Bugs

Thanks for your responses gentlemen. Thanatopsis - I like your suggestion; will consult with some of the reputed docs mentioned on this board and analyze their prognoses before coming to a decision... Peaceful_Lion - I agree; location is not a consideration but the surgeon I mentioned is reputed and reccomended on this board... Based on my initial consultation with him I found his work to be high quality although I did not know then, what I know now so my questions were very naive (and geared towards costs etc.). I think a second consultation would be more appropriate. I came in thinking that I will go with the "best deal" I get as cost was a big factor in my consideration... but after reading posts here I now see why that ought to be the least concern. Finding someone who can do a high quality job ought to be the top priority... the posts on this site has had that positive impact on me right away

Firstly, I must say kudos to the folks here for putting together an awesome forum! Until last Friday I had no clue as to what was causing my hair-loss, the options I had for restoration and tons of other stuff that I now feel I am better educated on Great work guys! My questions is at the end but first some background on my situation -- I always felt my hair-loss pattern was weird - if someone were to look at me from the front, they would not know that I had any issues with hair-loss. A top-view and rear-view would tell the true picture I could never understand where in the NW scale I fell and that was frustrating! Finally after reading some good literature on Dr. Shapiro's website, I have come to this conclusion - 1. My "hairline zone" is intact and has not experienced much loss, reltively speaking 2. The "crown" and "frontal core" area has significant loss - that would be a bald crown and significant loss on frontal area. I consulted with Dr Lawrence Samuels in St Louis (reccomended on this board) and he reccomended about 1450 - 1500 molecular FUT's and said he would work mainly on the frontal core area and not do anything on the crown since there is not a significant donor base to replace that. He even felt nothing needed to be done in the front. Now that was a long explanation but here is the question - is it worth travelling far to get this procedure done with the best in the business if no "hair-line" restoration is needed? Based on my research here (and I am less than a week old), I feel Dr Samuels is a good fit for my needs and budget. I am 34 and feel I have reached a point where my hair-loss has not stopped but slowed down significantly.

Firstly, I must say kudos to the folks here for putting together an awesome forum! Until last Friday I had no clue as to what was causing my hair-loss, the options I had for restoration and tons of other stuff that I now feel I am better educated on Great work guys! My questions is at the end but first some background on my situation -- I always felt my hair-loss pattern was weird - if someone were to look at me from the front, they would not know that I had any issues with hair-loss. A top-view and rear-view would tell the true picture I could never understand where in the NW scale I fell and that was frustrating! Finally after reading some good literature on Dr. Shapiro's website, I have come to this conclusion - 1. My "hairline zone" is intact and has not experienced much loss, reltively speaking 2. The "crown" and "frontal core" area has significant loss - that would be a bald crown and significant loss on frontal area. I consulted with Dr Lawrence Samuels in St Louis (reccomended on this board) and he reccomended about 1450 - 1500 molecular FUT's and said he would work mainly on the frontal core area and not do anything on the crown since there is not a significant donor base to replace that. He even felt nothing needed to be done in the front. Now that was a long explanation but here is the question - is it worth travelling far to get this procedure done with the best in the business if no "hair-line" restoration is needed? Based on my research here (and I am less than a week old), I feel Dr Samuels is a good fit for my needs and budget. I am 34 and feel I have reached a point where my hair-loss has not stopped but slowed down significantly.

Naren- I just joined this forum and am still in the initial stages of research, quite like you. However I did make some inquiries while I was visiting India recently (April-May) for reputed HT clinics/physicians and did not find any good references in the Bombay-Cochin area. Obviously that's not to say that none exist but based on the people I spoke to (reputed hair stylists, doctors and cosmetic consultants), the consensus was to try the alternative (Hair weaving etc.) which was more prominent there. Folks were reluctant to recommend any HT clinics having heard some really negative feedback from their clients. I met an actor from Kerala (a rather prominent one) who mentioned that he and some others in his fraternity tried the HT procedure at clinics in Cochin and Chennai and came back very disappointed with the long-term results... they eventually settled for the weaving option, disillusioned with their HT experience. To me that's appalling given that India is home to a major medical community and could be a very cost effective alternative to folks in the West. I would be curious to see if some good doctors exist there who have a good practice (like in the US) and a solid reputation. The price you quoted (approx $1000 in USD) is obviously very tempting if the service is good