Pbaird98

@simple32019bro, been a lot of Diep stuff happening since this was posted, have you any updates on yourself? 

5 minutes ago, baldlivesmatter said:

I was tagged in the original post so i'll add my two cents.

First of all, attacking @Melvin- Moderatorpersonally was way out of line. I've been on this forum for many years (even before I had an official account) and I have always seen Melvin (f.k.a HTsoon) doing his best to help and support others--even before he was a mod. It's important to remember that Melvin is not some greedy, corporate fat cat shilling for Dr. Diep to make a few bucks. He's a husband, father, and most importantly a former NW6 who has been in the trenches fighting the Norwood reaper with us. We are all in a much better and more informed position because of Melvin's work on this forum. Regarding adding the word "repair" to my most recent thread, there is a long (and uninteresting) story regarding why the word "repair" wasn't added but it was ultimately my decision. Don't PM me about it, I won't respond.

Second, my Diep experience was a mixed bag. On one hand, I objectively got very good growth and coverage in the recipient area using a relatively small number of grafts for the area. I have been complimented on my hair many times in real life; it can look fantastic when styled correctly. On the other hand, objectively, he did a very bad job with my donor area. Anyone that I have shown my immediate post-op donor area picture to has recoiled in horror. The right side of my head is noticeably thinner four years after that transplant compared to the left side which was operated on a mere month ago. I reached out to the clinic shortly after my surgery and was told "it shock loss it grow back one year". Well, it did not in fact "grow back one year" and when I reached back out to the clinic they responded that Dr. Diep said that a hair transplant of 500 grafts could fix the area. No apology, no discount. Additionally, the recipient area had good growth, but the angles are not right--the transplanted hair is perpendicular to my scalp, whereas the native hair lies more parallel. I can style around this when my hair is longer, but at shorter lengths it is definitely exposed. Additionally, a lot of heavier/pluggier grafts were planted in the hairline--which lead to an unnatural look. I get no cosmetic surgery will be 100% natural, but for a $15k price tag and compared to other doctors in this price range this is unacceptable.

Ultimately, my recommendation would be to put Diep on some sort of probation where he's removed from the recommended list until he's demonstrated a revision in his practices. He's undeniably a very talented surgeon and with a few revisions I believe he could produce consistent home run results. Some of those revisions would include:

• Perform only one surgery per day: Hair transplants are extremely labor intensive. Performing one surgery per day allows for the doctor to fully focus on the patient rather than rushing two surgeries as well as their consultations and other commitments. This revision is IMO the most important and Dr. Diep's willingness to sacrifice money for better results would indicate he does in fact care about his patients' outcomes rather than just raking in more money. It's not like doing one $15k surgery per day will result in him being on food stamps.
• Don't put the patient completely unconscious during surgery: Other top clinics don't do this. The patient should be able to communicate with the doctor during the procedure.
• Don't deviate from generally accepted hair transplant practices without discussion with the patient beforehand. In my case this was extracting grafts from only one side of my donor, rather than homogenously. Stuff like this shouldn't be a surprise to the patient when they regain consciousness.
• Don't plant grafts in rows. It looks unnatural.
• Hire and retain experienced technicians. The technicians play a large role in the success or failure of a transplant. This is not an area to cut corners on.

 

Excellent, well thought and very well balanced view, really puts things into perspective.. 

I think he should be removed as he clearly isn't performing to a decent level anymore, and doesn't appear to have been in the last couple of years in particular. 

6 minutes ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

I don’t agree that cases prior are irrelevant. While I agree, recent cases hold the most weight, a surgeons full portfolio matters. For example, if a surgeon had really poor results, and only recently started producing good results, those bad results need to be taken into account. That said, I agree on the last point. 

Thats ok we can agree to disagree for the first part, getting on the forum list is one thing, clearly was doing good work before, but its the here and now that matters, at least we agree on that. 

23 minutes ago, Z-- said:

I support the removal from the recommended list. Don't think the censorship claims are true (esp. compared to other forums), but that's a separate discussion -- along with the bizarre back-and-forth between the mods of HRN and Reddit -- neither of which are particularly fruitful in the context of doing what's most useful. 

For the purposes of moving forward, can we please just have a separate and unbiased thread put up ASAP allowing the community to post and decide?

Yes agree with this, could be voted as per some other threads, poll? 

Its the decline in results from 2020 onwards that is most concerning. In particular the latest one we have here which is just inexcusable. We have to go on the quality/consistency of current results and not rely on past performance, this is more than a blip in my view, more a pattern of now poor or mediocre results, or just flat out horrible as the most recent shows.

All the threads and results prior to the decline in quality are largely irrelevant when deciding on if he should be included in 2022/2023. 
It was the latest result that tipped it for me, more than a misfire it fails on every level. 

1 minute ago, shiba1985 said:

why would someone do an FUT for 550 grafts. that makes no sense. if the scalp is so tight that you cant take out a strip, then just do FUE. this is horrible planning. 

 

100% this ^

This is the statement for the recommended list:

Find a Top Hair Transplant Surgeon based on patient reviews.

Choose a hair transplant surgeon recommended by the world’s largest patient community based on excellent results and credentials.
 

None of this would now hold true for Dr Diep, He’s no longer producing excellent results and most certainly not recommended by the community here anymore.

Nobody is recommending him these days, the patient reviews now show poor work, yes people will come across better results from years ago, but in 2020 - 2022 it’s just no longer the case.

No denying this is anything other than a very good and very natural result. 🤜🏿

Nearly 10k worth of grafts! Congrats bro this looks very good, update when you can 👌🏿

4 minutes ago, mister_25 said:

Producing Good work and having Good technicians at a technician based clinic is enough for me to label him at his prime as a "decent surgeon" and "okay choice". This is probably back when HTs were in its infancy or still being refined, I'd say going back to mid 2000s early 2010's.

He clearly had the skills and that is shown in his past good work. I just think that at one point his greed for money bested his desire to perfect his craft.

Regardless, I have found the recent Diep cases (2020-2022) to be quite poor and unnatural and I've seen quite a few Diep repair threads for my liking, I believe this alone regardless of question to his ethics, care and practices should subject him to removal of the recommended list.

When searching for Hair Transplant information, you will find HRN at the top and if not you will find HRN mentioned as one of the best resources on other forums/sites. That kind of power, being that respected, accessible and out there, it should be a requirement to at least have the recommended list of forum approved surgeons be screened for discrepancies/outliers such as Diep. Compare the other surgeons on the forums list to Diep and the consistency is night and day difference.

Regardless, even if Diep who produces poor results is on the recommended list. HRN still leads people in the right direction, I say its a invaluable resource. When I look at other websites I still see ASMED being promoted under "the big four" "best clinic in turkey" and r/HairTransplants is not that different. The top result is from Hair of Istanbul who I once considered as my #1 choice when I first started researching until I got referred to HRN. A lot worse gets recommended on the subreddit than Diep (Dr Cinik, Smile, Now Hair Time, Hair of Istanbul, Asli Tarcan) and information is not as accessible on the subreddit as I'd like.

In regards to censoring, its a massive accusation to the site as HRN is known for its transparency of information. You should definitely make your own post separate from this if your able to get concrete evidence to back up these claims.

 

Nicely put, it’s definitely the last couple of years that are more concerning from what I can see. It’s clear the pattern shows a Dr who’s work continues to decline/slip as time goes on. It simply cannot continue, from all the Drs I think shouldn’t be on the forums recommended list, this is the one that needs the most urgent attention. 

Association with ISHRS doesn’t in anyway mean the Dr or Clinic is going to give you a decent result. Try and find any actual patient results that have been posted here or elsewhere that you can actually see are genuine postings. Why don’t you choose someone that you can see many results? Research is key as always. Not seeing any bad reviews at all is a red flag, all Drs have them regardless. 

I agree that the current Inclusion of Dr Diep should definitely be looked at urgently, having called for it on another thread it would appear the community is solidly behind this sentiment entirely. 
I’m guessing you have noticed there’s a 6 message limit for new users, and no access to PM, it resets though everyday. Don’t add anymore new/duplicate accounts as they would be removed, we need you to stay commenting here. 
I appreciate the time and effort you have put it to gather this information, it’s clear the results are all the evidence we need to make our own judgement. And it’s clear that a once talented Dr is no longer doing good work, worse still some really horrible work if we look at the most recent case here. 

8 minutes ago, medoh199 said:

What is Lllt?

Low level laser therapy, cap/hat/Helmet, some people swear by them, for others it’s a waste of money and does nothing. 

I can’t answer that, but did wonder who you ended up choosing? Was it FUEcapilar 

Very nice hair & beard 👌🏿

Hello fellow London person, looking good son 🤜🏿

@throwaway1009 No posts/response to this thread, so it does look like a hit and run. 

22 minutes ago, 5BetaReductase said:

I personally don’t like the idea of these “packages.” You’re basically the testing ground for these “junior doctors.” You don’t even know who you’re going to get. When I see the term package I automatically think of Turkish clinics

Totally this, we all know Eugenix can and do put out good results, but some not so great ones too (yeh I know this can happen with any clinic) but when it comes to the cheaper options? I have seen Dr Das provide some good results, but who are the other Drs? And where are the results? Over time they would become better known of course… for now I need to see the evidence… 

Yeh the amount of extra grafts used is definitely more than questionable, on one hand it’s only 5 month (as you mentioned) but even If/when they all grow in it’s not enough to make much of a visual difference. 

Dr Mwamba or Dr Bisanga, Sorry that you’re first ht had a poor outcome, Maybe it was the Bosley “clinic” but whoever it was at least gave a refund. Hairline will need redesigning, but a repair is definitely going to get you too a much better place. Good luck bro 🤜🏿

Phenomenal difference, Really does suit you having hair, how does it compare to you’re younger non balding self? 

Listen to @ITA, where was you’re first HT done? Crown whorls are not a easy feat to pull off, don’t let some random tech have at it, look for other crown results and then decide, but ensure it’s a Dr! 

Bro just no, Save up for as long as needed to get a decent Dr, At the very least Dr Turan or Gur. They are pretty inexpensive for having so much involvement, do not under any circumstances get a hair mill/tech only procedure, don’t make the mistake others have. 

26 minutes ago, Edworayten said:

Turkey is still the best country for hair transplants. Turkish specialists use the most effective method of FUE hair transplantation. The main difference from FUT is that the transplant is without surgery, scars, and pain.  FUE is one of the most popular transplant methods today. It was developed in 2000 and is successfully practiced by doctors in Turkey.

This isn’t remotely true, Turkey does have some good choices like Dr Pekiner or Dr Keser, but also 99% of hair mills. Far better options in Europe.