hairthere

You will be signing a waiver before your surgery which will protect your chosen doctor from any liability. You or your insurance will be responsible for any medical bills.

The first patient's results/pics look great. if we could see more consistent results like that I'd say this doc should be considered. The second patient's hairline looked a bit too transparent. the female patient results looked dense but picture quality was poor. Also, more immediate post-op pics would be nice.

SS (and everyone else),

Before we get all riled up, could you please supply pictures and the particulars of your case. Was this your first HT or was this a repair? How many grafts did you get, etc. Thanks!

Grafts start falling off at 2 weeks post op. They're secure after 8 days. You should have been washing your hair normally after a few days post-op to loosen the scabs and cleanse the area of oil and dirt. Didn't your doc outline the post-op routine for you?

One ore thing, and Bill or Pat can correct me if I'm wrong, but we all use pseudonyms here. How the hell would your doc be able to prove it's even you? Bill/Pat, do docs have any legal right to ask you for a poster's identity?

SS,

Your doc is threatening you for trying to tell the truth? What a piece of work! Naming your doctor is not illegal at all. There are web sites dedicated to reviewing doctors and surgeons. It's not slander if you are simply naming your doc and telling what happened. We have movie critics, restaurant critics, etc. all they are doing is reviewing a service whether it's positive or negative. It's called freedom of speech. Honestly I wish my surgeon would have sued me because then I could counter sue him and maybe get an actual trial.

If I were you I'd go talk to Dr.Feller. he fixed up a bunch of former patients of the guy I went to. He will tell you if you did indeed get ripped off, and will suggest if there's anything you can do. He is a very compassionate doc and a straight-shooter.

Trust me, I understand wanting to put the whole experience behind you. It is traumatic. But you can really help future patients by telling your strory and yes, that includes naming your doc. In fact you don't even have to come out and name him, just put it in your signature, i.e.

HT #1 Sept. 2006:

Unkown number of grafts

Dr.Joeseph Karamikian

Regimen:

Fish oil

Rogaine Foam

Finasteride

The problem is that we don't know how many grafts X has been proposed to get because I don't think X even knows. X has a lot more to learn about HTs and the process of picking a doc before he makes decision. That's why he should wait.

SS, I too had a poor HT procedure with a Dr.Joseph Karamikian in New York City. Just had my 2nd procedure with DR.Feller to fix it. I took Karamikian to small claims court but it was dragged out and I dropped it. He kept sending a lwayer so at least he had to pay for that. I also make sure to tell my story on these boards every chance I get. You should do likewise; name this doctor so you can stop others from potentially having a bad HT.

Go look at Hasson and Wong's web site. there you will see multiple pics of various patients with different angles. it also will tell you how many grafts were used. then look at dr.alexander's site (biltmoresurgical.com i think). there you will see immediate post-op pics and up close shots from different angles. those are useful web sites that demonstrate a skilled doctor. sorry, but wasserbauer's doesn't really tell too much. ok results, but nothing great.

just bite the bullet and go for the hair transplant.. if you don't like you can always have it fixed by a reputable doc.

Wow, that's really terrible advice. Have you ever gone through a fouled-up HT KBI? If not you should keep quiet, and if you have then you're just plain evil.

p.s. my doc told me he did follicular unit transplantation too. he lied...

x,

I'm afraid to say your reasoning for picking surgeons is way off. just because she worked for rassman means nothing about her skills as a surgeon and she can have all the certifications and endorsements from all the docs in the world. patient results are what counts.

i chose dr.feller for several reasons and one of them was because I can go on any Ht forum and find tons of patients and view their results. And all of those results displayed ultra-refined work with great density and design. i could also find patients that went to him years ago. basically his reputation and track record are stellar. that's what you want, proven results. you should also see more than 1 patient in person if possible.

i understand you want to get this done asap, and you have time constraints, but it's not something to rush into. take your time with this and travel to a TOP doc if you must. Do online consults. also, post your pics on here and let people know what docs are recomending: you'll get great feedback.

Bill, i agree it's possible, but if i'm spending $10k on a cosmetic surgery i want to know that my doc is concentrating his efforts and talents on just me.

looks good so far and you have long way to go. you'll be amazed at how different your hair will look and how the quality will evolve from month to month. congrats!

P.S. A megasession takes up to 8 hours. There's no way a doctor should be doing 2 surgeries a day if he's doing it properly...

His work is very very good but the density fromn his first sessions on my brother were very low although they had virgin bald heads and he could have done much much more in that session (my only critique of him). I almost went to himn too but he is in southern CA and I am in Northern Cal. One other thing is that he does two sessions/day (like Dr. kabaker) and I did not like that as he could potentially rush one work and not completely transplant all the harvested units (I sure hope this is not the case).

After reading this post and your other it sounds like you have had very bad HT experiences (scalp reductions, minis and micros, oh my!) and are looking at the wrong docs for all the wrong reasons.

Firstly, you never let travel determine what doc you're gonna see. If you won't travel to see a top HT doc then you really shouldn't be getting one.

Secondly, you say your brother had good esults with this doc then say he didn't get enough density. Also, a doc that needs to do multi sessions to get proper density most likely is not a top doc. Top guys are doing 2k and up regularly with no problem. Unless the patient decides this is what he wants, there is no reason to put yourself through multiple HTs. If the doc can't do a megasession he is likely inexpereinced or not that skilled

I hope someone else chimes in here to back me up so you can see you're making a mistake....

good luck with the removal kul. i asked the tech to just go as quick as possible (remove fast like a bandaid. Some of those lil bastards sure did smart but it felt so good to get them out. good growing!

Again, during consultation she came accross as a very good and genuinely interested doctor

Most do. She wants your $$$. And I'm not saying she isn't well intentioned and could be a fine doc, but do you want to gamble (time/money/pain) especially when it comes to your hair and everyday appearance?

The fact that you can't find much info about her speaks volumes.The only thing I'd be doing asap is canceling. You need to do more research. Speaking from experience, you must go with a TOP doc for an HT to ensure optimal results (my first HT was with a lesser experienced guy who ripped me off). And there are only a handful of top docs. The ONLY docs I considered were: Feller (who did my 2nd one), Alexander (top notch work in Arizona), Rahal, H&W, Shapiro.

If you want the most modern, ultra-refined HT work done in the NYC area you want to go to Dr.Feller. Bernstein is a good doc, but he's very conservative. True and Dorin do good work from what I've seen but they seem to do less megasessions and more multi-sessions. Of course, it depends on your approach to your hairloss. I chose to do a large session in one shot. Other people do several smaller sessions.

Also, if you're in Boston you might want to consider the top docs in Canada: Rahal and H&W. Good luck!

If you look at the hairline though, he also outlines a jagged line, so he did have a marking as to where the hairline would end. What I noticed about Feller's work, my own included, is how small the incisions are and how little blood and scabbing there is. Good grwoing to you KULMD...we should be sprouting together just in time for the spring!

Bill, one question though: if a person puts their results on the Internet for all the world to see aren't they more or less asking for solicitation?

At the same time, if I wasn't happy with my results i wouldn't post them, which indicates that HIGA is indeed pleased and we should let it go at that...

I have to concur, these are not "WOW" results. It looks as if the 2400 were spread out over the entire area which would have provided coverage, but not density. I'm guessing that's what HIGA wanted as he seems pleased. Most Docs probably would have packed those 2400 into the front and then done the vertex/crown in a second surgery. HIGA if you could please supply immediate post-op pics as Bill suggested. Thanks!

D, Spex just posted my pics in the patient photo section.

Sandy, I hope you're asking just for education's sake. Seriously man, forget getting an HT right now and try the meds out...

Any ethical doctor isn't going to give you an HT anyway.