NeonDemon

I thought as much. I'm glad I cleared it out with you, first. I'll be revising my last post, then, just to be sure. This was from a patient coordinator, too. To be honest; even if he would charge me the 3,45€ per graft, I'd still take it. So in the long run, this won't make a difference. I thank you for your heads up, though and I sincerely hope you have a good appointment and subsequent hair transplant!

I appreciate the intention, then.

The only reason I would mind is if this somehow comes back to harm my prospects, such as the clinic not taking kindly to me sharing the e-mail publicly or, hypothetically, you disputing the change in value because you'd then have a screenshot of another patient's quote with a cheaper price per graft, which they would then trace back to me and decide not to do business with me. I must admit, I have no idea if either of these scenarios would happen, obviously, but I don't know if I'd want to risk it to prove... something that I know is true? @Melvin- Admin What is your stance on this? I've read the rules and there doesn't seem to be anything against this. Would it be fine, perhaps, if I send the e-mail to you while covering my personal details so you'd be so kind as to verify that it's true?

I don't know what to tell you except that I have, right now in my e-mails, a quote from them saying it is, indeed, 2,60€ per graft. They use the words " per follicular unit" in Portuguese but I am very sure that's the equivalent. So much so, that this is a major factor in my decision, considering that everyone said this was a steal. With that being said, I took the plunge and called Dr Pinto's clinic today to say I decided to go with them and will get started on finasteride and minoxidil, as Dr Pinto prescribed, as soon as the prescription comes through. Everyone's feedback here was invaluable and I don't feel like I can go wrong with someone who is pretty much unanimously praised in every single forum I've done research in. My physical evaluation is due next year in the first quarter and I truly hope my alopecia will stabilize with the use of medication. Thank you everyone for your answers and feedback. If everything goes well and I'm greenlit for the transplant, you can expect updates from me next year!

If by approaches you mean what the surgical plan would be, then not quite, no. As previously mentioned; Dr Pinto wants to do a physical evaluation in April-May next year after I took the prescribed medication and go from there. Dr. Guerreiro only mentioned 4500 grafts in one sitting, with the possibility to do more should I so want and the donor area permitting. I did take a look at your post history and found out, we actually have VERY similar hair loss patterns, with you having had a slight bit more hair than me, pre-op, namely in the front and the crown. I'm going to be pragmatic and count on 6000-7000 grafts despite being told I have a good donor area. It's always best to underestimate, I think, and maybe be pleasantly surprised. Here's hoping you're right about him having outright refused if he thought I wasn't a good candidate. However, I feel as though he is uncertain and wants to wait to see if there is any recovery or better hair density with the finasteride + minoxidil combo for a year. Hence why I asked the other question in my last post just after you posted yours.

A new question popped up after I looked at some of the transplant reviews from transplants made by Dr. Pinto, on this forum. It seems as though the maximum amount of grafts was 3500-3600 per procedure and I have not seen any hairlines as bad as mine, which makes me wonder; does Dr Pinto even perform transplants on people with Norwood 5-6 like me? I only saw one video on their official youtube channel with someone with a hairline a tad bit worse than mine. I can link it here if it's allowed. So, does anyone know if he exclusively operates on patients with, say, Norwood 3-4 or less? I'm just a bit concerned if mine is too far gone for what he prefers to work with, or if it's just paranoia and he does do surgery on people with similar hairlines, usually.

I did take a look at your progress photos and the difference in density is noticeable after... 4 weeks of finasteride already, was it? Here's hoping I'll experience something similar without side effects. I'm happy for you to have gotten a cancelled consultation slot; Dr. Ferreira, from what I've seen, is one of the very best you can go with. Quite looking forward to your progress updates, should you make them, of course. Here's hoping all goes well for you! From what I've gathered from everyone here plus my research, finasteride and minoxidil is definitely the way to go regardless of who I'd pick to do the transplant with. Furthermore, everyone seems to favor Dr. Pinto's opinion and seem quite pragmatic about Dr. Guerreiro's. I suppose the best thing to do is to be patient, take my meds religiously and hope my alopecia gets stabilized to the point that next year, I can perform surgery with Dr. Pinto. I am simply paranoid that I will be one of those unlucky few whose alopecia won't stabilize or that he'll look at my supposed Norwood 5 and decide not to proceed with surgery... alas I can do nothing more but hope, eh?

I had an online consultation with Dr. Guerreiro this past monday in which he said medication before the transplant would not be necessary but it could certainly help. Those are his words, as far as I recall. I also became quite surprised at this radical difference in opinion between one doctor and the other. The reasons given to me by Dr. Guerreiro were that he believes the medication would not help me regain my hair nor would it make a huge difference before the transplant when it comes to density, for example. He seemed genuinely confused as to why Dr. Pinto asked me to do the medication for a full year before a physical evaluation and suggested that perhaps, because they have a long waiting list, it would serve as a way to keep me in that list as I waited for the medication to take effect. I am currently hesitant to post pictures as I am wary of my privacy, however, I have been diagnosed with a Norwood 5 by Dr. Guerreiro. I have nearly no hair on my front, just a tiny patch in the center and my crown's portion is extremely thin, despite having more hair than my front. At least my sides have rather thick hair comparatively speaking, to the extent that, when I wear a beanie, people think I have good hair because I place the sides across my forehead to disguise my hair loss, haha. I was also told my donor area is good and I should have around 8000 grafts in it. When it comes to family history, both my father and grandfather had more hair loss on the crown than the front, with my father having had more hair on his front even in his later years compared to me! Even on my mother's side, my grandfather had decent hair in the front but lacked in the crown area. I appreciate your honesty and do not consider it to be negative, but rather, realistic and cautious, which is exactly what I was looking for by coming here and asking for people's opinions. So thank you. It does seem so far that taking the finasteride plus minoxidil for a year is the way to go. My main concern, however, is if my alopecia does not stabilize and in 2025, Dr. Pinto refuses to do the surgery. Then I will feel like I am a year older and back to square one. The patient coordinator for Dr. Pinto did say that it is "very rare" that a patient's alopecia does not stabilize after a full year on the medication. Let's hope I wouldn't be one of those unlucky few...

No, he only has a few reviews on reddit, as well as one actually right on this forum. He's also part of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery. He performs the transplants mostly by his own hand and is involved in at least 80% of the procedure itself, which is one of the reasons I considered him. Obviously Dr. Pinto is much more established, but I believe Dr. Guerreiro will be better known in the coming years. His clinic also has results on their own webpage, social media and on the best hair clinics website (not sure if I can post links in this forum, I'm completely new here). The first reason you quoted is something I have seen pop up in two different studies, as well as pretty much everyone else's opinion on why to take the medication a long while before the transplant. It makes me quite confused as to why Dr. Augusto Guerreiro said it wouldn't be necessary... The other two reasons make complete sense, yes. I've even read that 1 year is the ideal timeframe to notice results from finasteride + minoxodil treatment. To answer your question; I absolutely did consider Dr. Ferreira. However, he is now charging 4€/graft (as opposed to Dr. Pinto's 2,60€) and the waiting list would be even longer than that of Dr. Pinto, with them having told me it would simply be possible to do an evaluation "somewhere in 2025". I am willing to wait, but maybe not that long as I would like to have a decent head of hair before I am in my late 30s, if realistic.

Hi everyone, In the past month, I have done extensive research (as one should) when it comes to potential clinics and doctors, eventually narrowing it down to two Portuguese clinics (since this is my home country, despite the fact I live somewhere else in Europe, currently): Clinic O'Porto with Dr. Pinto and Clinic LHR with Dr. Augusto. Both seem to show good results on their respective social media pages or websites, however, I was more inclined to go with clinic LHR because of the waiting time with Dr. Pinto (1 year for physical evaluation + 4-6 months on average until surgery). However, I am now at a crossroads due to a particular situation: After an initial evaluation by Dr Pinto, in which he looked at my set of pictures and the form that I sent back, he recommended taking Finasteride oral 1mg and Minoxidil also oral 2.5mg per day, for a full year, before a physical evaluation. This is because Dr Pinto claimed I have aggressive alopecia for my age (32) and that we should stabilize first before considering a transplant. On the other hand, Dr Augusto said he does not understand why the need to take such a long medication time before the transplant and he claims I would not see much difference in my hair even if the medication would have a positive effect. He said I could nontheless take the medication but he thinks it's much more important to take it AFTER the hair transplant. I am at a loss as to what to do. On one hand, LHR clinic and Dr Augusto seem very caring and principled, with the clinic being extremely patient as I ask numerous questions and go back and forth between clinics. They also could do the surgery late this year already, after I'd take finasteride and topical minoxidil for around 6 months. On the other, Dr Pinto is very renowned in the hair transplant circles and I see really good results on their youtube channel from clinic O'Porto. What does everyone else recommend? Should I stabilize the alopecia and do the long wait or is it safe to take it for about half a year and to the procedure this year? Dr Pinto's price is currently sitting at 2,60€/ graft, without a quote on how many I would need, currently, as he wants to do the whole process I mentioned above, first. Dr Augusto's price is at 5400€ for 4500 grafts, which they said it's the limit for what they do in one session. Many thanks in advance and I look forward to hearing your opinions and feedback on my case.