Bucky O Hair

Does graft count matter as much as the doctor implanting them? I've seen cases on here where a doctor (like Zarev) is able to pull out 8-10K grafts from patients that would normally be quoted as only having about 6K lifetime grafts from other doctors. I've also experienced a high degree of variance between doctors for my own crown procedure...and the range in estimates was pretty high (from 1,750 to 4,000). I went with Dr. Munib and got 1,750 grafts (and the jury is still out on the results) but the postop photos look just as good (if not better) than any 3k-4k crown session. Are we simply putting too much emphasis on total graft count?

You are making an assumption too, that the ones with good reputations cannot make these same mistakes. They do. There are a lot of big name clinics who have diminished over the years. I'm noticing more frequent bad reviews here and there from some of these former top clinics, which was impossible years ago. Things change. There are new doctors that bring new tools, techniques, and ideas. The industry changes for the better, and some of these clinics (who choose not to change and evolve) will be left behind.

There are quite a few people on here who have HTs, and are not on Finasteride. There's no guarantee that Fin will prevent further loss. It just potentially slows down your progression (assuming you even respond well to it), and even then, it still loses efficacy over time. If you have advanced loss and are still hellbent on getting a HT...then it's best to go with FUE and with a good doctor, to minimize scarring (in case you ever need to buzz your hair down in the future).

BOOM! The administrator has spoken, and he is in full alignment with Bucky O'Hair! #neverstrip

My guess is that your grafts were probably transected upon extraction, or they stayed outside your body too long before being implanted again. Did they mention anything unique about your case? Were your follicles larger than normal? Did you experience more than usual bleeding? Good call on not accepting a free procedure from the same clinic. They may have had a new technician working on your head who didn't have the expertise...or maybe your follicles were more challenging to remove, but they didn't adjust or adapt for your case. If you have the money, I'd definitely look into Zarev or Munib.

Was Bloxham's estimate of 7000 for the front/midscalp only? Not including the crown? If he is excluding the crown from that estimate then I would have to say that is way too much, and will probably exhaust almost all (if not all) of your donor grafts. I was in the same boat with you re: my crown in that I thought I would need at least 3500 grafts (or more)...and this is what the tech-heavy clinics were quoting me at. But I was surprised when the doctor-only clinics were quoting me at 2000 grafts. I thought that was way too low and couldn't possibly be true. I decided to go with Dr Munib, and the jury is still out on my results (I'm not even 4 weeks postop on my crown) but the coverage looked great before it shed. I'm beginning to really question the "low" transection rate that all of these clinics claim to make. There's no real way to confirm if a clinic has transected 5% or 20% of the grafts they take out (because you won't really be able to count each newly implanted graft to confirm this). You just have to take their word for it. In my case, if my crown results turn out to be as good as everyone else's here (with half the graft count) then I am convinced that most tech-heavy clinics are removing more than is needed and are just transecting tons of grafts along the way.

Yea, my issue with H&W (when I had my consultation with them last year) was the high graft estimate. They always seem to give very high estimates. Their estimate was double what I got quoted from Munib and Konior. I'm not sure why this is the case, and (like you) I am trying to be efficient and maintain a long term plan (that doesn't involve exhausting my donor). Since you seem to want to stick to USA/Canada for your procedure, I would email Konior to see what he has to say. He communicates directly will all patients, so you'll get feedback from an actual doctor (and not a sales rep).

Eugenix was always a "hair mill" though. They are a very high end one, but they generally do what (I understand) a hair mill does, which is staffing many technicians, and churning out a lot of hair transplant mega-sessions per day. There's nothing wrong with being a hair mill if the results are good, but this was always a trait of the clinic. The clinic probably interacts with hundred of requests per day, so their communication may not be what you like. Why don't you just go with clinic that doesn't do several procedures per day, or a clinic where you are communicating with the surgeon themselves (like Munib, Konior, etc.)? It sounds like you want to be treated special, but maybe you don't want to pay for it? I think most people are trying to manage things within a budget (which is fair) but Eugenix is more of a value-for-dollar clinic where you can score a big session for a reasonable amount. If you don't like that (or do not want to take on any risk) then you should just save up and go to a clinic where the surgeon themselves are doing the work alone. For example, in my case, I was always weary of crown HTs and how there seems to be so much variance between clinics on how many grafts you need in the crown. So, I ended up limiting my choices to the clinics who were very efficient with graft use and still have good results for the crown...and many of those were smaller clinics where the surgeon is the one performing most (or all) of the work. I ended up going to Dr. Ahmad, but almost all of my consultations were with clinics that were in the higher cost end. There was no point in me consulting with clinics that I knew wouldn't give me what I wanted, and then bashing them online for it. Otherwise, I would be doing the same thing you are doing now.

I guess it's just a matter of what % difference will the FUT give you (with a good surgeon) over strictly doing FUE. I've seen NW7s on this site pull off 10,000 grafts with Zarev and end up with a nice looking head of hair that they wear (with short sides and back). If you did FUT first (then decide to go to Zarev), then I assume this would this mean you could get 12,000 total grafts. Is a 20% increase worth it to lose the ability to wear your hair short on the sides and back? I think people underestimate how important it is to wear your hair short on the sides and back, and how it creates the appearance of more volume on the top of your head. You would lose this with a scar. Then again, I have seen some great SMP in the scar (@gatsby being one of them) so this would mitigate any scar visibility as well. It's just a difference of opinion. The most important thing is to go to a good surgeon (regardless of your strategy) and to not let money and travel time be a significant factor in your decision (even though it's hard not to).

That's just it. It's all about the doctor. IMO, it's better to just save up and go with the better doc, than to put a scar on your head and maybe get an extra 1,000 to 2,000 grafts (if you are very lucky) when you have the top FUE doctors pulling record numbers of grafts from NW7s without seemingly affecting the appearance of the donor area.

You are a NW6 and still in your 20s. I get that money may be tight, but you cannot cheap out on a hair transplant especially with this level of loss. Don't get a procedure if you cannot afford one, and do not get a procedure if you're not willing to travel a few hours for a good one. If I were you, I would reach out to Dr. Zarev for your level of loss, and do what I could to save up money in the meantime (while you are on the waiting list). Personally, I would advise against an FUT procedure. You have many more decades of life, and you will experience further loss. You may want to one day buzz your head (when you're in your 40s or 50s) and you'll regret the linear scar on the back of your head.

Yea, my hair is fine and I just had a procedure with Dr. Munib three weeks ago. However, my procedure was for the crown (not the hairline), and surprisingly he only used 1750 grafts for a pretty sizeable area (whereas all quotes from other docs I consulted with were in the 2400-4500 range as I am a NW5). It looks great so far in terms of coverage. The guy has great artist skills. I wish I had my procedure with Munib for my hairline though. It's not that my first HT with Rahal was bad. It looks fine, but I think it could have been better. In terms of who I think the best HT docs are...I would say Munib and Zarev are a step above the rest.

Nonsense! You'll experience hair greed like the rest of us, and you'll be back here looking for ways to fill that donut in as well.

I'll throw in my (heavily biased) opinion. #1 - Do not go with FUT. Go with FUE only. I'm biased against FUT, as I think that in the long term, the scar will become more trouble than it's worth. #2 - Do not factor cost too much into your decision. If you cannot afford the HT, then don't do it. Save up, and do it in the future. #3 - Do not base your decision on things that do not matter (i.e. the friendliness of staff, familiarity with a specific country, strict December time frame). This should not matter in the least bit. I know that #2 seems like a dumb thing to say because money is important...but it seems like you had picked your desired doctor, and are now looking for reasons to go with the others due to cost. This could impact quality, and if it goes wrong, then you'll spend a lot more money trying to fix a bad procedure. With #3...it seems like you've narrowed your requirements to a specific country and a specific timeframe. This cuts down your options drastically. A flight away, is a flight away (whether it is Thailand or Europe) and your recovery time will still be 3-6 months whether or not you have a couple of months off work or not. If you can subjectively look at your current option and say that you would go with that doctor, even if you had limitless funds and limitless time off to recover...would they still be your pick?

This is true. As I get older, I notice that I look a lot better with beards than without. I personally wouldn't use up all of my beard grafts for my head. On the other hand...you can probably get rid of all the "neck hairs" lol. Nobody cares about neck beard hair, and I have to shave my neck hairs off all the time when growing a beard. If Pittella offers a solution where he can create a hairline for you that you can trim down to very short level (to blend well with the existing hairs on your head) BUT without using up any of your face hair (and using only beard hair), then I would look into what he says for that. Also, another thing is that...I would also assume that you would get at least some visible facial scarring if you removed all your facial grafts (for which you would no longer be able to cover up by growing a beard). So there's that risk there, even with the best of surgeons.