr. Bisanga's website so my comment is limited to that. Based on the photos I have to say that I dislike a few. When the photos are small they all look good, but, when I opened them up I didn't like a few of the hairlines. Maybe it's just me... Of course there were a few that did look very nice and one that I especially liked. Again, I can't provide a proper view as I haven't meet any of the patients. I think I would have to meet a patient to comment ethically.
  8. Please Grow Please: that's just pathetic.. you choose to only read parts of what I write but then you quote me. Well that is just misrepresenting what is being said. I have the feeling you are doing this on purpose for one reason or another. If you look back at the original post on the first page of the other thread you will see that I spent the time to respond to you. Here's what I wrote: Here's what I wrote: ------------------------------------------ PLEASE GROW PLEASE & Franklin: You both took my comments out of context. I'm thinking I didn't explain my point in enough detail as it was continual - I apologize but this has nothing to do with how good a doctor is, instead I'm talking about the range. For example here are the ranges I believe are pretty close to being true: Strip doctors' follicle survival rate = 90-99% (this is what I believe) FUE doctors' follicle survival rate = 25-80% (this is what I believe) Think of it like cooking a chicken. I surely know it's going to take longer than 30 minute but definally under an hour. The range would then be 30-60 minutes... Now this range isn't going to every change no matter how good the cook is. As long as all the cooks have the same stoves with the same maximum temp settings... no one will fall outside of the range... So if we go back to my FUE point... It doesn't matter which FUE doctor, they will always stay within the range. Of course, each of those doctors will have differences within the range, but that's not what I wanted to stress. I hope I have explain the point a bit clearer. ------------------------------------------
  9. Please Grow Please: I don't know why I respond to you... I don't mean to appear rude but you simply don't read what I write and then you make comments that are completely unrelated to anything. Please Grow please would you simply read all the threads... the answers to your questions are within those threads and you most defiantly will see that I made no such statement as you are suggesting here: "Then you say Im a victim of marketing because I believe fue success is different with different clinics." Again, I don't mean any disrespect by saying so... I'm just trying to improve the fairness regarding your thoughts. Bill: I stand behind those comments. I can only say again that if my points were sharp - I do apologize. You should also note that your comments in your first post to me, were completely baseless and for that reason I hightlighted your response with such clarity.
  10. Bill : This has nothing to do with integrity and certainly nothing to do with a person's quality of performance. I think the problem you have is with the idea that the general public should always be skeptical of what corporations say. Now, when I say corporations, I'm referring to the staff - for example, sales people, consultants and / or the doctors themselves. It's not a personal thing of course. People just want to protect their decisions. I can tell you that I've personally hired hundreds of staff in my life to promote various products and / or services. I would say that 99% of the staff I've hired which didn't have the title of 'sale person', had no idea that I was hiring them to be my pushers.. Now I use that word with a negative twist but that's simply to highlight my point. Of course, all the people that were hired, were 100% professional, providing the best information they possible could.. and because of that, the company that paid me for their marketing plans profited. Maybe that example provides a better insight to my point. And if my point is sharp, I do apologize.
  11. Topcat611: I've met Dr. Rassman and I don't think for one minute he would blacklist me. The reason he wouldn't is because I don't think he's that kind of guy. And if he did work on me, he would do absolutely everything in his power to perform the best work he possibly could. The reason he would, is because that's who he is. He's a person that takes extreme pride in his work... Just because he's a bit sidetracked lately doesn't change who he is...I most definitely believe Dr. Rassman will take my comments as constructive, and in the form of 'tough love' so to speak. In a sense to remind oneself of what's going on. Life is busy and sometimes we get side tracked.. Thanks for your comments regarding the strip, hearing your experience is very helpful. PLEASE GROW PLEASE: that's totally out of context.. When I referred to not reading Bill or other paid posters' posts - I most certainly wasn't referring to his replies within this thread. I was talking about when I read other people's threads and he responds... what you are suggesting would be completely disrespectful, I mean, if I'm going to reply to him, the least I can do is read what he has to say. It would be impossible for me to reply otherwise.
  12. Bill: You write: "Frankly, I find it hard to believe that Dr. Rassman said that his FUE2 and strip were the same exact procedure (your words)." Please go back and read my posts again, I say this because you are again mis-quoting me. I never said that Dr. Rassman said strip and FUE were the same procedure. He did however say that the follicle survival rate for both procedures was exactly the same but the FUE growth wasn't as robust (another words the hair aren't as thick - I know this because I asked him what he mean by robust) - and if you do read what I wrote, you will also see that Dr. Rassman early said that the follicle survival rate was poor compared to the Strip. This was a contradiction made by Dr. Rassman himself... it was kind of my point right?... Please Grow Please: You write: "For a doc to say he can only do 1000 grafts fue ,then say 7000 strip is hard for me to believe. Even if it was bait and switch" You then write: "I obviously skipped through a alot of what you posted since I thought you were a bitter patients". That last sentence of yours is the problem. I would think you should reframe from commenting since you aren't reading what is written. I mean, I certainly would never comment about what you are writing, if I don't personally take the time to read what you wrote. If you don't understand something you should start by reading what is written first - is that fair? Please go back and re-read the session about the scare tactic. Not only did he say that, he said it multiple times. Note though, that Dr. Rassman did NOT say "he can only do"... instead he said. "He wasn't sure if he could even get 1000 FUE, even over multiple days"... there is a big difference. Also, he did not say 7000 - he said 6000-7000 and when he mentioned that I believe he was talking about my total donor availability vs. one procedure. Simply saying such a blind statement that he might only be able to get 1000 grafts, was surely intended as a scare tactic to complete his bait and switch. And when you do read what I wrote, you will find out that I'm not a patient... I'm a person who wants to get a HT but can't decide on which procedure. Do I take the risk with FUE.. and in the very best circumstance get an 80% follicle survival rate with a risk of going far, far lower below that. Or do I accept the scar from ear to ear and receive a 90-99% survival rate with fairly reliable odds that the follicle survival rate wouldn't go lower. We only have so many donor grafts available in our lifetime - time will go quick and I don't want to make a poor decision now that I will have to live with. latinlotus: 90% is definitely a passing mark... However, I don't believe I've ever attacked Dr. Feller's credibility. I do think you are correct about my marketing background though. I see maybe what others don't see on a certain level. And because of this, when I point out what is actually happening, it may be alarming for some people. Personally I believe it's a good enlightenment to what is actually happening. If anything, it provides a viewpoint not yet founded within this forum. Brian in KC: Not everyone is a paid poster and I was providing legitimate feedback and the experience I had. After all, if I was making this up, Dr. Rassman would have said so in his reply to my post. Instead he just did some damage control. Also, my post is more about the ranges of the FUE follicle survival rate, and how misleading all the information out there is.. That was my first and foremost point... Sure I believe Dr. Armani should fire who ever he has doing his marketing but that was just an experience I went through that really outlines how misleading the information is from some doctors. And regarding the bait and switch fear tactics by Dr. Rassman - well, that was just unprofessional on his part. omar77: I know you mean well with your recommendation, however, Dr. Bisanga is no different than any other FUE doctor. If you don't understand what I mean please read the prior posts as I did explain this in detail.
  13. thanatopsis_awry: First of all, I don't think you need to be a doctor to see the positive photos regarding FUE2, however, they are meaningless and misleading. And you do know why I know this?... because the inventor of the FUE2 procedure told me so. I was told that the FUE2 results are poor. Say no more, as you can't argue when the person that invented the procedure who he himself dismisses FUE2 as second rate. I heard this with my own ears and I challenge Dr. Rassman to say otherwise. It came directly from his lips... Regarding the scar... I've personally seen a couple FUE patients and I couldn't find any scars whatsoever. Sure I saw hair missing in areas but I couldn't at all see any scars. However, I have yet to see a scar less strip procedure. If I had, it would make the decision a no brainer... instead, I've heard of lots of wide scars and scars widening as time goes on. I mean just because you put hair through the scar doesn't mean it's going to disappear... In fact some say as the scar spread it pushing the hair up so it grows in the wrong direction in time.. Note that I'm providing a neutral opinion as before you thought I was against FUE. You see, I'm just trying to locate the truth...
  14. Topcat611: Okay, I understand what you mean... regarding the percentages. Brian in KC: Here's how you start your first sentence of: "HairBoy you need to adjust your meds dude.".. You see, you have the exact same rude starting post as Bill did... It's just that you're a bit more forward... If Bill didn't start off the way he did trying to discredit me for no logical reason, other than because it's his job... then I would have never commented. Bill is totally entitled to represent the doctors and their well being. And if you want to believe everything said by the paid posters and staff at face value, that's okay, I have no problem with that. It's just I personally don't feel so secure putting my total trust into what the paid staff say. Isn't that okay, it's not a personal thing against Bill or anyone else. I would think it's just a fairness that I should and everyone else should have.
  15. I hope I'm not being marked for grammar...lol.. I usually forget to read what I write...
  16. Topcat611: I can't really agree on the percentage of happy HT patients as it's impossible to find stats on that. I would think according to the number of people that you quoted you are saying that over a million men are walking around upset about their HT. This doesn't make sense to me as it's hard to imagine over a million men are upset. That's a real high number - again I have a few friends that have had HT's. I admit that each one has a complaint which is negative however all are happy they had it done. If they weren't I wouldn't be checking into this. By the way, I checked out your blog - nice abs my man - way to go!!!! With abs like that who is looking at your hair. I do feel for your hair situation though... by the way, how did your last session results turn out? You wrote about having the FUE but you never mentioned anything after. thanatopsis: there is a difference of neutralizing a situation that is out of control and neutralizing a situation to take away creditability. Bill unfortunately was attempting to take away the latter. As far as Feller's ethical marketing statements, I don't disagree that Feller's consistently makes the same comments about FUE - I know he does because I've read them. But again because the comments always neutralize themselves, in the end they just don't have the same punch. They are in fact, part of his ethical marketing structure for sales. After all, all doctors have to market themselves and I find nothing wrong with that. And like I mentioned earlier I prefer his approach.. Also, you are misreading my post as I'm not at all against FUE doctors. I simply believe all the doctors want the best of both worlds and aren't telling the whole truth when it comes to FUE. BILL: You write: "Since you clearly feel that this community and the words written by its Publishers (Pat and myself) are worthless, why are you even here?" And you also write: "Stating that he ignores everything the Publishers say is a high disrespect since we work hard to keep this place open for patients to share genuine concerns." There is a big difference between not listening to rules and not listening to an opinion. I'm simply choose not to listen to your opinion. There is nothing wrong with that - I think your opinion taints my view and here's why: Just because a person has no interest in reading paid staff replies such as yours and all the doctors' blogger replies which make up the majority on this site doesn't imply any disrespect. I'm just a realist. If you want to find out the truth, listen to the people that aren't paying to tell it. For example, I believe my friends because they aren't being paid to sway my opinion. Like it or not, you and all the paid bloggers on this site are 'new world' sales staff. As a result of this, any reasonable person would agree that they should take less importance with regards to your opinion.. This is the same as when you go to buy a new TV... I'm sure you don't listen 100% to the salesman... I personally try to cut to the chase and try to gain a real look by taking out the paid portions. I do so, in the hopes to help gain a true picture of what is real. TheEmperor: I now understand what you mean when you say ethical strip clinic -okay, that makes sense.. I've read that the scars over time stretch to about 5mm and I've met a few people where that seems to be about right. I have one friend and his scar is almost unnoticeable and another with a nasty scar and both did their procedures within the last 5 years.... When I met Dr. Rassman he said that only second procedure scars become larger. He said his "trichophytic closure" was the magic pill and I would be basically be scar free... he did really say, "trichophytic closure" at least 10 times like it was the magic solution... you'd have to have been there but I'm sure you get the picture.... Just so everyone knows, I'm not saying that Dr. Rassman is an unskilled doctor. I think he's a bit old which concerns me, because older people have less coordination, but, other than that I think he has had some really good results in the past. I met one of his patients from 6 years ago I believe in his office and he simply looked great. I never got to see his scar but Dr. Rassman said it was way too big and wanted to correct it. PLEASE GROW PLEASE: What are you talking about... I'm not an Armani patient.. didn't you read my first post? I haven't even had a HT yet... I'm still trying to decide if I should go with FUE or strip... i might just have to flip a coin in the end... ) PLEASE GROW PLEASE & Franklin: You both took my comments out of context. I'm thinking I didn't explain my point in enough detail as it was continual - I apologize but this has nothing to do with how good a doctor is, instead I'm talking about the range. For example here are the ranges I believe are pretty close to being true: Strip doctors' follicle survival rate = 90-99% (this is what I believe) FUE doctors' follicle survival rate = 25-80% (this is what I believe) Think of it like cooking a chicken. I surely know it's going to take longer than 30 minute but definally under an hour. The range would then be 30-60 minutes... Now this range isn't going to every change no matter how good the cook is. As long as all the cooks have the same stoves with the same maximum temp settings... no one will fall outside of the range... So if we go back to my FUE point... It doesn't matter which FUE doctor, they will always stay within the range. Of course, each of those doctors will have differences within the range, but that's not what I wanted to stress. I hope I have explain the point a bit clearer.
  17. Bill: To be honest when you write stuff on the board I usually skip it. My reason for skipping what you write is because it's just paid words. Your only job is neutralize any comments, you constantly praise other doctors work and they praise yours... it's like you all understand that there is enough to eat if you just stick together. With that said. No doctor is performing FUE with great success compared to strip. Sure there are some doctors which I already acknowledged are probably getting an 80% survival rate which is pretty decent for FUE. But at the same time there are poor results as well where I've seen some people getting results in the 25% survival range. If you think I'm upset with Dr. Rassman because he's warned me that the results aren't great with FUE you should go back from the very beginning and give my post another read. I wasn't complaining about that at all.... but then you know that, I will take that comment of yours as just a paid reply. After all, this is one of the doctors that falls under your umbrella. It's fraudulent or at least unethical to promote something online, say how great it is... only to have the client come into the office and then do a bait and switch... that's the problem !~!!! I mean hello ! BAIT & SWITCH... and bad blind sales fear tactics. My god, Dr. Rassman himself apologized for his own website when I was there. Can't get more correct with what I'm saying that !! You mentioned that my posts are contradictory - again this is just your paid silly comment meant to discredit me... and one that makes me question your reading ability. You see.... it was Dr. Rassman who was contradicting himself. In fact, I wrote so... it just seems funny that you somehow missed the sentence I wrote. I'm referring to the following: "I thought you were contradicting yourself because earlier you told me that the FUE survival rate wasn't very good and now you were saying that the hairs were just smaller etc.." Like I said at the beginning. I usually skip the paid stuff that you and your fellow workers write because it has no worth. Topcat611: you know I was thinking about it, and I think if got a bad HT I don't think I would ever mention the doctor's name unless I felt tricked. If I thought the doctor wasn't up front and honest I would probably never mention them as they didn't play a factor in the poor HT. However I would definitely post my results minus the doctors name but only in the effort to make sure we all know there is a chance of poor results and to what degree.
  18. Dr. Rassman: I just saw your post... talk about pathetic. You are a complete snail oil seller. FUE2 is nothing but a gimmick. After all, you confirmed this when I sat in front of you and you wasted my time telling me how poor the results are. Your sole goal when I was there was to sell me a strip procedure and now you are trying to do damage control. Don't anyone believe that this silly water jet idea that sprays water at your scalp is the answer to anything but bringing in more clients for Dr. Rassman to switch over to strip. I mean, if Dr. Rassman did believe FUE2 did work then he wouldn't have spent the entire time I was there, telling me how bad the results were and trying to talk me into a strip procedure. He also wouldn't have apologized for his own website misleading me! If anything my trip to your office will save a lot of people time. I say this because there is no need to contact you regarding your FUE2 procedure when you've already confirmed that the results aren't very good and you are going to just try and sell a strip procedure anyway. Everyone, save the time and run from this doctor... You know, it wasn't even the bait and switch that made me uneasy about your practice. The thing that I was most upset about was, the scare tactics you choose to use. Sketchy salesmen use these type of scare tactics to instill fear into their clients into making the decision that will make the sale. There is a big difference between informing a client of the facts, and instilling fear. You choose to instill fear to make the sale... Without even looking at my donor area, you told me that if I took a chance and did the FUE2 procedure, you still might not even be able to even get a 1000 grafts, even if the procedure was over a number of days. Now if you looked at my donor area and said such a comment it would be accepted as receiving a factual point. Instead, you kept saying this over and over. This is a "blind fear sales technique" as again you didn't even look at my donor area. It was simply said to fear me... I remember your closing sales line was: "we might not be able to even get 1000 grafts if we do FUE2. It's really hard to say. What would you say to agreeing to the strip procedure, I'll get you to sign the permission forms and if we don't think we can get the number of grafts doing the FUE2, we'll just do a strip". I responded, "I'm not really interested in doing a strip, and how do you know if you'll get more grafts from a strip procedure vs. the FUE2 procedure". You said, "you don't have to worry, you have good scalp laxity, we can get as many grafts as we need". Well, I was completely surprised by this comment as you never had even touched my scalp,... I said, "how do you know what my scalp laxity is?". At that point you got up and walk over to me and for the first time ever you touch my scalp !!!! You then said that I had good scalp laxity and I should have around 6000-7000 donor available grafts in total. (I believe you were referring to my total lifetime amount vs. the first session). At this point you tried to make the strip sale again by asking if I would sign a permission form allowing you to do a strip procedure if the FUE2 didn't seem possible. Instead of answering, I changed the subject and I asked you about the survival rate percentage different between Strip and FUE... You replied that both Strip and FUE had the exact same survival rate. You said there was no difference between the two procedures. You then explained that the problem with FUE was that the follicles just didn't grow very well, where as with the strip procedure the hair was very robust. I thought you were contradicting yourself because earlier you told me that the FUE survival rate wasn't very good and now you were saying that the hairs were just smaller etc.. You know, I have a pretty good sense about people, better than most I think. I believe your motive for even publishing such a gimmick as FUE2 in such a fashion only to tell clients it has poor results when they visit your office, is because you like to be the person who discovers stuff. I don't think you are so money motivated and instead just get off on the idea that people believe the tale that you are the creator.. the god of hair... what-ever, you may have done some good stuff in the past for the industry. But since that is in the past, you are now only selling your honesty for an inflated imagine. By the way, doctors won't pay $45,000 for equipment that will work, is an oxymoron ! Franklin: You are 100% correct and I have - unfortunately it won't change the highs and lows of the result which are possible. Topcat611: your suggestion sounds like a form of blackmail... don't talk because no doctor will work on you... come on... I think we are all fair minded. If a doctor explains all the risks and I unfortunately don't have great results well it's surely not the doctors fault. It is true though that a doctor would surely not want to accept a patient they believe will promote poor results. And I think 5% isn't even remotely close. That sounds like a really harsh number and not at all close to being correct. Just from the people I know the majority are happy. None are 100% happy but for the most part they are satisfied.
  19. Dr. Feller - yes, I have read your posts regarding your thoughts on FUE. However you always seem to include neutralizing comments and for that reason, I interpreted your comments to be part of your brand of "ethical marketing". Here's an example, you start of saying, "The hype surrounding FUE reached unethical levels..." And then you neutralize it by saying, "I have been outspoken against these clinics.." Here's another example, you write: "Make no mistake, yields are CONSISTENTLY lower" and then you neutralize it by saying, "However, in smaller surgeries the yields are higher because physician fatigue is at a minimum." If people don't know what I mean by 'neutralizing a comment'... in the first example, Dr. Feller acknowledges the problem but then at the same time tells you, it's okay, don't worry because the problem is only with "these clinics". In fact, the problem is basically with all doctors. I mean, how many doctor websites have you seen that say: On average the FUE procedure follicle survival rate is much lower than strip, and there is a risk that some patients results will be considerably lower, very unsatisfactory results may occur. At all times, patients should be aware that donor grafts are limited and you may not have enough to achieve satisfactory results when the follicle survivor rate is low. Of course, no doctor would ever say such a statement and I provided the reason for this in my original post. So if you are following along, Dr. Feller's ethical marketing is telling the public. Don't go to "these clinics" and when you do go, make sure you go to a clinic that does smaller surgeries. At this time, please go back and read what Dr. Feller wrote in his post above... you'll see what I mean because ever single paragraph has the negative and then the neutralizer. It's called "ethical marketing" and nothing more. Don't get me wrong with my statement. Ethical marketing is a positive aspect and helps the public find the truths to areas where we still haven't found solutions. It's true that we all want FUE to be the answer. The problem is, nobody has the technology to extract the follicles one by one and maintain a high survival rate. Sure we want to believe the doctors that are telling us they have the solution... however in the end, if a doctor isn't telling you the survival rate is considerably lower, and there is a higher risk of poor results then that doctor is selling you snake oil... You know doctor Feller I do think you are top notch doctor so don't get take my comments the wrong way. I do like your marketing and it suits you. Using the word "marketing" might not be attractive however in a simplistic nature that's what it is. And that's okay... Unrelated to the above subject I would like to comment on why we don't see people posting their bad results on this forums. Well, I know the reason for this... we all know they are out there because we see them at work, at the gym and out in the public. And I'm not talking about old HT either... Here's the reason: we don't see postings of poor results for one reason and one reason only: People simply blame themselves for the poor results. I mean if you are seeing nothing but great results, great photos from the doctors' office it certainly can't be the doctor. People would rather blame themselves than put the doctor in any negative light. You can confirm this because when you do read that people had a bad HT, they never write who the doctor is. They protect the doctor like they are family... And you know what, it may not be the doctors' fault however it's certainly not the person's fault with the bad HT. Instead it's just part of the odds. Unfortunately because of this, we the public, never get to read about what the true results are.. we only see the good. It is sad more people with bad or unsatisfactory results don't come forward. PLEASE GROW PLEASE: Dr Bisanga follicle survival rate is no different than any other FUE doctor. I say this because my post has nothing to do with whether one doctor is better than another. If you believe a particular doctor is the solution to the problem of the low follicle survival rate, then you are a victim of their marketing - my post is instead a cautionary note to people thinking about FUE and to help them see past all the BS by the posters and doctors... TheEmperor: I don't think doing a strip procedure is considered an 'ethical choice'. Ethics have nothing to do with your decision.. instead it's just simply the choice that worked for you. I do agree with you that hair with a scar is better than no hair, however, I still haven't decided what decision I'm going to make for myself. It boils down to: no scar and considerably less hair now and in the future with unpredictable results, OR a scar from ear to ear with more consistent results and more hair.
  20. I've been thinking about getting a HT for a number of years and shortly before the new year decided to stop thinking about it and to get it done. Of course like everyone, my goal is to find the best doctor and to locate the best technology out there. With that in mind, I immediately became interested in the FUE procedure. I mean, not having a scar running from ear to ear would be awesome. Over the next couple weeks I narrowed down my doctor pick to Dr. Antonio Armani. My reason for selecting Dr. Armani was quite simple: He does extremelly high graft numbers in one session, his hairlines look nice, and he's has no ethics making it possible to put my hairline where ever I wanted. That might sound strange but those were my reasons. I contacted the Toronto office for a quote and a few days later received a reply from one of Dr. Armani's 'yes men'... his name was Chad Cooper. To sum Chad up, one only has to think of a yes-man who will say absolutely what ever you want to hear so he can make the sale. Chad told me that I need 3560 grafts and the price for Dr. Antonio Armani himself would be CAD$7 or CAD$5 per graft for an Armani doctor. Before making a decision I asked for some close up photos of patients who had the FUE procedure as the photos that were on his website were horrible. I mean they are nice photos, but there aren't any close ups or ones with good lighting so they in a sense are useless to help with the decision whether to do it or not. I mean, I want to see exactly what I'm buying... Well, to my shock, Chad emails me a bunch of photos of various guys, including himself, Leonardo DiCaprio and Ewan McGregor. At first I thought... wow.. Leonardo DiCaprio had a hair transplant.. I would have never guessed .. and he used Armani... very cool I thought... but at the same time I was in misbelief. I mean I've worked in marketing for 20 years and I just couldn't believe that an A-list actor would agree to tell the public that he wasn't perfect. It just didn't make sense so I did a Google search. Of course, I couldn't find any HT info for Leonardo or Ewan McGregor, but, what I did find out shocked me: It turns out that ALL the photos Chad emailed me were STRIP patients !!!!! This made me worry because I was wondering what the motive for emailing me ONLY strip patients was when I directly requested ONLY FUE patient photos. I mean, Dr. Armani had been doing FUE for more than a number of years and should have hundreds of patient photos available. The proof is in the evidence ( a few of the photos that were emailed to me are on this site): http://www.hairsite8.com/htdocs/alvi/main.htm number 1): he's the main guy in the armani ads (STRIP patient 3329 grafts) number 6): I think this made me extra sick. This guy is on the Armani videos and yes it does say he had both Strip and FUE however check out his picture after ONLY the Strip session. He looks exactly how he does in the video.. I mean where did Armani put the FUE grafts and what's the FUE relevance? number 11): they passed him off as a FUE patient as well, however it says STRIP Grafts 1900... Okay at this point I was really concerned. I started to really look at the before and after photos of FUE patients and one thing I noticed was FUE results was like gambling... odds better than roulette but worse than craps. For example: Check out this guy's temple area which hasn't at all had much growth - I would say less than 20% if that and it's at the 7.5 months: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kWLu...h/7.5+months+006.jpg Here's another one with way less than 50% growth at 6 months: (you can totally see the two hairlines - looks horrible) http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4AMW...th+hair+pics+009.jpg I mean sure the above will grown in a bit more but if you compare the above results with Strip results there is simply no comparison. Check out this FUE blog, I actually feel sorry for the guy: http://superpanda-fue.blogspot.com/ Now my number one concern was the follicle survivor rate if I did the FUE. I asked what the follicle survivor rate was. Chad (the yes-man) replied that it was between 97-98% or better. I asked what the worst case scenario was and he wouldn't reply. Instead he said that all the patients are happy with their results and that he couldn't comment further. Okay, you are thinking what I'm thinking right.. .run.. well, that's exactly what I did. Now at this point I felt quite a bit of stress as I really didn't want a scar from ear to ear. I mean there is no other way to put it... no matter how good of a scar it's still a scar and it will run ear to ear. For this reason I continued my research... One thing that kind of baffled me at first was the FUE naming conventions. I mean most of the doctors that do the FUE procedure have different naming conventions. For example, FUE, FIT, CIT, FUE IM, FUEE, and FUE2 (second power) etc.. Well, I'm here to inform you that FUE is FUE... all these doctors use their own naming convention to appear that they are doing something that no other doctor can do... it's just marketing and it reminds me when I was a kid... every time I went on a date and got lucky, my friends would ask and I'd say, "yah, I john-ed her"... so instead of saying "I fuc#ed her" I made it sound special by putting my name in the sentence and adding "ed"... I was technically marketing my image like a dumb kid would. Continuing with my research regarding FUE. After looking at doctors like Feller, Cole, Woods, Ilter etc.. I came to the conclusion that all of them no matter what they call their procedures, are doing the exact same procedure. Sure they might use different size punches, they might all say different prayers, but, all in all what they are doing is the same. Of course there is a person's natural ability that may change the outcome or provide a more consistent outcome but again,all in all, it's just FUE... At this point I don't think any doctors opinion about FUE is very accurate. Okay, this only leaves Dr. Rassman and his enhanced FUE procedure which according to his website appears like a completely different procedure: http://www.newhair.com/fue2/ Well, I'm about to save you a lot of time with regards to Dr. Rassman and the procedure he refers to as FUE to the power of 2. You know after wasting my time going to his office I can tell you he made a big mistake with his naming convension. He should have put the 2 in front and change the spelling to: "TOO FEW"... yup, "too few" refering to the survival rate. Too few will survive. I have to be honest that Dr. Rassman does appears on paper to be a top quality "all ethics" kind of doctor. So needless to say I was completely shocked after meeting the snake oil seller. This is a pretty strong statement, however there is no mistake after he wasted my time with his bait and switch routine. Starting at the beginning - I arrived at Dr. Rassman's office just before 2pm. My appointment was for 2pm. He ran late seeing me at 2:35pm... I actually didn't have a problem with this because I was lost in a book I was reading.. When I meet Dr. Rassman he introduced himself. I then explained that I was really interested in finding out the follicule survival rate for the new FUE2 procedure. Dr. Rassman said word for word, "Compared to the strip procedure it's not very good. A lot of doctors really make the FUE procedure out to be what it's not.".. Well, you can say I was shocked... thinking that he was talking about the old FUE procedure I reminded him that I was talking about the new FUE2 procedure he explained online. Dr. Rassman then said, "Our website doesn't explain all, I'm sorry about that"... he went on: "what don't you like about the strip procedure? Are you worried about the scar? Well, you don't have to worry because we do what you call a trichophytic closure. It isn't like it was years ago. Nowadays you can hardly even see the scar.. I wouldn't worry about it at all". I can't remember the exact words but he continue to say "trichophytic closure" about 10 times in the next two sentences like it was some sort of magic pill... simply he was trying to sell me a strip procedure and trying to close the deal by selling me this magical closure which will leave me virtually scarless. Personally I was completely disgusted by the lack of professionalism using the bait and switch on me. We talked about the FUE procedure for a good solid 15 minutes and 100% of the stuff Dr. Rassman said is completely contrary to what he says on his marketing website. Online he makes it sound like this new FUE2 procedure is the best thing since slice bread. You know, it's not like he looked at my donor area or anything.. instead this was just his opinion on the FUE(FUE2) procedure. My problem with this was, why on earth would Dr. Rassman promote FUE2 on his website - have me come through his door, only to tell me how horrible the results are and try to sell me a strip procedure? mmm... bait and switch marketing - to make money$$$ You know, everything is marketing... if you don't believe me take a good look online and you will see guys that were sold doll hair plugs back in the day. I mean why on earth would anyone with fair logic decide to have doll plugs... well, it was all marketing and selfish doctors. Just so we are clear about my view on the FUE procedure as I'm not saying it's a bad decision. It's just that we need to understand the results are no where near a survival rate of 97-98%: I think what I found out is, a select few doctors seem to maintain a 80% survival rate (if that) but not any better. I think that's closer to the truth. One thing is, it's not at all consistant with patients - some unlucky ones seem to just have horrible results.... In closing, I would like everyone to be cautions of these forums. The majority of stuff you read has either been posted by the doctors or their staff. These proffession posters sole purpose is to neutralize any negative comment and make sure the doctors that they work for are left in a favoriable light. Sure a lot of their comments appear to be neutral and sometimes I believe that they are, however, in the end they do control your opinion of what you are going to decide upon. It's scary that so much is controlled... Sorry for the long post... had to get this off my chest...
  21. how selfish drdeath... you asked a question which people took time to respond to and then when they ask you a couple questions you simply ignore them. I mean what's with that !!
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