Potential Recommendation of Dr. Sanusi Umar of Redondo Beach, CA

[Pat - Community Publisher]

Dear forum members,

 

We'd like to gather your input and opinions regarding the potential recommendation of Dr. Sanusi Umar of Redondo Beach, California on the Hair Transplant Network.

 

Dr. Umar has established a reputation for being arguably the world's foremost expert on BHT (body hair transplant ??“ transferring body hair follicles to balding areas of the scalp). In recent weeks he has presented numerous examples of his BHT procedure on this forum (see below for links to these photo albums), in which patients who had depleted scalp donor hair, achieved remarkable improvement with body hair transferred to their scalp. His patients have also come forward to present their impressive FUE results.

 

In an effort to learn more about BHT, I recently visited with and observed Dr. Umar performing his surgery. I was very impressed with his work and Dr. Umar's dedication to personally doing all the tedious FUE/BHT work at very modest prices. See the highlights from my visit to Dr. Umar's office, click here.

 

Dr. Umar developed a passion for alternative hair transplant procedures due to a botched 400 graft strip surgery he endured years ago. His personal dedication has helped motivate him to excel while enduring unfair criticism from some of his BHT competitors.

 

Dr. Umar has a background in dermatology and has been perfecting FUE and BHT procedures since 2005, with over 150 BHT procedures performed to date. Recognizing that not everyone is suited for BHT, Dr. Umar uses very strict criteria in determining who is an appropriate candidate.

 

In Dr. Umar's experience more body hair is required to provide the same amount of coverage as normal scalp hair, due to the long resting phase of body hair. Dr. Umar often takes a comprehensive approach by creating a unique blend of scalp hair and body hair used as "filler" when appropriate. Dr Umar also extracts and places all FUE and BHT grafts himself.

 

Using a 0.9 mm or less punch, Dr. Umar first scores the skin and then uses a needle to separate the root of the follicle from the surrounding tissues. Dr. Umar believes this process reduces scarring and minimizes the risk of transection that might result if he attempted extend the punch down to the base of the follicle for extraction.

 

In my opinion, Dr. Umar's use of BHT gives qualified patients with depleted scalp resources a viable alternative in restoring their hair and he should be considered for recommendation.

 

Dr. Umar's Patient and Surgical photos can be found below:

 

15000 BHT and FUE Hybrid for a NW6 at 9 months with Video

10000 BHT Extreme Repair Case with Video

3000 FUE and BHT Hybrid at 7 Months

22000 Grafts (15000 body, 6000 beard, 1000 head) Repair Case at 6 Months

3000 Grafts via Scalp FUE

600 Grafts via Scalp FUE

 

Additional Photos Added by Request

 

1200 Grafts scalp FUE - African American Male - 8 Months

 

I welcome input and comments from forum members regarding his potential recommendation.

 

To view our standards for recommendation, click here.

 

To learn more about this communities process of prescreening physicians, click here .

[wylie]

I've visited his clinic, discussed my situation with him and am planning a session with him. I've followed his work on another forum and after over 6 months of study and following conversations and viewing pictures of his patients I have always been impressed.

 

I believe he provides a very unique service to the HT community and would definitely like to see him included in the circle of recommended physicians.

[something]

From what i have seen and heard, i am all in favor of his recommendation.

[Guest wanthairs]

I think Dr. Umar is a true genius from the reent video........When I can afford it, after I have spent my head donor supply I will go to him for the rest......

[Guest]

Hi Pat.

Are patients of Dr Umar allowed to 'recommend'?

Or are we disqualified due to obvious bias...

 

H f H

[Bill - Seemiller]

Hooray for Hair,

 

We especially want to hear from his patients, so please, feel free to share your thoughts

 

Bill

[PLEASE GROW PLEASE]

Bill ever see this guys final results

http://hair-restoration-info.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/746...861/m/9081019582/p/2

[PLEASE GROW PLEASE]

This has got to be one of the toughest choices for you Pat in quite awhile as far as a recommedation. Ill be honest Im torn.

If we base it on scalp fue only cases I would say no because there just isnt enough evidence from him

 

If we base it on the transformations hes given truly desperate men I would say yes.

 

If you were the kind of guy that started recommending guys and just left them there and never removed anyone I would say no also.

I leave this up to you because I know youll remove him if warranted.

It would be really nice if he posted some different pics then the same ones I have seen circulating for quite awhile on other sites ..

This is your call. Im content either way.

[Atticus]

I would definitely recommend Dr.Umar. His work, dedication, and effort in keep prices reasonable demonstrate his dedication to helping people, rather than just making lots of money. Apart from his obvious talent, he is honest and caring. I say this with all sincerity. Pat, you stated you went to visit Dr. Umar at his office. I am sure you saw his pride in showing you his state of the art equipment, and thoroughly explaing what a certain piece of equipment is used for. He does not believe in a cookie cutter approach, but believes in custom equipment for different procedures, different body types, races, etc. He has shown his patients (including me) this equipment because they are tools that help him transform lives, and they help him do it extremely well. Could he cut corners and charge more for what he does? I am sure he could, but he does not.

 

My conclusion? Dr.Umar embodies talent with intergrity. Case closed.

 

Atticus

[Guest]

Thanks Bill.

I honestly can't recommend Dr Umar enough.

I know the word ethics and honesty are too easily thrown around without proof, but having not only dealt with him twice now, but also spoken to numerous ex-patients and witnessed his dealings with people in general, I can't stress enough how these terms apply to Dr Umar.

 

Add to this the skill that he's demonstrated with his remarkable FUE abilities (experienced personally by myself) and his frankly astounding BHT transformations on patients that, I'm positive, had given up any hope of ever looking "normal" again, and you have a truly remarkable man.

 

I can't think of a better candidate for inclusion. He deserves it so much, in my (occasionally less-than-humble ) opinion!

 

Sincerest regards

 

Hooray for Hair

[Bill - Seemiller]

It's great to see so much interest in Dr. Umar's potential recommendation. I too have been very impressed with what I've seen and heard.

 

The fact that we have two of his FUE patients who have documented their progress with us over the last several months unsolicited and are very happy only solidifies my thinking.

 

Just today, I broadcasted Dr. Umar's potential recommendation in our forum newsletter (click here to learn how to subscribe) extending the invitation for others to offer their feedback. This collaborative effort will help us determine if Dr. Umar truly meets our standards for recommendation. See How We Recommend Hair Transplant Physicians.

 

PGP,

 

I understand your concerns, which is why our recommendation process is fully transparent giving all members a chance to offer their feedback about all potential recommendations. I appreciate both your concerns and your faith in our judgement.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[hairthere]

After seeing some of his repair cases especially I would give him a big thumbs up. does he offer strip as well? i would like to see more of it if so; there is plenty of his fue and bht work available for viewing.

[Guest]

Truly remarkable! I don't see how anyone could not be impressed with Dr. Umar's work in these videos and photographs.

[dabuski]

In an industry were so many have been subjected to poor and disfiguring work ,i would like to give my vote for the recommendation of Dr Umar.

His unique approach to HT surgery offers a definite path to corrective options for poorly performed procedures.

[P.J]

From what I have seen, heard and read about Dr Umar - he is a talented and caring Dr

 

I would give my vote for him

 

 

 

PJ

[M&M]

I think Dr. Umar comes across as a very caring and talented surgeon. I suppose my only reservation is with the long-term results of BHT. Do we have any? Does it still look good 18-months, 24-months, 36-months later?

 

Also, I would still like to see more FUE results before making a decision.

 

Based upon the other discussion topic 'Impossible Repair', I was under the impression we would see more results before voting?

[Bill - Seemiller]

Thank you to everyone for offering your feedback so far. It's quite obvious that Dr. Umar has impressed this patient community.

 

M&M,

 

Thank you for posting your concerns. In the thread you referred to, we were waiting for Dr. Umar to present a few scalp only FUE cases. Since that time, 2 of his FUE patients came forward and reminded us about their unsolicited shared experiences with photos posted several months ago (see Atticus and Hooray and links to their albums in Pat's original post).

 

However, we are a results based community and like to make decisions based on as much evidence as possible. Therefore I've sent Dr. Umar an email asking him to post a couple additional FUE examples on our forum.

 

I encourage members to continue offering their feedback. Given the great feedback we've received so far, I trust we'll make a final decision on his recommendation by the middle of this coming week with or without additional examples of work.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

 

P.S. Hairthere, Dr. Umar offers FUE and BHT only. He doesn't do strip surgery.

[Guest]

Originally posted by M&M:

I think Dr. Umar comes across as a very caring and talented surgeon. I suppose my only reservation is with the long-term results of BHT. Do we have any? Does it still look good 18-months, 24-months, 36-months later?

 

Also, I would still like to see more FUE results before making a decision.

 

Based upon the other discussion topic 'Impossible Repair', I was under the impression we would see more results before voting?

 

Hi M & M.

While I was at Dr Umar's surgery on the 9th of this month, I finally met up with SOFARSOGOOD, one of the Doctors patients from roughly two years ago, and his hair looks phenomenal!

However I don't think he actually posts on this forum.

Dr Umar had used leg hair to refine his pluggy hairline, and his hair is now long and confidently swept back into a ponytail due to how good his hairline looks.

I was very impressed.

[Dr. Alan Feller]

If maximum results, consistency of results, and utilization of proven state of the art techniques are the criteria for recommendation on HTN, then I'm sorry to say that Dr. Umar does not yet qualify.

 

FUE and BHT are still experimental procedures and have not yet proven themselves as alternatives to mainstream HT techniques. The scarcity of results from Dr. Umar's clinic and that of every other mega-FUE/BHT clinic is irrefutable evidence of this.

 

Posting "hopeless" cases and telling the story of the herculean effort utilized to produce mild improvements is interesting, but it is not new, and it has already been shown to be a failure by at least 5 other clinics worldwide (my own included).

 

Most patients coming to this site are not the "hopeless" variety. They are usually virgin heads or those in need of mild repair seeking information on doctors who have demonstrated top of the line RESULTS on a CONSISTENT basis. Unfortunately, neither Dr. Umar nor the techniques he exclusively employs have demonstrated this level of accomplishment.

 

To become "recommended", a doctor must first demonstrate a mastery of the mainstream method of hair transplantation. To date that means STRIP surgery with the exclusive use of follicular units prepared under microscopes by an experienced TEAM of technicians. Furthermore, they have to PROVE they have been performing high quality work for YEARS prior to even being considered for recommendation status by showing many "blow your hair back" before/after photos.

 

Dr. Umar has done none of these things, and while I certainly believe he has the energy and ability to do so in the future should he decide to accept the primacy of strip surgery, he has not done so to date and therefore cannot even be considered for inclusion on the "recommended" list of HTN.

 

Working on "hopeless" cases is interesting, but his patients do NOT represent the majority of patients seeking information on this site. Virtually NONE would be satisfied with the results demonstrated by his mega-FUE/BHT techniques.

 

I'm sure the few "hopeless" cases Dr. Umar posted are thrilled with ANY improvement he can afford them at any price, but the AVERAGE patient receiving such mild improvement would be screaming for their money back...and rightly so.

 

To confer "recommended status" on any doctor who exclusively utilizes FUE/BHT is to

mislead newbie readers of this site that such results are on par with strip surgery. Since this is NOT true, Dr. Umar should not be recommended on this site.

 

Accepting any exclusive FUE/BHT doctor for recommendation would lower the standards of this site and dilute its credibility in my opinion.

 

Dr. Feller

[Dr. Alan Feller]

Pat,

Aside from my post above, I believe a few things from your post need to be clarified.

 

Your wrote:

"Dr. Umar has established a reputation for being arguably the world's foremost expert on BHT (body hair transplant ??“ transferring body hair follicles to balding areas of the scalp). "

 

BHT is not an established discipline and as such I believe it is misleading to say anyone is an "expert". This would give a newbie a false impression about BHT and it's place in the hair transplant industry. In fact, most BHT are failures and even the successes are by and large mild at best and very very inconsistent.

 

Your wrote:

"In Dr. Umar's experience more body hair is required to provide the same amount of coverage as normal scalp hair"

 

Not one reported body hair case to date has ever provided the same amount of coverage as normal scalp hair in ANY number. None of the Umar clinic results demonstrate this either.

 

 

You wrote:

"Using a 0.9 mm or less punch, Dr. Umar first scores the skin and then uses a needle to separate the root of the follicle from the surrounding tissues. Dr. Umar believes this process reduces scarring and minimizes the risk of transection that might result if he attempted extend the punch down to the base of the follicle for extraction"

 

The way this reads a newbie might think that Dr. Umar invented this technique when in fact he did not. I did.

1.I reported this technique here almost word for word on HTN in 2002,

2.demonstrated it an ISHRS surgical workshop in 2003,

3.was credited with it's invention in the 4th edition of the textbook "Hair Transplantation" where it was described by Dr. Unger in black and white in 2004,

4. and was granted a U.S. patent on the technique issued in my name in 2006.

 

No inventor wants to see someone else get the credit for their patented innovations and I am making this post to set the record straight. This is seperate and apart from my first post about Dr. Umar's consideration for recommendation.

 

Dr. Feller

[Pat - Community Publisher]

Dr. Feller,

 

I appreciate your input and the concerns you have expressed. I have long shared your concern that FUE and BHT not be oversold, as it certainly was by physicians other than Dr. Umar.

 

I would never present Dr. Umar's BHT/FUE procedure on this site as a mainstream alternative for patients with good scalp donor nor would Dr. Umar. One of the reasons I'm impressed with Dr. Umar, in addition to his dedication and skill, is his honest presentation of the benefits and limitations of his procedure.

 

With tens of thousands of hair loss sufferers visiting this community each week, some of them need an alternative to conventional strip surgery. In my opinion, Dr. Umar can serve this niche. I think there should be a place for him and his procedure on this broad based community.

 

For those in particular who have been "through the mill" and have no other options for restoring a natural look other than using body hair, I'd like to be able to provide them with a viable option. As long as these patients have a realistic understanding of the pros and cons of this procedure and its risks and limitations, I think it is time to make it available and known.

 

Best regards, Pat

[Dewayne]

Dr. Feller,

 

While I think you must have industrial size balls for posting the above response, I must say I agree with you. While the results posted look fantastic, I would worry about the average hair loser from California jumping on this site and randomnly picking Dr. Umar and becoming dissatisfied. That is IF the doctor specializes only in the "hopeless" cases described. That certainly deserves some debate as to whether he should be recommended.

 

With that said, he certainly is genius in taking that group and vastly improving their appearance. And for that, he is to be applauded in my opinion.

[Dr. Alan Feller]

Mega-FUE and BHT are experiemental, and they are failing experiments at that.

 

Endorsing anyone for recommendation whose pateints are witting or unwitting subjects of an experiment is a mistake.

 

Very few patients fall into the "hopeless" catagory, and just because they do does not mean that mega-FUE/BHT can help them. In just about every case it doesn't. Success utilizing these techniques are the rare exception, not the rule.

 

Giving any special recognition to any exclusive mega-FUE/BHT practitioners raises them and their faulty technqiues to a higher level they have not legitimately attained and this status WILL mislead newbies who are eager to grasp onto anything that may give them their hair back.

 

What I am about to write may seem bold and insulting, it is not meant to be but it must be said. While Dr. Umar may in fact have performed more BHT than any other doctor, I'm willing to bet he also has the highest number of failures to go along with it. If he can refute this statement with 30 convincing before/after photos (only 20% of his reported case number), then I will back off. But if he has performed 150 bht surgeries to date and the best we have seen is the few you've posted for him on this thread, then no BHT practitioner deserves ANY niche on this or any other site in my opinion.

[Dr. Alan Feller]

Dewayne,

I agree that he should be commended for taking on such patients. And as long as he limits his practice to such extremely rare pateints I would offer no complaints.In fact, I would personally SEND him patients, but there is too much room for confusion here.

 

I also have to disagree with you that his patients have "vastly" improved. That's simply not true.

 

Even though I know speaking out as I do may strike some as too bold or even self serving (the usual charge), this is not a popularity contest. I speak the truth no matter whose feelings it may hurt. As Pat himself once noted I don't "sugercoat" information. That is the scientific way and it is also the only honest way to communicate. It is transparent. I am just as open to attack and criticism by any and everyone.

 

When a clinic decides to bill itself as "pioneering" and "expert" in modern hair transplantation but only offers mega-FUE/BHT sessions then a big red flag is being raised that no knowledgable member of this community should ignore. I don't hold Dr. Umar or any other FUE practitioners to standards I don't hold myself to.

 

If Dr. Umar wants to be recognized as an "expert" in HT, then he should learn how to perform HT by setting up a clinic, training a team (which takes years), and perfecting the mainstream techniques BEFORE jumping to experimental procedures like FUE/BHT and charging the public for it. There are no shortcuts and he like everyone else must pay his dues first.

 

Don't forget, just because a patient is considered "hopeless" by him doesn't mean mega-FUE/BHT will help them. That is a false assumption and one that permiates almost every discussion about fue/bht patients.

 

If Dr. Umar or any other mega-FUE/BHT doctor can claim to have invented a revolutionary tool to remove grafts safely, then I would sit back and wait for the results to come in.

 

But Dr. Umar has not done this. He used my techniques and claimed them as his own employing the well known "brute force" techniques that have already been shown to be dead ends for several other clinics.

 

The bottomline are convincing and consistent RESULTS. The ones presented do not fit into this catagory and I would expect to have seen hundreds more, if not a thousand, by the mega-FUE/BHT practitioners by now.

[blowdry]

I a gree with Dr. Feller. If you do not have enough donor hair, then cut your hair short and live with it. Having your body hair on top looks worse. Sometimes the truth is not what someone wants to hear, but must be said in a respectful way. Thanks Dr. Feller for speaking out.