FUE only for me

[Givemehope]

I am only interested in FUE surgery and have tried to look into it since my friend bought hair transplants to my attention a few months ago. He had a poor FUE and was very dissapointed indeed with his FUE with Bisanga in Brussels who i heard was ok at it on another message board but i have ruled him out due to results and freinds feedback. I want to know who is the best in the UK as dont want to travel if i do not have to. I will travel if needed to US but has anyone been to the clinic Wayne Rooney went to in London? I cant find too much out on the clinic which is a worry too. Anyone help?

[VicVanceIND]

Hair Transplant Web Sites

[jessie1]

Givemehope,

 

I have Bisanga on my short list and have heard only positive things to date. I want to be thorough in my research as everybody does.

 

Are your friends in a position to share their experiences?

 

PS. Loads of choice in the US for sure. I'm a UK lad and I wish we had the same options. Easy access to the Doc is important.

 

Jessie

[aim4hair]

I believe Dr. Bisanga is very good, and i have seen some excellent results from him. I have consulted with him online and to be honest the only thing i did not like is that he was trying to convince me to go with FUT even though i requested FUE from the beginning.

As for me, Dr. Keser in Turkey is one of the best FUE doctors, also Dr. Dorin has decent results as well.

choosing the doctor is the hardest thing to do and don't limit your choices because of the location. the problem you will face is that many doctors will try to convince you to go with FUT instead, this is why in my case since im choosing FUE, i'd rather go with a Dr. who specified only in FUE, a one who embrace it and believes in its results.

[jessie1]

Aim4hair,

 

I agree with your comments about location.

 

You have pretty much covered what I myself have picked up on..... Do Docs really have that much faith in FUE? I fully understand the pros and cons of FUT and FUE having done plenty of research but there seems to be somewhat of an under current of reservation about the effectiveness of FUE with many Docs. It is only recently that I have come to realise this from spending a little more time in this forum.

 

I look at Bisanga's results and see consistency. Without getting too deep into my own personal experience (and risk somebody crashing the thread) , I have lost a lot of confidence in FUE. Taking my own experience together with what I have learned on this forum and I am still troubled about FUE.

 

I will only opt for this again if I am entirely satisified that the Doc has complete confidence in its effectiveness and of course that he feels like it's the right method for me.

 

Givemehope, Regarding your question about Wayne Rooneys Clinic.

Apart from the fact that I have heard much about his HT, I haven't heard much about his clinic on here. There could be many reasons for this and I won't speculate, but I have to ask myself why vastly experienced HT veterans are not talking about the clinic? I do recall seeing a thread about his HT and there will be mention of the clinic within it I would presume.

 

Jessie1

[jfables]

I'm convinced after my FUE experience with top clinics, and having consulted with several other docs that the procedure is flawed. Most guys may get 80% yield, some may get 95%, and then some will get 60% or less. Considering the high price it's quite a risk. I still think it's worth doing if you need little work and have very little hairloss as long as you're not in your early 20s.

[aim4hair]

jfables, I have read about your poor experience and im sorry for that, but you can't take your case as an example since you did not go to "top clinics"

Just reading about armani in this forum will give you a an idea of his bad work. believe me even if you had FUT with armani instead of FUE you would have still gotten the same poor results. Now there is always poor results for both FUT and FUE even with top surgeons, also there is some advantages and disadvantages to both. but again FUT was out way before FUE and up till now there are some top surgeons who are still not comfortable with FUE. the thing is if a surgeon is recommended and on top of his game in FUT that does not make him good in FUE and vice versa.

I have consulted with different doctors online; some doubted the effectiveness of FUE, some tried to convince me to change my mind and go with FUT, and some sounded so confident with FUE that they guaranteed the success of the procedure with almost the same density that can be done with FUT. those are different opinions and views of real top clinics who are recommended on this site and have a great reputation. so if that tells you something it is that some doctors are comfortable in FUE and believes in it while others are firm believers of FUT. we can't doubt any of those doctors since they talk our of their experience.

(you can search some FUE works with 3000+ grafts and you will see wonders). .

In my opinion, the main advantage of FUT over FUE is that there are MANY outstanding doctors who can perform it while only few outstanding doctors for FUE.

For me if i ever decide to do FUT i will defiantly choose a different doctor than the one im considering now for FUE because i really believe that being expert at one does not make you expert at the other.

[jfables]

Aim4hair You should read what Dr. Feller has to say about FUE. He was one of the first doing it in the US around 2001-2.

Could you please list for me the top 5 or more

FUE docs in your opinion?

[Levrais]

Aim4hair,

Well said!

[aim4hair]

jfables, that's exactly my point, i read what Dr. Feller had to say about FUE and that is his opinion. I had a consultation with Dr. Melike from Transmed center and their consultant made it clear to me that i can get the same density with FUE or FUT and they did not try to push me to go with FUT even though i need around +2000 grafts. The way i see it is that both doctors are recommended here, but one believes in FUE the other don't.

i don't have top 5 FUE doctors on my list, but again i don't have top 5 FUT doctors as well. i have a short list of 2 to 3 for each technique.

You can search FUE results by Dr. Keser from Turkey and Dr. Bisanga from Belgium and let me know what you think.

[aim4hair]

jessie1,

I read about your bad experience.. it's really up to you whether you wanna go for another FUE or switch to FUT, but whatever you device just make sure to take your time and search the doctor that is good for the HT method you choose. your hair still looks good and im sure with a good doctor your issues will be easily fixed.

[jfables]

jfables, that's exactly my point, i read what Dr. Feller had to say about FUE and that is his opinion. I had a consultation with Dr. Melike from Transmed center and their consultant made it clear to me that i can get the same density with FUE or FUT and they did not try to push me to go with FUT even though i need around +2000 grafts. The way i see it is that both doctors are recommended here, but one believes in FUE the other don't.

i don't have top 5 FUE doctors on my list, but again i don't have top 5 FUT doctors as well. i have a short list of 2 to 3 for each technique.

You can search FUE results by Dr. Keser from Turkey and Dr. Bisanga from Belgium and let me know what you think.

 

 

It's funny you mention Bisanga because he worked on me (extractions & graft placement) when I had my first procedure by the doctor who had been training him, who btw trained several of the current FUE docs in Europe. I used to believe what you are saying now about going to dedicated fue clinics to get the best fue results. I've now come to believe that no matter where you go there is a higher probability of getting less yield than you would with strip.

 

Also Armani was one of the best in the world when he was doing strip. His patients' results were amazing and I even met both FUT & FUE patients of his in person before deciding on him. Both types looked great. Then he decided to convert the practice to all FUE. The more FUE megasessions that are banged out, the higher the numbers of cases with poor yields emerge, I believe. There are guys, like myself, whose grafts just can't take the abuse of the extractions. (I had many a few small surgeries at first so it was not clear to me that I was getting poor yield.)

 

Feller was one of the first to do FUE in the US. He invented tools that are being used around the world now and he does still practice the procedure. I would not brush him off so easily. Having said that I'm willing to accept that perhaps some FUE docs around the world have managed to improve the procedure, but it's very hard to be sure about any of this.

 

For your own benefit do not put all your faith in FUE just because it's the more attractive procedure for you. Always be skeptical. I used to be quite adamant about the superiority of FUE also.

[jessie1]

Jfables/ Aim4hair/ Givemehope

 

I definitely want to stick with FUE but we will have to see what the score is with my donor.

 

I will feedback to the forum after my consultation with Dr Bisanga. Dr Bisanga seems to be one of only a handful of Docs, in my opinion, that have confidence in it. I will ask Dr Bisanga about yield (ie FUE vs FUT) and see what he says.

 

It goes without saying that had I known of Dr Feller's and Spex's opinion on FUE prior to my HT I would never have opted for FUE with Feller. I only learned about Dr Feller's true stance on it after my HT and recent meeting with Spex. I still harbour the negativity arising from this meeting about the effectiveness of FUE. I will have to conduct more research including individual patient experiences before I decide which is best for me.

 

The common demominator here is without doubt RESEARCH. Again, and I'm getting bored at being my own worst critic, I have to reflect on my experiences in the HT industry and in part I blame myself for failing to research properly.

 

Cheers for your comment guys, hope more contribute on FUE with their thoughts...

 

Jessie1

[aim4hair]

It's funny you mention Bisanga because he worked on me (extractions & graft placement) when I had my first procedure by the doctor who had been training him, who btw trained several of the current FUE docs in Europe

 

You said it yourself, he was training, when i talk about Dr. Bisanga work, i mean in the current time, i never said he was good back then when he was training or had no real experience. Good Doctors keep improving, and if you look back to any FUT top doctor back when he was training im sure you will not see the same results they accomplish today. Now i don't know who is that Dr. who trained Dr. Bisanga and many other FUE docs, but it seems like he's not that famous. but anyways, that doesn't really matter because in many cases trainees could become better than their trainers.

 

Also Armani was one of the best in the world when he was doing strip. His patients' results were amazing and I even met both FUT & FUE patients of his in person before deciding on him. Both types looked great. Then he decided to convert the practice to all FUE. The more FUE megasessions that are banged out, the higher the numbers of cases with poor yields emerge, I believe. There are guys, like myself, whose grafts just can't take the abuse of the extractions. (I had many a few small surgeries at first so it was not clear to me that I was getting poor yield.)

 

This bring us back to my previous point, being a top surgeon at FUT does not make you good at FUE by default. Armani was good at FUT yes (specially when it comes to hairlines). However, he was NEVER good at FUE, you can go ahead and search his name on most hair loss forums and im sure your are not gonna like what you read. Seeing couple of FUT & FUE patients of his in person is useless since he will only point you to his top results, and even the worst doctor could have some good results, as they say "even a broken clock is right twice a day". My point here is, don't blame the FUE blame for Armani's failure, he gets all the blame. Armani should have stuck with FUT, simple because he is not good at FUE.

 

Feller was one of the first to do FUE in the US. He invented tools that are being used around the world now and he does still practice the procedure. I would not brush him off so easily. Having said that I'm willing to accept that perhaps some FUE docs around the world have managed to improve the procedure, but it's very hard to be sure about any of this

 

Being the first to perform the FUE does not make you the best. Also inventing FUE tools is not a big deal really. many doctors have done that such as Dr. Devroye, Dr. Harris, Dr. Keser, etc..... so just because a doctor makes his own tool does not make him the best. As a matter of fact if you search Dr. Feller in this forum, you will find some bad results from him for both FUE and FUT (even though he is considered one of the best FUT doctors), so there is always a possibility of bad results whether the technique is FUE or FUT. OF course we shouldn't brush Dr. Feller off so easily and we should respect his own opinion, but at the same time we shouldn't brush other top doctors so easily just because they believe in FUE.

 

For your own benefit do not put all your faith in FUE just because it's the more attractive procedure for you. Always be skeptical. I used to be quite adamant about the superiority of FUE also

 

Believe me im very skeptical when it comes to HTs in general, I have read so many and done my research and this is why FUE is my best option so far so that if things go wrong i have the option to buzz and move on, I have seen some FUT and FUE results from top surgeons who turned out to be nightmares, i guess nothing is guaranteed and there is always a risk, so it's good to always hope for the best and plan for the worst. i still think FUT is great and it has advantages as I listed before, and nobody can deny the fact that there are more qualified and experienced doctors who perform FUT than there are for FUE. Having said that, I believe we should not doubt the FUE as well. if you look back, most doctors did not believe in FUE at all when it first came out, but years later they changed their mind, and many top rated FUT doctors started to learn the FUE technique and use it, you can take Dr. Rahal, who just recently started doing FUE, as an example.

[jfables]

The doc that did my first surgeries and trained Bisanga is quite famous. This forum will not allow me to type his name. He was the first to convert his practice entirely to FUE, had good results, and trained many of the docs who are performing it today internationally. At the time when I went to him he was the most experienced FUE doc by far (excluding the inventor of the procedure in Australia who kept his procedure secret).

[scar5]

Fables, There are three other FUE clinics in Belgium worth checking out! besides Bisanga!

 

 

I believe Dr. Bisanga is very good, .... the only thing i did not like is that he was trying to convince me to go with FUT even though i requested FUE from the beginning.

 

 

Yes, .. the plague of composite clinics. I suspect that FUE is the 'carrot' (Even their poster boy is an all-FUE man) , waving like a lantern outside the clinic, only for the patient to be all but told strip is the best choice in his particular case. It's a curse and its a damn shame!

 

Bisanga will not say yield is worse with FUE like Feller does, but I have a hunch he(and staff) will try to convince you to do strip, by default! Stick to your guns! There will always be an excuse composite clinics use to sway you to strip.

 

As time goes by, I am less inclined to encourage patients in the direction of composite clinics, bar Shapiro, unless he too gets fatigued. and frankly, why wouldn't he. Instead, I say go to FUE only clinics and see what they've got.

 

Bisanga has a stricter protocol than say Armani regarding over-harvesting which is good, but also bad and very convenient for convincing you that you have barely 2500 grafts for FUE and a sH&%&t load more for strip! Not to mention, they seem like thoroughly nice people too.

[Blake Bloxham]

Fables, There are three other FUE clinics in Belgium worth checking out! besides Bisanga!

 

Feriduni Hair Clinic

[Levrais]

"...Yes, .. the plague of composite clinics. I suspect that FUE is the 'carrot' (Even their poster boy is an all-FUE man) , waving like a lantern outside the clinic, only for the patient to be all but told strip is the best choice in his particular case. It's a curse and its a damn shame!

 

Bisanga will not say yield is worse with FUE like Feller does, but I have a hunch he(and staff) will try to convince you to do strip, by default! Stick to your guns! There will always be an excuse composite clinics use to sway you to strip." [quote=scar5

 

Hi Scar5,

I have heard there are clinics that will lure a patient in with fue and then when on the table, they will say they are getting too many transections, that you are not fue candidate and will offer to complete the job with a strip then and there. During a consult, I actually had a doc tell me that it happens (minus the luring in part). At that point the patient has taken the time off work, paid the deposit and gotten psyched for the procedure and may accept the strip. However, in my experience with Bisanga, he will tell you up front if he doesnt think you are an fue candidate and he will say that because its true. He will also flat out decline to peform an op if he doesnt think its in the patients best interest to do so. Although many of his patients, myself included, post about his talent with fue, he does strip procedures very well and will advise whats best for the patient up front. He doesnt have a "poster boy" per se but rather has reps in varous countries (english, spanish, german, polish, swedish, etc) all of whom are ex-patients (two repairs with fue and strip combo, one strip ony and two fue only), so the reps are a cross section of what the clinic offers. The UK rep who has had fue only would certainly make a good fue "poster boy" for an fue only clinic, however, he will be the first to tell you that he is unique in his donor density and loss pattern and that his results are rare. Although he has had over 8,000 fue grafts and looks great, he He will flat out turn patients away at the initial consult if the he doesnt think the person is a good candidate.

[SkinUpPinUp]

I should echo Levrais' points as another Bisanga patient. I never felt pressured into FUT at all. Also, I think calling Stephen a poster boy to be a little bit unfair. He will himself freely admit that he had well above average donor density in order to be able to restore his hairline from a Norwood 5/6. Even then he has used beard hairs for the crown.

 

You have to bear in mind that, on a graft-by-graft basis, FUT is cheaper than FUE, so why would they suggest it?

 

Frankly, I think that if Bisanga and Stephen suggest FUT there is probably a good reason for it...low donor density, weak follicular physiology, high graft number requirement, future planning and so on. Whilst they're a business and they want to make money, they're still one of the most ethical HT clinics in the world.