motegam

@hairlossPAEverything going ok, man? Really interested in your case and hope you're doing well.

Sorry, won't happen again!

By area, do you mean Diep's SF Bay Area location? What other surgeons are operating there at his level (or greater)?

Thanks for your response, it was comforting to read. I'm already scheduling an in-person consult with Dr. Bloxham. I think he'll give me an honest assessment. Fingers crossed.

Recently read up about DUPA and am starting to fear that I have it. My donor area is the thickest part of my hair but you can definitely see thinning. Can anyone provide their input? Pics taken after waking up in the morning:

Thanks for this really great response and bringing my attention to DUPA. Unfortunately, I'm a diffuse thinner. I have thin sides. My back/donor is "ok", but I'd hardly call it thick (it is at least the thickest part of my hair). I posted pics in another post. I'm taking finasteride right now and am hoping I'm a good responder. I'll most likely try to schedule an in-person consultation with Bloxham before any surgery so I can get his opinion. He seems like an honest surgeon and would give me good feedback.

At this point, I'm very eager to get a hair transplant (currently monitoring my response to finasteride and seeing if I've stopped the loss progression). I'm still curious about a few things: 1) What is the long term efficacy of a hair transplant? My parents dismissed it and said HTs only last 5 years. Is this true? I believe the transplanted hairs remain while the rest of the natural hair falls away, but can finasteride effectively plug the leak? 2) To this date, how many HTs have gone bad and patients have actually been killed, maimed, seriously injured? Is there a serious chance of injury here? Can it be mitigated by going to a top surgeon (ex. Diep, Bloxham, Hasson)

@jimcraig152, how's your crown area? Did Diep improve coverage on the crown in any way? Or was your surgery mainly focused on the frontal area?

As a fellow potential Diep patient, I'm watching this thread like a hawk. Thanks for everyone who is pitching in and providing input...

@Gatsby So far, I have consulted with Dr. Bloxham (and Diep). Bloxham quoted me 3k FUT grafts, and said I'd likely need 2 operations total to cover my entire scalp. He honestly seems like a standup guy. H&W have not gotten back to me since filling out their online form.

@JohnAC71 Yeah, Diep's experience and long history does not go unnoticed. Bloxham's partner is Feller, who seems to have been in the business for a long time as well. As of now, it seems the most critical information for my research is Diep's performance with FUT and his FUT scars. If Diep's FUT scars are within range of Bloxham's, then I'd be comfortable going forward with Diep. If not, then this is still a toss-up and I'll continue spending my work day considering the two of them haha.

@JohnAC71, it seems FUT is my best option. I lean towards Diep since he has a long history of good results (albeit with some controversy) and he lives right in my area. Healing from surgery while being on home turf eases a lot of the anxiety. That being said, Bloxham is also another great option and I'm considering him greatly. His FUT scars are nearly invisible and his transparent honesty in his videos is extremely appealing. I just can't seem to figure out why Diep's results are more spectacular than Bloxham's, who seems to go for a more conservative approach to hair restoration. Ironically, Diep quoted me 2500 FUT while Bloxham quoted me 3000 FUT. So if anything, Diep is the conservative one in this situation. Not sure what to make of that. Perhaps Diep just has more experience eyeballing Asian hair from pictures (Bloxham's YT channel seems to only feature 1 Asian guy on it). Edit: Further thoughts seem to be I'd be rolling the dice with Diep, or I could go for the more conservative, consistent Bloxham.

Jim, I'm a prospective hair transplant patient (considering FUT between Diep and Bloxham currently) and wanted to say a few things: Your well documented post has been great. Really appreciated from someone anxious about the process like myself. I appreciate your candor and your openness to critique Diep, who on other social forums typically enjoys unanimous praise This whole post reminds me to be diligent with my research and of course, Caveat Emptor All that being said, your result looks fantastic. You have better hair than I did as a 15 year old. I agree that the hairline looks a little artificial (with its straightness) and you wanted a more natural/imperfect hairline. However, I just feel 99% of people would not notice it and again, your hair looks damn great. If I got that result, I'd be a happy customer. If you have any posts or anecdotes you want to share about Diep's FUT scars and results, I would love to read through it. As of this time, while I was initially very excited about Diep, I am now more cautious with my optimism.

Diep is my number 1 choice since I live in his area and I suspect he's good with Asians (since he has videos of Asian patients). However, I've read a few concerning threads lately that his work is sub-par and losing quality. So unfortunately, I'm still doing more research to ease my anxiety. Bloxham seems great and ethical, but admittedly, his results are more conservative than Diep's

This could be a bit of a specific target, but I was wondering if anyone on this forum could recommend HT surgeons who have a demonstrated history of success working with: Asian hair Asian hairlines FUT, density I'm currently looking at Dr. Diep as my favorite, but there have been some concerning threads lately and I am now exploring alternatives. Thank you for your help!