TC17

Should we anticipate a reduction in the cost of FUE sessions with this new instrument?

I googled that stuff just a couple of days ago and since then I've been inundated with ads for HairCubed. I'm not a computer guy so I don't know what exactly is going on, but somehow that and MHR ads keep appearing on my browser.

Emperor and all other members, I never singled out any doctor or clinic for splitting grafts. Rather, I merely stated my personal belief that such behavior, if being done, is unethical because it artificially increases the cost of the procedure. Don't put words in my mouth. Finally, look what this discussion has achieved for us. H&W will be attaching hair counts to all of their posts from this point forward, thanks in large part to PGP. How is that a bad thing? This thread has created a good thing for all members, and I hope that all of the other doctors rise to the same challenge and begin including hair counts as well.

Emperor, I did not attack you personally so I do not understand why you feel the need to impugn my credibility by implying that I am somehow disingenuous. I merely responded to what I felt was your attempt to offer justification for acts that I do not feel are in the best interests of patients. I'm a second year law student who hopes to practice as a consumer advocate when I graduate, so when I see behavior (graft splitting) that is geared towards benefiting the clinic at the expense of a patient, I feel the need to interject in the discussion. As for my minimal number of posts, that is a result of being a law student and not having the opportunity to post as often as I would like. That being the case, I do read a great many of the topics and have taken some time to educate myself on the doctors as well as the procedures currently available. I believe fully that PGP was trying to convey the message that the community consensus is that H&W are the ONLY doctors to go to for mega sessions, and that belief may not be accurate. We've all heard the same things like "Rahal for hairlines", "Wong for crowns", "Shapiro for hairlines", "Feller for hairlines", "H&W for mega sessions" etc. More information is not a bad thing. Shaking up the status quo is not a bad thing. The only bad thing is limiting the information available to the patients, and your wish to have this post locked would accomplish that goal.

Emperor, Regarding your above post, it is immaterial whether extra work is required of the techs and doctor when grafts are cut. That does not in any way justify increasing the total cost of a procedure. I am not saying that is done by H&W, but your contention that graft splitting requires additional work and is therefore somehow detrimental to the doctor is ridiculous. With that (unnecessary) extra work the clinic receives a significant dollar figure. As I said earlier, if the doctor chooses to split for aesthetic purposes and does not charge extra for the split grafts, that is fine. But since a great many members of this community are not wealthy enough to throw money away on split grafts, I find it incredulous that you would even attempt to justify a practice that increases the cost to a patient by invoking "additional work and overhead for the clinic". That additional work is within the control of the doctor, as he chooses to split the grafts and thus increase the workload. I for one would prefer to receive less grafts, at less cost and receive the same results as one with more grafts, at a higher cost, but with the same number of hairs. While I personally feel that Dr. Wong does TERRIFIC work, I can not say that his sessions of 7,000 grafts are at all better than Cooley or Shapiro with 4,500 grafts. I wish that all members would remember that this is a patient advocacy forum, and that without absolute transparency and open discussion on all issues, the forum will cease to serve its intended purpose of helping all of us. Without posts like PGP's (which admittedly is slightly combative) all members will begin following a group think mentality and blindly believing whatever the consensus is of the most vocal members and most prominent physicians. Such a result cannot be tolerated.

My body fat percentage (done using skin fold calipers with a +/- of 2%) was 5.5% in December. I visited two coalition doctors who told me that my scalp laxity was excellent. I can't think of a reason why having low body fat would contribute to a tight scalp.

I don't wish to add fuel to an already raging fire, but I have to ask, if ANY clinic is splitting grafts, isn't that a shady way of increasing the cost of the hair transplant? If the doctors split for aesthetic reasons that would be fine, but only if they charge you for the natural groupings, and not the artificially inflated graft count. I don't think it is fair, or even ethical, for a clinic to charge you extra for grafts that they split.

I'm neither a doctor nor an expert, but to get that much coverage on a NW 6 is very impressive.

In addition to Dr. Cooley, I also believe you should look at Dr. Konior in Chicago and Dr. Shapiro in Minnesota.

I would agree with PGP on Cooley and Konior as well. I think the biggest issue is that we all have the same information to go off of, and the doctors that you mentioned all have a stronger online presence than some of the others. I believe that Dr. Rassman and Dr. Bernstein also do very nice work, but are far more expensive. I've seen a few of Dr. Wolf's (not a member of this forum) patients in person and was throughly impressed. However, absent more patient posted work, I would not feel comfortable in going to see him. I also like almost all of what I've seen out of Dr. Haber, but I would not be happy with the work he did on forum member BurntheRug. Last, although there seems to be a recent backlash against Dr. Epstein, I still like his work and he has hundreds of photos.

Does anyone know if it is possible to get more grafts by combining FUT and FUE? If so, assuming average everything, how many more? Is it possible for a NW 6 or 7 to have close to a full head of hair with such a combination?

Does anyone know if it is possible to get more grafts by combining FUT and FUE? If so, assuming average everything, how many more? Is it possible for a NW 6 or 7 to have close to a full head of hair with such a combination?

Thank you Bill. Has he given any reason for his refusal to participate? I find that decision bothersome, as it severely limits the opportunity to see any results not handpicked by the physician. I personally would not feel comfortable in choosing a physician without first seeing examples of patient posted work.

Does anyone know why Dr. Wolf is not recommended on this forum? I've heard good things about his work, his prices are reasonable, and he has been mentioned by posters here before.

Does anyone know why Dr. Wolf is not recommended on this forum? I've heard good things about his work, his prices are reasonable, and he has been mentioned by posters here before.

I'm not a scientist, but I did major in biological anthropology as an undergrad. With my (limited) knowledge of evolution, I would say that there is no evolutionary reason for the DHT resistant rim of hair. I say that solely because such a pattern exists only in extremely bald men, who are almost always relatively old. It is a fundamental principle of evolution that nature doesn't care about you past your peak reproductive period, so any characteristics that would manifest themselves that late in the game are not naturally selected for. It is probable that the men who will now become Norwood 7's, would have died years before the pattern would ever show itself years ago. That's the only guess I could give you, but it should be noted that our closest animal relative (the bonobo chimpanzee) is a sufferer of hair loss as well.

Are you sure the $5 and $3 from H&W are in US dollars? That sure seems expensive if that's the case.

Some docs don't require shaving at all. I know Konior in Chicago doesn't (if you're under 2,000), Shapiro in MN doesn't, Epstein in FL doesn't either, Bernstein in NY usually doesn't, Cooley in NC, and I'm sure there's a lot of others. For sure Hasson and Wong and Rahal require it though. There's a lot on here about the pros and cons of shaving, but I personally can't afford to look ridiculous for weeks or months while I wait for it to grow back, so I'm 99% sure that I will have to go to a doc that doesn't require it.

I think it looks good man. When are you going to take the sides down to match? Also, do you have any pics of the scar?

One final note in my rant..... A quick glance at the forum would lead a new member to conclude that there are only a few qualified surgeons. H&W, R. Shapiro, Feller, and Rahal all seem to come up the most. While most assuredly not impugning any of their work, (and in fact, from what I've seen in pictures, they all seem to do TREMENDOUS work) I wonder whether those individuals are truly head and shoulders above all others, or if their popularity is a result of a now prevalent group think mentality on the forum? If the other physicians are not on par with the "top docs", then why are they even listed on this forum?

kaounis, It's comments like yours that I wish were the norm on this forum. When you support what you say with things such as "I've seen his work", or "I've met x amount of his patients", it makes what you are saying more reliable, and thus more beneficial to all members of this forum. I only wish that all members gave their reasoning for their opinions. Honest and open dialogue between forum members is the key to ensuring that this site functions as originally intended.

First off, I'm in no real rush to book a treatment because I just started proscar recently, but I would like to book a HT next winter or next summer at the absolute latest. That being said, I would like some advice from the forum. I've narrowed my choices down to Rahal, Wong, Shapiro, and Konior. Shapiro and Konior are probably a bit out of my price range at this time because I'm only a law student, and not yet a lawyer. But I'm very impressed with both of their work. So, I'll keep this focused on Rahal and Wong. I've never seen anything from Wong that I haven't been impressed with, I like that he does mega mega sessions because once I begin practicing law it will be very difficult for me to have a HT with the schedule that I'll have. Further, although I still have most of my hair now, there is a very strong possibility that I will end up like my dad, a severe Norwood 6. Rahal is cheaper and is within driving distance, which means I won't have to withstand the stares from people in an airport and cost IS a big factor. I'm impressed with Rahal's work as well, but there are times when I look at a patient of his and feel that although it is very good, that it's maybe not quite as good as Wong. In addition, I have seen far more examples of Wong's work both on his website and on these forums. I'm truly torn and I'm wondering if I should just go with the most convenient doctor, or if there are other factors to consider that I haven't articulated. I'm sorry for this being so long, but any advice would be appreciated. Please though, if you are going to offer an opinion, support it with why you feel the way you do. Thank you all for your help!

First off, I'm in no real rush to book a treatment because I just started proscar recently, but I would like to book a HT next winter or next summer at the absolute latest. That being said, I would like some advice from the forum. I've narrowed my choices down to Rahal, Wong, Shapiro, and Konior. Shapiro and Konior are probably a bit out of my price range at this time because I'm only a law student, and not yet a lawyer. But I'm very impressed with both of their work. So, I'll keep this focused on Rahal and Wong. I've never seen anything from Wong that I haven't been impressed with, I like that he does mega mega sessions because once I begin practicing law it will be very difficult for me to have a HT with the schedule that I'll have. Further, although I still have most of my hair now, there is a very strong possibility that I will end up like my dad, a severe Norwood 6. Rahal is cheaper and is within driving distance, which means I won't have to withstand the stares from people in an airport and cost IS a big factor. I'm impressed with Rahal's work as well, but there are times when I look at a patient of his and feel that although it is very good, that it's maybe not quite as good as Wong. In addition, I have seen far more examples of Wong's work both on his website and on these forums. I'm truly torn and I'm wondering if I should just go with the most convenient doctor, or if there are other factors to consider that I haven't articulated. I'm sorry for this being so long, but any advice would be appreciated. Please though, if you are going to offer an opinion, support it with why you feel the way you do. Thank you all for your help!

does anyone know how much dr. konior charges per graft? looking at his results, they appear amazing to me, but most of the results are from what he has posted, and not many patient blogs.

does anyone know how much dr. konior charges per graft? looking at his results, they appear amazing to me, but most of the results are from what he has posted, and not many patient blogs.