Dr. Allan at Rockymountain clinic in Calgary AB Canada and the NeoGraft Machine

[Krusty]

Has anyone looked into this clinic, and any info on NeoGraft would help. Thanks

Mark

(New here)

[Blake Bloxham]

Krusty,

 

Here are some forum search results that may provide information about the NeoGraft.

 

Additionally, there are a few references from our Hair Loss Q & A blog: here, here, and here.

 

Furthermore, although I've never heard of this particular physician, we do recommend an excellent sect of hair restoration surgeons in Canada, and I highly suggest reviewing these doctors.

 

Feel free to ask any additional questions. Good luck!

[Bill - Seemiller]

Krusty,

 

In my opinion, the name "NeoGraft" has been significantly overhyped. Frankly, it's just one of the many tools physicians may choose to use to perform the follicular unit extraction (FUE) procedure. NeoGraft in itself is not a technique nor a procedure, but a machine designed to assist in extracting hair follicles.

 

Like all extraction tools, the NeoGraft hair transplant machine does have certain advantages and disadvantages. The manufacturer claims that NeoGraft has a higher success rate of extracting viable and healthy grafts for transplanting. But do note that the comparison was between the NeoGraft machine and manual non-motorized devices and I believe the tests were performed by NeoGraft themselves. To my knowledge, no tests were performed to compare the NeoGraft to other powered motorized devices, which many reputable physicians use regularly.

 

My main concern about the NeoGraft machine is that it's marketing campaign was directed at patients and Neophyte physicians rather than experienced doctors. I can only guess that if NeoGraft was successful at creating a demand for it in patients with an impressive marketing campaign that physicians would be forced to buy it. However, the educated patient community saw this and as a whole, didn't buy in to the marketing campaign.

 

That's not to say that experienced physicians and their staff using NeoGraft can't produce quality results. But it is to say that the tool a physician uses is far less important than their experience and skill at performing hair transplant surgery.

 

My primary advice to you is to spend time researching any physician you are considering. At the end of the day, I encourage you to select a physician that has a proven history of producing quality results and has an outstanding reputation amongst his/her patients and peers.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Krusty]

Hey thanks Bill. I noticed a lot of comments were back to 2009 so have you seen anything lately? I would even like to see pictures of the work. In any event, my goal is to continue to wear hair during the process. I do not expect to have a full head of hair like I did in my early twenties; however I want a hair line. I was planning to do this over three treatments to try to go back to a 5v or better (Norwood scale). In short I am ready to loose the rug, but want to bald gracefully, with a little left over. Think of the actor Ed O'Neil from Modern Family. I would be pleased with his hair line! (maybe I am setting my sights low??)

 

I live in the middle of Canada with no surgeons here to do any of this work. The closest is a 6 hour drive, and as I want to do this in stages you can start to see my dilemma.

I have emailed the Rocky Mountain Clinic and the response is very slow. I can not seem to find any additional information so I intent to phone at the end of the week if I have not received a reply to ask for references or photo's. He claims that the typical treatment is 1000 - 1500 grafts. This is exactly what I want.

 

I do not want a couple of 5" strips cut out of my head. There is no way I could sit through that. Yes it's all "in my head" but that's the way it is for me. If any knife comes close I would need to be out cold... This procedure sounds like getting a tattoo. I like the less dramatic approach. I am sold on this idea; however I need to find some one capable.

 

This is where I am hoping to find information and support from this forum. It would be awesome to be able to hear from some one who did this.

 

Thanks very much for your replies and insight. This is valuable information when you live in a smaller center away from the pros. I made the mistake of going to Newark New Jersey in the late 80's to get duped into having a cheap wig sewn into my scalp so I know not to make the same mistake again. I wish this was available back then!

Best Regards, and great job on this web site.

Mark

(Krusty)

[Krusty]

Neograft and Dr. Allan in Calgary

 

Hey thanks Bill. I noticed a lot of comments were back to 2009 so have you seen anything lately? I would even like to see pictures of the work. In any event, my goal is to continue to wear hair during the process. I do not expect to have a full head of hair like I did in my early twenties; however I want a hair line. I was planning to do this over three treatments to try to go back to a 5v or better (Norwood scale). In short I am ready to loose the rug, but want to bald gracefully, with a little left over. Think of the actor Ed O'Neil from Modern Family. I would be pleased with his hair line! (maybe I am setting my sights low??)

 

I live in the middle of Canada with no surgeons here to do any of this work. The closest is a 6 hour drive, and as I want to do this in stages you can start to see my dilemma.

I have emailed the Rocky Mountain Clinic and the response is very slow. I can not seem to find any additional information so I intent to phone at the end of the week if I have not received a reply to ask for references or photo's. He claims that the typical treatment is 1000 - 1500 grafts. This is exactly what I want.

 

I do not want a couple of 5" strips cut out of my head. There is no way I could sit through that. Yes it's all "in my head" but that's the way it is for me. If any knife comes close I would need to be out cold... This procedure sounds like getting a tattoo. I like the less dramatic approach. I am sold on this idea; however I need to find some one capable.

 

This is where I am hoping to find information and support from this forum. It would be awesome to be able to hear from some one who did this.

 

Thanks very much for your replies and insight. This is valuable information when you live in a smaller center away from the pros. I made the mistake of going to Newark New Jersey in the late 80's to get duped into having a cheap wig sewn into my scalp so I know not to make the same mistake again. I wish this was available back then!

Best Regards, and great job on this web site.

Mark

(Krusty)

[Bill - Seemiller]

Mark,

 

I actually haven't seen anything lately regarding the NeoGraft and that's exactly the point. Most leading surgeons have rejected its use, not because it's not a potentially high quality tool, but because there are other tools that are far less expensive that produce the same kind of results. I know that a few highly reputable physicians recommended by this community did experiment with the NeoGraft and did like certain things about it while sharing some concerns about it as well. Our forum co-moderator Blake linked to articles above expressing some of the pros and cons of the NeoGraft machine.

 

At the end of the day however, selecting a quality physician who has an upstanding reputation for producing consistent excellent results is far more important than the tool they're using.

 

I've never heard of Dr. Allan, but that doesn't mean he's not doing quality work. Just be sure to take your time and research all physicians and techniques you are considering before making a final decision to jump into surgery.

 

To see a list of physicians we recommend, click here. To see our high standards for recommendation, click here.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Bill - Seemiller]

Mark,

 

You also said that you'd like to "wear hair" throughout the process. Does that mean you currently wear or intend to wear a hair system? Do note that some more restrictive hair systes can hinder hair transplant growth and thus, you might want to speak with surgeons you are considering about your game plan and their recommendation.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Krusty]

Thanks Bill, I understand your comments. What would be an example of an alternate type of harvesting to avoid the knife, similar to a Neograft system?

And yes, I do wear hair now so a dramatic change would be hard especially in my line of work. Again this is why this type of alternate work is appealing. It may cost more, but to do this in stages would work better for me. The idea is to cut back the system and come the hair system over the transplant area.

[Blake Bloxham]

Krusty,

 

Like Bill said before, the NeoGraft is simply a tool used by hair restoration physicians to perform Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE).

 

Currently, there are two different types of state-of-the-art surgical hair restoration: Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) and Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT). FUT, traditional hair transplant surgery, is the "strip procedure" you're referring to in an above post. As you explained, during this procedure, a strip of scalp is surgically removed from the back of the head, dissected into follicular unit grafts, and implanted into the balding scalp.

 

During the FUE procedure, instead of removing a strip and then dissecting the donor tissue into follicular unit grafts, a small extraction tool is used to manually remove the grafts directly from the back of the scalp. The "advantage" of this procedure is the lack of the traditional FUT ("strip") scar. Knowing this, it may be easier to understand that the NeoGraft is simply an extraction tool used to perform FUE.

 

Having said that, if you are an FUE candidate, I still highly recommend reviewing our Canadian hair restoration surgeons. Several of these physicians perform FUE, and traveling for excellent results is almost always more time and cost effective in the end.

 

Here are a few FUE resources to review: FUE at the Hair Loss Learning Center, FUE Update from the Hair Loss Q & A blog.

 

Feel free to ask any additional questions.