TC17

See Bill, I disagree with you and agree with Speegs. While his profile does have about 20 pictures of men, there are no patient profiles on this site and more than half of the pictures are one before and one after shot, with at best average quality. While Dr. Tykocinski cannot control the fact that no patients of his have created blogs, the truth of the matter is that one can reasonably assume that the pictures he picked highlight his better work. In addition, 20 pictures is a very small percentage when one factors in that he most likely performs 200+ per year. I'm sure a vast majority of Dr. Tykocinski's patients experience the same high quality work that is showcased on this forum, but I too share Speegs concern of a lack of pictures when compared to some other physicians on this forum. For what it's worth, I wouldn't feel comfortable in choosing a doctor unless I see dozens of patient profiles of his work, or 100 or so doctor posted results. That might come across as unreasonable, but it's my head and that is the only way I would feel comfortable.

- one final thing, although the girl I spoke with didn't speak english, I am sure there are people there other than Dr. Tykocinski who do speak it. I do not want to appear as though I am telling you not to visit either Dr. Pathamvanic or Dr. Tykocinski, but since you are prepared to travel great distances, do yourself a favor and consider all doctors in the US and Canada as well. If cost is not a factor with you at all, I think it would be a mistake to limit your options to only two physicians because they're closest. I've made it clear that distance is a factor for me personally, but since you're willing to go half way around the world anyway, what's the big deal in going a little further?

I am basing my opinion on Dr. Tykocinski solely upon the 30 or so pictures that I have seen of his work, so take this with that in mind. That being said, from what I've seen his work seems on par with the top surgeons always mentioned on this forum. I called his office a few weeks ago and the girl that answered did not speak English though, so we had to communicate with broken Spanish on both ends. That was a slight concern of mine. I ended up e-mailing the clinic for more information and found out that Dr. Tykocinski's prices are a bit higher than I would like to pay. He charges $7.50 for the first 2,000 and then $5 for each graft after in Brazilian reais. If you were to get 2,000 grafts it would cost you $7,218 in US Dollars after the exchange rate. Of course that is significantly cheaper than the $8,000 to $10,000 you would spend if you went to a US doctor, but after you factor in hotel and airfare it is very comparable in price to the top US doctors. Again, from what I have seen I absolutely LOVE Dr. Tykocinski's work, but I would rather pay the extra $1,000 or so and be closer to home. If his rates were instead $5 R for the first 2,000 and then $3 R for each after, I would most likely take the trip to Sao Paolo. The only other thing that might make me hesitant to visit Dr. Tykocinski is that I haven't seen enough of his work just yet. I'm not trying to scare you, but just recognize that very few people on this forum have first hand experience with either doctor you are considering, and there is not as much posted work as there is for many other physicians. On baldtruth Dr. Tykocinski has about 15 or so pictures that are not posted on this site and I was blown away with all but one of them. Good luck!

Thank you Bill. I wasn't going to respond, so I am pleased that you did so on behalf of myself and all other physicians who are performing top notch results.

While many people on this forum repeat the adage "don't let location be a factor", the truth is that location is a factor for many people. That is why Pat travels all over the world trying to find doctors in different parts so that you can receive a world class transplant closer to home. I've spent quite some time doing research and I like doctor's in Canada, Brazil, Europe, Thailand, and the United States. But, I can assure you that when I'm finally ready to take the plunge, I will be visiting a doctor closer to me. I see nothing wrong with choosing a doctor based upon location provided that he is equal in your eyes to a doctor located 2,000 miles away. Although post op complications are rare, I do not want to be far from my doctor in the off chance that some do occur. There is something to be said about being able to drive or take a very short flight to your doctor if the need arises. Personally, I really like Dr. Arocha's work and believe that as he becomes more of a presence on this forum he will be mentioned in the same breath as the more popular names. He is a bit more expensive than the other doctor's though, and if cost outweighs your desire to stay closer to home then certainly look at other physicians. Again, I think that location and price are factors to consider if you are comfortable with the work of the doctor. If you are only comfortable with a doctor who performs in Antarctica, I would say pack a coat and hop a flight, but there is nothing wrong with wanting to say closer to home.

To my understanding, Dr. Rassman invented FUE.

Dr. Paul and all other people who have responded, Thank you all for your help and for correcting my math. It's pretty embarrassing that I struggle with 4th grade math, but I suppose that's why I'm in law school and not in any field that requires math skills that would exceed that of the average 3rd grader. I ended up going to a sporting goods store and buying a white swimming cap that I put on and then drew a hairline. After breaking everything down into different sections, I eventually ended up with 195cm2 of bald area IF I were to ever progress to full blown NW7 status. A lot more work than Dr. Paul's suggestion, but I was already home and finished by the time I read his post lol. D I must say though, I am very happy to learn that the average man who is a 6 or 7 "only" has 200 sq cm to cover, as you could put 40 in the hairline, 30 in the mid scalp and transition to 20 in the crown for what I would consider a fairly decent amount of coverage with only 6,000 grafts. Many thanks again to all of you guys and to Dr. Paul who I am sure is very busy. It's always appreciated when a world class physician answers our questions. Anyone want to follow Dr. Paul's manner of measurement and post the sizes?

If my math is wrong, PLEASE someone correct me! I will be the first to admit that my math skills are atrocious, but do your own experiments on your head as well and see what you come up with. Final point, is if you look at the result that Janna posted from Dr. Ron Shapiro a few days ago, she said that he estimated that he placed between 25-35 grafts per cm2, and I think it looks nice and full. In my (possibly faulty) calculations, I am giving 40 grafts per cm2 and still coming up shy of 7,000 grafts.

I sent in my photos to a number of physicians in addition to some photos of my dad and my maternal uncle because they are by far the baldest men in my family. Each physician said that at most, my uncle is a NW 6 and that my dad is a NW 6.5. I measured each of their heads from where an appropriate hairline would be back to the lowest bald area in the back of the head (which dipped in the middle back like an upside bell curve), and across at the widest point near the lateral humps. Keep in mind I did NOT factor in temple recession points, so this math will actually be more bald area than is necessary. I will use my dad as the example here because he is 62 and balder than my uncle. From front to back he has roughly 9.5 inches and from the side it is about 7 inches for a total of 66.5 INCHES. When you multiply that by 2.54, (2.54 centimeters equals 1 inch) you come out to 168.91 cm2 of bald area. If you fill in an area of 168.91 cm2 with 40 grafts per cm2, it comes out to 6,756.4 total grafts. While I recognize that all men have different size heads, one would think that the the area of baldness would be proportional to the size of the head, so even if you wear a size 8 hat and have 220cm2 of bald area, all other things being equal you should still have a greater number of grafts available. Again, these are not as exact as a physician would do, but keep in mind I measured from the baldest areas at their widest, and longest points. So, that means I didn't take into consideration the temple points receding (which would decrease the graft requirements) nor did I factor in the total area of the bald crown because I just measured to its lowest point, so again less grafts would be required to fill in that point. As far as 500cm2, I just measured my head from tip of the ear to tip of the ear, and from hairline (which is not yet receded, but mature) to neck hair and only got a total of 444.5cm2. Another example is the palm of my hand, which in inches is 22.5 or 57.15cm2. Measure your hand and place a couple of those on your head and see how many it takes to fill in an entire area if you don't believe me.

Does anyone have an idea as to what the average surface area is for Norwood 7's, 6's, 5's, etc. I was measuring my scalp and found that even if I progress to a NW 7 I will only have about 175 cm2 of bald area. That would only take 7,000 grafts to fill in the entire area with 40cm2, a density that I believe is more than adequate to give an illusion of fullness. I realize there are variables such as color, hair shaft diameter, texture, etc. that come into play, but shouldn't any physician that transplants 1,000 grafts per NW level fill in the entire area with good density?

Does anyone have an idea as to what the average surface area is for Norwood 7's, 6's, 5's, etc. I was measuring my scalp and found that even if I progress to a NW 7 I will only have about 175 cm2 of bald area. That would only take 7,000 grafts to fill in the entire area with 40cm2, a density that I believe is more than adequate to give an illusion of fullness. I realize there are variables such as color, hair shaft diameter, texture, etc. that come into play, but shouldn't any physician that transplants 1,000 grafts per NW level fill in the entire area with good density?

You said that Dr. Arocha quoted you $10,000 to $12,000 for 2,500 grafts, but that is a HUGE difference in price. Which one is it? $10,000 would be a very good price, but $12,000 would be pretty steep if you ask me.

I'm probably one of the more cynical members of this forum and highly doubt that PRP will have much benefit for hair growth. That being said, I question your motivation in joining this forum and immediately attempting to induce a backlash against a treatment that may prove to be beneficial to many members. Dakota and Caesar08 have both asked you to support your statements with some evidence. Instead of doing so, you responded that your dad works with it and that unless we read medical journals we won't find this information. My apologies, I didn't receive the message that whatever your dad said became gospel truth. You're like that guy who tries to argue that evolution didn't occur, and when you find yourself in a bind you drop the "god did it" line. Considering you offer no support for your statements other than a personal conversation between father and son, everyone on this forum should let what you say go in one ear and out the other. I don't know what your motivation or agenda for this topic was, but from the arrogance of your previous post and your attempts at ducking legitimate questions, I can only conclude that it is not one that has the best interests of the members at the forefront. At this point, you should either put up, or shut up, and putting up does not mean repeating that your dad works with it.

I was a college quarterback and given PRP on a semi-regular basis for injuries to my arm by our team physicians and I can say that it was an absolute miracle for me personally. There would be days when I could barley lift my arm above my head and yet a few days later my arm would be around 90% and I would be able to play. To my understanding, PRP has been studied fairly extensively and the side effects that you speak of have not manifested. Further, it is not as though PRP is a brand new phenomenon, as it has been used since the 1970's.

Almost 2700 grafts in such a small area is impressive and I am sure it will look amazing, but what is the plan if you have further loss? Your post says that you're 26, is your family history of hair loss minimal?

SharpTooth, How much was Dr. Arocha charging per graft? I find it annoying when doctors do not place their pricing structure on their website. What's the big deal? Price is a big factor for most people, so I don't understand the rationale for not posting fees. The only doctor's that I know who do have their fees posted are Rahal, Feller, Lindsey, Rassman, and Bernstein.

I've been VERY, VERY, VERY, slowly losing some hair for about six years now, so I personally wouldn't feel comfortable in even trying to figure out when it will stabilize. I've been to a few doctor who put on those magnification glasses and they all told me that I'm showing miniaturization in the pattern of a NW 5, but I'm not sure they did a miniaturization study, nor am I relying on staying a NW 5 because of my family history. Kaounis, did Dr. Konior perform a miniaturization study? If so, what did he say? Eman did Dr. Rahal? And does anyone know if Dr. Shapiro performs these?

I don't know how to post pictures, but just google "Brad Childress" and let me know if you think he's a NW 6 or a NW 7. In case you don't know, he's the coach of the Vikings and they were just showing his pictures on ESPN because of the Favre thing and I couldn't decide if he was a 6 or 7.

Tos, in my very humble opinion I think you made a great choice. Like you, I believe that Dr. Wrong, Dr. Konior, Dr. Shapiro do fabulous work. That being so, I am curious as to what the deciding factor was in choosing Dr. Shapiro? Cost, location, comfort level with the physician, preference for his work?

Thank you for stepping in Bill. This thread seemed perilously close to devolving into a repeat of the Wong v. Shapiro thread of a few weeks back and that I don't think that is fair to Tos. Tos, who did you choose to perform your surgery? I wish you all the best of luck and look forward to following your progress.

I really like Dr. Arocha's work and feel that it is more than enough to earn him membership in the coalition.

Definite signs of growth so far buddy. How many grafts were placed in the hairline and how many in the crown?

Nobody that I know of. Look, all it takes is a few minutes on google to see the results of bad hair transplants, and risking surgery with a doctor who does not enjoy a great reputation and/or is not well known, is not something that anybody on this site would recommend. Start with the doctors that I told you I like and get other people's opinions as well, but more importantly just play around on here and get a feel for the doctors that you like. But if a doctor is not recommended on here, I wouldn't even consider him just because I feel as though I NEED the transparency this site ensures.

Whoops, forgot that I also like Dr. Bernstein in NYC. He's just a bit too expensive for me though.

He's saying that you will need to travel to get the results that you want. I'm personally partial to the work of Dr. Rahal in Ottawa, Dr. Konior in Chicago, Dr. Shapiro in Minnesota, Dr. Wong in Vancouver, Dr. Cooley in Charlotte, Dr. Alexander in Phoenix, Dr. Keene in Tuscon, and from what little I've seen, of Dr. Tykocinski in Brazil and Dr. Pathomvanich in Thailand. I'm sure I've left quite a few very good doctors out, but those are the ones that I feel I am most impressed with. Dr. Bernstein is cost prohibitive for many members, as he charges $6 per graft, while on the other end of the spectrum traveling from the US to Canada, Brazil, or Thailand will give you a nice discount because of the exchange rate. All of the other docs listed are comparably priced with one another at between $4 to $5 per graft.