Looking for a good hair restoration clinic in LA or London..Any advice?

[Stuart_j]

Hi there - am looking for some help.. I started losing my hair very young (18) when it suddenly began to recede very quickly. I'm now 22 and have been on regaine and propecia for the last 3 years. Although it has stopped any further hair loss (and even grown a small amount of it back) my hair is still fairly thin on top, particularly at the temples.

 

I've decided to invest in a hair restoration procedure, but know very little about it and am worried about the horror stories I've heard. It's important to me to invest in the clinic/doctor who can provide the best results, and was wondering if anyone could reccomend anyone in either London UK, or Los Angeles that they know to be great. Many thanks!

[Stuart_j]

Hi there - am looking for some help.. I started losing my hair very young (18) when it suddenly began to recede very quickly. I'm now 22 and have been on regaine and propecia for the last 3 years. Although it has stopped any further hair loss (and even grown a small amount of it back) my hair is still fairly thin on top, particularly at the temples.

 

I've decided to invest in a hair restoration procedure, but know very little about it and am worried about the horror stories I've heard. It's important to me to invest in the clinic/doctor who can provide the best results, and was wondering if anyone could reccomend anyone in either London UK, or Los Angeles that they know to be great. Many thanks!

[moldilocks]

Hi Stuart J, if LA is a viable option for you, then I wouldn't even think about London.

Research this site for a while and you'll see that North American/Canadian surgeons are the best in the world.I don't think this is even up for debate.There are plenty of really good surgeons in or near LA

You could meet up with Dr. Siporin in Beverly Hills or why not take the hour long flight from LA to Phoenix and meet up with Dr.Alexander whose results are consistently amazing

[Stuart_j]

thanks guys - I work in both London and LA so a clinic in either is pretty easy for me to get to. Will check out Dr Siporin, and if anyone has any other reccomendations, please do let me know. Thanks!

[Tubs]

Hi Stuart

 

Having an HT and the choice of surgeon is a big, big decision.

 

The younger you are the more important you understand the implications of going down the HT route - there is medication that helps, it can stop, slow-down and even reverse hair loss (no guarentees).

 

I would really recommend that do not worry about location, travel is such a minor part of the process that it should not impede your research.

 

Like you I was extremely worried about the horror stories, but researching the forums over a few months will give you both comfort and help you make decisions on whether to proceed and which clinic to use / consult.

 

Most of the members on this site are genuinely trying to help each other and you will find it a great source of information - I personally would avoid asking directly for recommendations and as Spex said above if you research you will find the Doctors who post many consistent results (and their patients) will float to the top of your list. I cannot tell you how much of a comfort it is to have done the research and feel confident of the decision.

 

All the best

 

Tubs

[Bill - Seemiller]

Spex,

 

I notice that you mentioned the Farjo clinic but didn't include them amongst the "great names". Could it be because you are competing with them for prospective patients from the UK? Or are you basing your idea of "great" solely on online visibility?

 

There are other great names in Europe as well that in my opinion, don't get enough of the online accolades. Dr. Feriduni and Dr. Devroye are two elite physician members of the Coalition that are seldomly recognized. But from what I've seen of their work and from Pat's visits to leading hair transplant clinics, it's on par with the "great names" in North America.

 

All of this will change soon as other surgeons and clinics get more involved online. Very soon there will a great multitude of results displayed on this forum by clinics we recommend. Those who believe that only 5 or 6 surgeons do great work will see that there are other great choices out there.

 

Stuart_J,

 

I agree with Spex and others that research is key in selecting a first-rate surgeon. And although asking for advice from members of a forum is a great way to start your research, you must go beyond people's opinions and sift through evidence online and offline to make a decision.

 

See How Do I Select a Quality Hair Transplant Surgeon for tips in beginning your research.

 

In the UK, I would suggest researching and consulting with Drs. Bessam and Nilofer Farjo.

 

In LA specifically, I would suggest consulting with and considering Dr. Reed, Dr. Carman, Dr. Siporin, and Dr. Meshkin.

 

To see a list of all the doctors we recommend, click here. To see our physician recommendation standards, click here.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[HK500]

Welcome Stuart, you already have gotten great advice in the previous replies. I can only reiterate by saying that it is very important to do your research, this Forum has the best resources, finally I just had another HT by Dr. Siporin yesterday and am very happy, I will be posting the details very soon. Best of luck.

[Tubs]

Bill ??“ talk about adding fuel to the fire!

 

Against my better judgement I feel compelled to post. I don't like posting on threads that clearly have the potential to become entrenched in dogmatic "political" views, but feel compelled to respond to Bill's comment above.

 

I believe the above comment is unwarranted, the clinics mentioned by Spex as "great" is not out of step from the thread "name your top 5", IMO it would be difficult to rate the quieter clinics as "great" as the evidence based on a high quantity of consistent results and patient postings on this and other forums does not merit such accolade. For a forum moderator to be-little (by inference) the importance of "on-line" presence seems curious.

 

The opinion of what makes a "great" clinic is subjective ??“ as is the word "great", but rather than include all coalition clinics, IMO the best judgement on an internet forum does come from online presence ??“ what better way can anyone suggest members formulate their opinion ??“ you can visit clinics and let them show you the "cherry picked" results but what makes the forums so informative is the postings by patients from the start of their procedure to the fully grown out results.

 

There are many clinics recommended by this site, some are better at posting their results than others. If a clinic is underrepresented on the forum, then, if they have great results, it is only due to that clinic not effectively managing their on line presence. This is not only a lost opportunity to promote their clinic but also denies prospective clients from obtaining the enormous comfort of knowing that they have chosen a "great" clinic with consistent, outstanding results and a high volume of patient feedback.

 

IMO most members interpret "great" as their personal view on what clinics are in the top 5 or 6. It will be good to see more postings (on this and other forums) from more clinics, and to see more participation from their patients, but until that happens the term "great" is likely to be restricted to just a few clinics.

 

If they are all "great" why did you travel, why did I travel, why doesn't everyone just go to the nearest one on the list?

 

The reason I feel strongly about this is because until I had been researching for some time I felt there were few options for UK guys, it was only when I realised that location should not be a factor did I seriously start thinking that a HT was real option. Different forums have different views on clinics, although the status of "great" clinics appears to be relatively consistent across the forums.

[Stuart_j]

Thanks for the advice everyone.. I'll definately be doing some more research but this is a great starting point. Thanks again and I'll keep you posted!

[Dr. Alan Feller]

Bill,

I agree with Spex in thinking your post was a bit harsh toward him.

 

As you know I have been trying to reduce my personal online participation in an effort to rest my eyes and to remove myself from some of the many negative issues that needlessly come up from time to time on chat forums. I would rather focus my time on positive pursuits and look to the future, rather than expend energy handling negative issues like this one. Unfortunately, I am compelled to respond.

 

I believe Spex made his case clearly and articulately, so I won't bother going over the same ground. I do, however, want to address your assertion that this community's assessment of the "best" clinics is based fundamentally on the FREQUENCY of posts concerning particular clinics. This is simply untrue and the data from the HTN search engines support my contention.

 

If you do a search for photo galleries posted in the name of particular clinics in 2006 and 2007 you will see that there is in fact NO correlation between perceived excellence and frequency of posts. For example:

 

 

In 2006 there were no photo gallery postings in the name of Farjo. However, there were 17 such postings in the name of Feller. This may initially support your contention about perceived popularity.

 

BUT

 

In 2007 there was a surge of 11 photo gallery postings in the name of Farjo and a drop to only 16 in the name of Feller. Even closing the gap in terms of gallery postings did nothing to change this communities assessement of Farjo clinic's place in the HT heirarchy. This is because it is NOT so much about the FREQUENCY of posting results as you maintain. Rather, I believe, it is due to the QUALITY and CONSISTENCY of those results.

 

More proof:

 

Hasson is still very popular on HTN, yet he only had 9 gallery postings in his name in 2007. That's 2 LESS than Farjo. Would anyone actually argue that Farjo clinic has enjoyed increased popularity over H@W in 2007? I seriously doubt it.

 

The same goes for Shapiro Clinic which only had 6 gallery postings in his name in 2007-almost HALF of Farjo clinic gallery postings. Yet Shaprio clinic, both Ron and Paul are wildely popular.

 

So the number or frequency of posts is NOT the deciding factor in who this community qualitatively lists as "great", but rather something else. I believe it is not only the QUALITY of the RESULTS, but the way these results are presented as well: the number's of photos in a gallery, light quality of those photos, angles of the head in the photos, narrative describing patient experience, willingness to answer questions, etc...

[Bill - Seemiller]

Tubs,

 

You are forgetting one very important point in your argument: Spex is a clinical representative, not a patient poster.

 

Spex also markets prospective patients in the UK. Making dogmatic claims that the only "great" surgeons are in North America is misleading and unfair to leading "great" surgeons of the Coalition we've personally evaluated in Europe such as the Farjo Clinic, Dr. Feriduni, and Dr. Devroye. In my opinion, he needed to be called out.

 

I understand that patients are only able to evaluate what they see publicly online. I take absolutely nothing away from clinics who have actively participated in the forums for years. I'm simply stating that there are clinics that do great work that aren't as active online. This is why I reminded everyone above that this will soon be changing and more surgeons will be sharing their results online.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Bill - Seemiller]

Dr. Feller and Spex,

 

I typically try to stay off of these types of threads however, if I feel a clinic has been unfairly represented, especially by another cilnic, I am going to call them on it. As the moderator AND Associate Publisher of this community, I have the right to post as I choose and call out what I feel is unfair and misleading. Just as I've lifted the rule to allow clinics to freely post on "which doctor is best" or "looking for a doctor" type threads, I am well within my rights to state my observations even if it's not highly popular.

 

Spex thinks me calling him out is inappropriate? I feel his post on this thread is inappropriate. The beauty of our open discussion forum is that we have given the right for all to share their opinions, this especially includes the publishers of this community. Of course, we could always reconsider enforcing strict rules about clinical involvement like other forums.

 

In this case, Spex enforced a dogma that he may have personally created some time ago that one must fly to North America to receive a hair transplant from one of the "great" surgeons. This may be innocently presented as his opinion however, since he often specifically targets UK patients to fly to North America, his opinion can and has been seen as promotional rather than strictly factual.

 

Though we agree that most of the great names are in North America such as those and others Spex mentioned, Pat personally visited with a number of European clinics and found them to be on par with leading clinics in North America. Pat and I feel that Spex often ignores this evidence and dismisses our findings when he promotes this false dogma. We also feel that he is sometimes too aggressive as recently seen in his recent correspondence with Fallenstar on another thread.

 

There is no question that the surgeons he mentioned as "great" are indeed some of the big name leading physicians in the field. However, there is plenty of evidence online that some of the "great" names in the field are from Europe which includes the Farjos, Dr. Feriduni, Dr. DeVroye, etc.

 

I've told Spex countless times privately and publicly that he is better off sticking to promoting your clinic and answering general hair loss and hair transplant related questions. However, he has chosen to ignore my advice. As soon as a clinical representative starts offering their personal opinions about another clinic, there is a tendency for controversy.

 

Had Spex not mentioned any physicians and stuck with general advice about research, I wouldn't have gotten on his case.

 

Spex is a profilic poster and for the most part, highly respected. It is easy for members and guests of this community to confuse opinion with fact. Spex maybe in fact sharing his opinion that the Farjo clinic is not one of the regular "great names" in his eyes however, in my opinion, this is inappropriate since he is targeting prospective patients in the UK.

 

Regarding online visibility and consistency in results, we appear to be on the same page.

 

I didn't mean to suggest that online visibility alone makes for a great clinic. My point is that some clinics have only just started sharing their quality work online while others have been taking advantage of this opportunity for years. The work of Hasson and Wong (as per your example) and their quality work is highly visible online and has been for years. Nowhere did I mention frequency of posts however, clinics regularly using share results on the internet are going to be in the front line and their name on the tip of member's fingertips.

 

I hope that we can put this matter to rest however, I'd really prefer if Spex would stick to promoting your work by presenting photos and answering general questions. I've left this up to him however, if I feel he is promoting information that disagrees with our findings as full time Publishers of this community, I will be reminding him and our community of this.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Bill - Seemiller]

Dr. Feller,

 

I would rather focus my time on positive pursuits and look to the future, rather than expend energy handling negative issues like this one.

 

I completely agree with you on this point. I recommend that you ask Spex to focus on presenting your work and answering general hair loss and hair transplant related questions. Focusing on your own work is a sure way to keep out of these types of unnecessary arguments.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Dewayne]

I have to agree with Bill on this one.... It's one thing to get criticized on your work by patients / those looking for a transplant, but I wouldn't want to be apart of a coalition of any kind when another member is taking jabs at me.

 

Moreover, with results like Feller gets and the great posting Spex does; I don't think either would have to be critical of other clinics at all. Both results speak loudly.

 

Over the past several months, there have been a few posts about clinic reps being critical of other recommended doctors, and how generally it's a turnoff to us looking for a doc.

 

Most everyone can see through the frequent posters who come on and are critical of Feller Medical. And I agree that some new posters might get bad advice if those posts aren't held to account. But, the regular patients will be there to hold them in check I would hope.

[Dr. Alan Feller]

Bill,

 

Spex did not create the "dogma" that patients in the UK are best off travelling to North America for hair transplant surgery. The patients of this community did. They started this themselves many years ago and they continue to do so today of their own accord and with no help from Spex, me, or any other N. American clinic.

 

Nothing Spex wrote in his post could realistically be considered "promotional". So I have to disagree strongly with your last post.

 

Whether you blame Spex or not for the belief among community members that UK patients are happier coming to North America for surgery, the fact remains that not a single community member or visitor has ever claimed to have travelled FROM the US. to the UK for their hair transplant surgery.

[Dr. Alan Feller]

Dewayne,

Spex didn't take a jab at anyone. If you read his post he actually referred Stuart to Farjo clinic. Bill is upset because he didn't include Farjo clinic in his personal list of who he thinks the top clinics are.

[PLEASE GROW PLEASE]

I certainly dont include Farjo clinic in my top 10.

Doesnt mean you wont get quality work there ,its just Ive seen hundreds of estatic posters and wonderful results from the US and Canadian clinics that I consider the best of the best.

I know Pat believes in Farjo and maybe I will also once they start posting more final results but for now I would only go to the clinics that the multitude of posters rate the best on all forums

I was actually shocked that Spex even mentioned Farjo .

Yeah he didnt offer them a heavyweight title shot ,but he at least put them on the fight card.

[bullitnut]

the simple truth of the matter is that other than a hand full of documentated cases shown throughout ALL of the major online forums regarding hairtransplant clinics, the uk sucks and thats the simple answer as to why people prefer to travel im english and proud of it and i simply would not trust my head AGAIN to any uk clinic that cant show me enough good results to convince me otherwise, its got ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH SPEX DR FELLER OR ANY OTHER US, CANADIAN CLINIC ITS THE UK THATS NOT SHOWING CONSISTENT GOOD RESULTS FOR US TO SEE. Keep up the good work spex, dr feller and all the other greats abroad you shouldnt be critisised for the lack of good uk clinics you should be commended for your good work. If the rest of these good clinics want to be considered equal they should show ONLINE that they are. People arent physcic if we dont see how can we know!!! People cant be honestly expected to take the word of this forum that they are equal just on the coalitions opinion we need good solid hard evidence then and only then will this argument be put to bed.

[bullitnut]

i think that people on here are underestimating the british public. It sounds like you all class spex as the pied piper and we just follow him on a wim to america. Come on get real the guys a legend yes but we have got minds and opinions too you know, i mean honestly it doesnt matter how much someone tried to convince me to travel thousands of miles to get surgery, if there was an alternative that HAS SHOWN CONSISTENT ONLINE EVIDENCE theres no way on earth id travel thousands of miles as appose to 60 miles its just crazy. Spex should be applauded for showing us an alternative option that will enable people to regain some sort of a normal life again not critised for trying to take everyone away from the uk, if the results were good consistently over here not even having a ht with pamela anderson could tempt me to travel overseas but there not. So good on yer spex!!!

[Bill - Seemiller]

If the rest of these good clinics want to be considered equal they should show ONLINE that they are

 

Bullitnut,

 

I do agree with this point. I expect in time, there will be enough online evidence for those skeptical to see that SOME clinics in the UK do first-rate work.

 

Pat and I however, do work hard to ensure clinics in the Coalition are doing first-rate work and continue to meet our standards. This is why surgeons must present their work on our forum to be considered for potential recommendation. Additionally, Pat personally visits and observes many of these clinics in live surgery and presents his highlights in the "Visits to Leading Hair Transplant Clinics" forum. Patient members are also given a say as to who we recommend, making the recommendation process as transparent as possible.

 

It is true however, that clinics must do their part in presenting their work so members can see for themselves the quality of work they do on a regular and consistent basis.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[bullitnut]

thanks Bill. Im not knocking this forum it provides great info for us balding bozos but if these other clinics really are on a par as the coalition believes then they need a boot up the backside to show it and prove it i hope in the future this happens as it will be better for everyone.

[Bill - Seemiller]

bullitnut,

 

I agree with you 100%. We do a lot of work to ensure surgeons in the Coalition do first-rate work. But I agree that it's up to the clinics to prove this to our members on a consistent basis.

 

Surgeons like Dr. Feller, Hasson and Wong, Dr. Shapiro, and a few others have a long history of presenting consistent results online. By no means do I ever intend to take this credibility away from them. I do however, want members to understand that many clinics not so visible online also do high quality work.

 

These unrecognized clinics will soon be presenting more evidence of their work on a regular basis. This will help members of the community evaluate their work and make educated decisions on physician selection.

 

Here's to moving to a higher level of transparency and accountability for all!

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill