Any H&W or Feller Repair patients not totally happy?

[pvtpoint2010]

Just curious if there are any repair patients that were not totally happy with their repairs......

[Dr. Alan Feller]

Unfortunately all doctors have paitents who aren't "totally happy", repair work or not. Me and my colleagues H@W included. Any doctor that tells you that they only have "totally happy" patients (repair or not), I suggest you run.

 

Some patients have had poor procedures in the past by clinics who were poorly skilled or just didn't care. This resulted in a slew of poor results from the 70s to the mid 90s. Then follicular unit grafting came in and as it became adopted by newer clinics much of the more egregious work disappeared. I nor H@W ever performed plug or thick minigraft surgery, however.

 

In terms of "repair" procedures, it mostly depends on the type of repair needed. For example, did the patient have plug work or thick mini graft work in the past? Was this work on the hairline? Was the hairline too high or too low? How is the donor area? etc...

 

Most poor transplant work can be significantly minized in a single surgery, but most require two or more (especially if the hairline was made too low with minigrafts by virtue of the fact that some old grafts/plugs may he to actually be removed). All of my patients are informed that they will likely need two procedures or even more to repair even a moderately poor job.

 

Here are a few repair patients:

 

This first patient had very poor work performed in Europe. Minigrafts were used on the hairline. A big no no. So we blended the minigrafts with proper follicular units in a dense pack. The results are about a year and a half later. Even with the hair pulled straight back the improvement is obvious.

 

Before

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AFTER (BELOW)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PATIENT #2 (BELOW)

Here's another patient who came to us with the classic "dolls head look". Scar tissue everywhere, but with even one procedure we were able to soften his look to the point where he no longer stood out in crowd as grossely unnatural. In my opinoin he should do just one more procedure to finish, but he was over the moon with the results (as was his once skeptical wife) and decided to stop at just one. Note that we did not remove even a single plug in his case. This is probably because his hair was becoming salt and pepper and that, along with our newly implanted FUs, helped to blend them in.

 

BEFORE/AFTER ONE YEAR

 

CLOSE UP OF HAIRLINE ONE YEAR AFTER REPAIR (BELOW)

 

 

 

BEFORE/AFTER ONE YEAR (BELOW)

 

 

 

BEFORE/AFTER ONE YEAR (BELOW)

 

 

Patient #3 (below)

This patient came from abroad. He had one of the very worst plug jobs I've ever seen and he have very limited donor area. Here are his results from just a single procedure:

 

Edited August 30, 2010 by Dr. Alan Feller

[hairthere]

pvt, You are talking about two of the top HT clinics in the world, so in the case of unhappy patients I highly doubt you will ever find the doctors or their staffs at fault. The instances of unhappy patients I have seen from these clinics are usually due to over expectations, miscommunication or poor physiology.

 

Btw, I was a repair patient and I'm very happy with the work Dr. Feller did.

[wb280]

pvt, i concur with hair there. These are 2 top notch clinics u are talking abt, and like Dr Feller said, there are bound to be unhappy patients. All of them, IMHO, are either expecting too much or they simply had bad physiology. I know there are a few very well documented cases here which i do not want to dab into it, however, its quite obvious the so called unhappy patients were asking so much! HT is about creating an illusion of density, some people were expecting brad pitt kind of hair from a NW5 or 6 and it simply will not happen

[Stuart01]

Dr. Feller and H&W have been continuing to post top notch results on this web-site week in and week out for years and there results are nothing short of perfection there detailing of hairlines are as natural as it gets. It is much harder to perform a correction on patient that has been botched up than to start a patient from scratch and every corrective job I have seen by these surgeons is excellent. It is impossible to please every patient, but I am sure almost everyone of their patients is extremely please, you can never go wrong with either Dr. Feller or H&W.

[BadHairUK]

I was looking very nasty after a UK HT and after some research I was very fortunate to choose a top repair Dr (Dr Feller) who I can truly say has given me back my life as i was left very depressed until he helped me back on track again ... here are my before and after's...

 

 

Before pics (after my UK HT by Nobel Hair Clinic)

 

 

 

 

 

Some wet and dry after pics.. (after Dr Fellers repair)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am very grateful to have a chance to turn back the clock and have another go at my life again now! I have done more things now (in my 30's) than I did throughout my entire 20's! I will always be extremely grateful to Dr Feller and Spex for his support when times were not so good.

 

It is very easy to mistake poor results with expecting too much too soon, it does take quite a lot of patience whilst the hair is slowly making its way to the top! But I am very pleased with my results and very grateful.

 

I hope this helps.

Take care

Edited August 30, 2010 by BadhairUK
problems with pics loading

[BadHairUK]

I forgot to add the dry ones.....

 

Dry in the sun...

 

 

 

I took this video to show after a wash and dry...

 

http://s89.photobucket.com/albums/k203/junkstuff001/2010%203rd%20Feller%20HT%20results/?action=view&current=Feb21st2010.flv

 

 

Take care, all the best.

[pvtpoint2010]

Thanks guys

 

I totally agree with you I was just wondering as I am in need of repair to my hairline and rear donor scar in the near future

 

I was trying to make up my mind weather it be Feller, H&W or Cooley I was looking into Cooley as he has been researching Acell and feels he can pluck a hair and plant it into a scar and re grow a follicle ....the same with hypo pigmented pit scars he feels he can remove and set with Acell and it should heal without or at least minimal hypo pigmentation

 

A have seen several before and after photo's and each look like a FUE session was done but it was just plucked/tweezed hairs set in Acell

 

Along with several punched out grafts healing without scars.....

 

So my choice book is still open........

 

Just trying to do my homework

 

I may try and make an appointment for a 1 on 1 evaluation sometime in Dec with Feller if I could.....I live In PA

[RCWest]

BadHairUK, your hair is a textbook perfect hair transplant!

[Tsakalos]

I am unhappy and i am trying to forget it, i am just waiting the 18 month in order to make a final judgement on the "job" . but whats done is done, and unfortunately you cant turn back the time. btw i never had any procedure done by Dr Feller

Edited September 29, 2010 by Tsakalos

[BigBill1234]

Where and when did you get your ht tsakalos?

[BadHairUK]

BadHairUK, your hair is a textbook perfect hair transplant!

 

Thanks RC, I really appreciate ur compliments

[John Malloy]

I'm sorry to say, but I am extremely unhappy with my repair from Dr. Feller. While he did make my first ht less noticible in certain lights, it is still obvious in every day situations.

You are more than welcome to come see the results for your self--just pm me and I will contact you. I live in the Philadelphia area.

Also, my scar from my procedure with Dr. Feller is alot worse than my original. This may be due to phisiology, but the fact that I've consulted with other docs that are confident that it can be repaired leaves me skeptical.

Finally, the issue that takes me over the top with Dr. Feller is the way he is "bothered" with my concerns. He met with me for a post op where I sincerely feel his only intent was to take pics that were favorable to him. As I mentioned numerous times before, my ht looks extremely better in pics. Other than that I could not get him on the phone. I've tried atleast 10 times.

I sincerely feel he should have took a little more resposibility for my scar. Either through Fue grafts into it or a scar revision especially since he was so adament that my repair was an "easy fix".

I know I'll be attacked for this post, but so be it. I cannot lie for the sake of being liked by members of this community.

No matter how you look at it, the patient takes all the risk in the procedure. The doc gets paid regardless. Would it not be a more honest system if the Doc took some of the risk? After all he is the professional with the years of experience. If a doc has no idea of how a result will turn out, is he not in the wrong profession?

I understand there are alot of variables, but if cases of scar stretching are rare, maybe they should be priced into the procedure. If they are rare, the premium would be minimal; however, if they are not as rare as put forth by the docs, maybe Ht's are not what they claim.

I just sincerely feel that I was taken advantage of from the Doc. That is my honest opinion. I think he is extremely inconsiderate, but he put on an act when I was in his office.

[Spanker]

Those pictures scared the hell out of me!!!

[gmonasco]

After all he is the professional with the years of experience. If a doc has no idea of how a result will turn out, is he not in the wrong profession?

 

There's a big difference between "has no idea of how a result will turn out" and "cannot guarantee a particular result." No doctor, in any field of medicine, can absolutely guarantee a result, and that's especially true in a field where aesthetics, not healing, are the primary issue.

[Bill - Seemiller]

John Malloy,

 

I understand that you are just answering a topicf that's relevant to you which is fine. But I think if you are going to continue to post your dissatisfaction on several topics, you should also be required to post photos of your results in order for the members of this community to draw their own conclusion. Though you are unhappy, the majority of the patient community thinks you've gotten excellent results from your repair procedure with Dr. Feller.

 

For everyone's reference, John Malloy's photos can be found at "John Malloy's Hair Transplant Photos with Dr. Feller".

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[RCWest]

John's hair looks amazing to me!

[Spanker]

John Malloy,

 

I understand that you are just answering a topicf that's relevant to you which is fine. But I think if you are going to continue to post your dissatisfaction on several topics, you should also be required to post photos of your results in order for the members of this community to draw their own conclusion. Though you are unhappy, the majority of the patient community thinks you've gotten excellent results from your repair procedure with Dr. Feller.

 

For everyone's reference, John Malloy's photos can be found at "John Malloy's Hair Transplant Photos with Dr. Feller".

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

 

I do think his pics look great....on that note...you cannot post pics of a doctor not getting back you or meeting your needs....on that note again....there is a little credibility lost on John's part after seeing these pics, especially if he does not post pics showing otherwise.

 

that said...John should take some pics and show us what he is talking about....cause based on the pics...his surgery looks great.

[j1j9j85]

i second that based on the pics there is a marked improvement that many would be moe than happy with

[Surfarosa]

Could it be that some people just don't think most HT hairlines look really natural ? There are certain things that just make it not 100% perfect. For example:

 

- hair-line hair has different characteristics than donor hair.

- follicles in HTs are not planted as deeply as naturally occurring follicles.

 

Hairlines are the most critical and difficult zones to address - for some eyes anything below 100% is way off.

 

Many people think that a new hairline adds such a cosmetic boost that they are ok that it may not meet the "as nature herself would sign off on" standard. John may simply be one of those people whose needs cannot be met by a modern HT.

 

If that is the case then he really had no alternative other than going bald. And as that will now not happen - we will never know if he would have been happier.

 

One day HTs (in some treatment combo) will give back a full head of hair. I doubt it will help any of us here today but only then will you have a really happy recipient (no pun intended) population.

 

Until then, for many its better than the alternative but still not enough to meet their criteria for "problem solved".

[EpilepticSceptic]

I think Malloy's issue is that he has coarse, thick, wiry, dark hair on pale skin. In photos it looks great but in real life something is "off" just enough to draw attention to it in public. If you have people staring at your hairline with a puzzled look on their faces everywhere you go, then you might actually prefer just being bald. It doesn't matter what his photos look like and what the HTN community thinks based on this; Malloy has to live with this day to day and I imagine it consumes him and creates alot of anxiety and frustration.

 

Before I got my HT I met with alot of patients in person. Two of them had Malloy's hair traits and it looked too much like a "wall of hair" with no transition zone. Even when I was uneducated about modern HTs I would probably have noticed something "odd" about the hairline of these two patients. I remember telling myself that if that's what my end result would look like then I would DEFINITELY just choose to stay with the balding look !!! It actually made me feel blessed to have thinner caliber hair and this was a HUGE factor in my decision to move forward.

 

Fortunately for me I found that URFUT patients who had medium or lesser hair shaft caliber had completely undetectable results; yes their hair was not as thick as George Clooney, but nobody would ever guess they had a cosmetic surgery so who gives a rats ass !!! Would you rather be the guy with the thinner than Clooney NW2 who looks completely natural, or the wall-of-hair wirebrush NW0 dude whose HT is spottable by uneducated onlookers wherever he goes ???

 

This is why I tell newbies on here to BEWARE OF WHAT YOU ASK FOR because you just might get it !! Many think that super thick density equals "naturalness". Not true IMO from the patients I have seen. In real life a person with Malloy's hair traits (and no MPB) will have ALOT of fine vellous hairs mixed in with that "wall of hair" hairline to break it up, otherwise it may look like the metal strings protruding from a wire brush -- nothing nice!

 

This has nothing to do IMO with Dr. Feller's work in his case which I believe was excellent. Malloy also made a VERY poor decision with his previous HT before Dr. Feller, so he really had no choice but to seek repair! He should have done ALOT more research prior to his first HT, met with patients who had his hair traits, and then made a truly informed decision before jumping in.

Edited October 2, 2010 by EpilepticSceptic

[Julius]

I have thick dark hair and very pale skin what should people like us do?

[Julius]

I was told thick hair follicles are good for ht

But I know the contrast between dark hair and light skin is not

[EpilepticSceptic]

What you should do IMO is meet a few URFUT patients in person who have your hair/skin traits and see what you think about it.

 

Make sure they were virgin heads pre-HT because otherwise you are not comparing apples to apples. And see them is the most unflattering light conditions.

 

Yes, coarse dark hair is the best for getting the most COVERAGE! But the best of HT docs will tell you that this type hair presents the biggest challenge for creating a NATURAL looking hairline -- so much so that they take an entirely different approach in how they perform the hairline design as compared to an individual with medium or finer hair.

 

IMO it is best to be somewhere in the middle concerning hair diameter for an undetectable result, and with limited loss/small head so that the area to cover is not so extensive. Hence finasteride is an absolute MUST !!!

Edited September 29, 2010 by EpilepticSceptic

[uselessgomez]

Dr. Feller talks a lot about "dense packing."

 

Maybe sometimes it's better not to pack a hairline so densely?