Making that decision.....

[Mak_UK]

I apologise before hand for this post, as i am aware this question must have been asked many times before!! But its so confusing with the world of info available on this site and the internet...life just dosent get easier when making a decision on the right surgeon.

 

I have narrowed my options down to surgeons H&W and Dr Rahal, but now its making that choice between the two clinics.

 

The more i search the net or this site i switch from one clinic to another due to their equal outstanding work! But i am sure im not the only one to feel this way.

 

Please help how do you make the choice?

 

Man, if i certainly had hair now i would be pulling it out!! its so confusing.

 

Pls advise.

[Mak_UK]

I apologise before hand for this post, as i am aware this question must have been asked many times before!! But its so confusing with the world of info available on this site and the internet...life just dosent get easier when making a decision on the right surgeon.

 

I have narrowed my options down to surgeons H&W and Dr Rahal, but now its making that choice between the two clinics.

 

The more i search the net or this site i switch from one clinic to another due to their equal outstanding work! But i am sure im not the only one to feel this way.

 

Please help how do you make the choice?

 

Man, if i certainly had hair now i would be pulling it out!! its so confusing.

 

Pls advise.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Mak_UK,

 

You are not the first to struggle with this choice. All 3 surgeons have proven to do excellent work and ultimately, it will be up to you to select the one you are most comfortable and most impressed with.

 

Look through patient photos, speak to and meet their patients if possible, and consult with both surgeons.

 

Personally, I'd feel confident in either surgical chair knowing I'm in good hands.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[TheEmperor]

You have 3 surgeons: Hasson, Wong, and Rahal who are among the best, but turn out different style of results.

 

Look closely at their approach. When you can tell a differnece between their results, then you can make an informed decision.

 

My impression of the three is this:

 

Rahal: Typically the most agressive, his session sizes are a bit smaller on average than hasson and wong. He focuses on the front with lower hairline and typically closes temples in first pass. This is good if patient is a low norwood, but when performed on a higher norwood, imposes a "no turning back" approach that will require more grafts behind. He endeavors to recreate the most youthful hairlines of the three.

 

Hasson: Has distinction of largest documented sessions, his approach when getting large 5K+ sessions is to "carpet bomb" from front to back with a fairly agressive (straight) hairline with minor temple closure. These patients often return for a follow up to add density throughout, but have sometimes gone from completely bald to the appearance of no hair loss.

 

Wong: Does large sessions, second only to Hasson. Is probably the most conservative of the three and tends to not close temples, placing more grafts midscalp which layer forward. His approach seems geared towards overall balance and making "standalone" results out of 4K-ish procedures. In follow-up sessions he will lower hairlines and complete crowns, if needed.

 

My subjective impression is that Wong does the softest hairlines and recreates the most natural look with a finite number of grafts. Doing large session sizes with conservative hairlines, he has access to many 1's and can recontruct the complete hairline (first cm) using only 1's. Doesnt seem to go as large or low as Hasson, but has some very impressive (youthful) results for those who return for a second procedure. He seems to reserve this for a second procedure.

 

Hasson pulls the largest sessions, puts more in the front in the first procedure and seems to rely upon getting more grafts to support this approach. His hairlines appear more dense and are a bit more straight that Wong's, but they appear more coarse because he is using more 2s closer to the front, where Wong seems to put more density behind, to support the all-1s hairline in the front. Because of his hairline styles and overall graft counts, he appears to have the most "home runs" from frontal shots posted on the web.

 

Rahal seems to do the densest front-packing and lowest hairlines of the three. I havent seen as many complete NW5/6 transformations as from H&W, but his hairlines are broad and he closes temples from first session. I believe this appraoch may suit young patients, but imply a long term commitment.

 

There seems to be more overlap between Hasson and Wong's philosophies, and less with rahal, however I believe Wong's low density/conservative results are better than Hassons (Hasson's 4K sessions are designed to comb back, Wong's 4K sessions you typically see combing forward), but hasson's hairline shapes are typically more youthful and he endeavors to carpet bomb the entire head with massive graft counts. Rahal's hairlines have an artistic quality of their own that I can see would appeal to the youngest patients.

 

 

If you are researching these three, also check out shapiro, he is in the same league.

[thanatopsis_awry]

Like Bill mentioned, try to check out some patient results in person; also, do your consults and assess the gameplans and prognoses that you receive!

[Fallenstar]

from what i have seen & researched over the last few yrs, all 3 docs are great experts. my advice added to previous posts is to compare pictures of patients from all 3 and try and compare with similar level of NW and style of hair and expectations. this will help to decide nature of work required and which of the 3 docs will be suitable.

finally, i don't think this an exact science but really a gut feeling. like already said, all 3 docs are well respected and u will not go wrong with any of them.

 

good luck

 

FS

[Smoothy]

Fist GREAT job of doing your research and narrowing done 3 good finalist for your HT. This is the most important part of a HT that many patients do not do--so congrats!

You have 3 good ones on your list, I would just looking at 1) the experience--# of cases each has done on your type of HL

2) Which surgeon does more cases with your needs (exp. hairline, crown, overall coverage, ect)-- then make a decision.

After all the analyticals are considered and things are even, then you go with your comfort/feelings.

Good luck.

 

SMOOTHY

Dr. Shapiro

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