Konior Hair Transplant

[Barrymanalow]

Here's my journey. Obviously I know what it feels like to deal with hair loss and I'm hoping that my experience and insight will benefit you.

 

I recently completed my 4th hair restoration surgery. I chose to change doctors and go with Dr. Raymond Konior in Chicago. After months of research, traveling around the country meeting with other doctors, and considering my previous procedures I knew he was the best doctor in the country to perform my last surgery. I will share more on Dr. Konior, but first let me tell you my story. If you want to skip the next 3 paragraphs of "My Hair Loss" you can jump to see the reason I chose Dr. Konior.

 

MY HAIR LOSS

Basically, I started really noticing my hair loss when I was 20. By 22 it was obvious to all. I tried some hack product advertised on the radio that was supposed to increase scalp circulation and it didn't help. I also tried Nioxin and it did nothing. By 24 the front tuff of my hairline was breaking down, up until then I wasn't too bothered by the temple recession. Keeping it short and styling it kept it from looking too bad. But I knew that the George Costanza look wasn't going to work for me. After having tried the topical thing I saw the same late night paid advertisement you have all seen by Bosley.

 

I was scared to death of doing a hair transplant after seeing and hearing so many horror stories, but I wanted something permanent and for whatever reason I decided to go for it. Bosley would only do 860 grafts for the first procedure, which I wasn't happy about. After just 4 months they let me do another procedure of 1,180 grafts in the same area (huge mistake). That is way too soon, but I didn't have this website or any other info to help me back then, I just did what Bosley told me to do. A year after that I did another 1,300 grafts making it a total of around 3,300. This was really before "mega sessions", much has changed in 12 years. I wasn't bald when I started doing these, but I could see I was eventually going be a 5A or a 6 on the Norwood. This was mostly frontal zone restoring with some in the crown. My strategy was to restore my hair as I lost it. I didn't want to go through some major transition.

 

This brings us to 2012. For the last 12 years, other than taking Propecia, I have gone about my life not worrying too much about my hair. The first couple years I thought about it more, but no one ever said anything and I became more comfortable with it. The one thing that I never felt comfortable about was the density in the hairline. Also, I had stopped taking Propecia a couple years ago in order to have kids and I wanted to be safe. In doing so I lost a bunch of hair in the back and top. This made my transplanted hair look more obvious. I found the hairtransplantnetwork.com and saw the results that many patients got from the "Coalition Surgeons" and it was so much better than mine. All of a sudden I felt like the work I had done before was not up to par and there could be a much better hairline in my future.

 

CHOOSING THE BEST DOCTOR

I wasn't sure if I had any donor hair left, but decided to start meeting with what I felt were the best doctors in the entire country and evaluate them on this criteria:

 

1) Results - Consistant results in Naturalness and Density

2) Expertise -Years of experience and Knowledge about different techniques

3) Their specific solutions for me - Attention to detail and what the best approach should be. Cost was not a factor and shouldn't be if you decide to have a HT.

 

First, out of curiosity I went back to a Bosley office, not the one in Beverly Hills, but none the less. It was so obvious to me now how they are just a churn and burn shop. The consultant who met with me had had a lot of work done and it was extremely obvious. The doctor I met with had the same issues, lots of work, very obvious. The Bosley people live in a bubble and believe their own self proclaimed advertisements that they are the best. He had never heard of this website or any other doctors. No offense to those of you who love Bosley (Kenny Rogers), but based on my three procedures with them they are far from being the best. Finally, the Bosley consultant judged my previous work and overall he thought I was a 7 out of 10.

 

Next I flew to MN to meet with Dr. Shapiro. Because of the shear amount of good work and recommendations by other hair loss suffers I had to meet with him. I have no doubt that Dr. Shapiro would have served me well and I would have had a natural hairline. He would have been a vast improvement over Bosely. However, I was only allowed to talk with him for less than 5 minutes. After flying to meet with him to discuss something that is extremely important to me I was very disappointed and felt rushed. Again, no offense to anyone including the good doctor, but I had been around the block and if I was going to do another procedure I wanted someone who was going to listen to my concerns, answer every question, and put me at ease that this time would be different. The consultant said my previous work was about a 7 out of 10.

 

Then I flew to Chicago to meet with Dr. Konior. WARNING...This is NOT a paid advertisement Dr. Konior is the only doctor I would ever get a HT from now. He is probably the best doctor I have ever met in my life. And I have met a lot of docs in my life. You can include dentists, nurses, any medical workers if you want. The point is he is meticulous, informative, a good listener, an artist, thoughtful and available. He truly wants what you want. I mean he was probably was more concerned about how my hair would turn out than I was. How many doctors can you say that about? Because I had already done this 3 other times I wanted a doctor who was really in this with me and wanted only the best outcome possible. I wanted my hair to be a certain way and I know he would do that for me. He didn't rush me and was very detailed. The personal attention was unmatched.

 

I showed up to his office at about 6:30pm one evening because he was still finishing up with a patient. He had been with the same patient for 12 hours! He won't leave a patient's side until the entire procedure is over and he personally inserts the grafts! I was even able to meet the patient and who told me that they were shooting for 2,000 grafts and were able to get 3,000. This gentlemen kept going on about how much detail Dr. Konior puts into each and every patient. Later Dr. Konior spent about an hour and half answering all my questions and really evaluating my situation until about 8pm. This is after a very long day of work, I felt sort of bad, but he still took the time to talk to me and didn't rush me. Dr. Konior doesn't shield himself from clients by using his consultant. You can email him anytime and ask any question. There is a lot of information out there, some conflicting.....Dr. Konior will take the time to answer all your questions. I can't understate that getting a HT (hair transplant) is a really big deal.....IT'S YOUR FACE - your appearance for life. You want a doctor who walks you through everything and is going to do the very best job he can EVERY TIME. That's Dr. Raymond Konior.

 

THE PROCEDURE (My 4th - The first with Dr. Konior)

We had scheduled 1,800 grafts, but hoped for more. I had done scalp exercises for two months prior and it worked. He was able to do 2,354 grafts in this 4th procedure. He even removed my old wide scar from Bosley. It has only been a short time and I won't have pictures to share for awhile, but I can tell you it was a night and day comparison. Here is a list of the differences between Dr. Konior and Bosley:

 

-Dr. Konior's office is super clean and immaculate....very top notch. That is a sign of organization and attention to detail.

 

-I had far less bleeding and scabbing with Dr. Konior. My scalp was very clean and I recovered a lot faster. I had less bleeding and scabs after 2300+ grafts with Dr. Konior than the 800 grafts I did with Bosley. I couldn't believe it.

 

-Much better stitching in the donor area, basically no scabs.....that is incredible. My scar will be a fine line.

 

-The swelling was minimal this time....with Bosley my forehead was huge every time.

 

-The procedure was over before I knew it. At Bosley you watch movies why assistants, not doctors, put the grafts in. This is supposed to take your mind off whats going on, I guess. Dr. Konior gave me some valium and next thing I knew he was done. He is doing Ultra Refined Hair Restoration, he can't have patients moving around and watching the TV and so forth. Under high magnification he needs you perfectly still and relaxed so he can be very precise. This is the attention every patient should want in order to receive the best results.

 

-Dr. Konior takes special care to make sure that the grafts are at the proper angle and will be as natural as possible. When reconstructing a hairline you want the physician who is at the top of their field, not the local doctor because he's close and has a coupon.

 

-The grafts were packed in a lot tighter than any other procedure, my hairline will look very soft and dense. You won't need to see my pictures, there are lots of his patients you can review. It's overwhelming how consistent he is, but when you consider his approach it makes sense. I also suggest reading Dr. Konior's actual posts and reviews of his patients.

 

-Dr. Konior listened to me. I had told my previous doctor exactly where I wanted the grafts and the density and he totally ignored me. That was really unprofessional on behalf of my Bosley doctor. After going to the same doctor for the two previous procedures, it wasn't right to not not honor my wishes on the third procedure. You can't just go back for a quick fix. They would probably say they were afraid of putting too much hair in the hairline, but really the true reason is because it's hard work and it takes a long time to do a good hairline. You do need density. Bosley docs are not about to spend hours on your hairline, they won't even be in the room for most the time.

 

-Dr. Konior could tell that I had lots of places where grafts didn't grow from my past procedures. I wasn't surprised, but upset. Dr. Konior made the smallest of incisions that was far less trama to my scalp. I was better off this time.

 

-Dr. Konior won't sacrifice existing hair to put new grafts in, that would be counter productive. My scalp was in very good hands that day. I was so confused when reviewing pictures of his patients right after the procedure. Their heads were so clean with hardly any blood at all, just little pin pricks or red dots. I knew what a head looked like after a HT because I had done it three times and it didn't look at all like that. But sure enough my scalp was a little read with some real tiny dots, nothing like before. I was very very impressed.

 

-He personally followed up with me several times in the weeks after my procedure.

 

I could go on and on....if someone actually read this whole thing heres the point:

 

NUTSHELL: Dr. Konior is the best, you will be in the best hands. Go to him!

[chrisdav]

Nice detailed write up Barrymanalow.

 

I fully agree with you regarding Dr Konior, he is excellent and one of the very best.

 

I expect he is fully booked but he should promote himself more in my opinion as some people don't realise how good he actually is.

 

Do you have any pre op pics?

 

Keep us posted with your progress.

[1978matt]

Good write up. I'm 90% sure I'd go with Dr K should I proceed with a HT.

 

Personally I'd never put a deposit down before seeing the Doc and it is great to see he follows this approach.

[Barrymanalow]

Chrisdav, let me see what I can find and post.

[Spanker]

Pics would be awesome as I have a procedure scheduled.

[TakingThePlunge]

Barrymanalow,

 

Thanks for taking the time to share such a detailed write-up! It's no surprise to anyone around here that Dr. Konior pulled out all the stops for you. He is among the world's finest hair transplant surgeons and a class act.

 

I hope you'll consider sharing some photos from your procedure. Congrats and happy growing!

[Slickers]

Baz nice write up. Although pictures paint a thousand words..... will you be sharing any?

[Mp96]

He's on my short list of doctors that i would send a friend or family member too.

[orlhair1]

Nice write up. I really like his work and think that Dr. Konior should be on anyone's short list of surgeons to consider. Really glad you ended up with a top surgeon for this HT.

[Slickers]

BM still no pics to share?

 

Without them I have to say the credibility of your post is seriously undermined....

[StaggerLee123]

Glad to hear you stepped up to the big leagues by choosing Dr. K. after being struck in the minors with Bosley. The thing that has always struck me with Dr. K is that he does everything himself. I know that he has an assistant working by his side but really he does it all. Talk about quality control wow!! Evidently fatigue doesn't seem to be an issue which is almost hard to believe, I can't imagine doing that intricate work for 12 hours in a row... my back hurts just thinking about it.

 

I have personally met with both Dr. K and Dr. Ron Shapiro. I find it hard to believe that if you scheduled a consult with Dr. Shapiro that he only spent 5 minutes with you unless there were some type of special circumstances. Dr. K will spend as much time as the patient wants and seems to enjoy the process. I got the same feeling from Dr. Shapiro. The thing that I liked with Dr. Shapiro was the fact that he drew in a proposed hairline on my head so it was easier to visualize how things would go.

 

Congrats and I look forward to seeing some pics.

[Barrymanalow]

Whoa there Slickers... I've just been enjoying my summer and haven't taken the time to gather these together. Here you go:

 

-First picture is a pre-op donor scar picture.

-Pictures two and three are pre-op wet and pre-op dry after three Bosley procedures totalling about 3288 grafts.

-Lastly, a graft placement photo immediately after the first Dr. Konior procedure. He placed 2354: 679 singles, 1282 two's, and 393 three's.

 

Very clean and packed in there. I'm sure it will look great in a year from now.

[Spanker]

Your pre op looks better that a lot of Bosley work I have seen.

[Slickers]

Whoa there Slickers... I've just been enjoying my summer and haven't taken the time to gather these together. Here you go:

 

-First picture is a pre-op donor scar picture.

-Pictures two and three are pre-op wet and pre-op dry after three Bosley procedures totalling about 3288 grafts.

-Lastly, a graft placement photo immediately after the first Dr. Konior procedure. He placed 2354: 679 singles, 1282 two's, and 393 three's.

 

Very clean and packed in there. I'm sure it will look great in a year from now.

 

BM thanks for posting. I'm a big fan of Konior and he's on my shortlist so I was just very eager to see more of his work.... particularly posted by patients.

 

Work looks as I would expect, very clean and neat. Do you have any post op pics of the scar?

[Barrymanalow]

It's important to realize that looking at my scar at this phase, so soon after the procedure is like looking at a cake in the oven and expecting to see the final product. My final scar appearance cannot begin to be appreciated until at least 5-6 months out. It hasn't finished healing and wouldn't be properly comparing apples to apples. At this point it is fine pink line and is healing very nicely.

 

However, there dozens and dozens of post-op donor scar pictures of Dr. Konior's patients on this site. Pictures that have been taken after the scar has finished healing. Those would be better representation of the final outcome. I'm very satisfied and pleased in what he was able to accomplish for me. Konior is awesome!

 

Signing off. Good luck!

[StaggerLee123]

Those 2300 grafts should make a world of difference, I wish you the best of luck in growing it out. You mentioned you had 3 previous procedures done, did you have just one scar? I am in a similar situation as I have had 2 previous procedures that were unsatisfactory. If I could get around 2-2500 grafts I think it would make a significant improvement for me as well. My problem is that I have 2 scars that limit my donor. Anyway gl!

[Barrymanalow]

StaggerLee,

 

Yea, I basically had one long scar. Dr. Konior was able to remove it and draw from the same area. I was really pleased with how many grafts he was able to safely get for me.

 

Barry

[Slickers]

It's important to realize that looking at my scar at this phase, so soon after the procedure is like looking at a cake in the oven and expecting to see the final product. My final scar appearance cannot begin to be appreciated until at least 5-6 months out. It hasn't finished healing and wouldn't be properly comparing apples to apples. At this point it is fine pink line and is healing very nicely.

 

However, there dozens and dozens of post-op donor scar pictures of Dr. Konior's patients on this site. Pictures that have been taken after the scar has finished healing. Those would be better representation of the final outcome. I'm very satisfied and pleased in what he was able to accomplish for me. Konior is awesome!

 

Signing off. Good luck!

 

BM I get all that. Just nice to see a few more pics and Konior post op always impresses me for the clean, tidy work and that includes the scar.

 

Thanks again for posting. Sure you're in for a fantastic result :cool:

 

Please keep updating

[Slickers]

BM, how are things progressing? Any updates?