Best Surgen?

[yeti]

Hi there all,

I'm 29,living in London and losing my hair in the front temples, I've been taking finesteride for many years now and have been using minoxidil for even longer, I've been reading up on tp's and have consulted Dr Jeff Epstein who has recommended 2400 -2600 grafts at $10.000 taken from a strip. My main aim is to have the best man or woman in this field to perform a tp but also to do so in a way that will take into consideration the worsed case senario i.e further receeding! (I could live with balding at the back of my head when im older as long as it can be made to look natural if you catch my drift)

So i guess im asking,

 

1. Whos the best Dr in this field,

2. What is a realistic average of scaring to expect from Donar site, especially with HITS

3. What results can I realistically expect?

 

Any info anyone wants to offer up please do I'm all Ears.

 

In Advance

Many thanks

[yeti]

Hi there all,

I'm 29,living in London and losing my hair in the front temples, I've been taking finesteride for many years now and have been using minoxidil for even longer, I've been reading up on tp's and have consulted Dr Jeff Epstein who has recommended 2400 -2600 grafts at $10.000 taken from a strip. My main aim is to have the best man or woman in this field to perform a tp but also to do so in a way that will take into consideration the worsed case senario i.e further receeding! (I could live with balding at the back of my head when im older as long as it can be made to look natural if you catch my drift)

So i guess im asking,

 

1. Whos the best Dr in this field,

2. What is a realistic average of scaring to expect from Donar site, especially with HITS

3. What results can I realistically expect?

 

Any info anyone wants to offer up please do I'm all Ears.

 

In Advance

Many thanks

[Jotronic]

Yeti,

 

You know, you're asking some really common sense answers that unfortunately do not have easy answers.

 

You've taken the first steps to finding your path with online research. This is a good thing. Your second step is realizing, like you must have already, that travel is usually necessary to find the right doc for this type of procedure due to the low number of overall qualified surgeons that are consistent with their results.

 

To answer your questions I can only say that you need to continue with your research as you will get varied opinions from each forum member. For instance, to answer question # 1, I would say Hasson & Wong are the best but not because I work for them. I was a patient way before I decided to make this a full time endeavor. Do a search on my username for my history or do a Google search for my username to find my website. The biggest sessions, most dense packing, most coverage, best hairlines, best temple points, best crown whorls; Dr. Hasson and Dr. Wong deliver consistently and you will be hard pressed to find anyone that says otherwise. Others will undoubtedly have their favorite for whatever reason but you will always find H&W on any educated consumer's list of who to at least consider as being tops.

 

Realistic average scarring? With a top clinic, anywhere from 1mm to 3mm, depending on your physiology and how you heal. With trichophytic closure of the donor area you may receive a scar with less width than non-tricho but not by much. It does tend to help in limiting the width of scars vs. non-tricho methods but the real beauty of tricho is that you will have native donor hair growing through the scar making it extremely hard to detect. It's a great development that is a true step forward for the industry.

 

What results can you realistically expect? That's a shot in the dark as I don't know, visually, what your hairloss is like. In general you should expect a wide variety of results from the number of docs performing HT's. The results can resemble a circus act or a Rembrandt to be completely honest. Find a doc that is CONSISTENT with his results, not just by his own presentation, but by patients sharing their stories and results. You can't ask for better info than from the patients themselves.

 

Research, research, research. The internet is your friend if you know what to look out for. Good luck and keep us posted of your thoughts and ideas as to what you think you may do.

[yeti]

Jotronic

 

Thanks for the advice,this really is one of the hardest decisions I've had to make for a long time and one I'll have to live with even longer!!!

 

All the help gained is slowly leading me (I hope)in the right way!

 

Many thanks

[hairbank]

Originally posted by yeti:

1. Whos the best Dr in this field,

2. What is a realistic average of scaring to expect from Donar site, especially with HITS

3. What results can I realistically expect?

 

 

1. Use the Coalition Surgeons link at the top of this page to research the quality Docs recommended by this site. I used Hasson and Wong for my recent HT...................for true mega sessions I believe them to be unbeatable at this time. My advice to you would be to consult with several and try to look at some of their patients who've had similar loss to you for comparison. For a session of 2000-3000 I think there are several which will do excellent work. If you need 4000+ (and it sounds as if you may not) I think H&W is the way to go.

 

2. With the tricho closure method performed by many of the top Doc's your scar shouldn't be an issue. Some posters seem to be concerned about shaving their head at some point after a HT. If you have this idea, don't get a HT. Even with tricho closure you're going to have a thin scar. I'm just over 2 months post-op from a HT and can clip down to 1/2" (or lower if I want) and you can't see my scar. Hopefully this gives you an idea of what to expect.

 

3. Results will vary. I'm fond of this Graft Calculator as a useful tool in assisting you to determine the number of grafts necessary for a dense appearance. You need at least 45-55 grafts per sq cm for the appearance of dense coverage. Most will opt for 45-55 sq cm in the front and maybe the top then tapering down to 25-35 sq cm if you have crown work (which it sounds like you don't need). I say "appearance" of dense hair because you'll never have the density you had before losing your hair. Not trying to psyche you out thinking it's not worth it as there are some AMAZING transformations out there. Check out Bobman on this site or the above poster, Jotronic (hairtransplantmentor.com).........pretty amazing stuff.

 

Good luck with your research and decision.

[Jeffrey Epstein MD, FACS]

Dear Yeti- Not sure if you have had an opportunity to speak with or even meet any of my patients who live in the UK. Please let Roxy from my office know if you would like for us to arrange for this. As far as scarring goes, the trichophytic technique, which I have presented most recently at an international hair meeting, helps to reduce scarring.

 

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Epstein, MD, FACS

[yeti]

Thanks for all the advice guys,

Still at sixes and sevens over whether to do this or not, My main concern I guess is what if after my HT (at the front at temples)I receed/lose all my hair? Questions I know only time can tell! will this be able to be made to look like natural loss at the back of my head and the front (the HT )was there all along?

silly questions maybe but would like your thoughts!

 

Once again thanks

[Alexander]

Yeti,

 

What are your long-term goals/plans for getting transplants? Do you want strip surgery or FUE? How stabilized is your hairloss? What is your family history with regards to hairloss? If the transplant doesn't work out as you'd hoped, or if you continue to bald, are you prepared to live with the results? Are you prepared to get more transplants as you bald if you need to? There are many more questions to ask, but these are some of the more common ones. Also, definitely try to see in-person results of as many patients as you can, and definitely don't do any work done until you've seen results, as pictures do not paint a full, er, picture.