Dr. Rahal or Dr. Feller

[Anouar]

There is an assumption here that you go in the dc office and demand 3000 or 4000 graft and the doc agrees and you’re off to the operating table. I’m 42. I thought I was Norwood 3. When I visited Rahal he notified me that I was a Norwood 5 to my horror. He said I would lose more hair down the road based on the miniaturization he saw on my scalp. He was very much against lowering my hairline. He was thorough in his assessment and discussed possible future loss. On the contrary, he was conservative with me. He has a planned approach as opposed to being wreckless as some have suggested. We planted around 4200 but the grafts were spread all the way back. I’m very happy with the results. So, from a cosmetic standpoint, you certainly can tell the difference as my family has also remarked. That said, I believe he looks at everybody differently and bases his recommendation on each person’s individual hairloss traits. I think it serves no purpose to label someone wreckless until you sit down with Rahal and discuss your ht plan. One, thing I might add most of his patients see early growth as fast as 4 months.

[Shadow of the EMpire State]

Shadow, what you said was ridiculous. There are many patients, even some NW 7's, who have beyond a "cosmetically acceptable" result.

 

No, that is ridiculous.

 

I'm not promoting H&W here, but take a gander at their website (you know, the one with the HD photographs and videos of NW 6's and 7's) and then tell me those results aren't amazing.

Whom do you think you're talking to, a newbie? I've been on these forums since 2002. I've seen every transplant picture there is to see. As regards the H&W web sites, the futzyhead (NW5) and bobman (NW6) results are on the page because they're exceptional, not because they're the norm. H&W is a great firm that can do great things, but at a certain point, hair-transplant surgery becomes a game of numbers. The vast majority of people do not have the donor resources or hair characteristics to obtain top-end coverage from NW5+. Joe from H&W is an honest a guy as there is in the business. Go ask him whether the average NW6 comes out looking like bobman. Edited May 10, 2011 by Shadow of the EMpire State

[bonkerstonker]

Just to clarify i'm not trying to stick the knife into Rahal, in my opinion from the results i saw last year he was the best surgeon of the year. I'm just interested into wether or not he is using too many grafts in the front or not with men having only frontal loss so far!!

 

Anouar i'm glad to hear he looked into your future condition that is reassuring to hear. For me your change has been unbeilevable and very wisely planned but i had you down as a pre ht diffuse nw5 which meant rahal had to choose wisely with regards to your future loss and and your pre ht loss, he simply couldn't use a huge number of grafts in your front because your loss was already hear and not in the distant future.

 

What i'm interested about is the men that come to see rahal with just the front 3ed minaturised and the crown being at full thickness, now rahal can simply load the front up with 4300 grafts and get a jaw dropping result now and not have to worry about the patient coming back for 5 to 10 years but what happens then in 5 to 10 years if you have huge loss in the mid section and the crown that no one could have foreseen and you only have a small amount of grafts left. For me i'd rather go steady with grafts at first untill my full loss is clear and then at worst case senario i'll end up with a full head of hair but slightly thin as opposed to having hair like brad pit in the front and the crown and mid section of a monk. This imo would look stupid and obvious it's got to be even throughout to avoid being noticed.

 

The reason i've stated above must be the reason why the top surgeons don't aggresively attack any single section of the head before they know the full loss. Dr Armani is the king of hairlines but some of his heavy loaded hairlines from years ago are starting to come back to haunt him now.

[gattaca]

when i spend money, i want a hairline and hair style that LOOKS GOOD, i dont want an amazing comb over.. which is many of the pictures i had seen growing up researching hair loss and the HT option. right now if my hairline grows in like its doing with the 3500 grafts from rahal. the hair lines frames my face.. gaves me amazing styling options and actaully makes me look handsome..

 

as apposed to what? that MAYBE when im 42 ill regret having to much grafts up front? no thanks.. ill enjoy brad pitts hair line in my late 20s and 30s and ill worry about the back when the time comes..

 

the hairline is one of the hardest parts of the head to grow hair in.. almost ALL hair products that claim to grow hair or stop it are for the crown.. toppik can work great for the crown.. you have a LOT of option if your back is thinning.. btw INCLUDING another hair transplant.. just because i got 3500 grafts to cover the front doesnt mean i dont have another 3500 to fill in the rest.

 

everybodys oponion is different. but for me personally i want a hair transplant that will give me amazing results so i can enjoy my youth.. not look like a less crappy version of my self.. like i said its my oponion. but im very happy with my HT and wake up every morning running my hands thru my hair and thank god there was an option for me.

[corvettester]

I agree with Gattaca’s view. I always wonder why posters are so adamant about not using too much of the donor supply in the frontal third, temples and hairline.

 

I mean, it looks just great when you close the temples and then lower and augment the hairline. In my opinion, it is the single most significant cosmetic improvement that you can give a man.

 

Correct me if I’m wrong, but here is my reasoning: I know that I have a donor supply of 8,000 grafts (slightly above average). So what’s the big deal if I use 3,000-4,000 in the hairline and temples? I’ll still have at least 4,000 left.

 

I see so many NW4/5/6s who get 3,000-4,000 graft HTs and come out looking fantastic! Keep in mind that those 4,000 grafts are also used to restore the hairline, temples and frontal third of these NW4/5/6 patients.

 

So doesn’t it stand to reason that once your hairline and temples are well established, most men will do fine with only 3,000-4,000 more grafts to cover the rest of their head in a worst-case scenario that they go on to become NW5/6?

 

I’m going with Gattaca on this one. I want to look my best in my twenties, thirties and even forties. I’ll still have plenty of hair if I progress to NW4/5/6. Once I get the hairline and temples taken care of, then I’ll worry about the illusion of density for the rest. Of course, going to a NW6/7 would present more problems but who can really predict that… and even then, you’ll still have most of the coverage that you’ll need. At that point you can start to consider toppik, concealers, hair systems, etc…

 

Corvettester

Edited May 11, 2011 by corvettester
Formatting Issues.

[Dutch]

I agree with a lot of what's been said above. Somewhere in the middle would be ideal. Have great youthful looks while you're still young but also have plenty in the tank for the future.

Putting too many grafts in for the first inch might be seen as unwise, and worrying too much about the future might be seen as a bit premature. A balance is needed.

For me, I can't stand that 'mature' triangle look but it all depends on your condition & what you have to spend I guess

[lorenzo]

I have been around for over 10 years now and have a good knowledge about both these doctors.

You cant go wrong with both the doctors in my views. They are amongst the top 5 along with Dr. Shapiro, Dr. Wong and Dr. Hasson in the world. So whoever you decide on you cant go wrong. All top doctors are concerned about a patients future whever you are dealing with a patients donor. So this is nothing new it happens quite often. Patient A walks in to the clinic tells the doctor what he wants. Doctor say he wont do that because the hairline is too low and he is concerned with patients future. Patient A usually agrees or in many cases the doctor refused the patient.

Regardless you wont go wrong with either on these two. My suggestion is take people opinions and do your own research to come up with the best decision for yourself.

[HARIRI]

Yes, I agree. As they say Customer always right. The Doctors advices and plans for the patient for long term, but the final decision is for the patient whether he goes for it or not. Thats why I decided to do 50 FU/cm2 for having a NW6 father, to just have some grafts for the future. Long term strategy should always be considered, not just temporary satisfaction. Concealers such as Nanogen or toppik do help a lot and can still even work on a 30 fu/cm2 perfectly.

[scorpio25]

I've been reading this forum for last two-three years. I haven't decided on a clinic yet but between these two - Rahal all the way. There's no comparison imo. I've seen more wow results from Rahal and I can't say just because Feller contributes more doesn't make him an equal to some of the other doctors. It comes down to Feller and Spex do too much of their own tooting of their own horn....lol.

[Jotronic]

Spex,

 

You wait 2-3 years after reading the forums to make your first post;) YET you choose NOW to make your first post; a weak attempt to belittle Dr Feller and myself on such a topic in front of everyone. Nice and legit.LOL!!!

 

Im confident almost certain that if you choose to post further we can expect further attempts to discredit us either by this or other aliases you choose to set up;)

 

As if this has never happened before, lol!

 

I echo what Spex said. Both doctors are top notich. The choice comes down to the particular style each doctor exhibits. It's as simple as that.

[bonkerstonker]

Gattica corvettester your present selves do make a good point but I wonder what your future selves would say if here now.

 

A medium balance is needed here with thre donor usage imo. It just sets off alarm bells ringing when most of the other doctors do not load up high graft counts in one small area. Also you may use 4300 in the front with 4000 in the donor left but if something goes wrong with ht2 using your last 4000 then you're finished and gonna look like a wally for sure. Just because you have 4000 in reserve it doesn't mean your second ht will grow 4000 because in life sh#t happens.

Edited May 11, 2011 by bonkerstonker

[hairthere]

"I agree with Gattaca’s view. I always wonder why posters are so adamant about not using too much of the donor supply in the frontal third, temples and hairline. "

 

I think you'll find most doctors will also not deplete a donor supply and overdo the frontal third, temples and hairline. I used to feel the same way as you did Corvettester. But after my crown receded and I was left with an island of hair from the HT I began to realize you do indeed need to be smart and efficient with your donor supply. Thankfully I had enough left in the tank to fill-in around it. I also have very thick hair which really helps with the coverage. But some people are not so fortunate, and a life of concealers, etc becomes very tedious.

 

Think about the future fellas, and be thankful we have access to some really talented, conscientious, and forward-thinking doctors such as Rahal and Feller...

[corvettester]

Hairthere,

 

Right, right!

 

I hope my argument is not misconstrued as an charge against conservative doctors, but rather as a defense for the more aggressive doctors. Clearly, I took the conservative route with my HT, and I’m glad I did. However, it was a tough decision. I’m jealous of some of these dense packing home runs I see on HTN!

 

Nobody is going to argue against your reasoning of playing it safe, especially when you’re so happy with your results! I totally agree with you just as much as I agree with Gattaca. The two are not mutually exclusive, in my opinion.

 

For example, in my case I have a limited family history of MPB, good donor supply, NW3 stabilized, etc… Hence, I feel like it is reasonable to conclude that going heavy in the frontal third, hairline and temples poses little risk, especially considering that I’ll still have 4,000-5,000 grafts left should my balding progress!

 

Thus, in the final analysis of predicting future hair loss, I think it’s a matter of brinkmanship in which several variables dictate a prudent course of action. In my case, I think adding another 1,300 grafts into my hairline and temples, thereby bringing it to a total of 3,000 grafts FUT, may be considered aggressive, but nothing reckless.

 

Corvettester

[hairthere]

"The two are not mutually exclusive, in my opinion"

 

Good point, and it is tough to find that balance.

 

"I’m jealous of some of these dense packing home runs I see on HTN!"

 

Looking at your pics I'd say in another six months time you're gonna have a home run too...

[bonkerstonker]

I'm very jealous of these dense packing home runs too, as people have mentioned above they will give you a amazing youth of supreme confidence, that must be a great feeling to forget about your troubles that have haunted everyone for a while!

[Starkid]

Dr.Rahal it is!!!

[fritz68]

The success of finasteride has obviously enabled doctors & younger patients to take the risk of using proportionately high percentages of donor hair on the frontal third.

 

I don't see any long term problems as long as the patient never stops taking finasteride and previously unidentified long-term safety issues with the drug don't show up forcing it off the market.

 

I've been using it for about 13yrs and have maintained thick hair in crown but thinning in frontal zone (second small session coming up). If I have to come off it I'm going to look bizarre.

[Shadow of the EMpire State]

I don't see any long term problems as long as the patient never stops taking finasteride and previously unidentified long-term safety issues .

 

Oh, they've been identified. And soon, the truth will come out.

[bonkerstonker]

Propecia has been used since 1992 I'm sure it's been around long enough to know the score by now. It is strange how it's fine with most long term users but completely destroys a few mens sexual desire. My thinking is if you already have a low libido it will wreck your sexual desire but for most this is not a problem.

[destorius]

Always think these type of posts are a bit pointless because they are so subjective and then it becomes a mud slinging episode and agenda based. Both are excellent- both will do excellent work.

 

I went with Feller and am very happy thus far- I'm sure Rahal is also excellent but as I may not met him I cannot comment.

[destorius]

Have not met him...

[MusoInOz]

Great post and many good statements, I have been in the exact predicament of Surgeon choice.

Rahal or Feller.

 

Both are amazing surgeons, you cannot go wrong with either one IMO.

It all comes down to preference. I agree that Doc A vs Doc B posts tend to morph into a mud slinging act.

This forum would be much more useful without posters going against one another consistently. I believe having your preference is fine and obviously stating your personal reasoning behind this is also fine, just keep it at that.

 

Unless you are the son of a preacher man...

 

Cheers,