Consultation experience with Dr. Shahmalak of Crown Cosma Clinics

[harryoliver]

Hey all

 

I'm a newbie. Thanks to you guys, though, I'm quickly becoming knowledgeable on hair restoration, principally the importance of stabilisation before transplantation.

 

I'm 24. I've been suffering from MPB since I was 18. I'm now a NW 3V/4 (see photo). I've been wearing a hair system for 18 months. Yesterday, however, it came off for the last time! Regaine and Nizoral are in the post, and I'm seeing about a prescription for Propecia next week.

 

I'm scared about living the next 12-18 months looking like I do, but there we go.

 

Anyway, I met with Dr. Shahmalak of Crown Cosma Clinics recently. I wasn't impressed, first and foremost, by his lack of reputation on here and other sites like this. During the consultation he dismissed these kind of communities, declaring that they aren't important. He said he gets most of his clients through face-to-face word-of-mouth referrals. Good for him, but it's not enough for me.

 

Other key points include how he called the International Alliance of Hair Restoration Surgeons "crap." He's a member of ISHRS and the European one. Basically, any society or alliance other than the ones he belongs to were dismissed as being crap. As soon as that word flowed out of his mouth, I knew I wasn't letting him anywhere near my head! I sat there hiding my disbelief behind a fake smile. It was very uncomfortable.

 

His consultant was equally dismissive. And she got tetchy and defensive when I began to ask her detailed questions. Although, she admitted that American surgeons are "miles ahead" of us here in the UK (she didn't say, of course, that I should go there.)

 

I was quoted ?6000 for 3000 FUGs. But, perhaps most saliently, I was told by Shahmalak that Propecia wouldn't work for me. "On what basis?," I asked. "Because you will definitely be a Norwood 7," he replied.

 

O....K. But whether this is true or not, meds slow down and/or restore MPB. Anyone, especially a hair restoration surgeon, declaring that meds won't work outright is dismissing the subjectivity of taking meds. I'll know if they work when I've taken them for a period of months. And only then. (Oddly enough, he then showed me before and after photos and kept mentioning that, in cases where he'd transplanted grafts to the front of his patients' heads, meds were helping them keep the hairs at the back. Nice bit of self-contradiction there, then!)

 

As far as Shahmalak was concerned, he wanted me in his chair and he wanted my money out of my bank account. It was written all over his face.

 

He kept me waiting; he rushed through the consultation (15 mins.); he passed me to his consultant who was equally rude; and he dismissed the innumerable time and effort that has gone in to sites like this.

 

IMO, keep away!

 

So my hair transplant will be undertaken by one of the recommended surgeons and after I've stabilised my hair loss with meds.

 

I look forward to engaging with you all over the months ahead. Some of you dudes are a real inspiration.

[Thehairupthere]

Not using finasteride because you're going to a Norwood 7? That exactly why you should start the medication. You seem to have a lot of miniaturized hairs and those can regrow with the medication. Consult with a proper surgeon who is recommended by this site for an evaluation and start the medication for one year before treatment. If you're in the UK Dr. Farjo is a good choice, but if you're set on coming to the US many doctors offer online consultations.

[aseda1979]

Start with the meds as you said. It will slow down and thicken the miniaturized hair. A year after you started them look at the before and after pics and you'll be amazed... and Im sure shahmalak will be too

[harryoliver]

Not using finasteride because you're going to a Norwood 7? That exactly why you should start the medication. You seem to have a lot of miniaturized hairs and those can regrow with the medication. Consult with a proper surgeon who is recommended by this site for an evaluation and start the medication for one year before treatment. If you're in the UK Dr. Farjo is a good choice, but if you're set on coming to the US many doctors offer online consultations.

 

I sent the relevant info through the online consultation facility on hairtransplantnetwork.com. Great facility. Dr. True was one of the US docs I sent the info to.

[Thehairupthere]

eBeckieSantosu I'd be happy to help if you have any questions. If you sent an online consultation for us through the HTN I would expect Dr. True to get back to you early this week.

[Tonycc]

What a weird thing to tell a patient, that because your hair is going to get worse that there is no reason to take medication to make it better.

 

Good luck with the doctor search. Try to stick with this site's recommended list of doctors. They are recommended for a reason.