Savemyhairline

3 minutes ago, Calihome1 said:

They said that since I had FUT before and want to transplant into an area that already has grafts, they would want to review both donor and recipient skin with mircoscope.

I mean, I like that they are being safe and thorough; it's just a pain based on where I live.  Doing US based surgery is still up in the air for next year?  Is that right?

Yeah for sure I get why they want to. Yes Ian told me possibly April but no guarantees. I mean do they think there’s a chance you aren’t a candidate? If you are very likely to be a good candidate then I would think a consultation the day before the surgery would be fine. Flying all the way to Belgium just for them to tell you you aren’t a candidate would suck, but if you are very likely able to be a candidate maybe worth the risk instead of flying across country and then another trip to Belgium.

1 minute ago, Calihome1 said:

Oh gotcha.  Ya that makes sense, they offered the same to me, consult in Maryland next month.  Unsure if I can make it as it's a busy month.  Flying to MD and back to CA for a 1 hr consult would be taxing for sure.

Yeah I don’t blame you, that’s too far just for a consultation. I’m like a 3.5 hour drive and I’ll probably make a trip out of it, go to DC after or something. Maybe see if you can just do a virtual/video consultation? 

11 minutes ago, Calihome1 said:

You made a decision on Bisanga based on a virtual consult?  My case is a bit different as I had a FUT HT a long time ago, so, they want to consult with me in person, which will be difficult from a logistics perspective (different continent). 

I’m doing an in-person consultation with him next month in Maryland. They recommended I do an in-person before committing to surgery. Probably a good idea since pictures can only tell so much. Actual surgery would likely be in Belgium unless he gets a definitive date for the US again next year.

30 minutes ago, Gramatik said:

there are some cases, that even some people selected and paid the option that Dr Bisanga would do all the punches and incisions, Dr Bisanga did only some part of punches while the rest was done by dr kostis. So you have to be careful.

I have heard this. At the end of the day the only thing I care about is the end result, if Dr. Bisanga can personally guarantee that the work will be just as high quality either way, I will probably opt for the one with Dr. Kostis.

1 minute ago, MachoVato said:

Dr. Kostis was there when I had my procedure with Bisanga. Almost a year ago. As I understand it, he was shadowing Bisanga. So he has been mentored and learning from Bisanga for a while now. You'd be getting a deal at half the price!

So you would say with confidence, there would be no less chance of success or lower quality? I can swing the full price of Bisanga though it would be much easier for me financially to have that price of course. 

I am very strongly considering Dr. Bisanga and have been informed that there are two pricing options; As I am financially planning for this, I would appreciate some non-biased input. you can have:

Dr. Bisanga would lead your surgery, consult and plan your approach. 

Dr. Bisanga and Dr. Kostis would then make your recipient sites.

Punching of your extraction sites would also be shared between Dr. Bisanga and Dr. Kostis

Technicians would then extract the pre punched grafts and place the grafts into the pre made recipient sites as with all BHR surgeries.

OR

Surgery exclusively with Dr. Bisanga performing all punching and making of recipient sites is available 

I have seen amazing results from people who have had Dr. Kostis partake, as well as some people claim it is really just for peace of mind to have Dr. Bisanga do all the punching/recipient sites. Being that the former is half the price, I have to at least consider it. I would never want to sacrifice quality for price, though do you think the quality/success rate would be identical?

Personally I would not take any hair loss drug as a preventative without any signs of mpb. I think the fear mongering with finasteride is ridiculous and most men won’t experience side effects, but I still would not take It if I had good hair and a perfect hairline. If I were paranoid, I would simply see a dermatologist/reputable hair transplant surgeon and pay for an annual checkup with a microscope to detect miniaturization. Though I have been obviously receding for many years so I have never had this “dilemma” 😄

5 hours ago, Calihome1 said:

I just read elsewhere that if you want Bisanga to do the graft insertion the cost is increased, is this true?

It appears to be about double the cost if you want Dr. Bisanga to do all punching and making recipient sites, vs having Dr. Kostis share this. When it gets closer to the time I’m really going to have to decide which option, as that will be a huge price difference. I have seen amazing results from patients who have opted to have Dr. Kostis contribute, though I can’t confirm if this isn’t as high quality as Bisanga doing it all. 

He appears to have been a good candidate, 40s and with what appears to just be deep temple recession with minor crown thinning. And this was all likely while not using a DHT inhibitor his entire life, considering he was shaving it for many years.

15 minutes ago, Calihome1 said:

Do you have any favorite cases of Hasson which shows temple work you can share?  I'm in the same ballpark trying to figure out the best doc for my hairline & temple work.

Nothing specific with temple work comes to mind for Hasson, though I do like his work overall. I primarily have searched his name in the advanced search and tried to see cases in the last couple years. I think for me, that reputation he has of almost always being successful (obviously not 100%) and the density he manages to achieve are why I am strongly considering him. I’ve heard it said that hair transplants are 50% science and 50% art, though in my opinion it is mostly an art. The design that mimics nature and has an aesthetic that is pleasing can only be done by an artist, if it were all science then there would be a lot more doctors who are considered elite. So even if Hasson didn’t do the most intensive temple work, I still believe he would create an excellent aesthetic overall. 

31 minutes ago, Curious25 said:

Temple points - If you are looking to regain a solid framing of your face, your hair loss pattern requires quite a bit of focus on this area, which isn’t the easiest thing for even accomplished surgeons to get right - so for that reason, I would focus on searching for doctors who are able to provide a multitude of results/have patient posted results, of temple point restoration. 
 

The three names you have provided are good doctors, so you have clearly done some research to get to this point - however I suggest you think about what your goals are, and consult with doctors who are able to provide you with exactly what you want.

Simply lowering and straightening your hairline will still leave you looking somewhat recessed  - maybe you don’t mind this, which is fine, but it’s just worth being aware of this before proceeding. 
 

Contrary to popular assumption, temple point work doesn’t actually require a huge amount of grafts, and good doctors will take them from areas of the scalp that wouldn’t provide optimum coverage for other areas of your recipient anyway - so the whole ‘higher Norwoods shouldn’t be wasting grafts on temple points’ argument is just something of an old wives tale IMO, on a patient such as yourself anyway. 
 

Good luck with your choices, 

Thank you and I totally agree, I don’t mind a forehead a little on the higher side, I really need the temple points/temples refined and filled in, along with some thinner areas on my frontal third. I also have a tall head/face so a junior hairline would look very out of place. I have been very impressed with all 3 docs as far as this is concerned, I do like the way Dr. Bisanga seems to close off the temples.

8 minutes ago, 5BetaReductase said:

I wouldn’t write off bisanga just yet. He’s a solid choice.

Oh no I am certainly not writing him off at all, I am driving 3.5 hours and paying $50 to do a consultation with him. I would not be doing that if I wasn’t very seriously considering him. I put down the deposit for H&W because it is fully refundable as long as it’s more than 3 weeks before the surgery and I just wanted to set a date in case I go with Hasson, nothing to lose.

1 minute ago, Calihome1 said:

When and where is Bisanga coming to the US?

Late August for surgery and consultations in Frederick Maryland. He is apparently going to do surgery again in the US next year, though the dates are undetermined last I spoke to Ian. 

I put down a $500 refundable deposit to book Dr. Hasson next summer. I also am doing an in-person consultation with Dr. Bisanga in a couple months when he comes to the US. Rahal was a close third but I have narrowed it down to H&W and Bisanga, likely to have a final decision after the in-person consultation.

Thanks for the help everyone! As I said I will for sure post my review on here when the time comes.

So it looks like the wait time for Dr. Hasson is currently about a year. I know being patient is ideal and I of course won’t make any rash decisions; though I can’t help but feel like every passing year of my 20s with my hair is another year I’m not feeling great about myself. I regret that in college , my early 20s, I was constantly making sure my hair was covering my thinning/bald spots and was always paranoid about my hairline showing. I’ll be 27 in November. By the time I get the final results from Hasson, I’ll be pushing 29. If he were the only elite surgeon in the world I would brush it off and wait, though there are of course others to consider without the wait time. I really hope Bisanga gets back to me soon, I am really interested to see what his wait times are.

I like David and his hair loss channel. Having watched him for a while and spoken to him via pm, I do get the impression he does kind of try to “sell you” on Mcrath, not that he’s necessarily paid or anything but he has made it clear they are friends. I mean it’s certainly not like he says McGrath is the end all be all, though I do recall David telling me he believe he is one of the best in the world and that was the only name he mentioned in a PM when I asked him about surgeons. I definitely do not see enough evidence to determine he is one of the best. David got a good result, though I really haven’t seen much else beyond his website.

To be fair to David, he has definitely said he only speaks to surgeons who have done work on him just because he wants to give a fair perspective. 

7 minutes ago, deeznuts said:

Imo they use more hair to achieve better results than other surgeons. H&W have great results using a limited number of grafts. But they can give you hair that's dense packed 

They quoted me at 2.5k-3k with the possibility of going over or under. I am more than fine with doing 3k for the frontal third. This is a very tough call, honestly I had upwards of 8 surgeons I was considering so now having it down to 3 helps, but still a lot of deciding to do. Thankfully it seems all 3 I am considering are excellent and very likely to produce a good result.

43 minutes ago, Eugenix Hair Sciences said:

Please may we request you to share some pictures with wet hair too?

Sure. First is what I would look like as if I just came out of the shower and it was pushing my hair forward. Then if I REALLY want to make it look bad, I pull/move it apart with my fingers when wet. I assume I would be headed for NW6 or at the least NW5 if I just did nothing at all. The only question is when as MPB typically has effected the men in my family later in life, 60s and beyond, whereas it seems to be hitting me earlier, other than maybe my paternal grandfather who also had significant recession though I only have pictures of him in his late 30s and I’m only 26.

14 minutes ago, Eugenix Hair Sciences said:

You are grade II on the Norwood Hamilton scale of baldness.

You shall require:

Frontal zone: 1500 grafts approximately for a complete restoration.

Your donor area is good.

You can also take finasteride to prolong baldness. You can take finasteride for a couple of months and observe its results and side effects (if any) in your case. Accordingly you can decide whether to take it or not.

Thank you, though I believe currently I am more in the NW3-3.5 range when you factor in the thinning. My hair is clean in these photos, when it is oily/sweaty you can see even more thinning in the frontal third. I do have fine hair so sometimes it is hard to tell what is diffuse thinning and what is just the result of my fine hair. For example Tom Hardy is supposedly not balding, yet sometimes I see his scalp and think it looks thinner than mine. His hairline is way lower though. I’ve been on fin for a little over a year with no sides so I will continue.

9 hours ago, deeznuts said:

I like H&W. If you want them to use less grafts, just ask them.

But lots of people get 2+ hair transplants to get extra density. I'd rather just get it in one from Dr. Hasson

I totally agree that I’d rather get 1 procedure over two if possible. I wouldn’t ask for less grafts, though I have seen other people feel that they use more than necessary to achieve similar results to other top tier surgeons.   I can always make more money in the future, unless hair cloning actually comes into fruition one day, I can’t make more donor hair. 

17 minutes ago, HappyMan2021 said:

26 is pretty young for a HT. I would say wait till you are 30 if possible but I know that is pointless advice because you aren't going to follow it. 🤣

-Bisanga is on fire right now. He would be my top choice. But logistically and communication-wise that could be the most challenging

-A few suspect H&W cases on the forum lately, but I wouldn't let a few bad apples scare you off. As long as you have a thick, plentiful and luscious donor, and your hairloss isnt too bad, I wouldnt be concerned with the bad cases. (again though, you are only 26.....so your future hairloss is still really uncertain)

-Rahal has a fantastic reputation but I haven't seen many reviews from his clinic lately. But you can still find a bunch online. 

 

I’ll be 27 in November so waiting till 30 wouldn’t be the end of the world, but I do feel the time value of hair is very high so the extra 3 years with a better hairline would be worth a lot to me. I was initially pretty much set on H&W but some of the recent H&W cases on this forum made me think twice, not steering me away just making me consider a couple other top tier surgeons. Do you (or anyone reading this) have any idea how long Bisanga takes to answer online consultations/how far out he is scheduling? 

My almost 90 year old grandpa still absolutely cared about his hair, two months before he passed away he had me give him a haircut in the hospital since it was during covid lockdowns and he couldn’t get to a barber. RIP pa love you.

Now with that said, I strongly disagree that it is “best” to wait until 40 for a transplant. Best as in more efficient course for your entire life? Sure. Best as in you will be the happiest overall? I doubt it. I argue hair is more important/detrimental to your confidence in your 20s and 30s. I am not saying you stop caring about it later on in life, though objectively it becomes more normal by the time you’re in your 40s/50s to be noticeably balding than when you are 25. It is much harder to not feel bad when all of your peers have full heads of hair and you’re aggressively balding. When you’re 50, way more of your peers are similar to you when you are balding. Plus there have been many studies that show older women do not find balding to be as detrimental to the attractiveness of a man compared to women in their 20s. 
 

So like everything in life, it’s all about balance. Don’t rush to get a HT when you’re 19 and noticing the first signs, but also don’t neglect your confidence and attractiveness when you are in your prime mating years.

8 minutes ago, Mike10 said:

26 is young and if you're diffuse you are not the best candidate. I think you consult with Bisanga first

Well I’m on meds that have helped a lot, my temples are completely gone and the thinning is mostly in the frontal third. H&W and Rahal have said I’m a good candidate, I believe I am.

3 minutes ago, shiba1985 said:

I have heard that lately he is not involved in the process as much, multiple cases and there have been few dissatisfied patients .

having said that I never looked into it at a microscopic level. I wouldn’t be swayed by “customer service” though. 

It wasn’t really the “customer service” it was more the plan outlined in the consultation seemed a bit more solid to me, plus I don’t know the wait time for Hasson since they haven’t answered me, whereas I know I can get into Rahal in the next few months. I’d rather not wait 1+ years though I don’t think that is the case with Hasson, hopefully.

26 minutes ago, shiba1985 said:

tough call. all of them can hit a home run, and all of them can occasionally strike out. I would go with H or B though. 

Any particular reason? Or just personal preference? Originally I was leaning Hasson but so far after the virtual consultation I am leaning Rahal. Subject to change when/if I hear back from Bisanga.