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Hi, all. I haven’t posted here much since my last procedure in 2015, but happy to share an update with everyone about my latest surgery. As background, I had my first transplant with Dr. Robert Niedbalski in June 2012. I was a NW 2-3, and he transplanted 1,450 grafts via strip to form a lower, but still recessed, hairline. I wanted a flat hairline, so I had a subsequent procedure with Dr. Rahal in October 2015, when he transplanted 2,200 grafts, again via strip. The hairline design was great, but the right side grew in a little sparse. Nothing awful, and I could’ve gone without addressing it, but I wanted to go back to the well for a fuller hairline. I just turned 36, BTW. I've been on Avodart and Propecia for six years and essentially no longer lose hair--my loss is fully halted. I use Rogaine but discontinued before surgery per instructions. Links to thread about my earlier procedures are here: https://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/blog/home-page.asp?WebID=2858 So, last week I drove from Seattle down to Portland for a third procedure--this time with Steve Gable. I’ve known Dr. Gabel for about five years and have really looked forward to working with him. He’s a precise, thoughtful guy, and I knew he’d be a great choice to refine my results. I left Seattle at 3am to check in at Dr. G’s clinic at 6:30. His clinic just moved to a brand-new facility, and it’s gorgeous--two ORs, a lovely lobby, and overall just a great, clean, attractive space. We sat down and discussed hairline approach, and agreed that we weren’t going to lower the hairline. I didn’t need it, and lowering it even a few millimeters would mean that I’d need to get in again to spruce up the density, and I wanted to be done. (My hair is still very dense and I want the hairline to match, so I don’t want to get stuck in a loop of chasing density in an ever-lower hairline.) We agreed 1,000 more grafts across the hairline--and concentrated in the right side--would do the trick. The procedure was very smooth. Strip excision took about 30-45 minutes and I didn’t feel any pain. Dr. G excised part of my prior scar, which ran from just inside left ear to above my right ear. He didn’t need to run all the way from end-to-end on the scar. He closed the strip with staples, which I hadn’t had before; he thought they’d do a better job at holding the tension and has had good luck with them recently. Once the wound was closed, he did the incisions--nothing eventful, and nothing painful. I didn’t bother to watch TV, but just spent the time chatting with Dr. G and his techs. If you haven’t met him, he’s a really personable, chatty guy, which was engaging during surgery. I had a Valium before surgery but didn’t feel it much, which was fine; I’m not the anxious type and was perfectly relaxed during surgery. I seemed more comfortable than my previous surgeries, but that’s probably due in part to the fact that it was fewer grafts so the sit was shorter. When we got to placing grafts, I’d estimate that Dr. G placed about 50%. He places grafts in all his procedures, and I was his only patient that day, so there wasn’t any need for him to pop out and attend to someone else. If you haven’t gone through a transplant before, it’s really disconcerting when you feel like a surgeon disengages from the procedure once the incisions are made and just turns everything over to the techs. Dr. G was omnipresent and was in the room for virtually the whole procedure. That’s not the norm. Of my three procedures, this was the smoothest and easiest. That’s no knock on Niedbalski or Rahal, but a huge compliment to Dr. G and his staff. The post-op materials were first-rate and included a calendar specialized for my surgery date so I didn’t have to count post-surgery days. That’s a nice touch that I hadn’t seen before. The recipient area was also very clean--virtually no blood or scabbing. They carefully washed it the next day and showed me how to shampoo. Great post-op hand-holding all the way, and Dr. G responded to an email same-day later in the week. Pictures are below, and obviously there’s not much to report in terms of growth. My scabs are falling off, but the recipient area is hardly noticeable because although it was shaved, I’m combing my hair forward. Hard to cover up the staples, but they’ll be out in another week. I’m definitely experiencing a lot of tightness in my donor area given that it’s been excised three times, so I’m trying especially hard to keep my head tipped back to keep tension off the scar. I’m a little concerned about a widened scar given that it’s my third strip, but I’ll keep everyone posted as that progresses. Please fire away with questions/comments; I’ll be checking in every day. Thanks! When reviewing pics, please keep in mind that the after pictures are both immediately post-op and then the next day; my hair is wet in both. Remember that the transplanted area contained both native hair AND previously transplanted hair, so the density will be much, much higher than the number of grafts you can see. -
Hi everyone, I’ve been a long time reader of this site while I’ve been on my own hairloss journey, and similar to many other people, I’ve decided to share my story and details of my procedure here to help anyone else who may be planning a similar path and would like to see my experience. The background I’m now 33, and I initially realised I was thinning around 10 years ago. My older brother thinned around a similar time, my Grandad was bald though my Dad (in his 60's) still has thin hair coverage. Initially it was just on the crown of my head before it thinned on my temples and I tried a number of solutions before realising I needed to take Finasteride and to look into Regaine / Rogaine products. I joined the hair restoration programme at Boots here in the UK, and paid the equivalent of £1 a day for Propecia. I’m very fortunate in that I don’t think I have had any side effects at all! I tried Regaine, but after a year I really didn’t notice any difference so I stopped it. About two years ago, when I moved to Barcelona, I started taking a generic form of Finasteride which is available over the counter in Spain. It’s in 5mg pills which I cut into four segments and I take one a day, at a cost of about 10 Euros for about 4 months’ worth (far more cost effective…). I also began shaving my head short (not skinhead, but shortly cropped) – and I had a micropigmentation procedure (basically a tattoo on my head) that certainly helps my head look a darker shade, but didn’t really solve the hairloss issue. While I feel happy that the finasteride has slowed down the hair loss and the pigmentation procedure helped disguise my situation, I’ve never been happy with the crown / corners of my hair and so I’ve worn either Toppik or Mane Hair Thickening Spray (dark brown) for a while which I feel covers up my hair loss really well. However, as soon as I lean against a white wall or sleep in a bed that doesn’t have dark bedsheets, I leave behind a black mess and I always knew I’d go down the hair transplant route one day. Plus I was recently with a dude who ran his hand through my hair then saw the black mess on his hand and was like ‘what’s this?’. Let’s just say I’d prefer not to deal with that kind of embarrassing situation again. Deciding on the hair transplant An ex of mine told me he’d gone to Este Grande in Istanbul for his transplant but it seemed a little too cheap to be true. He’s only just had his procedure and I think it looks great, but it’s too soon to tell and I didn’t want to choose price over quality reviews. Another ex had gone with DHI Global in Greece (I seem to have dated a lot of people with hair loss issues huh?), though I’d read some reviews of DHI that didn’t make me feel confident. I used these forums and found out about Dr. Erkan Demirsoy / Armamed and took some time looking through his work and reading through forum posts from people who’d chosen him, and I was sold. As I don’t need to create a new hairline (just lots of focus on the crown and temples) then I feel confident that for his price, it would be the best for me. He’s quoted me the standard 3500 – 4000 hairs, for 1.25 Euro a graft. I booked, and fortunately he had space in about 6 weeks’ time from when I booked. Today I'm flying from London (where I currently live) into Istanbul and my procedure is tomorrow on April 17th. I fly back to the UK on the 19th where I’ll spend a week with my family recovering and stuffing my swollen face with Easter Eggs. I’ve included some pictures here which show my hair before the MSP procedure and after the MSP procedure, and my current situation where I’ve grown my hair a bit which will help Dr D see the whole hair picture, which isn’t so easy to see due to the MSP procedure I had. You may notice my hairline isn’t all that straight (ironically) but that doesn’t really bother me – I’m happy with where my hairline is and would only want the temples filled in. I usually use Mane HT spray as I think it provides a really good cover up solution and some of you reading this may find it’s a better, temporary solution while you consider the transplant path. Final words I’m really looking forward to the procedure and will do everything I can to get the best yield. I’m a non-drinker or smoker, and I'll do my best to follow all the professional advice I can to get a good result. I play sport a lot – mainly cycling, lots of rowing, weightlifting and I walk everywhere so I’ll be keen to get back into that afterwards. My biggest fear in all this is being 6’5” (195cm) and the fact I hit my head everywhere I go….the metro…doorframes…lampshades…low hanging branches. Finally, something I’ve learnt from what I’ve read is to manage my expectations. I’m not expecting that I’ll come out of this (after a year) with a full head of hair. I just want MORE hair in the places that are thinning, and to not feel like I’m 53 when I’m 33 and to not leave a dark brown trail mark in white areas. All future posts will be shorter but I wanted to give you the background to my journey. The following post will show the pictures on surgery day and please feel free to ask me anything or comment as I’d love to share my experience with you all. -
Hasson & Wong negative reviews
zach0786 replied to zach0786's topic in Hair Transplant Experiences and Surgeon Reviews
I looked into Dr. Konior. Amazing results, but too expensive. Is it true that he is one of the few surgeons who does the implants in the recipient area himself? Most others use technicians. -
It is simply a fact that FUT is still more popular than FUE...by far. In the Tom Hanks movie Apollo 13 Jim Lovell's wife asks why her husband's flight to the moon was not being televised live. The answer that was offered was that NASA "made going to the moon seem like a trip to Pittsburgh ". The same goes for FUT. The success and popularity of FUT has been so well established and proven over the past 20 years that it is taken for granted. There is no excitement in viewing the results of an FUT patient because we have already seen, literally, thousands of them online. Sure, there are variations from doctor to doctor, but by and large the results are predictably good. FUE SEEMS like the "next step", but it has been around for 14 years and it's safe to say that it has failed to launch. What has happened is that the pool of wishful thinkers and uninformed patients has grown and there has been no shortage of clinics willing to service these patients. So the number of patients has grown and thus the number of results online. But if you compare the ratio of successful to unsuccessful procedures FUT wins hands down. And this is for predictable reasons. FUE suffers from three detrimental forces that no doctor, clinic, or innovator has yet to overcome: Compression, Torsion, and Traction. You can add Skeletonization to that list as well. FUT does not suffer from these forces. This illusion of popularity is sparked by the interest of a FEW posters on websites like this one. But it is the very nature of this interest that betrays the weakness of FUE. We are all captivated by the man who walks along a tightrope a hundred stories off the ground. "Will he fall?" Same thing with FUE, but in this case it's "will it grow?" And if it grows "will it be as good as strip"? For all the distortion surrounding FUE one line has not been crossed, and that's the claim that FUE actually grows better than Strip surgery. Thankfully, that hasn't happened...yet. The best FUE can claim is that it grows AS WELL AS STRIP. So why not just get strip?! I'm in the business 20 years and that's what I did. You think I would pick an inferior procedure? Vehement FUE supporters, all of them lay non-doctors, say that FUE has improved over the past 14 years. This is simply NOT TRUE. It is wishful thinking. Nothing about the procedure has changed except for the hype and the number of clinics offering it because patients engage in either wishful thinking or are simply uninformed. NOT A SINGLE FUE DOCTOR HAS COME ONLINE ANYWHERE THAT HAS MADE A CLAIM THAT THEY USE NEW TECHNOLOGY. Only lay, non doctor, unaccountable FUE chest beaters who post anonymously have made this claim. Recently a poster on here made such a claim and I offered to host a three way call between him, me, and the doctor he said made the claim- and then post the call online. He did not take me up on the offer. Instead he made a limp-wristed attack on me and then disappeared. Nothing has changed in the world of FUE. A punch is used to score around a graft causing torsional damage. The graft is then grasped with a forceps causing compression damage, and then finally it is literally RIPPED out of the scalp causing traction damage. Sure, there are new machines to assist in taking out the grafts, but they either cause more damage doing it, or they only mimic (poorly) what an experienced FUE practitioner can do. I won't even go into the ridiculous extra costs these "technologies" involve. FUE has it's place, and in some cases it even has a place in megasessions. But I state without reserve that ANY time you see an FUE result, no matter how good or bad it looks, that same patient would have looked BETTER if he had a strip procedure. Furthermore his prospects for future surgery would be better and his donor area could be used more efficiently. FUE is the "have your cake and eat it to" procedure. And in some cases this may be the case. Such as in the hands of very dedicated and very experienced physician practitioners who carefully screen their patients. However, just scanning this website's chat forums alone I have seen more negative postings from patients who actually underwent FUE than I do positive ones, and precious few posts that involve actual FUE results from patients themselves. What you really see are posts by enthusiastic hopeful patients right after FUE surgery but no actual results posted- even years later. What happened to these FUE patients? While the same thing does happen with FUT from time to time, FUT already enjoys thousands of online megasession before/after photos, whereas FUE hasn't even made it to more than a hundred to two hundred yet...and that's after 14 years! If every doctor who performed a hair transplant surgery tomorrow were to check in on this forum and tell us what HT surgery they performed on that particular day you would find 99.9% would be FUT, not FUE. But you would not know that by reading forums because FUT is old news and unexciting. How many before/after pictures of a 2500 graft case can you look at before you become bored? And it is this very reality that demonstrates the reliability and strength of this procedure. FUE has it's place, but NOT first place, and it never will. Dr. Alan Feller
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Hi Folks, Long time lurker; My very first post here with the intent to share and contribute based on my upcoming surgery in India with Darling buds and most importantly “ My results “ in the next few months. I feel morally obligated to contribute at least something back to this community that offers : A worldwide network of HT experts, reputed Senior members sharing invaluable info, Top rated HT surgeons positioning their point of views and most importantly "real patients sharing real stories". Background Male in mid-thirties from Canada; NW 3 - Less/More. Past 6 years were dark and depressing. Living in a fool’s paradise; using Toppik daily assuming everything’s fine but somewhere at a deeper level; it continuously bothered me. Finally in 2019; I made the big decision to get a HT. This website is the main reason as to why I was able to solidify on my research, move ahead with a concrete decision and was able to find one of the best doctor (just being positive here) as per my checklist/strict criteria. Special thanks to the Creator of this website – Kudos to the brain that kicked off this humanitarian initiative as it continues to educate millions of potential patients like myself. Why Darling Buds India (I guess they changed the name to 5 Rivers Hospital ) This piece takes forever to decide especially for someone like me who spends gazillions of hours on the Internet/YouTube/Forums. I was always skeptical about giving my Head to someone to be operated; so consulted with many Canadian, American, European, Indian and Turkish clinics. Many reputed names like Dr. Rahal ( Known as the hairline king from Canada), Dr Acar ( Cosmedica Turkey), Dr. Erdogan ( Turkey), Aestimed ( Turkey), LA Hair ( USA), Qunomedical ( Belgium & German clinics), Dr. Cinik ( Turkey) and the list goes on……………………………………………. but None fitted my checklist in it's entirety reflecting 8 Key deciding factors that was prepared after extensive research for years 🙄 : 1. Max cost under 10,000 CAD ( 7500 USD ) for 3500-4000 Grafts to be able to achieve maximum density in my case. YES, I decided to find the best treatment within this range. IMHO, paying this much should suffice in getting you a world class, still affordable HT in today’s age with advanced Technologies, Globalization, the power of internet and competitive market. It's costing me around 9000 CAD ( including some expensive flight tickets) with Dr. Bhatti which seems adequate for the reputation he has or rather a steal ( not sure - will tell later) If budget wasn’t a constraint, I would’ve booked Dr. Rahal ( Canada ) who is local to me OR Dr. Baubac ( Alvi Armani USA) more importantly to save myself from the hassle of flying 20 hours one way, then drive to a different city, book a hotel for a week, apply for a visa, Take few weeks of vacation from work etc. Dr Rahal charges 8 CAD per FUE, most other clinics would cost the same in N. America for FUE Treatment. It’s costing me around 2.40 CAD with Dr. Bhatti ( includes all international/ Local flights, Visa, Hotel, Food, Cab etc.). If you compare Dr Bhatti's fee with his peers who fall in the same reputed arena of global doctors, I think most would sign this off as a great offering for hair loss patients globally. Eugenix quoted around 4 CAD per graft but it was for DHI method. They produced some great results lately and they are the inventors of DHI which is now adapted globally; goes to show that they are researchers also - very impressive. As of 2019, I think Dr. Bhatti and Eugenix should be compared as top players if India is the selected destination for your HT Journey ( My comparison below) I almost finalized Eugenix over Dr. Bhatti but then based on my research, took a U Turn : Eugenix positive aspects: 1. Biggest is DHI - OUT/IN grafts within minutes. Definitely better method as compared to Traditional FUE . I could only find positives so far, no negatives on DHI. It's hard to logically beat DHI method with traditional FUE; so no doctor should even try it IMO. I wish Dr Bhatti would offer DHI to his patients by now ☹ 2. Clinics are located in major cities like Delhi and Mumbai. No need to drive / fly again from major airport all the way to Chandigarh. Eugenix Negative aspects: 1. Some patients mentioned that they were taken for a ride. Eugenix Docs prey on foreign nationals; after or during mid surgery – Dr. Bansal asked for 500 more grafts payment as required and payment must be done during the middle of the operation ( insane); also no breakdown/reasoning was provided in the end. On the contrary, Darling buds has returned some fee to few patients to their surprise which is a classy act of ethical business in my opinion (hard to find) 2. Eugenix costs are almost double than Darling buds( quite expensive for many) but anyways DHI is more costlier than traditional FUE globally and if results are better with more graft survival rate, most patients wouldn't mind paying more. 3. Eugenix is run in a satellite office format, more than one location and hard to get a hold of prime doctors - Dr. Sethi and Dr. Bansal where as Dr. Bhatti provides a peace of mind with one location, one clinic, one doctor who is also the owner of that entire facility with 15 good staff members well trained under him in a peaceful non polluted city near a hill station. #3 was a critical factor in my decision to go with Dr. Bhatti In short, I would’ve loved DHI for best results but I settled with FUE for now Note: Out of thousands, This site recommends ONLY 2 surgeons from Turkey, 7 surgeons from India and 1 from Canada ( I was surprised to see only Dr. Rahal in the list, yes Hasson is there but they're again advocates of FUT ), so HRN really helped me short list 10 surgeons before making the final call 2. ONLY FUE for ME – My heart said a Big “No“ to a linear scar; doesn’t matter if some Doctors persuade you with somewhat genuine reasoning's to avoid FUE such as : FUE provides Less density, FUT offers more grafts and saves Donor area as untouched for future sessions, FUE is a blind process etc. Dr. Feller and Dr. Soni ( Medispa India) seems like the two biggest advocates of FUT over FUE and I agree with some of their explanations as it sounds logical. Dr. Soni really pushed me to sign up with FUT and said his scar technique is different. Promised that he will close it in a way where almost no scarring is visible . It was tough buying into that argument, additionally recent negative reviews about him and I finally decided to brush him aside at that point. 3. Doctor MUST perform the operation (No technicians) – I could only find someone as reputed as Dr. Bhatti who performs 80% of the procedures that includes Hair trimming (to feel your hair ), Anesthesia, FUE Extractions with motorized punch and Incisions. In Turkey where I was almost sold at one point, all operations are run by Technicians. Not a Plastic surgeon, no educational background/ competency level ( it's scary as they're known as the butchers of HT industry) I wish Dr. Bhatti would implant the grafts too ( not his nurses) for extra cost but I guess it will be a tedious job for a busy surgeon to sit for another 4 hours or so ....... Am I asking for too much 4. World class facility matching North American standards : with Heart rate monitoring, proper blood tests, blood pressure check up, spotless , Face coverings during entire operation and sterile environment. 5. Super microscopes and Magnifiers is a must ( Most Turkish clinics operate with naked eyes, when I asked they tried to sell me bull *&**** ) This is extremely important during all 4 phases of operation : Extraction – To make sure proper gaps are left in between grafts in the donor area and get the right angle before using the punch. Sorting – To count how many pure singles, doubles, triples and quads ( if any ) are collected. Incisions – To ensure least collateral damage, magnifier will show 6 x scalp surface so during incisions, holes are made at the right angle, depth and only on bald scalp areas ( not where you've some fine hairs). This should also minimize some shock loss in the post op phase. Implantation - Imperative to only use pure singles / baby soft hairs in the very first few rows of hairline and Temples. If by mistake, they implant doubles – it will give a pluggy look and I would rate that transplant as 50% failed right then and there. If during implant, nurses grab a multi - haired graft, at least microscopes will allow them to revisit to find a pure single graft and then insert it in the right spot. Joe Tillman's video is quite helpful : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeQ4ZvEHb7Y 6. Doctor should have a solid reputation on major forums, hair restoration network, should be well read, traveled, have some global exposure, recommended by Bald-truth, Spex and many other HT mentors like Joe Tillman. Dr. Bhatti checks all those boxes. Yes – there are some mixed opinions about him (and every other Top HT surgeon out there) but perfection is impossible to achieve; so I decided to just look at the bigger picture and go for it. 7. Detailed info, pre op care, post op care, regular contacts and supporting your patients in their hours of greatest needs is of utmost importance. Its well know that Dr. Bhatti, Shera ( his rep) , California would contact their ex. Patients regarding some concerns, would stand by them and not disappear. This was impressive. 8. Patient advisor should be genuine, honest and straightforward – So far, Shera has been awesome, friendly and taking care of all my minor/ major concerns. Always reachable, quick responses and a real time patient who has experienced the same Doctor few years ago first hand. In the long run, it helps to have a contact like him for small chats if need be. I will continue to share my Journey with Darling buds and also, highlight If any red flags are there. So far, I’m just one naive internet researcher in this field who talks based on theories and hypothetical situations, I don’t have any practical experiences yet. Assuming I've made a good decision by choosing this clinic (over others) and trying to keep a positive mindset hoping I will be in good hands is the only thing I can do now. One Sr. Member said it wisely – “For Dr. Bhatti and his staff ( or other clinics) 18th March will be just another day with another patient like thousands came before and will come after, but for a patient who’s been researching on this constantly day/night, it’s a big life event and 18th is one of the most important day of his life after which either he could regain his lost confidence or could loose it forever “ After all, handing off your head to someone for the entire day isn’t one easy decision I’ve seen members here supporting each other against doctors if results aren’t satisfactory. That speaks volumes and the main reason as to why I joined here to gain support from my so called “Anonymous hair restoration family” Dr. Bhatti's hairlines were talked about – not too dense? Any suggestions? Should I revisit this with him ? I don't want a sparse hairline but Not sure if this was an old issue (one -off) Also, I’ve not met Dr Bhatti for any F2F consulting yet or a video consultation, plan is to meet him a day before my procedure. So far, Shera is my driving force. I’m hoping for a life changing experience (like many others), regain my lost confidence and I always say “ Hope “ is something that brings us to these Doctor’s doorsteps. Yes finance and reviews are important aspects but we all hope to be treated in the best possible way during our special treatment day. A little daunting for me to fly all the way, get operated in a surgical room, holes in my head but I’m collecting all the courage in this world to get this done. Shera is helping like one true Samaritan If some of you are able to read this completely, my apologies for such a long note but this is the only forum where I am able to write everything anonymously and vent out if need be. My Journey to be continued……………………………………………………………………………………............................................ -
Here's a 3 month update on our younger landscape guy Robert. Look back a few of my posts and you'll see his case in great detail. Before, during, first week... Well he was supposed to show up for a month scar check, but eventually showed up and did this nice short video. He wears a SHORT haircut and we discuss his scar. He's already been calling in saying its growing but really he's now at only 4 months so it'll be a while but I bet we'll have a 13 month video showing results, if not sooner. The video is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZOFEJBJHEk&feature=youtu.be and the original video is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2iy2AUIlfA Dr. Lindsey McLean VA -
I'd like to add to the wealth of knowledge about Dr. Diep since it seems he has many reviews here that are mostly positive. The jury is still out on this one, but I have high hopes so far. I am 33 years old and paid ~16k total for this FUE procedure and it was booked about 9 months in advance. I *almost* backed out a few days before after reading some scary reviews on realself and after hearing Dr. Diep's reputation for using a large punch size, but I went ahead anyway since he had a solid reputation on this forum. I've always had a high hairline since I can remember (I recall a girl calling me out for a receding hairline when I was 16), but I don't think I actually had noticeable miniaturization occurring until about 27. My father is nearly completely bald, and my brother's hair (who is about 7 years old) has progressive hairloss that is a bit worse than mine. I would say that for most men my age that are suffering from pattern baldness, mine is relatively milder (likely due to my early attempts at treatment). Some might say I am crazy for getting FUE at this stage of hairloss, but it is bothering me enough and it is difficult to style the hair the way I want (I have a huge forehead so I generally wear it down and to the side). My hair is currently receding in the temple areas a few inches and I believe it is starting to thin in the crown area as well. Here is where my hair currently is: You can kind of see on the right side of the picture of my temple area where I think the hairline used to be - one sole surviving hair seems to be nice and thick still. As far as treatments go, I probably have propecia and keto use for the last 4 years or so to thank for the relatively minor hairloss I have (compared to my brother at least). I hadsides when I started propecia, so I experimented with dosage and and also used grape seed extract as a way to counteract the effects (I forgot the mechanism involved but I read about it a long time ago and it seemed to work). I landed on taking approximately .5 mg every 3 days. Any more often and I start to get foggy brain. I sometimes try to increase it to EoD but I just can't do it because the brain fog messes with my job performance. Anyway, on to the stuff you guys probably care about. I initially paid for 1750, but Dr. Diep convinced me it would be a good idea to at least give him an allowance of an extra 100 based on the line he drew to restore my hairline. I also went with the A-cell - cost wasn't that huge of an issue for me and there didn't seem to be any drawbacks other than extra cost: This was exactly what I was looking for - even though I was tempted to lower my hairline a bit since my forehead is so large, I decided ahead of time that I should keep it conservative and simply restore what I had previously. I didn't want to deplete all my donor hair in case I needed more in the future. I also wanted to avoid possibly having an artificial looking hairline by at least having native hair closer to blend in with the implanted hair. I've seen Diep do magic with hairline lowering, but I've also seen some less than stellar results so I didn't want to take any chances. The half a CM or so that it appears to be lowering is simply because you can't really see the few straggler hairs that had not yet receded. As far as how the procedure went, it was fairly typical as others on this forum have described. The Dr. was already working with a patient when I arrived at 7:30, and he told me that he would be done with that patient in the early AM and would be with me for the rest of the day (that turned out to be not really true - once he finished making the recipient incisions, he only came and checked on the technicians performing the implants every now and then). I was given a concoction of pills and then waited about an hour and a half before the doctor came to begin the extractions (around 9:30-10). I did not fall asleep like most others describe but I was fairly relaxed. I experienced some pain from the anesthetic injections, and also had some pain during some of the FUE extractions in a particular area, and I recall him giving additional anesthetic injections for that. I don't know what size punch he used, but he indicated during pre-op that he used between .9 and 1mm - he explained his reasons for the larger punch and while I am aware I could have insisted on a smaller punch, his results speak for themselves and I think its best to let the doctor do things his way. Many of the criticisms I've read thus far regarding the punch size have been focused on how the donor area looked just after the procedure, but I haven't seen any real criticisms of his donor areas in the long term - and I also had not read of donor reserves being unusable as a result. The FUE extractions came from the back and my right side, as seems to be common with Dr. Diep (and debated about in other threads). I think the jury is still out as to whether this should really be done, but I can say that the left side of my donor area is well preserved for any future need, though I am not sure I like how far near the right ear he went with the extractions. That said, I will generally not be buzzing my hair very short anyway (5 guard minimum) so I don't think this will be an issue for me - you can see from the photos how I generally wear my hear. He made sure to minimize any shaving of hair at my hairline since I plan to return to work after 3 weeks and I am hoping (though I am skeptical) to disguise the work with a mixture of clever styling, makeup, topik, etc. One criticism I had about this procedure is once the extractions/incisions were done and lunch was provided, I asked for another round of sedatives (xanex/valium) since what I had so far wasn't really doing the trick and I had much more time to remain in the chair. I wasn't provided that - I am not sure why. The second half of the procedure was fairly uncomfortable - I was generally conscious and could feel each insertion of graft (though no pain from it initially). The inability to move at all due to the inserting of grafts, combined with the very chatty techs who were talking/laughing very loudly inches from my ear talking about all sorts of things (strip clubs, dating, etc), and the lack of any sedative effect, made for a very uncomfortable 6 hour process. I believe they started inserting the grafts around 2pm, and when 5 rolled around or so and I was basically wide awake, I asked how much longer it would be, and I was told 2 hours. Well, 2 hours rolled by and I asked again how much longer, and I was told 30 minutes. The anesthetic had mostly worn off and I was starting to feel pain/pressure and decided to just power through it (they asked if I wanted the Dr. to come apply more anesthetic but I declined since they were almost done, I thought). But it took another hour and a half and everyone from the office was pretty much gone except the technicians and the doctor. The post-op instruction lady came in and decided to give me my post op instructions and sign it while I was still laying on the chair and getting grafts placed, which I thought was kind of odd (do you think I am going to remember this well while I am getting stuck with grafts?) I understand that things happen and just sometimes take longer, but I couldn't help but feel like there was a sense of being rushed at the end (techs complaining about being hungry and what not). By the time things were wrapping up, I was asking for the painkillers prescribed to try and get ahead of the pain that I could feel coming on. The painkillers they gave me did not seem to have any effect on me (Tramadol) so my girlfriend and I drove straight to the pharmacy, and wouldn't you know everything was closed by 10pm, and the one 24 hour pharmacy was out of percocet. Most people describe the post-op pain as being relatively minor but I was experiencing the worst head pressure/pain I had ever felt. I ended up quickly glancing through the post-op instructions and seeing something about how ibuprofen can be taken 4 days post-op and in my pain and dizzyness from the valium, believed that meant I could take ibuprofen and took 3 (turns out I wasn't supposed to do that because of the blood thinning effect). While his written instructions, if you actually parse out the language, say that you can take ibuprofen after the 4th day, it is very easy to misread the instructions if you are in a daze from the sedatives and in a lot of pain. I was mildly annoyed because my girlfriend had been in the waiting room since 4 pm and could have picked up the prescriptions for me as I had asked (but they declined to let her because they said they already had painkillers for me). A word about the post-op instruction packets - I also don't understand why there are two different sets of post-op instruction packets which address the same issues and in some cases are contradictory (one set of instructions are telling you how to clean the recipient area each day after surgery but the second set clearly says you should *not* touch the recipient area until day 4). Dr. Diep was very pleasant during the pre-op but I didn't talk with him much after the procedure. I believe he came in to check on the technicians about once every 30-45 minutes during the insertion of the grafts and to take final photos. I went to my first post-op wash and was hoping to get a rundown of how he felt about the procedure, but he was too busy when I was there, so I am hoping to catch him in one of the other cleanings if possible. Anyway, here is the stuff you guys probably care about: Other than taking ibuprofen after the surgery, everything seems to be normal. Once I woke up, i was no longer in pain and haven't really felt anything yet. The doctor told me the ibuprofen won't have any effect on the graft survival, it can just cause excessive bleeding from the donor area (doesn't seem to be a huge issue at the moment). I also apparently misinterpreted the pre-op instructions regarding smoking - the warning made specific reference to the dangers of nicotine - so I assumed that smoking marijuana was still OK (I used marijuana semi-regularly 1-2 times/week), and had smoked it 4 days prior to the surgery. Dr. Diep didn't like that but said it should be fine, but advised me to refrain from any marijuana use for an "entire year" ?!?!. From what I've been reading, it seems that the general MO is to refrain from smoking anything for a month or so, but after that I can resume. Cannabis has been show to inhibit growth of hair generally from what secondary sources I've read, but it doesn't appear from anything I could find that would cause the failing of hair grafts once the grafts are fully healed. If anyone has better information they could chime in? Anyway, thanks for listening. Any tips to disguise the hair implant would be greatly appreciated - I can't wear a hat as I work in a courtroom so its very important to look professional. I might also just need to fess up and tell everyone why I took a 3 week vacay - but we''ll see. Thanks for listening. -
Hi all, I have been quoted £3000 for unlimited FUE grafts with a 12 months warranty and aftercare kit. Is this too good to be true? I always assumed that the procedure would be more expensive. Clinic is BMC in Kensington and surgeon is Dr. Bashar Bizrah Please let me know your thoughts or if you have alternative clinics/ Surgeries I should be in contact within the central London area. Many thanks
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Badresults, Don't go with Dr. Bhatti for a repair procedure. This is not the first time Dr. Bhatti produced a complete failure result. Though the clinic may blame it on the "x factor" or patient's scalp condition, I believe the true reason may lie in the procedure itself. Oftentimes users here don't examine enough number of results posted by patients of a particular doctor before deciding on him. They simply get carried away by the recommendation on this forum or patient representatives speaking highly. If you are of Indian ethnicity or would be comfortable with a doctor in India then I suggest you to check Eugenix in Delhi for your next procedure. I believe their DHT technique is fail proof due to relatively short out of body time for grafts. I haven't seen any failure cases from them so far. You still have a plenty of donor hair that many of us desperately wish for. I am positive that with a reliable doctor, your frontal part could be restored with good density. Though your luck with HTs had been not that good so far, hope the third time is going to be a charm. -
Dr. Gabel is a stickler for cleanliness. A true professional. Give this it time it needs, I am confident it will be just fine. Are you doing any medical therapy, by the way? -
The Final - Dr.D vs Dr.B
Useless Stuff replied to Jhonny's topic in Hair Restoration Questions and Answers
Is it true that Dr. Bhatti does the whole extraction himself or are there some junior doctors or technicians involved? @Shera could you clear this doubt? -
Dr. Demirsoy Reviews
maltesefalcon posted a topic in Hair Transplant Experiences and Surgeon Reviews
Hi there, I've been reviewing a wide variety of surgeons and came down to a few based in Istanbul and nearby. I noticed that Dr. Demirsoy is much cheaper than the others, such as Koray Erdogan and, given my budgetary constraints, I think I might opt for this surgeon. I've seen some reviews on YouTube - before and after etc. - and they seem like a good clinic to go to. I guess I was just a bit surprised by the price (1.25 euros versus 2.5 euros for Koray and 2 euros for other Istanbul-based surgeons). I hope that price isn't a reflection of quality. I also saw that many people lately have been unhappy with ASMED, even though they charge among the highest in Istanbul. Many here appear to have come to the conclusion that standards may have slipped at ASMED compared to 5-10 years ago. I don't know how true or untrue this may be. I've been going through many of the recent posts here. I've noticed not so many reviews lately for Dr. Demirsoy though, so I just thought I'd dip in here and try to harvest any of the latest thoughts on his clinic. Any help is much appreciated as I hope to make the right decision. Choosing the right surgeon is no small thing and having my hair somewhat restored is something that I've been looking forward to for many, many years now. I'll be sharing my experience here on the forum too when surgery day eventually arrives. -
Its my first post here and hope to get some support and answers. I live in Dubai and was going to have a hair transplant here with some little research, but thankfully I found this forum before taking any step. After going through this forum(for 3 months now), I held back from doing the surgery(and feeling down agian) until I am more aware and knowledgable. I am also not feeling comfortable with the idea of technicians and nurses performing on my head. 1) Could you please give me a list of doctors who perform the the whole surgery by themselves or most of the surgery? So I could start my research from here. 2) And I was also wondering is turkey a good place for hair transplant? I know that "dr.rasul yaman" and "dr.koray" are recommended by this forum, I've seen good result with dr. rasul yaman but what make me feel suspicious is the "very low" price. Dont get me wrong its a good price, but too good to be true. and for dr. Koray , after seeing several horrible results from users here ( hope all of them will get it sort out) which I believe in my opinion is the cause of unexperienced technicians , this clinic is out of my list, unless there is a good excuse for their failed recent surgeries. -
Hello everyone, I started to look around for an hairtransplant and I have been in touch with different clinics in Instanbul. Unfirtunately I feel I don’t know who I can trust, the reviews could be fake, you tubers could be payed, this is the first time of my life that I find internet kind of limitating for lack of objectivity. Thanx to this forum we elaborated the write questions to ask and I did the same questions to different clinics. 1) Estimated no of Grafts required for the Front and crown? 2) What level of density is practically possible and what is the doctor's views on donor area density? 3) Size of punches used? 4) What facilities / doctors of available in case of an emergency 5) What hairline is suitable for me 6) What medications are recommend for post surgery 7) How are the extracted hairs and how are maintained before being inserted 8) What parts of the HT is done by the doctor (Hairline design, local anaesthesia, extraction, slit making, implantation of singles on hair line, rest of implantation?) 9) Which are the difference between fue and DHI ? Here below their answers clinic by clinic Elithairtransplant 1) only front as you still have too much hair on the top 2) your donor area is quite strong and density is always maximum (70 to 90 grafts / cm²) 3)0.5 mm 4) usually there are no emergencies , you stay always in contact with us especially after operation and you need to send photos regulary for Dr. Balwi to check your growth etc. 5) Dr. Balwi draws the hariline in the clinic as he needs to check your muscle strands in the upper third of your face 6) we give you all medication you will need (antibiotics, anti-swelling pills and pain killer) + aftercare package with hat, shampoo, lotion, neck pillow 7) sapphire fue (micro motor) and maintained in a nutriance liquid before implantation 😎 The good results you see on our websites, youtube, pictures... are the results of our team. We give a 30 years guarantee, because Dr. Balwis team is performing the surgery. He can guarantee a specialst for the anesthesia, who does it everyday, a specialst for opening the channels, who does it everyday and a specialst who implants the grafts. Without his team, we could never give this guarantee to our patients. You can be sure, that the result will be excellent. Of course Dr. Balwi is there and leads the operation. But believe me, that our specialists have a lot of experiences and our clinic is one of the best in Istanbul. Not only the structure, hospital structure, the experience and also the quality. Dr. Balwi will lead the operation and you will talk just to him before the surgery, he draws the hair line ecc. and his team of specialists perform the hair transplant. It is not just that it would be more expensive, if Dr. Balwi would do it by himself, it is because the team works together since over 7 years and everybody knows exactly what to do. 9) we do sapphire fue and DHI Sapphire Fue is a micro motor with micro cuts in the back for extraction, no scars. Dhi is *direct hair implant* with a pen and no micro cuts,also no scars👍 The healing process is a bit faster with dhi than sapphire fue. The result are excellent with both techniques, that's why we offer the 2 best methods. CLINICANA Exactly sir about the number of the grafts as we mentioned you here before sir we have the chance to extract about 3600 - 3700 grafts (also this number of grafts it's not the final number first of all we will go for a live consultation with the medical team we will check your case , we will draw the first hairline to you and then we can decide about the final number of grafts. We will plant the areas number 1,2 and 4 which front and crown regarding your case you'll be happy with the results sir why? Because we have 2 advantages 1. You have thich donor area which is a strong advantage for us 2. You don't have that big balding areas So in this case we can have very successful results with very high density And for the crown area we will advice you to keep massaging the crown area very well because the blood circulation there not very good as the front and upper parts so you have to keep activating the blood circulation in the crown area 4) regarding the emergency case : regarding that we are working in a private hospital and we are already covered by the hospital so in case of any emergency even during the operation we have an infection dr , dermatologist, general dr plus our plastic surgeon and all the drs are available to help the patients And also after the operation in case of any patient needs anything we informed the hotel ( if you are going to stay in our hotel) they can bring the patinet directly to the hospital anytime 5/ we can't decide about the hairline now sir before starting the operation we will go for a live consultation with the medical team we will ask you to raise your eyebrows and over the last bored of the muscles of your forehead we will start drawing the first hairline to you 6. Pain killer , anti inflammatory, antibiotic, stomach protector, aspirin, The operation it self 3 stages Grafts extraction Opening the micro channels Grafts implantation From where we will start we can't decide now because for every patient different treatment plan Depends on the number of the grafts We extract the grafts normally We open the micro channels to receive the grafts And we will implant the grafts later 😎 About who will do the operation: Our surgeon prof.soner tatlidede he will be the *supervisor* of the operation from a to z with his huge and professional medical team each one of them has her own profession for example someone to open the channels, and someone to extract the grafts, and another one to plant the grafts ( *same team doing the same procedure more than 9 years*) https://www.clinicana.com/about/hair-transplant-doctors-turkey/ FUE DHI or FUE PERCUTAN: Once we have limited baldness area, or it's a must not to shave the hair (even that the results will be moderatez), possible to use DHI, by this technique it takes long time to inject the grafts in the pens then to the targeted area, therefore possible to plant about 2500 grafts by it.. Note: Many centers mention that they do 4000 grafts of more by DHI, in fact it's not true, they do both in the same operation without the patient knowledge. FUE Percutan allows us to plant high number of grafts, so 3000 up to 5000 depends on the donor area, on the other hand as we open all channels then to plant the harmony of sorting out the holes in the scalp will be very natural *Methode:* We use 3 differant methods to give you the best possible result 🏆🥇 *1. Collecting the grafts* by method *MicroFUE:* the head of the punch will be choosen by the plastic surgeon while the procedure (0.7, 0.75, 0.8) up to the type of your own grafts. No scars after the procedure. *2. opening the channels* by Method *Sapphire:* we use the lastest technology that has many benefits such as fast healing, more number of channels opening because of the sharp small head that sapphire stone has. *3. Selective implantation Method* gives natural look, We select the grafts that include 1, 2 or 3 hair, we implant single grafts in the front area to give a natural look, the double and triple grafts will be implanted after the hair line. DOTTOR CINIK 1)Dr. Cinik’s team has reviewed the pictures of your head, your treatment plan will be by implanting about 2500-3000 grafts to your balding and receding areas with PRP treatment. The grafts will be distributed to front,sides and and crown area with FUE method. With this treatment plan we will be able to fix your hairline, cover 100 % of your baldness and increase the density level of your hair. Doctor will decide after examinate you 2)your donor is a 9 out of 10 which will give you a perfect density 3)???? 4)4. Dr.Cinik, ER nurse, supervising nurse. We have an ER room in our hospital which is fully equipped also a full service hospital within walking distance 5. what do you mean ? by what hairline ????? 6.here is a list 7.they are maintained on ice grafts 8. depends on the package you purchase please review carefully the packages I sent you 9. DHI is for people with less balding are by implanting around 2000-2500 grafts and for a smaller area more dense. In your case since your crown is getting bald too it is not applicable . FUE is the suitable treatment for you COSMEDICA 1)I check your photos, We can transplant for your treatment about 2000-2500 grafts can cover the front baldness area with natural result 2)your donor areas density is looking amazing and baldness areas is not so big so it ll be enough without damage 3)we use 0.7-0.8 mm punch for extraction 4)we are big hospital so everytime we have dr in the clinic for emergency help 5)we can draw frontline in here first one we need to see your face muscles for that we can nor understand with pictures that. 6)??? 7)we use micro motor for extraction we use petri and steril solution not ACELL and under this petris we put ice boxes 8)Dr Acar perform incision step himself with vip packageis supervisor in the surgery other steps by team gold+gold plus package dr is just supervisor. 9)??? guys what do you think I am impressed by the before after of Elithairtransplant. but eheh modify a picture take a sec... what are your impressions about their attitude? i hope is for everyone use! massimo -
Dear Bill, Pat and Melvin, “However, we have put up with it because you do provide some sound advice and you haven’t blatantly broken any rules.” Bill the “publisher”, May 21st, 2019 https://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/topic/54103-hw-hattingen-konior-feriduni-devroye-or-bisanga-for-fut/page/2/?tab=comments#comment-509774 I’d like to take this moment to express my sincere appreciation for the “tolerance” I’ve received over the past fifteen years and over 7000 posts. The sheer strength it has taken to “tolerate” me for such a long time is nothing less than monumental. You should really pat yourselves on the back for such an achievement. I admit, reading my posts where I comment and encourage patients that have gone to doctors that I have never worked with, giving advice to posters that I have never had any personal contact with, and with no inclination of engaging with on any professional level, and assisting your members with all manner of problems based on my experience(s) in the hair transplant field as a profession, must have been absolute torture for you. The poison that you describe as having come from my participation in a thread where I was personally attacked for zero legitimate reasons is also evidence of your strength and wisdom as you clearly know something that I do not. But whom am I to question such greatness? Thank you, sincerely, for tolerating my presence. To all of the great HTN members, I’m sorry it has come to this. In case some of you are wondering what this is about, I wrote an article for a popular men’s blog that has gone viral throughout the English speaking world and in this article I outline twenty of the top hair restoration surgeons worldwide. I was then attacked, without provocation by an HTN member doctor for the sole reason of his exclusion from the article, even though I was very clear in that the list was not to be considered exhaustive or complete. The doctor saw fit to delete his posts and I in turn was happy to delete my comments back to him. No harm, no foul. However, when I questioned the additional edits by HTN moderators which included additional post deletions by members which were quoting the doctor, and comments that were left to defend me, I made a comment about the selective editing that had occurred. Ironically, one post remains by Melvin, the “co-moderator” which supports the doctors attack on me; “I don’t think that Dr. … said anything bad, in fact most of what he said is true.” My comment stands; “Some very interesting/selective editing on this topic.... “ If it has not become obvious as this point, I think that the target upon my back is getting to be a tad heavy as I do not possess the “physical and mental fortitude” that Bill obviously has that has allowed him to tolerate me for the past fifteen years. So I would like to close by saying that I have appreciated all of your comments and support through the years and I have been so blessed with watching so many of you find the follicular salvation you have been seeking. For that, my time here has been massively rewarding. With the comment made by Bill where he clearly states I’ve been helpful and haven’t broken any rules (not “blatantly” but otherwise?) it is more clear than ever that for those of you that have garnered enough knowledge to the point that you know what you’re talking about, you’re a threat to the status quo if you question those that would seek to control what you see and hear. I wish for my account to be closed and I wish you all the very best for the future. Thanks for everything. Moderators deleting or modifying this post in five, four, three… Regards Spencer ( Spex )
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Well that is certainly the understatement of the year. It’s interesting how Spex will take one negative comment I made out of dozens if not hundreds of supportive statements I’ve made about him over the years and blatantly overreact and use that as a means to not only leave this community but attack me and make me sound like a bully. The reality is, all I did was remove comments from Dr. Hasson who already essentially “removed” his own posts by editing his comments, changing them to the word “deleted”. So, any reply to Dr. Hasson didn’t make any sense and thus, I removed those as well. Now, forget whether or not anyone felt the doctors comments were appropriate or not… that is not the issue here. The issue is that Instead of contacting Melvin or I privately and expressing concern or simply asking a question, he decided to sarcastically and unprofessionally make a snide remark making it sound like we are participating in foul play. This is certainly untrue, unappreciated and unprofessional. So I reply to him calling him out for peddling his own agenda. So wrong about that and what’s on True about it? Specs is a self promoter. There’s no question. He has a website dedicated to himself and while it’s good or bad, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s a self promoter peddling his own agenda. Does he help people? Sure. I’ve mentioned that which is why I said what I said. But is there any question that he’s a self promoter? There shouldn’t be. I’m sure Spex gets paid very well for everything he does. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with getting paid as long as you’re working in the patient’s best interest But for him to accuse us of an agenda when he blatantly self promotes on this forum is not only offensive but sort of like the pot calling the kettle black. Now as for Spex, if he wishes to play the martyr, that’s his prerogative and yet more examples of his self seeking agenda. With the record, we have not banned him or suspended him. Leaving this community is his choice. So I guess at this point, we will all wish Spex good luck and hope he works in the best interest of prospective patients regardless of where he posts. But since he has chosen to leave, there’s no sense in continuing to discuss it. That is his choice and we will honor his choice. Bill -
Brahmabull this is now your 5th account. You’ve been suspended previously for making inappropriate threads. I’ve already reached out to Dr. Keller, regarding your dissatisfaction. At this point we can’t have you continually recreating accounts to fit your narrative. The bulk of the grafts were places in the hairline that by your own admission looks better. Unfortunately, hair transplants do not create true density and your expectations were never realistic from the jump. I will be locking this thread -
Well, I finally went through with my HT on the 7th of May 2009! I'd firstly like to thank Pat and Bill for this extremely useful forum resource and all the dedicated work that has been done to inform prospective HT patients to be well-informed the first time around. Hats off to you guys for this! Thanks also to fellow Rahal patients Canadian Buba and Eman for filling me in with in-depth details of their experiences of what to expect throughout this whole process. Okay, without further ado, here's my account of events as they unfolded, leading up to my surgery with Dr. Rahal. I've just copied and pasted this from the blog entry I made, so click on my blog link below to see the pictures. Thanks! I awoke early on the 4th of May 2009, after only 4 hours of sleep. Boarded my plane at Melbourne's Tullamarine airport (Australia) at 10am. As I walked through the metal airport security gates, I knew that there was no turning back and I was really going through with this Hair Transplant gig! After a 4 hour flight, the plane stopped in Auckland, New Zealand with a stop-over of several hours. Then, jumped back on the plane from NZ direct to Los Angeles - all up, 17 hours of flight time just there! Upon arriving in LA, I was scrutinized very carefully by a rookie customs official who was apparently still learning the ropes. Had to go into immigration for questioning, as they got my passport confused with someone of the same namesake who had been running drugs into the United States via the Caribbean. Yikes! I thought they were going to put me on the next flight back to Australia and that I'd miss my appointment with Rahal. But to cut a long story short, after much inconvenience I was allowed to proceed. Another four hours later, I boarded my flight from LA to Toronto, which took 4.5 hours. Started watching Valkyrie with Tom Cruise mid-flight, which was almost enough to put me to sleep... but not quite. I think I was analyzing Mr Cruise's hairline most of the time, rather than comprehending the actual film. After reaching Toronto, I had yet another waiting period of 1.5 hours. I was also questioned by customs and immigration at Toronto's Pearson airport and had to tell the immigration dude about my HT procedure. The customs officer really perked up when I mentioned that I was staying at Adam's Airport Inn, because apparently he'd stayed there himself on the one and only occasion he'd been to Ottawa. I guess that must have earned me some brownie points with him, because he let me through right after that. All in all, I found customs coming into Canada to be much, much better than those coming into LA! Finally, I was onto the final stretch of my very arduous journey -- the one hour flight from Toronto to Ottawa. As the plane touched down in Ontario, everything felt a little surreal. I had been in transit for over 24 hours and awake for even longer. I was mere minutes away from the fabled Adam's Airport Inn and Bank Street, which, until that point in time, had only existed to me on the virtuality of the Internet. After escaping the very last airport I jumped into a taxi and moments later, I arrived at the inn, greeted by that huge, red, glowing sign! Inside I was greeted warmly by Jallal, the night manager. He gave me a tour of all the facilities, and finally the key to my room. Sorry about the rambling, but the point of all the above preamble is to provide an accurate and honest account of the amount of travel and inconvenience I was willing to endure in order to ensure I received top results from a top Doc. Seriously, I consider all of these inconveniences to be minor in light of the benefits a Rahal HT can provide, and even if I had to go through it all again, I still wouldn't have had it any other way. Anyhow,After setting up my laptop, settling into my hotel room, and having a shower, I went to sleep, ready to begin the next phase of my follicular journey... I spent the next few days familiarizing myself with the Bank Street area. Stocked up on food, snacks, and drinks to put in the mini-fridge in my room, so that I'd have a stockpile of supplies post-surgery. I also walked from Adam's Inn to Dr. Rahal's office a few times, in order to time myself and judge the distance. It took about 35-40 minutes. Not bad, and I actually prefer to walk both for the exercise benefits, and so as not to overspend on taxis unless it's absolutely necessary! Cabs seem to be quite expensive in Canada. My pre-op consultation day arrived and I met Adrian and Dr. Rahal for the first time. Both were great! Adrian was extremely helpful and accommodating. It's very settling to be in his presence, as his un-salesman-like, truthful approach when answering the plethora of questions thrown at him (both about your own surgery and his) really puts you at ease. This is a guy who understands what it's like to be in the shoes of a balding male, and I found his attitude to be most refreshing. Adrian also gave me a tour of the front and back of his head. When I mentioned that this was the first time I'd ever seen a HT in person, Dr. Rahal joked that he hoped I wouldn't cancel the surgery now and run out the door! In all honesty, I have to say that Adrian's hair looked fantastic. He also had a totally undetectable donor scar, and I was excited to be able to see some of Dr. Rahal's handiwork in the flesh. Dr. Rahal and I went over my plans, goals, and expectations. I mentioned to him that I wanted a lowered hairline and he said we'd need to measure it the next day to see if it would look symmetrical with my face or not. After filling in the consent forms, I caught a cab back to the inn, took a Temazepam pill, and went to bed early to I could get up for my 6:30am surgery the next day. I had no qualms sleeping the night prior to surgery at all. No anxiety, no fears. no doubts. Nothing. I woke up nice and relaxed! I have to say that I was never the slightest bit nervous in the lead-up to the surgery, and the same was true on the day of my surgery. I awoke and headed down to Rahal's clinic in the service of good old "Mo", the Rahal token cabbie. He reassured me that Dr. Rahal was the best, and that he has driven tonnes of satisfied patients back and forth over the many years. This was very good to hear, as it only solidified in my mind that I had made the correct choice of Doctor. I had no major doubts going into the surgery, although I did have a bunch of questions and comments for Dr. Rahal! Upon arrival, I had a good chat with Adrian for about 15 minutes, while Dr. Rahal prepared. When he was ready, I went into his office and we started designing my hairline. Dr. Rahal measured my facial dimensions and then strictly cautioned me that he wouldn't want to lower my hairline any further than approximately half a cm down my forehead, due to the chance of future increased loss in the crown later on. Now, I must state here that a lowered hairline is something I REALLY wanted going into this HT, so I tried to push Dr. Rahal for it, but he said that it really wouldn't be a good idea since his main concern was framing my face naturally, and that the new fringe (bangs) he was going to place in the receded areas would do a LOT to give the appearance of a lower hairline. At this point, I decided to shut up and listen to Dr. Rahal's advice, as I realized he really was doing what was in my best interests based on thousands of prior surgeries, which was very admirable of him! He actually did end up bringing down the right side of my hairline slightly more than the left, in order to match the bone structure in my forehead. He made the hairline nice and staggered for a natural appearance and also added a triangular widow's peak in the center -- the type I used to have before it receded away years ago. I took a glance at the new design in the hand mirror (I was going to do the Batman Jack Nicholson/Joker gag, putting out my hand and shouting "Mirror... MIRROR!" and then laugh maniacally upon glancing at the hairline... but I thought better of it. Anyhow, I looked at my newly drawn hairline from the sides (using 2 mirrors) as well as from the front. I had Dr. Rahal slightly tweak the rounded corners at the temple points, and I really liked what I saw. We were ready to go! After throwing on the blue surgical gown, downing some pills, and being given an injection of Midazolam, the techs shaved my hair off completely, at my own request. This is the first time I have ever sported a buzzed head, but I didn't want the "bozo" look to plague me for the next 2 weeks, and I also figured that cleaning the donor area would be way easier with very short hair, in turn, making the sutures easier to remove. Next, Dr Rahal administered the anesthetic shots in the back of my head. Now, for me, these were nowhere near as bad as I'd anticipated. I was expecting far worse pain than the little stings that accompanied the needles. I'd say they just felt like someone slowly plucking out a hair, or a very aggressive mosquito bite. Many people say the anesthetic needles are the most painful part of the surgery, but for me, the most "painful" part was actually the slight neck-ache I got from lying in one position for a very long time. The needles are certainly no big deal and nothing to fret over. After the area was sufficiently numbed, Dr. Rahal started removing the donor strip. He seemed to remove it fairly quickly, but that may have just been the effect of the drugs screwing with my perception of time. Originally, Dr. Rahal had set me up for 3,500 grafts, but during my pre-op consult, he said we could try for up to 3,800 to 3,900 for an even denser appearance. I agreed with that, and he took a longer donor strip as a result. I believe he said it was 41cm (though, I could be mistaken on that). In the end, we only ended up getting 3,481 grafts -- only 19 off the original mark, so I'm still happy. Next came the anesthetic needles to the forehead. Same deal as getting them in the back of the head -- no biggie. Dr. Rahal then proceeded to make the recipient site incisions. He worked a long time at this and was concentrating intensely on keeping count and ensuring that all the angles correctly flowed with and matched those of my existing hairs. Dr. Rahal informed me that he implanted with a density of 60cm squared in the hairline region, and 50cm squared going further back towards the mid-scalp. All the while, a room-full of dedicated techs were cutting my grafts. One of the techs allowed me the honor of looking at a section of my strip, and peering through the microscope as she dissected grafts. It was all very interesting to see! Once Dr. Rahal finished making the recipient sites, implantation of the hairs began. I opted to try and take as few breaks as possible so that we could finish up faster. As the techs began implanting into the recipient area, I watched a movie. After that, I took a lunch break, then watched another movie. Dr. Rahal told me that, for some reason, in my case, there was a lot of oozing and bleeding where the techs were implanting hairs. This was despite the fact that I followed the pre-op instructions to a T, that I don't drink at all, that I haven't been using minoxidil, and that my bloodwork levels were all normal. According to my bloodwork results, Dr. Rahal said that I shouldn't have experienced any abnormal bleeding. However, since I did, the surgery ended up taking much longer than a typical 3,500 graft surgery would normally take. I think it ended up being around 10 hours or so! Consequently, I required more anesthetic needles throughout the day, and experienced more swelling than I would have hoped for. Unfortunately, in the last 30 minutes I started developing a migraine which was harder to deal with than any part of the surgery itself. Throughout these last 30 minutes, the technicians were absolutely great. Very diligent, understanding, and reassuring. I have great admiration for the work they do, and their tenacity in seeing their job through to completion -- especially knowing that they are doing this on a new patient every day! The techs were very helpful in regards to my migraine, they quickly informed Dr. Rahal who permitted them give me some Advil (which didn't actually help), and they would keep telling me how many pads/gratfs were remaining so I had an idea of how long it would be till they were finished. Finally, after roughly 10 hours of lying on my back, we finished at 6:30PM -- a 12 hour day! I was able to rise for the first time as a re-haired man! In spite of the headache, I felt great about everything. I was given a few final instructions along with some meds, plus a take-home dinner. A cab was ordered to take me back to the inn. My headache was getting quite severe and I started feeling a little nauseated. I haven't thrown-up since 1993, though. I have a bit of a record going, and I didn't plan on tossing in the towel now! When I got inside my hotel room, I took one of the anti-nausea pills that Dr. Rahal gave me and that cleared me up right away. I took both a Tylenol 3 and the stronger Percocet as well, but neither seemed to have much affect against the headache. In retrospect, I guess it was due to the amount of anesthetic fluid and swelling around my forehead. I simply went to bed at 7pm, resting at a 45 degree angle, as instructed. I fell right to sleep. I woke up about 4-5 hours later, and took a Temazepam sleeping pill to ensure that I'd sleep the rest of the night through. I then slept for another 4 or so hours. Woke up and the headache was gone, no pain in the recipient area at all, and only minor discomfort in the donor area. I'm amazed at how good I felt only one day after surgery! A big thanks goes to all the staff, including Dr. Rahal, Adrian, Allanah, and the techs Faith, Mike (sorry, I didn't catch the names of the others, but thanks to all of you). I am definitely excited about things to come! -
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. I don’t think that Dr. Hasson said anything bad, in fact most of what he said is true. Spex does promote the surgeons that pay him, that’s transparent. Now his criteria for working with a surgeon I’m sure is transparent as well, at least I hope. Secondly, what Dr. Hasson has said about his FUE is also true. Some of the best FUE results I’ve seen lately are coming out of H&W and they have solidified themselves as an Elite FUE+FUT clinic. The only correction is that we did not ban Jotronic, he left on his own accord. We simply fulfilled his request.
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Scarring from FUE ... how bad?
Jhonny replied to Jhonny's topic in Hair Restoration Questions and Answers
Thank you guys for your replies! Good point Dr. Bloxham, this is exactly why I asked this question...I always got the feeling like FUE + scarless so then after seeing some pics i wondered if that was really true! HT can be succesful but also unsuccesful we know that. What if I lose most of the transplanted hair and the ones in the donor area as well? It would be ugly not to buzz the few remaining hair down but it would be bad also to see thousand tiny scars. I wonder if this unlucky situation has ever happened to someone here on the forum. I believe it's important to be aware of the potential consequences of anything we do in life wether them being positive or negaive. -
First of all thanks to Allah for him to guide me to true real doctor Dr.Kazim who done wonderful job on my head. I was fully bald but Doctor at Vera rescue me. It almost like magic now I have full head of hair. All nurse in clinic is also the best and does wonderful job very co operative. I also thank Farah and specialist Ola who always guide me through difficult period during operation. So it is best clinic guys, i am fully happy with my result it is wonderful. Thanks very much -
Hi Guys! So I am a patient of Dr. Koniors and I recently moved to Medellin (I'm a dual citizen). Needless to say QUALITY is something that I don't skimp on (hence my choice in Dr. Konior). The only surgeon "close" by that has a vast amount of credibility is Dr. Nader in Mexico, however that isn't quite even in the area (or continent). There are no really solid threads on trusted FUE surgeons in Colombia so I wanted to start a conversation about who has had first hand experience with RESEARCH and RECEIVING AN ACTUAL TRANSPLANT in Colombia. After doing some research these are the names I've come up with: Bogota: Rene Rodriguez Medical - https://2rmd.com This guy has a ton of content with artists to the average joe, youtube videos, and a flawless rating in just about every social media platform. Medellin: Dr. Hector Garcia - http://implantecapilar.com.co/secciones-85-s/dr-hctor-garca.htm This surgeon appears to be very professional without a whole lot of gaudy success stories or youtube videos (there are some that offer success stories). I wish there was more evidence of success stories, as this type of surgeon who specializes in FUE and isn't real big on advertising always appeals to me. Cali: Dr. Reina - https://www.transplantesdecabellocolombia.com/calvicie-implante-capilar/ I've come across this woman in my research and she has a lot of good content with her at conferences in the United States, with some images of results on her page. I noticed she does FUT (strip) so not sure if thats a red flag or not, but she appears to be a true hair restoration specialist. Dr. Carlos Triana - https://www.crecehaircenter.com/trasplante-capilar.html This guy belongs to the American Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (is that credential enough?) that I can't say for sure. He has his own brand of hair care products "Crece" and appears to be dedicated to the craft. PLEASE KEEP THE CONVERSATION ON TOPIC AND LETS SEE IF WE CAN CONFIRM OUR GO TO HAIR TRANSPLANT SURGEON IN COLOMBIA. -
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Flying to India to see Dr Bhatti
California replied to raj singh's topic in Hair Transplant Experiences and Surgeon Reviews
Hi Raj, Thank you for sharing your HT journey so far and thank you for choosing Dr. Bhatti/Darling Buds Clinic for your procedure. I am sure that you must have put in a lot of thought and research into making the selection for your HT Surgeon. After all, that is most the important decision when it comes to hair transplants. I have tried my best to address the issues and concerns that you have raised in your write up. My intention is not to prove you wrong but just provide some clarifications from the Clinic's side. No offense meant to you or anyone else. We wish you all the best with your HT results. Full disclosure: Dr. Bhatti does wish to expand his business into other surgical streams like Orthopedics, Maxillofacial, Neurosurgery, etc, while focusing on HT only, himself. This is a 2 year project. The ground floor and the top floor of the hospital are dedicated to hair transplants only. The hospital has a potential total area of 175,000 sq ft of which 20,000 sq ft is devoted to Darling Buds Clinic where Dr. Bhatti is the only doctor associated to our Clinic. Dr. Bhatti's daughter, who is an MD, has joined his practice and manages the Dermatology Dept of the hospital. The hospital also has a full diagnostic lab which is run by Dr. Bhatti's wife Dr Amulya Bhatti. It also houses a state of the art PRP lab. My responses: RAJ: So i am done with my FUI and on my second day of recovery in India.I would like to share my experience. My procedure was scheduled for 24 April and i was told to come a day before for some blood work and consultation.I was given few choices of Hotels and i found one at my own which was really close by.I got to the Hospital on 23rd afternoon and i have to say that the place is built in a remote location which is pretty run down place.It makes you nervous that if you are in the right place.There are some confusing signs and mixed names of the hospital (Darling buds and five rivers).Well i was already feeling like shit as i got caught by a stomach bug and was having cramps and loose motions). California: Raj, since you/your family is/are originally from India, I would assume that your expectations would be realistic as far as what many cities in India look like. Also, you would know that the street sign/name systems in India are not comparable to the Western cities. Just to make things more convenient for all of our Patients, we do offer a complimentary pick up from the Chandigarh airport and also pickup/drop off from the Patient's hotel to the Clinic. Not sure what that did not happen in your case. I can understand that since you caught a stomach bug right after reaching there, things might have looked bad from your perspective. Traveling while sick is never fun. I am sorry that you had to go through the HT procedure while you were not feeling well. RAJ: Once you enter the building out of four floors or more only two are finished and rest under construction and a total mess.I waited for half an hr or so to see the doctor and i was told i dont have good donor area and my crown will not be covered which i understand.The doctor seems very tired even i was feeling sick.We did not have conversation or eye contact and he literally finished in five minutes which was bit disappointing.Most of my questions were answered by these techs who almost look underage but they are very courteous and professional.At this point i wanted to get the hell out of there and go to the hotel. California: The hospital has a potential total area of 175,000 sq ft of which 20,000 sq ft is devoted to Darling Buds Clinic where Dr. Bhatti is only doctor associated with the HT Clinic. The hospital project is quite big and like any other big construction, it does not look pretty. That said, the HT Clinic does not have any construction going on. Calling it a "total mess" might not be a fair assessment. Regarding the 30 minute wait to see the doctor, that does not sound excessive to me. I am used to waiting for 30-45 minutes (at least) every time I see a doctor in California Bay Area, under my PPO medical insurance. As is validated by hundreds of Dr. Bhatti Patients, he is a very humble person, easy to talk to and very straight forward. He does not sugar coat. Dr. Bhatti makes it a point to have an open and informal discussion with this Patients during the pre-op consultation. This includes drawing a hairline on the Patient's forehead and asking the Patient to think about the hairline placement, at ease. Also, the donor availability and the realistic expectation are discussed. Not sure why you thought that Dr. Bhatti looked tired. Again, I do realize that you were not feeling well yourself. That does make everything look bad. The technicians working in our Clinic are definitely not "under age". They are young females (mostly registered nurses) who have been with the Clinic for many many years. They are knowledgeable, experienced and very good at what they do. RAJ:My procedure was done by the doctor which includes cutting your hair, harvesting and making cuts. and plantation.First day harvested from the scalp donor area.Prcedure started at 7.30 and i was told to be there 6.45 but no one was there till 7.15am. California: I do apologize that you had to wait. Have brought this to the Clinic's attention. Again, the norm is that the Clinic driver picks up the Patient from his/her hotel and brings them over to the Clinic. I am sorry if that service was not offered to you. Could be a rare case of mis-communication from our side and if that is the case, we will make sure that it does not happen again. RAJ: Second day harvesting done from beard and chest .There was a Sikh Doctor who had some sense of humour and he held my hand and i had my first conversation (Sorry i am not used to this kind of customer experience dealing with robots like people) and was told to come next day as well to open the bandage and other paperwork.Most of the staff is very friendly and they are young girls who are fresh out of medical nursing college living around chandigarh.They were soft spoken and hard working California: With all due respect, the teams working at the hospital are very friendly, courteous and professional. The staff at our Clinic is like one happy family. You have said so yourself in your writeup. The "robot like" people comments does contradict that. Last time we checked, we did not have any robots working in our Clinic:) RAJ: So my transplant looks pretty good and i have minimal pain.Oh by the way on the third day when i went to open the bandage and everything was explained by on of the girls we were told that Dr Bhatti will come and talk to you.He was sitting next to us in his Office and i just wanted to ask him some qyuestions about PRP and therapy etc.We were sitting for more than 45 mts and doctor never came to say even bye or thanks. California: I am happy that your HT looks good. That is the main reason for traveling thousands of miles.....to get a world class HT at fraction of the cost (as compared to the Western countries). I am sorry that you felt less cared for at our Clinic. Every Patient in our Clinic is a priority and we try our best to make them feel special and well cared for. I am not sure why the Doctor did not come to talk to you. Did you let the staff know that you had specific questions for Dr. Bhatti? Dr. Bhatti does usually make it a point to wish a good bye to the Clients (unless he is tied up in the OT and not able to come out) RAJ: At this point i got the picture of the whole system. overall. 1.Place is run by one man show who obviously cant be every where and with no coordinator the doctor seems overwhelmed.There is only one email and you can not reach doctor. California: A "one man show" is true but only as far as the procedure itself is concerned. With the world wide fame that Dr. Bhatti has earned, he could have easily opened franchise clinics all over India, which would have been so lucrative. The reason that he has not done so is becuase he wants to perform each and every procedure himself. Obviously, for the other offices, he would have had to hire other HT doctors to perform the procedures. He chose not to do so. I sincerely believe that that is very good thing for all Dr. Bhatti Patients. Dr. Bhatti responds to each and every email himself. He had offers from his staff to answer the basic questions, but he wants his Patients to have a direct access to him. Always. RAJ: 2.The place is not what the pictures show at all including inside and outside.Its a construction zone.Its on a outer circle of Chandigarh with nothing around.There is construction inside which i am not sure even they are working on it. California: Again, there is work going on on the project but that does not make the entire hospital a construction zone. Construction can look like an eye sore and can cause some inconvenience but we try our best to make sure that our Patients are affected by this as little as possible. We apologize for any inconvenience caused to you or any other Patient. RAJ: 3.Dr Bhatti is very good in his work with no peoples skill. California: Thanks for acknowledging that Dr. Bhattis is good at what he does. That is what matters to most Patients. Regarding the "peoples skill" part, that is a personal assessment/interpretation. Being a Dr. Bhatti Patient myself, I was pleasantly surprised that he did not talk down to me like most "big shot" doctors in India tend to do. He was kind, courteous, sincere and honest and that helped my nerves to calm down. RAJ: 4.If You advertise a place world class you gotta be on top of everything.As in your thoughts you are much better doctor and charge more than others,Your patient deserve better service from you and a clean place.You cant have construction zone in half of your premises and still using your old name in your bags.No courtesy of thanking your patient who flew to you from a different country is not acceptable. California: Again, I am sorry that you felt that way. Dr. Bhatti charges more than "others" because he is a way better doctor than the "others" and for most Patients, the Doctors skills, experience and the past patient results are what matters the most. The Clinic is always clean and Dr. Bhatti has a very strict protocol in place when it comes to cleanliness, hygiene, sterlization etc. When I got my procedure done at the Darling Buds Clinic many years ago, I forgot my phone in the OT (they let me carry my phone in there because I wanted to take some pictures). After I changed out of the OT clothes, I realized that I had forgotten my phone in the room and started walking back into the OT. I was stopped by a nurse who told me that I did not have the OT attire on me. I asked her to get my phone for me and she said that she was not dressed for the OT. I got pretty irritated but she would not budge. She said that there was no exception to the protocol that the Clinic had in place. She asked me to wait and called another nurse who was dressed in the OT clothes. Then I got my phone back! I have been in the US for almost 20 years now and have not experienced this level of "strictness" and "adherence to protocol" in any US Clinic or hospital. Regarding thanking a Patient before he/she leaves, I never got a thank you from any doctor in my life. On the contrary, I always make it a point to thank my doctor. They do say "bye" to me. Dr. Bhatti does make it a point to say good bye to the Patient's and wish them a safe trip back home whenever he is able to and available to do so. The fact that he was not able to wish you a good bye was definitely not intentional. My apologies that he was not available at that time to do that. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns. We are with you through out your HT journey. Always, just a phone call or an email away. Best regards, California -
Simply put, Dr. Bernstein is THE BEST in the field of hair restoration. He is an innovator, and at the forefront of the newest techniques. He is a tried and true expert in the field. He is honest and does not make any false promises or claims-unlike other companies who offer discount coupons and make ridiculous false claims. His results are better than i could have ever imagined. I truly feel like a new person. My confidence and self esteem has been greatly enhanced. The entire staff at Bernstein Medical is fantastic. Everyone is professional, courteous, friendly, very competent and do everything in their power to make the experience as easy as possible. They answer any and all calls immediately and Dr. Bernstein is always available for any follow-up visits or concerns you may have. -
One of the more debated topics on the forum is whether or not "young" patients should undergo hair transplant surgery. The controversy revolves around the fact that these patients are very early in the hair loss process and have an unpredictable future ahead. Using too many grafts now or starting with an "aggressive" plan may set a patient up for a lifetime of multiple surgeries or deplete donor resources before acceptable coverage can be achieved. There is also controversy surrounding the donor area in young patients: Will it thin aggressively and end up only providing a small "strip" of safe donor in the future? Are grafts taken from the "expanded" donor area in a young patient actually safe or will these thin in the future? For these, and other, reasons, many hair transplant doctors do not like to perform hair transplants on "young" patients. While cutoffs vary, many do not like to take patients under the age of 25 and others want to wait until their hair loss pattern has really revealed itself -- which can often take decades. My philosophy on young patients is a little different. I frequently perform hair transplantation on appropriate "young" patients as long as a few absolute "musts" are understood and accepted by the patient. If the patient is mature thinking and accepts the "long term" reality of hair transplantation at a young age and the potential for future surgeries up the road, I feel like they do quite well. In order to successfully undergo hair transplantation at a young age, I feel a patient must acknowledge and really feel comfortable accepting the following: 1) We must start conservative with the hairline. Many young patients remember a very low, flat, immature hairline from only a few years prior. And sometimes it is hard to get them to understand that this is not advisable. If a young patient insists on rebuilding an immature hairline, I do not think they should have a hair transplant. However, if the patient understands that hair transplants are permanent and the hairline must "age well;" if they understand that starting conservative now will allow us to get coverage from front to back as they continue to thin and we can go lower later once things cool off and the majority of the scalp has been treated with hair transplants; and if they understand that the lower we go now, the more grafts we use in the front that we now cannot use in other areas, then I think they are good candidates. 2) We must start with FUT Not to stoke the flames here at all, but I insist on starting all young patients as FUT. Not only is this the only way to truly maximize the amount of donor grafts available over a lifetime, but it is also the only way to really take continuously from the small true safe donor area (SDA) zone. We never know how these patients may thin up the road, and grafts taken from even slightly outside the safest part of the donor area may be susceptible to hair loss and fall out in the future. We need to maximize donor potential and only work where we absolutely know it is safe until these patients are older. Then we can usually augment with FUE. 3) The patient must accept that he will very likely want/require more procedures up the road Androgenic alopecia is a progressive process and while hair transplants do thicken and restore thinned areas, the procedure does not treat the progressive hair loss. Patients who are thin enough to seek hair transplantation at a young age will likely continue to thin in the future. With a hair transplant plan "started" in one area, the patient will likely want more. We never design anything that would absolutely require a patient to have more surgery up the road, but chances are that you will want to address additional thinning regions at a later date. The patient needs to accept that this is likely not a "one and done" deal. 4) We really should (maybe not "must") start in the front and work back The frontal third (hairline, frontal scalp, and slight transition into the mid-scalp) is the most visible region of the scalp. It also is responsible for re-framing the face and really creating the appearance of thick, full hair from the perspective of how most of the world sees you (IE "front on" or from the sides). Furthermore, if this region is done properly the rest of the scalp can thin and still look natural. For these reasons, we really should address this area first in young guys. Many times younger patients are focused on the "bald spot" in the back, but starting in the front and working back if and when necessary creates the greatest cosmetic impact and prevents creating anything that may look unnatural up the road. To better demonstrate this philosophy, I want to share a case: The patient in this video is a young guy in his early 20's; he's in that transition between college and the rest of his life. He has aggressive thinning for his age and is likely to become a NW VI up the road. I discussed all of the above with him and he completely agreed and wanted to move forward. We did a 3,000 graft FUT and everything went very well. I saw him back at 6 and 12 months. The first video features an explanation of how I approach young patients (similar to what I wrote above) and a detailed 6 month result video. The second video is an update at 12 months. 6 month results: 12 month results: As a final note: I do think all young patients considering hair transplant should do their research carefully. If you do it as out outlined above, I think you will be happy for many years to come; however, there are some potential "pitfalls" for younger patients. So do your research, ask your questions, and remember to start conservative and keep the long-term in mind. Hope everyone enjoyed the presentation. Look forward to the discussion. Dr. Blake Bloxham Feller & Bloxham Medical, PC
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