California Docs?

[wisenow]

I'm a gal looking for a good doc to do an eyebrow transplant in California. Any you guys/gals have a recommendation?

[wisenow]

I'm a gal looking for a good doc to do an eyebrow transplant in California. Any you guys/gals have a recommendation?

[something]

from the limited info about eyebrow restoration, i think this guy is recommended

 

http://www.hairtransplant.com/subnewportbeach.htm

[wisenow]

Thanks for the response! I'll check it out.

[Bill - Seemiller]

wisenow,

 

Just make sure you read up on eyebrow transplantation before taking the plunge.

 

Bill

[Felicity]

Do not go to Dr. Jeff Epstein in Fl. for an eyebrow transplant. I had one done in 06 and it looks horrendous. It is all a lie that the hairs can be controlled to go in just the right direction. They do not. I cut mine extremely short and then they look like stubble. If I don't and the hair is long, they stick out in all directions or look like a cowlick. He does not care either and will not answer me as to any suggestions of what to do now. He just writes these short emails back, if he answers at all, and says everything is fine. When pressed about it, he says they should have grown better. But I am the one stuck with this mess. I am disgusted with the whole experience. My brows looked better before I went to do this and my before pictures are so....much better. I think I lost some of my natural hairs when I had this done too. Noone told me that might happen. He told me practically nothing about what to expect and was hardly in the room except to put the slits in and check it after. If you do this, you will have to trim them every 3 days. He told me a month, which is a joke. I am currently looking for someone to fix the mess. I would consult with Dr. Beehner in NY or Dr. Bauman in Fl. Dr. Beehner is very nice and I have never met Dr. Bauman yet. I am currently doing research on doctors. I would probably tell you not to do it unless yours are really thin. It is not all it is cracked up to be, or else, I had a very bad transplant. There is not many pictures on websites of eyebrow transplants, unfortunately.

[beachair]

You might also consult with Dr. Ken Siporin, who has offices in W. Los Angeles and Westlake.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Felicity,

 

I am sorry to hear of your disappointment.

 

Though I can certainly empathize with you, digging up old threads to warn people not to go to Dr. Epstein looks bad.

 

Have you contacted Dr. Epstein about your dissatisfaction? If not, I encourage you to do so directly. However, if you feel that posting your story publicly is more appropriate, you are welcome to do so. I encourage you to start your own thread and share your experience rather than posting on old threads and we will do our best to help you.

 

However, it is only fair that Dr. Epstein be notified so he is able to share his side of the story. Because of this, I have notified Dr. Epstein of this thread so he can respond.

 

That being said, Felicity, Dr. Epstein is bound by patient confidentiality. He will need your permission to discuss your case openly (without revealing your name). In order to remain fair, I encourage you to give him permission to discuss your case (without revealing your identify). You can contact him directly or feel free to PM me.

 

I believe that Dr. Epstein performs state of the art hair transplantation. Those who use the "find" feature of this community will find many outstanding reviews and testimonies to his work. However, I am sorry to hear of your disappointment. If there is anything I can do to help, let me know.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[hathercali]

Felicity... to give you some background I am new to this forum (as you can see) and "was" considering flying out for an eyebrow transplant with Dr. Epstein after seeing his miraculous results from his site and contacting him via email. I too have existing brows and after years of overplucking need help. First off, thank you for being so bold to post your experience with the procedure. I appreciate your candor and being so proactive to warn others if anything as to the possible side effects you unfortunately encountered. I don't think you are being malicious at all, but rather diligent in warning others of the potential side effects (as I have read in your other thread/posts). Unfortunately people love to read about the good but no the bad, probably because we are all so hopeful we can find a solution to our problem. I would love to hear a bit more about your story,but unfortunately cannot locate the private email you refer to in your other post, and am having trouble sending you a private message on this forum. I know you posted back in 07 so I am hoping you are still active on this site and see my message. I also hope that you were able to find a doctor to help you fix your eyebrow transplant.Look forward to hearing from you best regards.

[Felicity]

Thanks for your inquiry and kind words as to the hope that I am getting some help in improving my situation. I would rather not get into all of the details of the case of the original transplant. It is just depressing to re-live it. I don't know where all of the details are on this forum(that I wrote before) but it is there somewhere. I am working with Dr. Ron Shapiro and he has been wonderful and there has been improvement. I have been out to Minnesota several times and he and his staff is wonderful. We may actually do more to get some more improvement. Janna is the medical coordinator and she is often on this forum, so perhaps you can touch base with her about your situation. She is great and really went out of her way to talk to me alot when I first did the original transplant. I am just so thankful for them. I don't know what I would have done if I had not found them because it was all so depressing. I would definitely talk to them about your situation. You do not want to make a wrong move because it is a lifelong commitment because of the maintenance and it will never be like having your own native hair but he would be the one I would trust to get it as good as possible with these things. I also had alot of shock loss which was a real disappointment too. Suffice it to say that I think you should talk to them. They are obviously well aware of all of the potential problems and they are very familiar with me and the issues that I had. So-feel free to send an update to me if you want. Good luck.

[kswann]

Felicity,

I just read your most recent post in January. I, too am not happy with my eyebrow transplant results. I had mine done in CA, not with Dr. Epstein and I am not even saying that the doctor did anything wrong to lead to my dissatisfaction. (Maybe the transplanted head hair is too fine and this is why they stick straight out???) Whatever the case may be, I just want to find a solution. I pay more than $200 a month to go to an eyebrow "guru" and she helps me maintain and straighten them chemically. But to be quite honest, the time it takes to do this and the expense are both getting old very quickly. I have to slather thick wax on my eyebrows every hour or so or they will stick straight out! it is horrible! I have even looked into trying to get the process reversed! As thin as my eyebrows were before the surgery, I would give ANYTHING to have them back to the way they were previously! I am open to ANY suggestions that you may have. I see that you had your surgery back in '07, so maybe yours has gotten better? Even that would give me hope!!

 

I hope to hear back from you!

 

Karen

[Felicity]

I am so sorry to hear about the troubles you are having with your transplant. I have never heard of chemically straightening your eyebrows-interesting...so you still have to use thick gel to keep them down? Wow! I do understand your frustration. I, too, would do ANYTHING to go back to the time before my transplant. My eyebrows were somewhat thin, but I would gladly go back. As you already read, my initial transplant was terrible. If I posted my pictures on here, noone would get one. Anyway, I am coming from the standpoint of someone who has had to do a major repair-basically take the old out and put in new. The whole thing has made me want to scream. I can hardly believe I got myself into this. Yes, Dr. Shapiro and staff have been terrific and I have no idea what I would have done without them because I was very depressed. My transplant is much better now-we have done electrolysis and also put more in after that-a long process-but worth it-because it is alot better. One eyebrow is actually pretty decent and lays pretty flat and I don't need to gel it to death. The other one needs more improvement-we have to work on that one some more. Dr. Shapiro is willing to keep working on this-he is a very patient and compassionate guy. The problem brow is still springy and I have to gel it quite a bit still so that it will lay down flat but if I leave it longer it lays down better. So-I guess the answer to your question is yes, some lays flat and some needs help-but he has had to correct it little by little. As he told me, it will never look like native hair and I wish I had known all the possible issues other than that I had to cut it. Hairs tend to protrude off the skin unlike native hairs and native hair is softer. We may do some laser to make it softer. So-as for yours, you say it is fairly thin caliber hair and does not stay down? Interesting-mine was extremely thick and ugly when I had it done initially. I doubt if the hair will change and lay flatter but I would try keeping them longer and also running a toothbrush through them at night with hairspray on it and sleep with the hairspray on them and they may learn to lay down a little better. I did that initially and I think it worked a little but mine were very thick and looked like spiders. With thinner hair you could see if it works. I would also try finding some men's hair gel that would not be shiny. I have tried women's gel and it shines and looks packed together and unnatural. Mine stays down pretty well with the regular eyebrow gel. I just hate how I have to leave it a little longer on one and it looks packed together -this is all alot of trial and error so I don't know what will work for you. I would be interested in more information about the chemical procedure you do every month. Also-did you have alot of grafts put in? You could also call Dr. Shapiro and see if he could improve your situation. But, yes, I regret this alot and I hate the thought of this annoyance for the rest of my life, but at least it has improved. I would give all of my money to go back to prior to the transplant. Feel free to contact me again-because I do understand your frustration.

[Felicity]

Hi-how are things going? Any better? Do your eyebrows improve in their look after the chemical straightening? That was interesting. I agree that this is a pain. Keep in touch.