Dr. Giannotto of Jacksonville

[vett82ce]

Hello,

Anyone out there have an opinion of Dr. Giannotto's work in hair transplants at HRG Medical Group in Jacksonville (and gainesville) Fla. I understand that this institution was once IHRS, ran by the late DR. Burton. I'm considering work being done there, but I'm trying to be careful and selective. I'd appreciate any feedback and photos if possible.

 

SW

[vett82ce]

Hello,

Anyone out there have an opinion of Dr. Giannotto's work in hair transplants at HRG Medical Group in Jacksonville (and gainesville) Fla. I understand that this institution was once IHRS, ran by the late DR. Burton. I'm considering work being done there, but I'm trying to be careful and selective. I'd appreciate any feedback and photos if possible.

 

SW

[Guest Landen]

Find another doctor.

[twidly]

I had work done from Giannotto from HRG in Pittsburgh. This was about 4 years ago, and it turned out very pluggy. I just finished as 1200 FU session with Dr. Griffin in Atlanta - very pleased so far...

 

I hear there is an excellent Dr. in Clearwater, FL - don't remember the name. BUT do take the advice on Dr. G and HRG - if you want plugs and want to look like the Ken doll - he's your man !!

 

Good Luck

[vett82ce]

I understand from research that a lot of HT Dr."s

that did surgery 4-5 years ago were guilty of the big plugs,but now most all have resorted to the smaller (just a few hairs per graph, or even single hair graphs), more respected size graphs.

Are any other responses about this DR. in the RECENT? That is what I'm looking for.

4-5 years ago my son wet the bed......but now he does'nt............

[ttaco]

Joe Greco is in Clearwater, and Paul Rose is in either Clearwater or Tampa. May be worth talking to both of them if you want a good doc in that part of Fla.

[Guest]

Joe Greco does excellent work and is an

excellent transplant specialist. He has done

3 sets of transplants for me with my last being

on December 2nd. He is also very honest,upfront

and an all around good guy. Dont let people

discourage you because he has a P-AC /PHD status

and not an MD. For those who say there is no

MD around when he does his work .there is and

his name is David Wall MD. Joe is an excellent

listener to what your needs are. He has a

web site at www.grecohaisurgery.com. Greg Dowless

[Guest]

I misstated the website. It is

www.grecohairsurgery.com

 

Greg Dowless

[maimed]

To anyone,

Hopefully you didn't go to Giannotto. You'd be in the same place as myself and others i.e., looking for other doctors to correct the job. Below is my list of complaints. The sales rep responded by asking me if I had time to meet directly with Giannotto to see what he could do to correct the situation. I replied with a BIG NO! Here are the facts of my case:

 

1) Excessive swelling (for up to a week where blood pooled under my eyes) that caused permanent damage (i.e., stretching of the under eye skin has caused sagging and wrinkles, making me look not younger, but years older). Creams/other have had little to no impact. Surgery is too risky and chemical peels will have a marginal impact. This affects me most because I feel that I look tired. It affects my mood.

2) Numerous compacted grafts where 2-5 hairs are compressed in the recipient site. There's no separation of the hairs by skin/scalp. All hairs in the grafts touch each other giving a look of one thick hair. There are many of these in the first 1/2" of the front hairline and throughout the top. Electrolysis may help permanently remove the extra hairs to create a more natural look. I've been pulling the extra hairs to this point. They grow back though.

3) "Pitting", including some in the front hairline.

4) "Cobble stone" look i.e., very bumpy scalp. Shaving the scalp and dermabrasion will help some.

5) The scar revision procedure at my third visit wasn't effective. There remains a 1cm to .5cm scar from ear to ear. It's tender and painful.

6) I get a lot of stares at my front hairline. Enough said.

 

3 procedures for 1700 grafts.

 

The repair work at the cost of time and money will be significant. The repair work should improve things, but it won't restore my under eye skin to where it was three years ago (i.e., tight and firm). I can only can assume that I'd be very happy now if I'd gone to a competent clinic.

[vocor1]

maimed:

Damn. I'm sorry you had to go through that.

Thanks for sharing the experience though. It'll help someone else from making the mistake of going to the chop-shop outfit that victimized you.

I respect the courage you displayed in your post.

There are a lot of great docs out there who specialize and take special pride in repair work. I know it takes more money, but they will help right the wrong you have experienced.

Best of luck.

 

vocor1

Knowledge is Power

If the worst question is the one never asked, then the worst answer is the one never shared.

[Guest]

I had surgery done by him back in 1994. 268 grafts to cover my crown. Hardly enough to do anything. I never got to see him until the morning of the surgery.

 

The salesman's office was in a mall in Natick, Mass., with the surgery being done in Reading, Mass. They sold mostly toupees. At the time there was no internet to research. Like all others, he knocked Bosley and anyone else running infomercials.

 

It cost me $6000 for those 268 grafts. Who knows what I could have done had I known better. Live and learn!

[VAHairHelp]

Is there a lawsuit against Dr. Richard Giannotto in McLean, Virginia. He made my donor area so bad that I cannot even get a decent haircut? My scar in the back is almost 2??? wide from the surgery that he has performed.

[hairthere]

vett,

ht technology was not that different four years ago than it is today. average session sizes may have been smaller, but FUs were being used by top docs instead of micro/minigrafts. you do not want to gamble with an HT procedure. find a doc on here that has tons of proven, consistent results i.e. feller, h&w, shapiro, alexander, rahal. do not let travel restrict your choice either. trust me, a bad ht will make your life/appearance a lot worse and your wallet a lot lighter.

[slinhub]

Can anyone offer some info if they had a similar experience as I did. I had a ht in 1987-Dr. Greenwall in Boston-big mistake. Although I only had one procedure done and did not go back. Today 22 years later I have completely lost the hair on the top of my head except where the hair plugs were placed in the front temple area. Approx. 20 plugs on each side. I have decided to shave the hair growing from the plugs and just go with that. I have the noticeable "cobblestone" look where the plugs are. Is it possible to have a procedure done to remove the plugs and as best as possible smooth out the "cobblestone" area of my scalp? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[sapmesq]

Slinhub -- you may want to look at a dermatologist or facial plastic surgeon that uses Fraxel or other laser resurfacing. They can do wonders with scar reduction from your plugs.

 

With respect to Dr. Giannotto -- I echo maimed's experience above almost exactly. It appears Giannotto flies around and has had shops all over the place (Harrisburg, McClean, VA, Jacksonville, Boston, Virginia Beach) -- This guy is a clown. I just found this site. I wish it was around back in the 90's. I posted this same story on another thread, but it is worth repeating here. I do not recommend Dr. Richard Giannotto. I did not have a good experience with him in the mid- late 1990's. He really tells you what you want to hear, but results do not really deliver. I had somewhere in the ballpark of 1500 with him over 3 visits and they did not look very natural at all. Plus I was left with 2 separated step ladder bad scarring in the back. Quite frankly, I got a hard sell from them back in the day. I went for a consultation, and was actually considering not going through with the procedure. His office staff kept calling me with specials, threw in an offer of a limo ride to and from the clinic and "to close the deal" he even offered to do a scalp reduction for free. That moved me off the fence to going through with the procedure. Little did I know that it would be a long, arduous, and expensive journey filled with false promises and expectations. My experience with him chewed up almost 3 years of my prime years in my 20's. Not once was I ever warned of risks from Dr. G. The scalp reduction was worthless -- it simply stretched back after a few months and left me with a scar.

 

Finally, I went to Dr. Richard Bernstein for corrective work (approximately 3000 grafts) and he was magnificent. He eliminated the scarring, took out the unnatural looking clumps in the front, crown and temples, chopped them up into small 1 hair units and crafted a corrected soft, natural hairline. I was fortunate to have had enough donor hair to accomodate a positive corrected result. I now look like a normal 40 year old man with a natural receding hairlines and thin crown. I can cut my hair down in a "Caeser" cut with a number 3 clipper and my work is undetectable. This was never possible with the mess Dr. G. made of my head.

 

I would strongly recommend that you make the effort to see someone else - preferabbly someone recommended by this site (like Dr. Bernstein). IT IS WORTH THE EXPENSE AND TIME TO TRAVEL. If you are going to make a informed decision with realistic expectations to undergo a HT procedure do it with someone artistic, well vetted, recommended and who does not hard sell you. You don't want to continue to screw around with this. You only have a finite number of hairs for transplant once you start the process.

 

LET ME ADD -- THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG WITH GOING THE SHAVED HEAD ROUTE. I do like my HT, and look terrifc now thanks to Dr. Bernstein. However, in retrospect given the time, pain, money and anguish that resulted from the initial work done by Dr. Gianotto, and the superb repair job done by Dr. Bernstein -- I should have gone with my gut when I was 25 and done the Andre Agassi head shave (he had just adopted this hairstyle at the same time I was considering it). I feel like I was cajoled into this by Dr. Dr. Richard Giannotto and his staff. Thank God for men like Dr. Bernstein. I wish I did not have to see him and spend more money to correct the issues -- but that man was worth every penny. If you decide to go through with this -- I can't stress it enough -- go to one of the recommended physicians listed here.