Advice - First HT? UK or USA/Canada?

[UKunsure]

Hi guys,

as per my profile, I live in the UK and have been considering a HT for about 5 years.

I would appreciate any advice on 3 things:

 

1. from the picture attached, is it realistic to be able reconstruct my hairline and have a full looking head of hair?

 

2. what are the advantages of travelling to the USA (Bernstein/Shapiro/Feller/Rahal), Canada (Hassan and Wong) or staying the UK (Farjo)?

 

3. what are the main factors to try and decide between the different Doctors and any questions that I should ask in consultations?

 

Currently I am swaying towards FUT and perhaps someone like Dr Hassan to be able to a large transplant in one session. They only do the slit technique which I am not sure how it compares to other methods. All in all I am a bit scared by the whole process!!

 

any advice would be great.

Edited June 11, 2012 by UKunsure
incomplete sentence

[irishsailor]

Hi, welcome to the forum. You have defiantely come to the right place not just to get advice but also do research and speak to patients that have been to various clinics.

It would help if you could maybe post a pic from behind as well to see what donar supply you have that would be taken from the back and also if you have any crown loss.

You have mentioned alot of good docs there and you would be in safe hands whoever you went with in that list, however if it's a one pass big session your looking for then Haason and Wong are impressive in that area.

I would take my time and do a little research on here and im sure you will find the right surgeon for you. Are you currently on meds? Propecia and minoxidal are used to treat and slow hairloss down and for some lucky people regrow some hair

With regards about going abroad our staying at home dont let geography get in the way, better to choose the best surgeon for you first time around and be happy.

I would consider chatting to jotronic and spex on here, they are very knowlegable and have been there seen it and got the t-shirt so to speak

 

Hope this helps, im sure lots of people will offer you dvice and guidance. Best of luck my friend

[1978matt]

1. from the picture attached, is it realistic to be able reconstruct my hairline and have a full looking head of hair?

 

Probably not but you could have a pretty good front hairline, decent mid scalp blended into the crown

 

2. what are the advantages of travelling to the USA (Bernstein/Shapiro/Feller/Rahal), Canada (Hassan and Wong) or staying the UK (Farjo)?

 

More choice going to the US. I think a lot of this game is about finding a doctor you are comfortable with, trust, and is on the same wavelength in terms of your goals.

 

3. what are the main factors to try and decide between the different Doctors and any questions that I should ask in consultations?

 

All of the docs recommended on here have consitent results but I would say ask to see examples similar to your own case and try to meet those patients in person.

 

By 'slit' I guess you mean 'strip' method. This is where they take a thin strip of scalp from the back of the head, dissect the grafts individulaly under a microscope and then plant them in your bald area one-by one.

 

The other method, Follicular unit extraction, takes hairs individually from the back of the head using a small punch tool. This is obviously more time consuming, but avoids having a strip-scar at the back of the head (most patients get spot-scars instead).

[Jotronic]

UKunsure,

 

Thank you for considering Hasson & Wong in your list. To clarify, by "slit" I assume you are either speaking of the strip method or you are referring to the Lateral Slit Technique. This is a manner in which recipient sites or "holes" are made to place the hair. Here is a .pdf to explain in much more detail...

 

http://www.hassonandwong.com/pdfs/lateral_slit.pdf

 

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to call or email. I can also speak to you via Skype should you so wish. Just send me an email at joe@hassonandwong.com to set this up.

[MTL30]

I need to know if I get a dense pack of 65 cm2 on my hairline is there still a chance that I would need a little more grafts for density.

[Postdoc]

Hi UKunsure,

 

I'm also in the UK and I'm 6 weeks post op after travelling to Hasson & Wong for FUT at the beginning of May.

 

From your photo, you look to about 5a, so achieving a full looking head of hair in a one-pass procedure would be difficulty unless you have a really good donor area with excellent laxity. You'd probably need >6000 grafts to achieve what you're looking for.

 

H&W visit London fairly regularly, so it's worth meeting with them when they're next in town. Rahal and Feller are other excellent options. FUE isn't probably worth considering at present, because of the coverage you need, but for a future top-up, Bisanga, Devroye and Feriduni in Brussels are all top-notch.

 

The situation in the UK is irritating given that cosmetic surgery is otherwise of a high standard. Farjo is the best, but they're surgically conservative and for my money concentrate too much on celebs and publicity.

 

Regards,

David

 

 

Hi guys,

as per my profile, I live in the UK and have been considering a HT for about 5 years.

I would appreciate any advice on 3 things:

 

1. from the picture attached, is it realistic to be able reconstruct my hairline and have a full looking head of hair?

 

2. what are the advantages of travelling to the USA (Bernstein/Shapiro/Feller/Rahal), Canada (Hassan and Wong) or staying the UK (Farjo)?

 

3. what are the main factors to try and decide between the different Doctors and any questions that I should ask in consultations?

 

Currently I am swaying towards FUT and perhaps someone like Dr Hassan to be able to a large transplant in one session. They only do the slit technique which I am not sure how it compares to other methods. All in all I am a bit scared by the whole process!!

 

any advice would be great.

[chrisdav]

I don't really believe fue would be suitable for your level of baldness.

 

All the surgeons you have listed are very good, consult with them all.

[HARIRI]

1. from the picture attached, is it realistic to be able reconstruct my hairline and have a full looking head of hair?

 

You may get a good coverage with a decent mega session by Strip surgery.

 

2. what are the advantages of travelling to the USA (Bernstein/Shapiro/Feller/Rahal), Canada (Hassan and Wong) or staying the UK (Farjo)?

 

There are a few clinics that are expert in dealing with your level of baldness which needs Mega session. I would say Rahal and H&W are the best two so far.

 

3. what are the main factors to try and decide between the different Doctors and any questions that I should ask in consultations?

Well you have to ask about many before and after photos, meeting patients, discussing with them future plans because even you will have a mega session, you still need another OP for some extra coverage as what happened with HAIRGOESNOTHING. Also the price, if you ended up with 3 great surgeons then try to bargain as price can drop below their fee chart. Its your talent buddy. Good luck.

[aim4hair]

Im no expert, but If you are going for FUT, then i think H&W mega session will be a good option, in their sites they have images of people with worst hair situation than yours that got very nice results. But again, it all depends on your donor area.

[UKunsure]

Many thanks for all the great information so far. With slits i was referring to the perpendicular (lateral) slits versus parallel (sagital) slits method of inserting the follicles. I am only considering FUT for harvesting (because of the yield needed).

 

Does anyone have advice on how to meet ex-patients?

Is this something the doctors arrange or perhaps a more representative view would be from photos on a blogs like hosted here?

 

I tried minoxidil 5% for almost a year and it prevented further loss but no significant regrowth.