PizzaWolf

@BaldingEagle1Why are you so adamant in your belief about a clinic you haven't even been to yet? It sounds like you're trying to convince and reassure yourself more than anyone else.

I'm scheduled for surgery with DeFrietas in about four months, but that will be my first surgery, so I can't in good conscience recommend him yet. The surgeons I was most impressed with in Europe--based solely on research, not firsthand experience--are DeFreitas, Feriduni, and Bisanga.

@kaisephYou need to see a reputable hair transplant surgeon (in-person) with a strong portfolio of repair work. You should not be making any more decisions that are going to be permanent, i.e. electrolysis, until that point. I definitely see why you're bothered by your hair in its current state, and even though I understand why some posters are trying to spare your feelings, the reality is you need significant repair work on the entirety of your hairline. Please don't make things any worse by rushing your decisions in a state of panic, or in an attempt to save on costs.

I would also be interested in some photos without you pulling the hair back. You're still messing with it in that last photo.

@Melvin- ModeratorWhy not post the proof that shows Digi was offering to remove his thread in exchange for a refund? You gave Digi a chance to respond to the proof with his own counterproof before banning him, right? What about the costs Digi had to incur because of the poor work done on him by Dr. Yaman? Were you trying to help Digi and Dr. Yaman come to some kind of fair agreement? After all, Digi opted to use a forum recommended doctor, isn't that supposed to come with some reassurances for the patient? Also, I have to say it: Even if Digi was offering to remove his review in exchange for a refund, are we going to pretend he's sketchier than the doctor who wasn't even using magnification for his surgeries, and who put Digi in such a bad situation, where he even needed a refund in the first place?

@propeesha I think the coverage for graft count is very impressive and the hair looks reasonably dense to me, even in the wet comb-through, so I'm not sure that too few grafts is the issue. Unfortunately, there's also a pretty obvious multi-hair graft placed right in the center of his hairline, so I think the doll hair effect you're seeing might be the choice to use some pretty chunky grafts in the front, and maybe too few singles?

If you're on oral min and fin, I don't see why you need or want body hair used in your crown as a NW 3/4. The drugs are what's supposed to preserve your existing hair, including donor. Otherwise, why take them? Maybe Pekiner has a different philosophy, but it would be nice to know what that is.

Beard hair adds coverage when you can't acheive it otherwise. I think that saying it "adds volume" gives me the impression you feel its use is somehow desireable, like adding some kind of volumizing conditioner or hair product to improve your hair's sheen. You do you, but if it was me, I would really be questioning this recommendation from Pekiner.

Based on recent results posted, check out @digi23, and some of the revelations about Dr Yaman's surgical protocols, I personally wouldn't go to him. Is this your first hair transplant? If yes, Did Dr. Pekiner give an explanation why he would use body hair in your first surgery? My opinion: 3800 grafts isn't a huge number these days, and I think using beard hair right from the get-go is really questionable from an aesthetic standpoint if you don't absolutely need it to achieve full coverage as a high Norwood with poor donor. I'm going to assume he was going to use the beard hair in your crown? If you are a high NW, then 3800 grafts doesn't seem like it will give great coverage if it's spread throughout your entire scalp, including beard hair (even weaker coverage) in your crown. If you aren't a high NW, then why is Pekiner using beard hair at all?

@Captain Haddock You wrote: "During my surgery, we had two phases of extraction. They were very arbitrary and non uniform. After the first session, I found myself waiting on my surgery table along with the techs in the room for Dr. Arika to begin the second phase. We waited for about 45 minutes. I didn't know where my surgeon was. Neither did the techs. They started giving me massages to keep me busy. I was even told that Dr. Shishir would be able to extract the grafts to keep the surgery going, but I insisted that I had chosen the package that comes with Dr. Arika's work on my donor. It was only when I posted my surgery details on this forum did @Wandererind message me and tell me that he had a consultation with Dr. Arika at exactly at the same day, same time. It is beyond me as to why my doc would abandon me and attend to someone else who is looking to consult mid-way through the surgery. I felt abandoned during a life changing procedure. " It's really disappointing, and probably disturbing, that you had this experience. Very unprofessional on the part of Eugenix. I hope you're able to fix these issues with your hair and get it to a place that you're happy with again. Knowing what you know now, are there any red flags that stood out when you were researching or scheduling for surgery? What do you feel an appropriate number of surgeries per day is? What are you going to look for going forward in a repair surgeon? Thank you for posting a really transparent and honest experience.

@NARMAKI'm sure you're right about it being a business/revenue issue, but that doesn't excuse it being disrespectful to the people who are already scheduled with these clinics and their long wait lists, which are also being artificially bloated to some extent by doing this.

What's with this recent trend of allegedly super booked up doctors having sudden cancellations and giving a surgery slot to new consults? Shouldn't the doc's schedulers be offering those slots to people already booked and on their cancellation list?

@5BetaReductase I agree with you that a surgeon who performs as many surgeries as possible in a day isn't doing his patients any favors, but you don't seem to be aware of just how many current top clinics are operating on over 2 patients per day. HLC is 4 patients per day, H&W are 4, DeFreitas 3, Eugenix has reports of 6. I'm sure there are other highly regarded clinics over 2 patients that I'm not aware of. I think consistency of results over time is likely more important than number of surgeries, but I can definitely see the concern over what number becomes too much to maintain quality. I think a doctor who continues to increase his surgeries per day as time goes on is likely a bad sign. @splitting hairs Dr. Couto has a single tech who performs all of his extractions.

I'm not thrilled about DeFreitas having another doctor handle his surgical consults. Can I ask how much time DeFreitas spent with you on the hairline design before beginning surgery?

If this went down like the initial poster said and isn't just some kind of drama/troll attempt, I would classify what the doctor did as not just unethical, but straight-up theft. There were no services rendered. The doctor was entitled to zero reimbursement. The clinic should quit giving online consultations if they're that bad at analyzing photos. Also, they clearly knew keeping his money was wrong if they made him sign an NDA before giving him a partial refund. This sounds like an extortion tactic from a clinic that has lots of previous experience doing it. I can't believe there are posters in this thread who would defend this kind of behavior. You should be embarrassed.

What's the difference between a normal recommendation and this recommendation?

@RMancini The extraction pattern seems to be visible in the clinic's final donor photo. Is this something you have noticed, or that Dr. Couto addressed?

@5BetaReductase I asked the clinic, but they aren't an unbiased source. Surgical techniques are discussed all the time here. So far no one is even sure if it's a "technique" to implant in rows (or symmetrically, or whatever anyone wants to call it) or if it's just a time saver.

@Melvin- Moderator Do you feel that DeFrietas' style of implantation could hold up to a 9-10mm buzz? Is that an unfair expectation after a HT surgery?

Call it whatever you like, but hair doesn't have this kind of symmetry in nature: Another: I'm not saying the doctor is bad or that he isn't producing aesthetic results. I just wanted to know if this pattern of implantation would be visible with a 3 guard buzz, or something in the neighborhood of 9-10mm? Or does it require a longer style to mask it?

@Melvin- Moderator This was from a very recent clinic posting: Another clinic posting: Would this be visible if these guys opt to wear their hair in a shorter style (9-10mm)?

@Melvin- Moderator I'm scheduled for surgery with Dr DeFreitas. I didn't intend to make this into a drama thread. However, with all due respect, it isn't nonsense. You cherry-picked a patient from DeFreitas where the horizontal rows are more difficult to detect, but they are still detectable even in that patient. My personal concern with this is: I want to still be able to wear my hair at a length of 9-10mm after surgery. Will I be able to do that and not have the symmetrical rows become apparent?

@BDK081522 Thank you for answering my question, especially about the rows being visible when the hair is cut short. Why would two well regarded surgeons like DeFreitas and Diep use this implantation technique if it offers no benefit to the patient?

My intention wasn't to critique DeFreitas' or Diep's work, only to understand the technique and what benefit it offers, as clearly they both feel it has merit. That's very observant, and I hadn't noticed that difference until you pointed it out. I would hope that it actually has a technical merit and not just a time saving one. Both doctors are known for their high density with low graft numbers, so I still think it has to do with increasing the illusion of density, but I'm not sure. I was hoping someone knew about the technique and its potential benefits. Does anyone know if this symmetrical row style of implantation becomes apparent if you cut your hair short, or if it requires a certain hair length to look natural and blend together?

It was brought up in another topic that some doctors, like DeFreitas and Diep, opt to implant grafts in the hairline without microirregularities. I don't know much about the technical aspect of creating these irregularities, but it was kind of jarring when I looked more closely at the surgical photos from Dr DeFreitas and saw how symmetrically the grafts were placed. The end results that I've seen look natural and aesthetic, but I am curious what the reasoning behind this surgical approach is. My best guess is that it increases the illusion of density with fewer grafts. Does anyone know what the reason is? Do results achieved in this manner look strange when the hair is cut shorter, like a 9-10mm buzz?