NickD

Hi, you're correct in that hair restoration in the US is largely an unregulated industry. See this very helpful and informative page on the American Hair Loss web site: http://www.americanhairloss.org/surgical_hair_restorati...inding_a_surgeon.asp Directly from that page: "Currently in the United States the field of surgical hair restoration is completely unregulated by both the government and the medical community. In the US any licensed physician can legally perform hair transplant surgery without any prior surgical training or accreditation of any kind." Reputations of hair restoration surgeons are largely spread word-of-mouth. Your coming onto this board was one of the best things you could've done. I must say that this community is *the* most effective resource for researching hair transplantation, and doctors that do top-notch h/t work (and those that don't), that I've found. Spend some more time here and you'll get a pretty good idea who to consider for your h/t (if you want one), and who you should steer away from. There's also this page on h/t credentialing, from the American Hair Loss web site again: http://www.americanhairloss.org/surgical_hair_restoration/credentials.asp Good luck in your search!!

Hi 'Rapid', I haven't had a hair transplant, but from being on the forums and seeing what others have posted, the LAST thing you should consider is the cost of the transplant. Given your limited donor supply, the pitfalls if the surgeon isn't top-notch, the embarrassment of looking like a hair transplant disaster as you walk down the street....it's not worth gambling on some cheapo doc. The doctors that you mention here have wonderful reputations, and as I'm in the Boston area (where I'm told there's really no h/t doctor that's well respected), if I were to consult with a h/t doctor I'd travel to NY and consult with the very doctors you mentioned. If you can't afford the fee for a good procedure, WAIT until you can. Do what you can in the meantime...Propecia and Minoxidil, things like that. Hunting around for the cheapest procedure, be it in the US or overseas, is something that I highly advise against and I'm sure many on this board would agree.

Thanks to all who have posted with their views and guidance, particularly to these two very fine doctors, Dr. Feller and Dr. Epstein. I'm not yet ready to decide on a hair transplant, but should I decide that it's for me I'll definitely be consulting with you both, as you both have such great reputations! Thank you again, Nick

Hi there, I'm in Mass. as well and I've heard all the radio ads for Drs. DiStefano and Leonard, and visited their web sites. I also asked my dermatologist for a recommendation for a hair transplant surgeon, and he gave me the name of someone he knows who does them, who's in Westborough. However, when I posted that doctor's name here a while back to see if anyone knew him, no one did. Also, upon doing further research, the American Hair Loss web site (http://www.americanhairloss.org) actually recommends AGAINST going to your family doctor or dermatologist for a referral to a hair transplant surgeon, unless they themselves have personal experience with that surgeon. One thing that I got very early on coming here, was that there's really no one in New England with a good reputation for hair transplantation. The good thing about our location is, right "down the way" in the New York area there are some very highly regarded h/t surgeons. Do a search here and you'll see their names: Dr. Robert Bernstein, Dr. Alan Feller, Dr. Jeffrey Epstein, and Drs. Robert True and Robert Dorin (in practice together, and they have a consultation office in Copley Square/Boston). There are those on this board who'd say, if you're really serious, you should consider travel even farther afoot, like Hasson & Wong in Vancouver, who also have excellent reputations. I haven't had a hair transplant (yet), and depending on how things go and how I come to terms with my hair loss, may or may not have one. My hair loss (receding temporal and front hairline) is fairly easily camouflaged at this point, plus I am on Propecia. You can bet, however, that should I come to the decision to get a transplant, that I'm going to do it right the first time and spend the $$$ to go to a great h/t doctor, no matter their location. Running the risk of getting a botched-up, second-rate hair transplant that you'll just have to spend more money on later to have fixed is not worth your time, your money, your scalp or your finite donor supply of hair. Good luck!

Spex, thanks for taking the time to post those links, and photos of Dr. Feller's hairlines. To my eye, looking at them on here, it seems like Dr. Feller's work lives up to its (excellent) reputation. It's interesting to see the photo of the gent who had the older "plug" style grafts, and how Dr. Feller fixed that. Wow, hair transplantation has come a long way! From a "doll's head" look, to a hairline that looks like no work had been done---which after all, is my goal and any h/t patient's goal. No one wants to walk into a room and have people go, "nice hair transplant there"! Again, thank you.

Hi 'Custard', Thanks a lot for the detailed summary of your experience with Dr. Feller, and for going through the effort to post those photos. I'm 38yo and living in the Boston area, about 325 km or so from where Dr. Feller is located. It's funny, I posted just today asking about h/t doctors in the NY area who did good hairlines, and I have what I'd say is a similar hairline to yours, maybe a bit further down. My hair's not as thick as yours, though, and doesn't have the waviness. Given that I'm specifically looking for someone who can effectively and skillfully fill in my hairline and temporal area, and Dr. Feller is definitely a surgeon I'd planned on consulting with when I was ready, I'm very interested in how your progress goes from here. Please continue keeping us updated. And, good luck and "happy growing"! Cheers, Nick

Good day everyone, I've posted a couple of times before. I'm a 38 yo Caucasian male, living in the Boston area, with temple-area hair loss and receding hairline. I've been on Propecia since this past March and it's arrested my hair loss. I've even noticed slight regrowth of some fine-looking hairs in the temporal area and my "widow's peak" is filling in a bit. I find that I can camouflage this pretty effectively with hairstyle. However, I'm looking to fill in that hairline. With so many good, recommended h/t doctors "close by" in New York City or close to it (dr's like Feller, True/Dorin, Bernstein and Jeffrey Epstein), I think that when I'm ready I'll be consulting with a few or even all of the above. I've heard great things about other h/t dr's in other parts of the country, plus Hasson/Wong in Vancouver, but since so many people speak so highly of these NY doctors, I think I'll stick there and do my consulting amongst them. What I'd like to know specifically is, does anyone on this forum have an opinion, or experience, in which of the above-mentioned NY doctors does the best hairline work? Of course if you know of a dr. that's not among those five (four if you count True/Dorin as one), please let me know. I'm not losing hair anywhere else, even on my crown, my focus will be my hairline and filling in that temporal area. As always, thanks in advance for any info anyone can provide. Nick

Hi everyone, my wife sometimes watches Oprah, and I'm sure we all know of Dr. Mehmet Oz, who appears on the show occasionally to dispense health advice. She was telling me that on an appearance on Oprah recently, Dr. Oz gave the impression that he was cool to the idea of hair transplants. Apparently he told the audience that drugs like Propecia or Minoxidil were better. I didn't see this broadcast so I don't know first-hand. I have seen Dr. Oz before, and, he has quite a full mop of hair on his head! Easy for someone like that to pooh-pooh hair transplants! Did anyone else see this? Comments? Or, was I misinformed?

Hi everyone, my wife sometimes watches Oprah, and I'm sure we all know of Dr. Mehmet Oz, who appears on the show occasionally to dispense health advice. She was telling me that on an appearance on Oprah recently, Dr. Oz gave the impression that he was cool to the idea of hair transplants. Apparently he told the audience that drugs like Propecia or Minoxidil were better. I didn't see this broadcast so I don't know first-hand. I have seen Dr. Oz before, and, he has quite a full mop of hair on his head! Easy for someone like that to pooh-pooh hair transplants! Did anyone else see this? Comments? Or, was I misinformed?

Hi Growing Again, thanks for posting your experience! I'm in Mass., and have been advised that the "big docs" that are closest to me that do the best work, are in NY or close to there....Drs. Bernstein, True, Dorin and Feller. In fact I was thinking about Dr. Bernstein when I saw your post! Please let us know how things go for you as your hair regrows. To "mpd", did you tell Dr. Bernstein about this development? I presume that things like this can happen from time to time, regardless of the skill of the surgeon or how well the procedure went?

To all who've posted so far, thanks so much for taking the time to share your opinions with me. I hope I don't sound a bit naive, but I went to my dermatologist for a H/T surgeon recommendation so I wouldn't have to rely on infomercials and the like. I figured, who better to get a recommendation from, than an MD? And I was referred to this dermatologist by my primary care doctor, whom I've gone to for years, and like and respect highly. That said, I will say that from everything I've heard, you should go to a H/T surgeon who exclusively focuses on transplants, and obviously the doctor I was recommended to (Dr. Ahn) focuses on other things. Hair transplantation doesn't even seem to be that high a priority with his practice, from what I can see on the web site. Plus, there's only one before/after photo on Dr. Ahn's web site, right here: http://www.awcenter.com/facial_plastic_surgery_MA/hair_transplant.html I hate to sound like I'm knocking this doctor, especially when I haven't met him nor anyone treated by him, but in my honest layman's opinion the photo of this H/T doesn't seem all that impressive. And why only one before/after photo posted when other H/T surgeons often post many photos, plus testimonials? I'd be very interested in the opinion of anyone on this forum who can look at this picture, plus their opinion of the statements made on this web page. Again, thanks to all. Looks like I may need to consider traveling, at least to NYC to doctors with reputations like Drs. True, Dorin and Bernstein. Seems like those dr.'s have overall very good reputations.

Hello, I'm a 38 year old Caucasian male with what I'd say is a Norwood-3 hairline, or close to that. I've taken Minoxidil and now Propecia, at the suggestion of my dermatologist. A few months ago, I went to him for a recommendation for a hair transplant surgeon, and he recommended a Dr. Min Ahn, in Westborough, MA. Dr. Ahn's web site is "http://www.awcenter.com". Dr. Ahn also does plastic and cosmetic surgeries in addition to H/T's. From Dr. Ahn's web site above: "The technique that Dr. Ahn uses is the state of the art method known as follicular unit grafting. Dr. Ahn learned this technique while completing a facial plastic surgery fellowship with renowned hair transplant surgeon Sheldon Kabaker." I've read things about Dr. Kabaker, much of it good, some not so good. Has anyone had any H/T's done by Dr. Ahn? --Nick

Hello, I'm a 38 year old Caucasian male with what I'd say is a Norwood-3 hairline, or close to that. I've taken Minoxidil and now Propecia, at the suggestion of my dermatologist. A few months ago, I went to him for a recommendation for a hair transplant surgeon, and he recommended a Dr. Min Ahn, in Westborough, MA. Dr. Ahn's web site is "http://www.awcenter.com". Dr. Ahn also does plastic and cosmetic surgeries in addition to H/T's. From Dr. Ahn's web site above: "The technique that Dr. Ahn uses is the state of the art method known as follicular unit grafting. Dr. Ahn learned this technique while completing a facial plastic surgery fellowship with renowned hair transplant surgeon Sheldon Kabaker." I've read things about Dr. Kabaker, much of it good, some not so good. Has anyone had any H/T's done by Dr. Ahn? --Nick