What do you do when you get two entirely different opinions from two doctors?

[olmert]

The first doctor I went to only does FUT. He said I needed 1200 to 1600 in the front, and 800 to 1000 in the back. He said to get FUT 2000 to 2500 grafts. He said with 2500 grafts the scar would be bigger than with 2000 grafts. He said I am pretty thin in the donor hair area.

 

Next I went to a second doctor. He does FUT and FUE. He told me I am between norwood 3 and 4, and eventually I will be norwood 5. He said to do 1500 to 2000 in the front and 1000 to 2000 in the back. He said I have 8,000 to 12,000 donor grafts and am not thin in the donor area. He said if I were doing FUT, I should do 4000. I asked him if the scar would be bigger with 4000 grafts than with 2000 grafts. He said barely any bigger. He said, if you do more grafts than 4000, then there starts to get a big difference in scar size. If I do FUE, he can only do 2000 to 2500 in one session, and then he can do another session in 8 months. But I might be satisfied with one session, or might put off a second session for 10 years.

 

What do I do? See another doc? I am very confused.

Edited March 19, 2012 by olmert

[Capelli11]

I would see as many dr's as possible...this way you can compare what they say...I would imagine eventually the majority of dr's analysis and recommendations will be pretty close. I saw a lot of dr's before my HT...I had some range of estimates too regarding graft count and also how many procedures I would need to have...some doctors wanted to do it over 2 procedures and other doctors said they can do it all in just one procedure which to me was more ideal for obvious reasons. Keep getting estimates and also feel out the doctor to see if you feel comfortable and you like him. At the end of the day see his results because that is what determines a good HT doctor....results don't lie. I think picking a doctor is like picking a girlfriend...you don't know they are the "one" until you meet them and then suddenly it all seems clear and the decision is easy.

 

I would stay with only doctors who are recommended by this site.

[olmert]

^^^ How can you consult with a bunch of doctors recommended by this site? In any given city, you won't find very many. You mean in person consults? Or do you expect a patient to travel from city to city for consults?

[Dutch]

Get a third and fourth opinion. Get online consultations from this site

[Capelli11]

I tried to get as many face to face consults as possible. I literally flew across the US to go see a doctor and then drove 10+ hrs to see another doctor. The rest I did online consults with. I personally wanted to physically meet the doctor whom i was having my HT with prior to booking it...obviously if you live in another country this is near impossible considering costs and other factors...so in that case you would have to do online consults and also a phone call. Where there is a will...there is a way...if your serious about this you will find a way to consult and make it happen...that is exactly what I did...because remember this is a life long decision and don't let some small geographical obstacles stand in your way!