Marlo

Surprised you're labelling yourself a diffuse thinner, it's not apparant from these pictures. Anyway I think you're an excellent candidate for some frontal work, though 2400 grafts does sound a little high but I guess you're looking to lower the hairline quite a bit? 

What does Ferreira charge per graft now? 

10 hours ago, Fue3361 said:

I present the future of hairlines, Norwood 0.5:

This photo is altered though. If you watch the video where the clinic presents the case (including this photo) the hairline isn't as low as in this altered version. The hairline was still taken too far down (especially when not adding temple points) but not to this crazy extent. 

13 hours ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

The 7 per graft is only for repair cases, which is often more expensive at many top clinics. I know some clinics in Europe charging more for repairs. There’s no way Dr. Pekiner is comparable to Dr. Bisanga, not even close IMO. Dr. Mwamba is comparable and almost the same price for a regular non-repair case. Also, there is only one market, the hair transplant market. There are different sectors for different quality of clinics. Location doesn’t mean anything. People travel all the time to get a procedure, so locations don’t really matter. 

You are the first one in this thread to state anything about 7 EUR being the price for repairs. If you go to the poster's history he is not actually a repair case, based on that your assertion doesn't seem to be correct.

Of course there are different markets. You confirmed it yourself by stating "In America, patients wouldn’t think twice to pay $7 per graft for his skill". Now I do agree, that anyone considering a HT should be open to travelling, but then we could include doctors outside of europe and the US that have comparable skill to Bisanga, are significantly cheaper and don't have very long waiting lists. 

Not sure why you are so down on Pekiner. In my opinion he is actually superior to Bisanga because he doesn't transplant grafts with patterned regularity and Pekiner performs all surgical aspects of the procedure. What does Bisanga do so well that they are "not even close"?. 

6 hours ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

7 euros per graft is not high for a surgeon of Dr. Bisanga’s caliber. In America, patients wouldn’t think twice to pay $7 per graft for his skill. I paid $7 per graft for my second procedure back in 2015, I was not rich in anyway. I understand hair mills have affected the prices in Europe, but you can’t expect to get a Mercedez Benz for the price of a volkswagen. 

Some people are okay with buying a suit off the rack that doesn’t quite fit good. Some people rather go to a bespoke tailor and get it fitted perfectly. The people who think “a suits a suit” are more likely to buy something cheap off the rack. The people who think “hair is hair” are more likely to choose based on cost.

Nothing wrong with that, as I said theres a market for everyone. There are Michelin star restaurants and there’s McDonalds, they both give you food which provides sustenance, but the experience and quality differ immensely. I like to believe this forum seeks Michelin style quality. Reddit seeks McDonalds. 

Now, there are some quality surgeons that are cheaper. But they’re not a solution, just a compromise. You save a few thousand dollars, but you end up in a waitlist of 2-3 years. Sometimes the consultation alone takes a full year. To keep with the restaurant analogy, it’s like getting a reservation to a restaurant for 2025. 

This means you could essentially go from a Norwood 3 to a Norwood 6 by the time you get surgery, the cost would be higher anyway, and in all that you went bald, which is what you we’re trying to avoid with surgery in the first place. It’s nonsensical to me.

The market has to dictate prices. If the demand goes too high, the cost must go up. Otherwise, no one benefits. I don’t see any benefit in waiting for a surgeon for years, when there’s in many times equally or even more talented surgeons available for a higher price. Hell, in all those years you wait for one surgeon you could’ve paid off your surgery and been living with more hair. 
 

Anyway that’s my 0.2 cents. 

Of course it is high when virtually no one else in Europe charges such a price. Doesn't make much sense to use US as the basis for comparison. 

You wouldn't have to wait years to get a date with surgeons like Pekiner, Freitas or Mwamba and they are by no means a compromise. 

21 hours ago, mr_peanutbutter said:

if people are willing to pay it i dont see anything wrong with it. maybe he has many patients from the usa

im suprised couto and zarev arent there yet. 

 

 

Not saying there is anything wrong with it, market dictates price. But I would never advice anyone to go there at that cost, imo there are enough equally good (or better) surgeons in Europe at lower price points. 

7 EUR per graft + VAT is wild. Don't know another doctor within Europe that charges that much. 

7 hours ago, Dillpickle123 said:

With all due respect I don’t notice a Difference much but if the patient is happy with the outcome that’s all that matters at the end of the day 

Agreed. I generally don't see a notable cosmetic benefit to the results this clinic posts, see this as another example. 

Since you need quite a lot of grafts what about Pitella? He does a lot of high graft cases and gets good results and from what I know the prices are very reasonable (not totally sure what he charges though.)

Well, JT considers Asmed a top clinic. If that's the standard then sure. 

13 hours ago, MrFox said:

It's sold under Bausch & Lomb and the sole manufacturing line in the world is in the U.S.A. They have upped production since the shortage began but they expect supplies to be limited until the end of 2023, with priority being given to ophthalmologist that use the drug for it's patented use with certain diseases affecting the eyes. I believe the 15 mg bottle goes for $1800. 

Ugh, $1800 for 15 mg sounds prohibitively expensive for usage in hair transplants. Do we know how long Bausch & Lomb can keep the patent going?

Some of the responses you received sound a bit strange to me. Which clinics specifically did you contact? 

17 hours ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

I don’t know how anyone can say this isn’t impressive. Especially because this is a 20+ year difference. 

Agreed, couldn't really ask for more considering how far he was gone. Looks like his donor is fine shape too, if he was ever inclined to have additional work done. 

10 hours ago, AndyFreecs said:

i saw they ship on my country and they sell oral minoxidil (brand name: loxidil), does someone buys here and can confirm it's safe?

I have bought twice from them. No issues. 

Wow, insane level of growth at this early stage 👍

Laughable statement. Anyone who has any insight into hair transplants would tell you that there are more FUEs performed. 

1 hour ago, Hashi said:

The surgery went really well actually, everyone was so nice and I was comfortable throughout the whole procedure. The only thing that has me worried is what I wrote just now in another post I made. I've always been really impressed with Dr Freitas' work.

 

But so, I'm not saying oral minoxidil is in anyway ineffective, I'm just wondering if it's absolutely necessary. Is it worth making a quick trip to Spain for like ~100 euro just to buy it?

No, it's not absolutely necessary to take oral minoxidil for a hair transplant to be succesful. There have been way more people that have done hair transplants without taking oral minoxidil than the other way around

Of course it's highly recommended to be on a some hair loss preventition treatment to minimize further hair loss (finasteride/dutasteride), but that won't have much impact on how your hair transplant grows in.

6 hours ago, z4ydi said:

Thanks Marlo. I did reached out to Pekiner but his price is way too high; asking for 2.70 Euros per a graft. I know I will need around 4000 - 5000 grafts, which makes it hit 10,000 Euro. This is too expensive and outside my budget. What about HLC if the head surgeon does the incision and hairline?

That is really not a lot of work for the surgeon to be doing. This LHC clinic that you're talking about is clearly a hairmill (quantity over quality) and I could never recommend going to such. 

It's certainly possible that you could get a result you're happy with by going with a discount clinic, but you are taking unnecessary risk by doing so imo. Remember that a hair transplant is for life. If 10k Euro is outside of your budget I honestly suggest saving up. There will usually be a good amount of wait time anyway, if you wanna book with a good clinic. 

Pekiner is the only one in Turkey I would personally go with. He does every single surgical aspect of the procedure so that's a big plus, but costs more than most Turkish options. 

Damn, you have fantastic hair characteristics. 

These two are actually the surgeons I've been looking at myself. I prefer Pekiner for the following reasons:

• Pekiner places the grafts more naturally as they aren't put in any sort of rows wheres Freitas implants in horisontal rows
• Pekiner performs all surgical aspects of the procedure himself, whereas technicians will handle some parts with Freitas
• Pekiner speaks English, Freitas speaks close to zero english

Freitas does, however, have a very extensive portfilio of good results. 

One thing that personally worries me with Pekiner is that there are some examples on this forum where he has stopped the surgery after beginning it because he found the donor caliber to be too poor. This clearly wouldn't be an issue for you, however.

Impressive result, a lot was achieved here with 2800 grafts. 

How did it turn out?

Certainly looks like retrograde which I have myself. Would be odd if the onset was as quick as you've described, however. 

Really doesn't make much sense to transplant into the retrograde area. Save your donor hair for the top. 

On 7/20/2021 at 12:59 AM, PT#31 said:

In the meantime, @Rolandas has already answered you. Just wanted to add that the scars that you most see right in the middle of the donor area, are from Dr. Pekiner (don’t remember right now but I guess he used a 0.9mm-1mm punch). I think that Dr. BF’s scars are very small. Nevertheless, he told me that it depends a lot on the patient and I’m one of the cases which the scars remained more visible. But I’m totally fine with that as I use long hair.

So the scars from Pekiner's extractions turned out more noticable than the the ones from Ferreira's?

41 minutes ago, Prof101 said:

3 months post op (1700 to crown with Dr Couto) 

I am trying not to look at my hair every day, in fact, it has been a month since I did. And when I did today I am extremely concerned about the donor area. 

While my donor area was not THICK, it was definitely well covered. As per the picture attached (blue shirt is BEFORE). But now it is completely see through, as per the other two pictures of sides. One not combed and one combed for maximum coverage.

Recipient area I don't see much action but I know it is too early (so no need for before and after)

I contacted Dr. Couto and we will see what he says, but any thoughts please let me know. Is this normal at all?

 

Clearly doesn't look good right now, but I think there is a high probability that this is shock loss. I have seen donors that made dramatic turnarounds later than three months post surgery. 

Too soon to panic, hang in there.

Really don't think a valuable cosmetic change was achieved here.