Dr. Pistone

[hairlossat49]

I've been reading this forum for awhile and have seen many ask about Dr. Pistone, out of S. jersey. Well, I have some thoughts to share about my HT with this guy.

 

First, i have no pictures to show, sorry. However, what I am about to say is true. I have no reason to lie.

 

I made my appointment last October, 2006. It was about a :45 minute drive from my place to his office. It is a very nice office and had a friendly staff. Once there, you are met by Dr. Pistone's "hair consultant" who turns out to be nothing more than a retired barber. He brings you into his office and begins the hair loss history lesson. You then get the tired photo album with pictures of all the satisfied customers. then comes the sell. After being told what type of hair loss I have, I then am presented with a quote written on the back of this guys business card. At no point are you told how many grafts I am being quoted.

 

Being a noob, I fail to ask that question. At no point do you meet Dr. Pistone, ever. After the soft sell, I leave his office and see a current patient at the desk. I ask him about his experience and he seems to be very satisfied, although this was his second transplant. With that in mind, I leave and contact Dr. Pistone a few weeks later to schedule my HT.

 

I arrive on my appointed day and decide to get all local anesthesia so I can drive my self home later that night. There a few people milling about the surgical area and I am given a few valium to calm down. Dr. Pistone comes in a few minutes later to give me a needle on the back of my head. Everything is going as planned, no problems.

 

After a few minutes, the anesthesia takes hold and Dr. Pistone comes back in to start the process. the cut a thin strip off the back of my head and he begins making the small incisions where the transplanted hair will go. Once that is done, he leaves and his asistants begin placing the follicles in the small incisions. At no point do I see Dr. Pistone again. the people placing the follicles are all very young people totally engaged with each other and I feel as if I'm a piece of furniture waiting for them to complete the process. Once that is done, they wash my hair and place a black shower cap on my head and say good luck.

 

I was told after 6 months they would contact with for a follow up appointment, never got the call. I watched as the months rolled by never really seeing much difference in my hair. After 12 months, I have very diffuse thin hairs growing in the transplanted areas. I finally found out I had about 1550 grafts which cost $6k. Needless to say, I am very unhappy with the whole process and will not use him again. Apologies for not having any pics.

[hairlossat49]

I've been reading this forum for awhile and have seen many ask about Dr. Pistone, out of S. jersey. Well, I have some thoughts to share about my HT with this guy.

 

First, i have no pictures to show, sorry. However, what I am about to say is true. I have no reason to lie.

 

I made my appointment last October, 2006. It was about a :45 minute drive from my place to his office. It is a very nice office and had a friendly staff. Once there, you are met by Dr. Pistone's "hair consultant" who turns out to be nothing more than a retired barber. He brings you into his office and begins the hair loss history lesson. You then get the tired photo album with pictures of all the satisfied customers. then comes the sell. After being told what type of hair loss I have, I then am presented with a quote written on the back of this guys business card. At no point are you told how many grafts I am being quoted.

 

Being a noob, I fail to ask that question. At no point do you meet Dr. Pistone, ever. After the soft sell, I leave his office and see a current patient at the desk. I ask him about his experience and he seems to be very satisfied, although this was his second transplant. With that in mind, I leave and contact Dr. Pistone a few weeks later to schedule my HT.

 

I arrive on my appointed day and decide to get all local anesthesia so I can drive my self home later that night. There a few people milling about the surgical area and I am given a few valium to calm down. Dr. Pistone comes in a few minutes later to give me a needle on the back of my head. Everything is going as planned, no problems.

 

After a few minutes, the anesthesia takes hold and Dr. Pistone comes back in to start the process. the cut a thin strip off the back of my head and he begins making the small incisions where the transplanted hair will go. Once that is done, he leaves and his asistants begin placing the follicles in the small incisions. At no point do I see Dr. Pistone again. the people placing the follicles are all very young people totally engaged with each other and I feel as if I'm a piece of furniture waiting for them to complete the process. Once that is done, they wash my hair and place a black shower cap on my head and say good luck.

 

I was told after 6 months they would contact with for a follow up appointment, never got the call. I watched as the months rolled by never really seeing much difference in my hair. After 12 months, I have very diffuse thin hairs growing in the transplanted areas. I finally found out I had about 1550 grafts which cost $6k. Needless to say, I am very unhappy with the whole process and will not use him again. Apologies for not having any pics.

[the B spot]

loss49,

 

First, welcome and sorry about your experience.

 

You are the third VERY unhappy person I have seen here, that used Dr. Pistone for a HT.

 

3 times is enough for me to permanently place Pistone on the $#!t list.

 

Here is the good news, you haven't abused your donor with only 1500 grafts transplanted, so you can now chose a Coalition Doc who can help you reach your HT goals with FULL disclosure about what can be accomplished and most importantly, what can't.

 

I think you will find a wealth of information on this site, so spend some time doing research and choose a dr that has a PROVEN track record, and is generally regarded as a Top Doc.

 

I hope this helps and Good Luck!

[hairlossat49]

thanks for that. I am thinking about contacting Dr. Feller. But he is outside of NY, so timing and so forth are my only concerns. I assume I'd have to stay over at some local hotel and come home the next day.

[hairlossat49]

the real kicker was the last email we exchanged. He does respond quickly to email and I asked him this question: At 12 months, will my hair thicken any more. His response: at 12 months, the transplant is at 90% and between 12-18 months you should see another 10%. Granted, that's probably true, but I had written a full paragraph as to my condition and all I got back was a single sentence followed by , Hope that helps!

[NervousNelly]

The real key to this whole process is to educate yourself. Even the best physicians are busy and can't read minds. We as patients have to arrive for a consult with all the necessary key information to ask the appropriate questions. There are HT doctors out there that are just in it for the money and it is forums like this that are invaluable. I feel for you because I too wandered aimlessly into a HT physicians office and left relatively unsatisfied. I look back on things though and only blame myself. You will have no problem doing another procedure in the future with a reputable surgeon that will probably get the results you desire.

I am sorry for your bad experience and have no questions about your intgrity, however I don't feel that we as a community should be quick to blast a physicians skills without photos. No photos are necessary however to make a determination on his business practices and bedside manner. It sounds like those suck. Thanks for the post.

[hairlossat49]

I agree which is why I prefaced my original post with the fact I had no pictures. That being said, I am a very fair person and I guess shouldn't expect total coverage with only 1550 grafts. At 13 months, I don't think I am making a quick judgement, I just felt as if I went to a used car salesman, not a qualified professional.

[NervousNelly]

Point taken John. Thanks

[Guest Cousin_It]

hairlossat49...

 

One thing I can add, consider yourself lucky, you may not have much to show for your money but at least you were not butchered.

 

Just do your research and take your time in deciding which doctor to see. I notice you mentioned Feller as a possibility, IMO he is in the top 3 surgeons in the Coalition, you can't do much better than him. He will be honest in his assesment of what can and cannot be done and his rates are extremely reasonable. Definitely check him out. As always if you need more info on anything just put up a post. Good Luck!

[dhuge67]

Originally posted by Cousin_It:

hairlossat49...

 

One thing I can add, consider yourself lucky, you may not have much to show for your money but at least you were not butchered.

This is my feeling about the Pistone surgery that I had. I was not butchered, so I'm thankful for that, but my situation has not improved much if at all.

 

The only thing the surgery did was put funny-looking hair in an area where there was no hair but a normal appearance before. Obviously, I shave or buzz my head closely to minimize the embarrassing nature of the procedure.

 

I'm just lucky that the only thing good that the Doctor did was leave me with a minimal scar. That was pure luck.

 

I'm gonna get something done here in the next 12 months, probably with Feller, as well.

[NervousNelly]

DHuge67,

If I recall correctly, weren't you posting prior to your surgery and looking for info at that time? That was one of the more lively debates that I had witnessed here. You were aggressively defending your decision to go with Pistone despite numerous feedback to at least consult with other physicians prior to surgery. I'm truly sorry for you not being satisfied with results but the education was there for you and you chose not to listen. I understand that you were young and scared, but the lack of reasoning was nonsensical. Maybe this post is nonsympathetic and I really don't mean to be, but please be an advocate in the future to educate other young guys before they venture on the HT journey.

[Bill - Seemiller]

hairlossat49,

 

Thank you for sharing your experience with Dr. Pistone. I'm really sorry you had a bad experience. As B Spot has pointed out, there have been a few other disappointed Pistone patients, and as far as I can tell, there have been zero positives posted, at least, not with any evidence that they really had an HT. You've come to the right place...hopefully we can at the very least support you and direct you to the right place. You are in good hands if you are considering Feller. As B Spot also pointed out....1500 grafts is a small number of grafts by today's standards, and most likely you will have a good amount of donor left. I know you said you were concerned because Feller was outside of NY...so I'll echo what many, including myself has said before..."don't let location determine who you go to". I started local and by the third HT, I ended up traveling all the way across the country and up north into Canada to Vancouver to see Dr. Hasson because I felt he was the best choice for my needs. Surely "timing" is important and I did have to take some time off of work to do it.

 

I wish you luck on your pursuit of repair work.

 

Bill