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Hey guys, first time user here. I just got a price offer from Dr. Konior for a 3000 graft FUT procedure. He wants $18,500 for it. I also checked the Shapiro website, and it seems like they will do it for $14,000. I like Dr. Konior and his results, but the price is quite steep. What do you guys think I should do? edit: I decided to go with Dr. Konior as he offered to do it for his old fee, since that is what we had discussed about a year ago. I think that was very honorable of him.
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Looking For Advice On Pulling The Trigger On At hair transplant
Melvin-Moderator replied to ripper89's topic in Hair Restoration Questions and Answers
Sorry that your thread was de-railed. You have some good surgeons on your list. Frankly, any of the surgeons on your list can provide excellent results. I disagree with the poster above rumors are exactly that rumors. I’m a walking testament of Dr. Dieps work, as are countless others on the forum my donor is in no way destroyed or compromised and I can still withstand another 1,000 grafts via FUE. Either way, you can’t go wrong with either of the surgeons you mentioned. I would also include Gabel, Cooley, Konoir, Shapiro to your list. At the end of the day, go by results and who you feel comfortable with. I also suggest sticking with FUT first, although I had the same hairloss as you and chose FUE, it certainly cost me more money in the long run and took longer. I knew that going in but it’s obviously not the most efficient way. -
Dr Konior price. Should I do it?
Dr. Glenn Charles replied to Cap88's topic in Hair Restoration Questions and Answers
I can tell you that all the doctors at Shapiro Medical Group in Minneapolis get very similar great results. Dr. Shapiro is a good friend of mine and he would not let any doctor perform surgery in his clinic with his name on it unless they were getting as good as results as himself. -
Dr Konior price. Should I do it?
Triple7 replied to Cap88's topic in Hair Restoration Questions and Answers
There are 3 different doctors doing transplants at the Shapiro clinic and I am going to guess that all results from there are not alike. I would research the particular doctor that would be performing the surgery and not just the clinic. Dr. Konior also has Dr. Nadimi working at his clinic but it sounds like your price quote is with Dr. Konior. -
2600 grafts. 6 month results expectation vs reality
HairLossMentor replied to ILikeMyHair's topic in Hair Restoration Results Posted by Patients
I would schedule a consultation with Konior, Dr. Rahal, and Dr. Ron Shapiro. It sucks where you're at man. I've been there. You can fix this though. Maybe I missed it? But have you asked for a refund from the other clinic? You can use that towards getting this fixed. -
HT with Dr. Paul Shapiro - FUT - 3947 Grafts - 8/13/2018
dberliner posted a topic in Hair Restoration Results Posted by Patients
So after lurking around this forum for a while I had decided to dive in head first (pun intended) and go ahead with the transplant. If you'd like to ask me any specific questions I'd be happy to answer. I'll just say that the HT itself was relatively painless and aside from some acceptable uncomfortableness and tenderness in the first 3 weeks the entire process was relatively as smooth as one would expect. I've been taking Finasteride for 2 and half months prior to surgery and I'm using Minoxidil once daily starting 2 weeks after surgery, per Shapiro's instructions. I was a NW 3/4 with balding spots in the crown and heavy thinning in the frontal hairline region. Shapiro has decided on using the entire grafts extracted on the frontal region and let Finasteride do its trick on the crown area. Right now I'm at the 1 month mark. I've been losing a lot of hair during this time, especially after starting to apply Minoxidil. I will update every month or two with pictures of my progress. Hopefully it will be a good one! -
FUT 4775 grafts with Dr. Paul Shapiro
AmirMilad posted a topic in Hair Restoration Results Posted by Patients
Hi All, I first need to thank this forum and the members. I cannot overstate the impact of this forum throughout my journey. After thoroughly researching this forum and having several phone consultations, I figured out that Shapiro medical group is the right option for me. Given the extensiveness of the surgery I needed (photos are attached), I decided to go with Dr. Shapiro. My surgery was on June 19th (three days ago), and currently I am super pleased with the experience. The surgery itself went very smoothly and I didn't feel even a little pain (that could be because Dr. Paul has an expertise in pain management). Initially we were shooting for 3500-4000 grafts, but we ended up with 4775 grafts (I think it is considered mega-session, right?). I have attached pre- and post-op photos. I appreciate if you give me your feedback. Any comment is very much appreciated. -
Dr. Rahal or Bernstein?
HairLossMentor replied to JT65's topic in Hair Transplant Experiences and Surgeon Reviews
I agree 100% that FUE is not scarless. Though you can minimize visible scarring, that's key. The simplest route to achieve this is punch size. Keep in mind that if the doctor is using a 1 mm punch, the actual size of the punch depends on the thickness of the metal. Depending on the manufacturer, it can be 1.2 to 1.5 mm. In the wrong hands even 1000 grafts can destroy your donor area. I seen it many many times unfortunately. The problem we're dealing with here is donor management or lack of donor management. It's a technique used by very few North American doctors. I commend any Dr. willing to learn FUE- and as with anything in life they will only get better in time. The problem is at the last FUE conference, I only noted 3 doctors from North America… Dr. Rahal, Dr. Wong, Dr. Shapiro. That says something. It was at this conference where they talked about the stuff, share tips of the trade. Here's a quick explanation of donor management… Donor management - a strategy to maximize your donor area, both in the number of grafts you can safely harvest for transplantation and visually, allowing you to wear your hair short and get the most amount of grafts possible... Tactic #1: Using calculations, you are able to predict how many grafts you can safely harvest from the safe zone. Not only in one session but over multiple. Punch size is a factor here. Smaller punch means more grafts and less visible scarring Tactic #2: partial transection to avoid this kind of stuff-scarring, patchy, moth-eaten look. If it's a 3 hair, you will strategically harvest 2 and leave 1 hair behind. For it to work you need 8x magnification and .8 punch size and under. The magnification alone is 10k. So not many want to make the investment. Tactic #3: punch type, sharp, dull, etc. motorized vs. manual - each has its place, depending on your skin type. FUE experts are masters at each, and prior to each procedure actually test each. What they are looking for is the technique with the lowest transection and highest graft quality. Note: smaller is still better You also need a high level of skill to pull this off, why I am so against the robot. In the hands of an amateur hair transplant Dr. you can do more harm with FUE to a guys donor area than any other procedure. Bottom line, if you are using a 1 mm punch, the robot you're not practicing donor management. Donor management is a highly advanced strategy and means a massive investment both in staff and equipment. But it's also what separates the amateurs from the professionals. Please refer to this example photo… This is just a quick explanation… There's much more to it. But in the example I applied tactic #2, with just 12 single hairs. And you can notice a visible difference in the donor area. I do commend Dr. Diep. I'm seeing some good results from him. And I encourage him to continue learning the craft and to learn about and master donor management. It would be super helpful if he would jump in and let us know about his technique, punch size, tools of the trade. I always encourage an open and honest debate. That's what makes this forum great. -
Dr. Suneet Soni honest review
jjsrader replied to Toby0823's topic in Hair Transplant Experiences and Surgeon Reviews
Fair enough, I have to respect your thoughts. They are of your experience and you provided photo documentation of your results. I was quoted 4K of FUT and 1K of FUE in my online consults w/Dr. Soni. I got 4.5K of FUT and 500 FUE on the day of surgery. So that was a 5K of grafts consult - 5K of grafts on surgery day. I wasn't 'fooled' in any way - but maybe you read something wrong. I wrote a positive review because my personal individual experience was positive, I enjoyed the staff and interaction at his clinic for a few days and everything I saw from Dr. Soni was professional and of the nature of an experienced competent and skilled surgeon. I have no reason to say otherwise, I'm not paid nor a shill but I am nothing more and nothing less than another guy on this forum who wanted to give a very very detailed write up on my procedure and long personal hair transplant and balding genetic/family history so others can learn more and then do their own research and decision making. I'm going to write a nauseatingly long response - so everyone knows my follow up. It's really long but entirely my experience. I am so sorry you had bad/no growth and a dramatically lowered hairline done and interaction w/Dr. Soni that you do not feel was appropriate for your needs. I really am - I can't comment more 'cause I'm not you, but I believe you feel you really knew what you wanted based on past experience and what you wanted. You seem quite intelligent and as a former H&W patient that went through 'touchups' and an experienced hairloss patient - having a procedure that didn't work out for you and dramatically reduces your lifetime donor - I don't need to say anymore. I am very surprised Dr. Soni was so persistent in his thoughts going in a totally different direction from your wishes and your online consult and agreed upon plans. Very surprised. I had a great time at the clinic and got exactly what I wanted. That really sucks for you - I'm not good with pressure and from reading your entire thread even w/H&W you had initial issues w/growth in that area of your scalp (very frontal where there was no hair). I got what I wanted for my extremely fine/thin hair. I have the finest hair I know - even 15K of grafts on me wouldn't look as good as someone w/really good hair characteristics @5K of grafts. I'll just relate what I got from Dr. Soni. Grafts that grew, all dissected properly with German microscopes at proper magnification by a highly-experienced tech team, properly angled single hairs for 200 graft temple points on each side to another 4.5K grafts placed from frontal hairline (high-end of low up to medium density of grafts) to mid-scalp (somewhat lower density grafts) to vertex (much lower density of grafts). My very frontal hairline are all singles properly angled (as good as the surgery I had w/Dr. Feller in 2004 and I have terminal hair throughout my scalp now). I do believe I had alot of shock loss for 6+ months due to the size of my surgery and I had a certain amount of miniaturized hairs throughout the mid-scalp and vertex that probably went away for good. These miniaturized hairs were much older than when I had my 2250 graft procedure w/Dr. Feller in 2004 and frankly, I don't think I had any miniaturized hairs left from my frontal third up to the middle-back of my scalp - that was all transplanted hair from my previous surgeries - none of which went further back than the very back of the frontal 1/3rd to maybe 1/4th of my scalp. I replaced a see through front/top and slowly-losing vertex w/over 10K hairs - my scar healed very well on the sides into the temple. The scar in the middle (3 inches or so) stretched some, my closure was very tight. I'm not entirely satisfied with the width of my scar in the middle portion - but I have a strip scar lower from Dr. Feller, two more on the lower middle/sides from 400 and 700 grafts in '93/'94 and even two more small ones from 110 and 100 grafts in '90/'91. It's a war zone back there for sure. When I have my final FUT, (if I am still a candidate) I'll try and consolidate one or more scars and have them take from the best donor area remaining. I do think the grafts in my crown (not too many placed there - probably 500 or so since I still had about 30% of my initial density there of regular hairs there) took longer to grow in. What I think helped me was final results hitting me after about 18 months (everything synced up and a hair transplant typically takes final form in fine-haired recipients w/very slow-growing hair 18-24 months after a transplant). I don't think I was lucky nor an exception to the rule as a Dr. Soni patient. Yes, I'm not Indian nor do I have that jet-black thick/wiry hair most of them do. My hair is auburn/brown and extremely fine and wimpy. I don't see any gaps in my hair from front to back. It's all filled in (yet probably only about 45% original density - thus why ideally I plan on doing another 2.5K up to 6K or so of grafts to bump up the recipient density to above 55% or so for full cosmetic 'ILLUSION' of a regular head of wimpy/fine hair). I might even sprinkle in a few thousand of beard hair from the back of the frontal zone to the vertex when I'm older and if I want to go that way (baldness never stops). I also want to get more density in my frontal hairline and transition zone - since my hair diameter is so thin/fine - I need way more hairs than regular men to create that illusion of full density. Everything at Dr. Soni's clinic seemed at the standards I wanted. He has done well over 2K surgeries, uses an experienced tech team, he does FUT w/trichophytic closure, has authored chapters in surgical texts, belongs to proper medical associations, angles hair correctly throughout all zones of scalp, uses industry-best follicular-unit dissecting microscopes & can do megasessions via FUT or combo FUT/FUE. I see so much consistency in his work w/advanced hairloss patients - in clear video w/regular scalps and a wide variety of ages from younger to older. I do think he does too many surgeries per day - but he is at the clinic and does all FUE extractions and recipient sites himself and of course does the strip as well. His residence is the top floor of the clinic and his wife is a dentist in the same building. So, he is hands on and available pretty much all the time. Allow to me admit that I thought my growth from my procedure w/Dr. Soni was lagging - for well over a year. But I was shaving my head to stubble that entire time and up until Sept. of '18 (18 months from my surgery in late March '16) after my surgery because I'm weird and I didn't want to grow out my hair and be potentially disappointed. I was being OCD about it. I knew I had acceptable results on the temple points he rebuilt and the very frontal hairline - 'cause I could see that growth even when I stubbled my hair w/a stubble electric trimmer every 4-6 weeks. Although my hair is extremely fine, my face is framed better now. Of course I want to add density to my frontal hairline and just behind it, almost everyone does, especially if you have fine/straight hair. I still look like I have thinning hair. I only have about 40-45% of my original density - but all of the transplanted hair is terminal and my donor is of okay quality. If you look at guys with very thin hair and their results on this website, that's me. When I style my hair it can look fairly normal. If I wear a baseball cap for a few hours or wake up and my hair (I have very oily hair as well) is not combed - I look a bit thinning, but no big gaps or blatant bald spots. I'll wait until after my final FUT surgery and have a surgeon cherry-pick my best FUE's for that. I haven't decided on the surgeon I want for my final surgeries for FUE - most likely H&W or Shapiro or another extremely experienced doctor who really is meticulous about cherry-picking FUE grafts and also can dense-pack w/artistry the final very-frontal hairline and transition zone behind it. I may have 4K of grafts left, 3K or maybe 6K - I don't know. That's why in my next round of pic consults (after a few in-person consults) I'll have my hair evaluated at a length of 6 inches and then cut down to 1 inch and then shaved to stubble, so a full evaluation can be done. Even though I have had 8.8K of grafts (110 and 100 in '90-'91, 400 and 700 in '92-'94 and 2250 in '04 and 5000 in '16) - I want and will have more. Every single male family member in my immediate family and extended family are all NW 6-7's. My pictures I sent Dr. Soni in Feb of '16 show a NW5 guy (why I was quoted 5K+ of grafts by the majority of my physician consults) - I feel I now have terminal, good-quality hairs from my donor all over my head. Finally, I do believe my growth was much slower overall this time (even w/me shaving my head for 18 months after surgery) - probably 'cause I was 50 years old when I had the surgery, 5K is a huge procedure and alot of trauma for the scalp, I wasn't on brand-name Avodart (had been using generics for years) - wasn't on the laser, wasn't on the aggressive oral meds yet either. When I have another procedure (probably later this year in the late fall) I'll request my photos from Dr. Soni from March 2016 and the pictures I sent him and then do a proper photo story of it. I'll compare my photos of 2 months of grown out hair in March '16 prior to my procedure w/Dr. Soni and before I get another FUT surgery, if I can still have one - I'll have my hair cut to look exactly like 2 months of grown-out hair. I'll have my face blurred out on all my photos. I'm not a picture person - especially on the internet. WARNING: The rest of my post is a wall of text/paragraphs of me and my anal regimen - (optional reading I suppose for regular guys). Everyone's mileage may vary and results may vary individually - but I KNOW that a proper laser w/alot of diodes used at least 5X's per week but not more than 6X's per week over time de-ages the hair and turns back the clock, so to speak, on any EXISTING hair in 12-18 months is healthier, which helps overall. Clinical studies have shown varying levels of improvement. It is subtle but your existing hair improves over TIME. You need to use the right laser helmet/cap w/alot of diodes and use the laser more than 3-4X's per week for optimal results over time. Yes, one 'may' regrow some weaker hair and thinning areas may shrink a bit - this is almost entirely due to existing hair (terminal and all hairs that are higher quality than vellus hairs) getting thicker, able to grow longer and having a longer growing cycle. I do KNOW that oral minox and oral Spiro and brand-name Avodart are a kick-ass combo of systemic high-potency hairloss DRUGS that work synergistically together -especially when they are all used together for the 1st few years. So, I'm really anal about 'treatments' 'cause I know how stressful hair surgery is for older people w/fine hair and miniaturization and terrible family genetics - so at 6 months after my last surgery in '16 - since I was still shaving my head and was trying not to think about my final18 month mark that was coming up in September of '18 when I would start letting my hair grow again I decided to for better/worse to research and then gradually amp up my regimen and help my megasession of 5K grafts any way I could for the long term. 1) I ordered a 420+ diode hair laser from overmachogrande.com and since September of 2017 5X's per week religously for 22 minutes I use it. 2) Also, I have been taking brand name 10mg of brand name Loniten (oral minox) and 100mg brand name oral Spiro (Aldactone) since the beginning of May '18 - yes, I know the potential side effects. I checked everything out initially w/my physician and the 1st month/3rd/6 month and nothing negative thus far. 3) I also switched back to brand name Avodart in April of '18 - (I was taking generic Avodart since '08 - previous to that I was on brand name Avodart since '02). It is common knowledge that generics are often 70% as effective as brand names in the pharmaceutical industry. The quality of the main ingredients matter - very much so in hairloss meds. Generics use the cheapest possible in terms of cost primary generic ingredients of an original patented drug - that's a fact. In fact H&W believe this as well - they highly encourage all patients use Dutasteride (Avodart name brand) and Finasteride (Propecia name brand). That should tell you something - and they are doctor's that practice in Canada - not U.S. based. I hope this rather lengthy reply of my personal experience is useful to others. The question is would I go back for another FUT from Dr. Soni? I didn't go back to Dr. Feller and his FUT results of 2250 grafts on me in '04 were done correctly. Dr. Feller did a conservative surgery - Dr. Soni's was 2X's more aggressive. My scar (about 2.5 to 3 inches in the middle) from Dr. Soni is not what I would consider ideal, it stretched a bit. My final FUT surgery, if I can have one - be it 1K or 2K or ? grafts I will once again be going for the most bang for my buck and trying for alot of grafts. I'll consult again w/Dr. Soni, Hattingen Clinic, H&W & probably Rahal & Shapiro. I don't know if I want to go all the way over to Europe and Asia again, but if I can combine it w/another 6 week vacation like last time - who knows? I think it's 50/50 I can have a final FUT surgery; I might have to have parts of the worst sections of two of my scars excised and re-closed - yielding me maybe only several hundred grafts or up to ? grafts. I tell everyone I know to NEVER have hair surgery - it's a game of diminishing returns for most patients. Especially if you continue to lose hair or began balding in one's 20's. Even w/lots of surgeries and the best meds and regimes - baldness is a progressive condition. I say especially don't have surgery if you have fine/thin hair (in microns) and it is very very straight - and you began losing it early in life. My family history is stacked against me 100%. I keep fighting baldness, but it's just an avocational hobby at this point. It doesn't really matter in the long run as a person. -
Dr. Diep vs. Dr. Hasson - Thoughts on who for FUE?
SammyD posted a topic in Hair Transplant Experiences and Surgeon Reviews
I am looking to get an FUE surgery done. After talking to 5 or 6 clinic, I was told I would need about 3500 graft. I have narrowed down to Dr. Diep or Dr. Hasson. Any thoughts or recommendation from anyone regarding these 2 doctors? During the process, I have also considered and had discussion with Shapiro, Ranior, Rahal. -
Look at my horrible Hair Transplant - Is there any way to fix it?
HairLossMentor replied to davebot8888's topic in Hair Restoration Questions and Answers
@davebot8888 the only two doctors I would ever consider for hairline work are Dr. Rahal and Dr. Ron Shapiro. Especially for hairline refinement. Keep in mind Dr. Rahal restored my hairline. I don't see Dr. Ron Shapiro talked about on the forms much. But he's a legend. I'm watching a couple of other doctors who have potential, but I'm seeing some rookie mistakes like with your transplant. Whoever you go with. Just make sure they specialize in hairlines. A monkey can increase the density. That's not a problem. Its the details that matter in your case. And I'm sure half the doctors performing hair transplants today, I'm talking about the part-time hair transplant hacks, don't even know about micro-/macro irregularity. Good news is this is fixable man. Just choose your doc wisely. You have one more shot to get this right. Not trying to be negative. Just make sure to put a lot of thought in your decision, okay 🙂 I'm a repair patient myself and get what you're going through. Free anytime if you have questions. -
First Time Poster
HairLossMentor replied to John Doe's topic in Hair Restoration Questions and Answers
@John Doe, sorry if I missed it. But I didn't read if you're on any medications? Always a good idea to slow hair loss. Your goal is to keep what you have, for as long as possible, and restore with at hair transplant what you've lost. You narrowed it down to some good doctors. I can vouch that Dr. Wong produces some of the best crowns in the business. I would also add Dr. Shapiro to the list. Some of the best hairlines in the business… though a little more conservative in his approach (nothing wrong with that). Once you've narrowed down your list to the elites… the doctors who specialize in hair transplants… only perform your transplants… You'll notice that each specializes in one thing: Rahal, he's known for more youthful hairlines... His patients are usually in their 30s. Same with Shapiro, awesome at hairlines but his patients are a little older… Wong for crowns… You get the idea. So go with a doctor who specializes in what you want. Keep in mind that only a handful of doctors in North America are able to perform FUE consistently. But the ones who do… Produce some of the best results in the industry. You also want to look at factors like punch size, transection… Full and partial… Technique, etc. Now on the cost… I keep hearing that Turkey is less expensive… Guys need to know that's not true. Sure some clinics offer $1/graft… But you want to avoid them like the plague. They are cheap for a reason. At hair transplant is a one-shot deal. Don't risk it. Yes, there are a select few clinics in Turkey producing great results… But they're not cheap. Factoring cost of travel, exchange-rate… and the real risk of needing a touch up… and they are actually more expensive. You also need to factor in the cost of the second procedure. A lot of clinics offer discounts to past patients. I hope this helps man… Feel free to hit me up if you have any questions. Take your time, meet lots of patients, ask lots of questions… Here to help. PS. If you're curious I had FUE with Rahal. Photos are attached. -
Don't sweat the Strip
purple18 replied to purple18's topic in Hair Transplant Experiences and Surgeon Reviews
I went with Dr. David Josephitis of Shapiro Medical Group in Minnesota. Photos are 19 days p/o under bright lights after my first post-op ocean scuba dive. (Hat on religiously before and after I go underwater to protect from sun) It looked basically like this when I got a back-and-sides trim only a day after the staples came out (day 11). I decided to book my operation sort of last minute so I was worried I didn't prepare enough by growing out the donor beforehand. Was worried I was going to have a big smiley back there for awhile. It didn't seem to matter. I can feel little hairs near where the scar is starting to grow, either from shaving near the area or the closure method, not sure. Will likely give it another small boost when that's mature. I still am sweating if the 2675 grafts were enough to fix the crop circle that is my vertex/crown (fingers crossed) but feeling very positive about how my donor area looks. This is around the length I wore it before the op and plan to afterwards. The only (temporary) regret I have about choosing FUT is that I kinda wish I could buzz it for the regrowth phase and let my crown match the surrounding areas. It's gonna look funny as hell for a while. 🤷♂️ -
My HT with Dr.Ron Shapiro on Sep7 2006 - I have also created my detailed HT blog
icare4myhair posted a topic in Hair Transplant Experiences and Surgeon Reviews
Hi All, I had recently posted a description of my recent HT with Dr.Ron Shapiro on Sep 7, 2006. I just found the time to spend a few hours in creating a detailed blog and updating it with my pre-op, post op day 1 pics by Dr.Shapiro/Matt, and several post op (day2, day3 and day13) photos. I would very much like any comments/feedback on my post/blog and my progress. My Story: (This is detailed in my blog as well, Blog link at the end of this post) ______________________________________________________________________________________________ I have been losing hair since my early twenties gradually. I used to sport fairly long hair when I was young, sometimes shoulder length, so i used to notice more hair loss while combing or taking showers etc. Gradually this decreased as I moved into later twenties , most probably, due to the density decreasing and the hair itself gradually thinning out. I used to be quite sensitive to any comments like - hey you are losing hair, or you have lesser hair etc. Not that too many people have made such comments, it was probably only a handful of people and when such comments were made, I just lost my respect for them and probably did not care much for them after that. But the fact remained that I continued to be sensitive to my hair loss. Similar story to most hair loss sufferers listed here. I did not really think about any treatments for my hair loss, to be honest. There was once , in my early twenties when i first started noticing hair loss and went to a doctor and he looked at my head and said that I was fine and gave me some pills for peace of mind - can you believe it? Anyway, it was only very recently, that I learnt about success stories of HTs - even though I had heard about hair pieces, hair weaving etc earlier, but never was comfortable with any of them. I would any day have preferred to bald gracefully than to look like a clown in any of those solutions. But recently, after reading about latest techniques and success stories of HT, I went to Bosley and MHR for consultations. And in fact scheduled a procedure with MHR. Just like for a few other people on the Hairtransplantnetwork, Pats discussion forum site came to my rescue in the nick of time. And I started my research anew by reading through the website in detail. I quickly narrowed my search to a few top surgeons and decided to finally go with Dr.Ron Shapiro due to the great feedback he had, and also because I had happened across his name earlier during my Bosley/MHR research. For some reason, his name had stuck in mind, I would never have thought earlier that i would fly cross country for a HT. I quickly decided to go with Dr.Shapiro, and called Matt the very next day , and scheduled a procedure for the very next week (Sep7). Luckily someone had cancelled and a date opened up that was offered to me and I grabbed it. It all happened to me at lightning speed thereafter. I had never thought that I would decide upon and undergo a HT so quickly , as I had only started reading about HTs about late last year (2005). I underwent a procedure with Dr.Shapiro on Sep7. Everything went great (I have posted my experience of the visit on the ht forum). It was very much like others have described a HT procedure with Dr.Ron Shapiro - great doctor, great person, great team - Matt, Janna and all their other staff, very smooth procedure throughout. I think I would classify as a 4 or so - never asked Dr.Ron specifically about where I stood on Norwood scale. Since I am 31, and my thinning is mainly around the hairline front 1/3 and toward the crown, these were the areas primarily addressed. Dr. Shapiro gave an initial high level recommendation for about 2000 grafts for the front 3rd with about 500 grafts or so toward the top part of the crown, keeping future loss in mind, and also with the assumption that propecia may help keep/grow some hair in that region. I ended with a total number of 2523 grafts for the front 1/3 and some on the top of the crown with about a two finger width region on the top of my head not being touched as Dr.shapiro indicated that I had decent thair in that region and he did not want to risk going through it. Dr.Shapiro cut my thin hairs in the front region and also some small hairs on the crown were cut to enable placment of grafts there. Today is exactly day 15 after my HT - my scabs have healed well and i had my staples removed on day 12. I am noticing a lot of hair loss (probably both transplanted grafts and native hair) after week1. This is happening more as I am starting to shampoo and massage my hair more vigorously now. Maybe I should stop that and be more gentle. I would very much like any comments/feedback on my post/blog and my progress. -
HT with Dr. Paul Shapiro - FUT - 3947 Grafts - 8/13/2018
Pete-from-Farjo replied to dberliner's topic in Hair Restoration Results Posted by Patients
Sensible approach by Dr. Shapiro. You look like you have a good amount of hair at the crown that could potentially be saved by finasteride, so concentrating the grafts of the frontal area makes sense. Still very early days so hang in there. Things should start happening in the next few weeks. -
Repair needed, not sure what to do next.
jbwj2016 posted a topic in Hair Restoration Questions and Answers
I'm trying to figure out where I should go from here. Had my first transplant at 18 or 19 years old. I had an accident when I was 11 that left me with a significant scar on my scalp that always bothered me. One night I saw an infomercial for hair transplants and thought maybe they could transplant hair into the scar. I had a consultation and the Dr. and he said he could do it. I understood nothing about hair transplants and had no idea what I was getting into. The first procedure was around 700 grafts. The doctor not only transplanted into the scar but also transplanted into the temple area's and created a new hairline to help cover the scar. The results were not good, the first person to see me with my hat off said, "God, gave you a wierd hairline." I was devastated and went back to the doctor to see what could be done. He said we just need to fill it in with more hair. I was desperate and so I did it. I ended up doing 3 procedures with this doctor from the the age of 19-22. I honestly though it was going to be one procedure. After the third procedure grew in I finally knew it was only getting worse. I didn't know it but every procedure was making the situation worse. I was no longer concerned about the scar but now my new hairline. There were odd angled hairs, pitting, multiple hair grafts, it looked like doll hair. I posted my story on a website and was told to go see some other doctors, to get their opinions on my situation. I went to Hasson and Wong and also Shapiro. They said it was criminal what was done to me, and all the doctors thought my best bet was to cut the entire hairline out with a resection, and then come back in and create a new hairline to cover the scar from the resection. This path terrified me. Then I was told that we could possibly use FUE to remove the hairs from the hairline. I choose the FUE route, which in retrospect was a mistake. I've been through 3 FUE procedures to remove the hairline, and just last year I had another FUT procedure to help soften and bolster the hairline. So where I'm at now. I've lost a lot of hair, a Norwood five for sure, maybe a 6 or 7. There are still hairs from the old hairline that need to be removed, still have some pitting, and multiple hair grafts that I'd like to get rid of, my crown is mostly bald, I have no more laxity, so strip procedures are done. I have some donor left if I go the FUE route, been estimated somewhere between 3,000 to 4,000 available. So what I've been thinking is I have two paths to choose from. More transplants till I use up my donor, and pray the Proscar allows me to keep what I have, or I could shave it all off, get SMP into the scar, and hope I could get comfortable with it. I've visited a few doctors and SMP practioners and I get different opinions. I'm really uncertain what to do. I get concerned that if I keep losing hair I simply wont have enough donor to keep up with the hairloss. The shaving scares me because of the strip scar, and pitting I have in hairline, that would be exposed if I shave. So I'm just trying to figure what I should do and hoping to find some feedback. I'm working on getting some good photos. -
Repair needed, not sure what to do next.
home1212 replied to jbwj2016's topic in Hair Restoration Questions and Answers
sorry to hear about your situation, I can relate because I had a HT when I was in my early 20's in the 1990's, no idea what I was getting into other than I thought it was a solution to my fear of starting to lose hair, but it was the exact opposite, I got plugs put into my hairline which was fine for a several years until I lost more and more hair. I suffered for decades styling my hair in the most creative ways to try and conceal my hair loss, using hair sprays, gels, comb-overs, etc. I finally had enough after doing quite a bit of research and coming across this site, doing my research on new techniques, best in class doctors, etc. I finally got a few consultations with some top notch docs including Feller, Hasson, Shapiro, Konior, but settled on doing FUE with Rahal. I can't tell you how freeing it was to finally correct a problem and fear I was living with for years ... it was the best thing I could have done for myself. I hope you find a solution to your issue to, maybe Dr. Umar?? If your donor is depleted, he does some great work with body, beard grafts. Post some pics of your condition so others can give you some advice as well. Best of luck to you. -
ShapiroMD Hair Growth Products Do They Really Work?
Melvin-Moderator posted a topic in Hair Restoration Questions and Answers
Some of you guys may have seen these products advertised on Facebook, Instagram or other social media sites. IMPORTANT NOTE: This product is not to be confused with Dr. Ron and Paul Shapiro, these are completely different doctors who started this product. The price is quite expensive and the ingredients lackluster in my opinion. It’s essentially saw palmetto, green tea flavanol and caffeine being marketed as the most powerful DHT blockers on the market. I recommend you guys take a few short minutes out of your day to the read the article and share it if possible, this could potentially help alot of guys out there who are considering this product Do ShapiroMD Hair Growth Products Really Work? -
NW6 just looking for opinion
Shmiggy replied to Shmiggy's topic in Hair Restoration Questions and Answers
Great info Laser. I appreciate the thoughtful reply. I am currently on 1.25 mg fin from Dr. Ron at Shapiro. Just started that 2-3 years ago. Here’s some photos from Dr. Bisanga when I visited him about 5 years ago. He used some pretty harsh lighting but you can get the idea of what the fin has maintained. -
Initial thoughts on HT doctors in India ...
rocketmas posted a topic in Hair Restoration Questions and Answers
Hi, We have some of the most knowledgeable people on HT here, so always appreciate the feedback. I myself have used this forum since 2003 intermittently, and keep coming back for answers. Some superb folks here Here is my situation, I had my first transplant with Dr Ron Shapiro in 2004. 2500, FUT procedure. Very satisfied with the work and kept me happy for many years. Now 14 years down the road, I am 50 plus and have thinned around the front of the head and have a receded hairline. I am NW3-4, and am probably looking at a 3000 grafts FUE procedure. I was considering going to Dr. Rahal as I like the ultra fine, mega density and super hairline work, but I am in India now and am just unable to go all the way to Montreal for HT. Friends tell me HT in India is quite good nowadays (just they don't have the experience I do :)). I have seen many people with shabby HTs here. But then they did not research the subject nor did they know what to expect. I know there are others, who get a great HT done, but they have put in the research work. My expectations are high so wanted to ask the knowledgeable here on Dr. Bhatti or others in India, on who is world-class in terms of results, consistency, experience, tools used, etc.. Would appreciate your thoughts folks! Ultrafine hair transplant, mega density and superior hairlines are all important. Thanks, Sean -
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Incredibly frustrating experience - Matt Zupan/Dr. Shapiro
ash1983 posted a topic in Hair Transplant Experiences and Surgeon Reviews
Male, 30 years old, had hair transplant procedure with Dr. Paul Shapiro on 12/19/13. Its been seven months and I am not seeing any hair growth. As the pictures posted on my profile illustrate, the hair growth has been patchy, and less than 33% of the hair transplanted has started growing. Needless to say, when I called the Shapiro clinic yesterday for my post op appointment, I was frustrated with the progress so far. Instead of listening to my concerns, their representative Matt Zupan does the following: 1. Matt starts off the call by telling me how fantastic my hair growth has been so far. It is obvious he hasn't seen my pictures, since most people can look at my pictures and conclude that the growth is far from "fantastic" 2. Then, once I ask if I should use Minoxidil (Rogaine) to stimulate hair growth, he starts blaming me for not using Minoxidil from right after the surgery, and Matt mentions that the handout/videos state that using Minoxidil is mandatory. 3. He then proceeds to create a theory that the transplanted hair is growing well, and the reason I still look bald is that my native hair is falling. I then have to remind Matt to look at my file, since I clearly mentioned before my surgery that I have been on Avodart (Dutasteride - 0.5mg) since 2010. 4. At this stage, I am incredibly frustrated, since Matt has not looked at my medical records, or looked closely at my pictures, and he is trying to pin the lack of hair growth on me. Before the call ends, Matt again asks me to email him the medications I am on, something I already told the Shapiro group the day of my surgery. I am ok with spending $10000, and living my life with a big scar on my scalp. What I am not ok with, is the utter lack of professionalism displayed by Matt Zupan. At this stage, I have no other option but to pray and hope for hair growth, or be back under the knife. -
Really Struggling With My Hair Loss - Please Help
jjsrader replied to hanginginthewire's topic in Support Group - Discuss personal issues due to Hair Loss
Yea, this forum is pro-transplants for sure. Anything beyond NW5 is mostly about 'reasonable expectations' after all there is only so much hair you can replace that is lost - however, those w/very favorable hair characteristics who are NW5 or NW6 'skew' the results in my opinion. For example, on hair forums the vast amount of photograph evidence is from doctors or patients that get very good cosmetic results (even w/advanced baldness) vs the amount of pics we see that are not so good. That's a fact. For example, take a look at Dr. Bernstein and a few other doctor's websites (Shapiro/H&W) that feature ALOT of NW5/NW6 results and take a good hard look and think to yourself w/your own hair characteristics and long-term hairloss pattern if those are results that would seem good to you if you did 3 FUE surgeries? I don't recommend hair transplants to anyone - but that doesn't mean my opinion is any more valid than the many people who have had hair-restoration surgery and been completely satisfied with it. My entire family male history on both sides are all NW5's/6's and 7's - someone like me who began losing his hair at age 21 should probably not ever start going down the hair transplant road. I waited until I was 23 years old to begin. Even w/the arsenal of meds & stuff I am on (in my profile) I have only managed to slow down my long-term hairloss slightly (and I have been on alot of stuff for 20+ years). 8.6K+ hair transplants w/fine straight hair doesn't look NEARLY as full as someone like Bill (managing publisher) who has wavy thick hair. That's just a fact. My expectations have diminished as I have gotten older, yet I will be having another surgery in Feb '19 because I want enough hair in my frontal hairband and 1/3rd of my head to have enough hair to create the illusion of a near-normal head of hair. After that final FUT I'll finish off w/FUE - but this is my personal journey and the FUE will be for my midscalp to the back of my mid-vertex. I'll have to let my crown slowly lose but have a 'base' of grafts to keep the natural crown whirl. Even w/13K of grafts w/my type of hair (fine/straight on very white skin) the contrast created doesn't create the illusion of a full head of hair throughout my entire head of hair. Of course w/a bit of dermmatch and/or hair volumizing fibers and such it looks pretty near normal - but that can be a pain in the ass everyday as well (which I don't do on a regular basis). Even w/temporary SMP or even permanent ink via Mark Weston that is NOT exactly like natural regular density hair - there is no magic bullet. PRP and laser helmets are still not well documented. So, it never really ends, in a manner of speaking. It is all about personal perspective and realistic expectations under all lighting conditions etc... All I know is that if you are commited to the long haul and are not taking any systemic meds/topicals/hair laser/prp or whatever to slow down hairloss - is that hairloss is progressive (the severity depending on your genetics and family history) and anything can happen when you are much older. -
Dr. Konior or Dr. Shapiro-First hair transplant
Dino5467 posted a topic in Hair Transplant Experiences and Surgeon Reviews
Hello. Please help me decide between Dr. Konior and Dr Shapiro for my first hair transplant. I live in Chicago so Dr. Konior is close, but also Dr. Shapiro is a short flight away. I'm intereted only in FUE ( I keep my hair short). I have average to below average donor area, so every single graft counts. Your feedback is greatly appreciated based on your experience or what you know. Thanks -
FUE at Shapiro
Melvin-Moderator replied to det9925's topic in Hair Transplant Experiences and Surgeon Reviews
Dr. Josephitis is the surgeon who performs all of the FUE extractions at Shapiro Medical Clinic, he is a pre-screened recommended surgeon. You can see his results on his doctor profile here: Patient Results -
"Wobbly" vs Straight Hairlines
Melvin-Moderator replied to TrixGlendevon's topic in Hair Restoration Questions and Answers
Hairlines in nature contain macro and micro irregularity, this gives the hairline the soft look. Macro-Irregularities are broad changes on the hairline and micro-irregularities are small and subtle changes to the hairline. No hairline is straight that is abnormal and does not look natural. Now the shape of the hairline itself can be straight but still contain macro and micro irregularities. I have posted three examples, one of a guy with a really bad hair transplant, unnaturally low and too straight. The other two gentlemen are guys how have been blessed with full heads of hair and no recession, you see the hairlines are not straight, there are both macro (larger) changes and micro (smaller) changes along the hairline. The hairlines look soft and youthful as opposed to abrupt and artificial. Dr. Shapiro, has an article he published that is a very good read, I suggest you guys read it, it is very educational. http://shapiromedical.com/recognition/smg-published-articles/principles-techniques-used-to-create-a-natural-hairline-in-surgical-hair-restoration/
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