Transplant questions????

[Core9]

I'm 34, have had 5 smallish procedures(400-600)grafts, at a time.

My questions are

1. First off I payed 3 grand per visit, is that the going rate?

2. My Dr. was Ivan Cohen in Fairfield Ct, anyone have any stories(good or bad)?

3. The last two times I've gone, hair has not come in all that well in a particular area.... he said he has not seen this before but said I may have a "dead spot" on my head that will not take to transplants. This is not good news....

 

For the most part I am happy so far, the front hairline looks completely natural, but I am beginning to thin out behind it. I have been on Minoxidil for 10 yrs, and tried Propecia, but had some side effects I didn't like. Have to use Toppix, or I end up wearing a bandana or hat.

I just wanted to get some feedback... I just discovered this site today, and I think it's great.

 

Thanks for your time,interested in the responses.

[Core9]

I'm 34, have had 5 smallish procedures(400-600)grafts, at a time.

My questions are

1. First off I payed 3 grand per visit, is that the going rate?

2. My Dr. was Ivan Cohen in Fairfield Ct, anyone have any stories(good or bad)?

3. The last two times I've gone, hair has not come in all that well in a particular area.... he said he has not seen this before but said I may have a "dead spot" on my head that will not take to transplants. This is not good news....

 

For the most part I am happy so far, the front hairline looks completely natural, but I am beginning to thin out behind it. I have been on Minoxidil for 10 yrs, and tried Propecia, but had some side effects I didn't like. Have to use Toppix, or I end up wearing a bandana or hat.

I just wanted to get some feedback... I just discovered this site today, and I think it's great.

 

Thanks for your time,interested in the responses.

[drandres]

1. $3000 doesn't sound too out of line. Some of the most reputable surgeons post their prices on their websites, and $6 per graft is reasonable, especially for a small procedure (many docs give discounts for more grafts, so while 400 or 500 might cost $7 per, once you get to 1500-2000 this can get to $4 or $5 per). The cost varies from surgeon to surgeon, of course, and by itself really is no measure of the quality of the doc. Are these FU grafts, or mini/micro?

 

2. I never heard of him but that doesn't mean anything.

 

3. "I may have a "dead spot" on my head that will not take to transplants."

 

I'm no expert but this sounds like a load of B.S. The scalp is richly supplied with vasculature and FU grafts are so small that I would think that with appropriate technique (that is, mimimal transection of the grafts and minimal scarring of the recipient sites) that you should have good growth just about anywhere. I can't imagine what the physiological basis for a "dead spot" could be. Assuming you're not malnourished/diabetic/a smoker or have any other reason to heal poorly, I would worry that your doctor's donor technique is poor -- i.e. he damages the follicles/grafts during the extraction, perhaps transecting the follicles or mangling them during implantation. Ask: does he do FU's or mini/micro? Does he dissect with a microscope? There are also handling requirements that these delicate pieces of tissue need.

 

I would recommend you seek another opinion -- there are good docs in NYC and of course elsewhere -- that do free consultations. You can ask these questions yourself and see what they say. Good luck!

[NC30]

First, welcome to the site. There's a ton of information/support here, and you should definitely spend some time just doing topic searches, etc.

 

1. I can't say exactly what prices were like at the time you had your 5 procedures, but typically, the good HT doctors (which offer very competitive prices) have a strip HT graft price of $3-$5 a graft.

 

2. I don't know the answer, but if you do a search here using his name, you should be able to find any posts involving Dr. Cohen.

 

3. Hopefully some of the more veteran guys or even doctor's can answer this one. I've read practically every single post since I joined this site ( and many before then), and I've never heard of a "dead spot".

 

Again, welcome and good luck in finding your info.

[Core9]

Thanks for the quick replies, I was on anti-anxiety and anti-depressents when I had the last two, and not on them when I had the first three procedures. Not sure if that is something that would affect the healing or not.

The doctor said that he doesn't think it is the meds.