Hair Transplant advice needed from Irish 30 year old

[Stublue]

Hi everyone, first time post!

 

Basically I am a 30 yr old Irish male considering hair transplant. I have been receeding for around 5 years (no real loss on the crown) and really want to get it sorted. I visited Hair Restoration Blackrock last year and was put on Proscar and Rogaine. I went for a second consultation last week and my hair loss has stalled thankfully so I am now considering a hair transplant and doing tonnes of research. I have a pre-op consultation with HRBR in two weeks but am seriously put off by the price (Eur10 per graft) as this seems very high. I also have a consultation lined up with Ailesbury Clinic in Dublin (FUE). Does anyone have any experience of these guys? Their website looks very professional but I suppose I will take a view after I meet them.

 

I have also submitted an online consultation with the Farjo Clinic in the UK and the BHR clinic (Dr. Bisanga) in Belgium. What do you reckon about these 2 clinics as I am reading good things?

 

Any advice whatsoever would be really appreciated.

 

Thanks!!

[richie48]

Mate forget ireland and the uk , bisanger is good , but if I was starting this from scratch again I would do the same thing as I did the first time .

 

Contact Spex and speak to him , then get over to the US and see Dr Feller , I did twice and it was easy both times .

 

Good luck

richie

[Stublue]

Cheers Richie, thanks for the advice.

[irishsailor]

Hi Mate,

 

I had a bad experience in the uk, and started all over again. Spex is a fantastic bloke and will give you unbiased advice. Hes been there and done it 10 times now i believe :eek:

He really is a good guy and will help set you on the road. There are alot of great surgeons out there, just do yr research and you will find the right one for you

Best of luck.

[s2thoudriver]

Turkey should be on your list too. I've had a successful transplant out there at dramatically cheaper than you've been quoted.

 

Have a look at my threads on here to see what you can get without going into the tens of thousands.

 

Rob

[chrisdav]

Stublue, do not got Blackrock or Ailsbury.

 

Blackrock charge extortionate prices for their fut(strip) procedure and their results are not in the same league as some of the best surgeons on here who perform superior work for half the price. It baffles me to be honest.

 

Ailsbury again where Calum Best had some work done, do not produce work of a high consistent standard and I would avoid them to. I have personally not seen anything great at all from them.

 

Read the forums and do your research before you making any decision. If you take your time to look for a surgeon on here, you will find many of the world leading surgeons.

 

S2thoudriver, have you got any clear pictures on your surgery as the only surgeon I had heard any positives from in Turkey is Dr Keser, so I was interested to see your progress.

[s2thoudriver]

Hi Chridav

 

No problem, the full process of my procure is captured in this thread on here:

 

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/166347-2800-fue-dr-eser-ayadogdu-istanbul.html

 

Any questions, feel free to ask.

 

Regards

 

Rob

[Stublue]

Thanks for all the advice guys, really appreciate it all.

 

I have pretty much decided against going for an Irish HT clinic at this stage as there is too much negativity towards them on this forum and other forums. I'll still go along to the upcoming consultations to hear what they say though as it will be a good experience. I am leaning towards BHR with Dr. Bisanga at this stage but will continue my research.

[Stublue]

Just a quick question. How do you contact members on this site? I cant seem to access private messaging as it says its disabled. Also I cant see any option to email members. Is it because I am a junior member perhaps? As per your advice I would like to contact Spex with a few questions!

[beardywierdy]

Bisanga's work looks very nice, in person. I saw some in May- a guy called Rich tea who is active on Hairlossexperiences looks very nice. SR, the clinic rep had a load of work done too. (fue)

 

From the UK, Farjo is the only one recommended on here, Mick will help.

 

Belgium = Bisanga, Devroye, Feriduni. Lupanzula's work looks nice too on the web, but i haven't seen any in person.

 

USA -Lots of excellent clinics to choose from - Shapiro, Feller, True Dorin etc

 

Canada- Hasson & Wong, Rahal.

 

I have probably missed a few good ones out too.

I had surgery in Belgium but would go with any of the above.

If I were you, I would do lots of research and send some pics off to a few clinics. Meet people who have had work done, which will give you a perspective on HTs and how they look in real life.

 

The forums are a great tool for advice and help, without them I would have been lost but it's good to keep an open mind.

Good luck

[Bill - Seemiller]

Stublue,

 

I highly recommend contacting the Farjo Clinic in the UK. Both Drs. Bessam and Nilofer Farjo are world leaders and in my opinion, perform ultra refined hair transplantation on par with other leading surgeons in the USA and Canada.

 

Also, by default, private messaging is disabled for new members until we can verify that they're not spammers. This prevents spammers from mass mailing all of our members with solicitations. I've gone ahead and activated your account and enabled private messaging.

 

Sorry for the inconvenience.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Bill - Seemiller]

Richie,

 

Dr. Feller is great and I know you're his patient and Spex's buddy. But in my opinion, the Farjo Clinic is doing work on par with him and other leading surgeons. Telling others to "forget the UK" is an ancient and false dogma that is misleading and blatantly false.

 

I suggest that you dust off your calender, recognize that its now 2012 and start giving members modern and accurate advice.

 

Best Regards,

 

Bill

[Stublue]

Great stuff thanks Bill.

 

The Farjo clinic just got back to me on my online consultation and have a few questions. So I'll get back to them and will definitely keep them in mind. Defo handier to travel there as opposed to the US or Canada too!!

[RecedingTide]

Stublue,

 

Trust me, scrap the idea of having it done in the UK or Ireland. This is serious surgery here. Go with the top dogs. Hasson and Wong, Rahal, Feller, Shapiro bros and Feriduni are the ones that spring to mind. Bisanga and Lorenzo also for FUE.

 

All the best.

[Stublue]

So had my consultation with Ailesbury Clinic yesterday and met one of their ex-patients today. They assured me I was a very suitable candidate and that I needed around 2,800 hairs (they charge Eur2.50 per hair). However, the surgeon himself didn't meed me so that was disappointing. I commented to the consultant that the lack of positive reviews on forums such as this makes me hesitant and she just said that they don't spend much on marketing! In fairness, they do a lot of procedures and I havent found any bad reviews.

 

When I met the ex-patient I wasn't that impressed. Lovely guy and his hair wasn't too bad but I have defo seen better on this forum. He also claimed that I could return to work without anyone knowing within 5 days, which seems very optimistic to me!! I also asked him about his research and by the sound of things he did very little. He basically wanted FUE (as do I) and chose Ailesbury because it was close. He hadn't heard of any other clinics and when I mentioned Belgium it was completely over his head.

 

Overall the experience was worth while and the people seemed very nice. But the clinic is not for me and I dont think its in the same class as the options in Belgium.

 

So I have pretty much decided to go for Belgium and its between Bisanga and Feriduni (leaning towards Bisanga). Does anyone have any opinion on this? It seems like its much of the same between the two but Bisanga is slightly cheaper and is handier to get to (30mins from Brussels airport).

 

I have a call with Mick from Farjo clinic on Mon so i'll listen to what he says.

[chrisdav]

That is very positive Stublue.

 

Clinics like that operate by basically getting uneducated patients whom are unaware of what is actually available and possible. It is not really within the clinics interest to educate you either as if they did, you wouldn't be having surgery by them.

 

They usually have not done their research or due dilligence ( like myself when I was younger) and all want cheap fue.

 

I would consult with the other surgeons you have listed above.

 

I had a look through their website and the information they are giving out is incorrect and false!

Edited September 15, 2012 by chrisdav

[RecedingTide]

You dodged a bullet there with Ailesbury. Good stuff. If you're going with FUE then Bisanga and Feriduni are definitely the guys to go for in Europe. Lorenzo in Madrid too. Those 3 will not steer you wrong and have the results that you would expect given their reputations. Good luck and keep us updated.

[Stublue]

Just a quick update. I have decided to go for Bisanga and have paid the deposit. Step 1 completed!! Surgery is scheduled for Feb-13 so bring it on. I will make sure to keep the forum updated as its an invaluable tool. 2,000

 

Just as an update I have also decided to stop taking finasteride as I did suffer from sides. My libido definitely suffered and Im just not sure about the long term effects. I know its not ideal to not take the meds after a HT but I will continue to use minoxidil and nizoral shampoo.

[s2thoudriver]

Just a quick pointer here for people to watch out for...

 

Be careful of companies offering transplants of 2,000 hairs as this is NOT the same as 2,000 grafts.

 

Each graft can have 1,2,3 or 4 hairs in, therefor a transplant of 2,000 'hairs' could actually be more like 800 grafts.

 

Thought i'd point that out so you don't get caught out.

 

Regards

 

Rob

[Raphael84]

Stublue,

 

Congratulations on booking your FUE procedure with Bisanga. Great Doc. Well done for doing the research and getting involved, and avoiding the other clinic. I'm sure that you diligence will pay off! Best of luck! Feb 13 will be here in no time! Brilliant!

[Tintin]

Stublue,

 

Went to Ailsbury Clinic, Dublin recently aswell for a consultation and to be honest, i am still not quite convinced. Left waiting for half an hour and didn't get to meet surgeon athough the woman that met me was very nice. I didn't find many reviews about them on the internet and most of the positive feedbacks i could see for them was from there own websites. The best review a person can get is from word of mouth so i am very interested to see how you get on in Belgium. Please keep us posted. I'm on the same mission at the moment and would like to get it sorted as soon as i can. If anyone knows of a reputable surgeon in Ireland please let me know-although from looking at the previous threads they seem to be thin on the ground:') Best of luck with the FUE procedure.

[1978matt]

Stublue,

 

Went to Ailsbury Clinic, Dublin recently aswell for a consultation and to be honest, i am still not quite convinced. Left waiting for half an hour and didn't get to meet surgeon athough the woman that met me was very nice. I didn't find many reviews about them on the internet and most of the positive feedbacks i could see for them was from there own websites. .

 

I wouldn't even go there if they paid me 10 grand and gave me a free transplant! AVOID

[Tintin]

Stublue,

 

Meant to ask you earlier but did you have to go to Belgium for the consultation or were you able to send him on a photograph.

[Stublue]

Hi Tintin,

 

I had an online consultation with Dr. Bisanga. Also had on line consultations with Dr. Feriduni, Dr. Devoyre, Hasson & Wong, Harley Clinic and Dr. Farjo. I was impressed by the Bisanga and Feriduni the most. Also had in person consultations with Ailesbury and HRBR. Not impressed with Ailesbury at all but was by HRBR. But they charge a ridiculous amount (€10 per graft) and I wanted to go down the FUE route, which they don't perform. So I would avoid Ireland in general as Europe is very easy to get to and there are plenty of good options. Granted im not particularly looking forward to the journey home and all the stares I expect to get but hey.

 

Only just over 2 weeks to go till the big day! Looking forward to it but also apprehensive. I will definitely keep the forum updated as it has been a great help to me and i'd like to give a little back that will hopefully help some others. Plus its a great way to track the journey!

 

Thanks for all the well wishes, really appreciate it.

[Bobilero]

Agreed Stu, ive seen some decent results (not lots mind you) from HRBR but like most things in modern Ireland they are shockingly overpriced! I wasnt aware they only did strip?

 

You have made a stellar choice in BHR. You should be in for a good summer this year.