Compare three surgeons

[Dublin]

Hello,

 

I am struggling to compare various surgeons and taking pictures off their websites is not a great way to go about it.

 

I am in Ireland and willing to to travel abroad to get a top quality transplant.

 

Could you tell me exactly how to compare these three surgeons? Thanks.

 

 

I am a Norwood IV and looking to get as thick a coverage as possible.

 

 

Dr. Feller (New York): Hair Transplants New York / New Jersey, Long Island and International - The best hair transplant surgeon – Dr Alan Feller

 

Dr. Farjo (UK): Hair Transplant | Hair Transplant Surgery & Clinic | UK | Farjo

 

Dr Maurice Collins (Ireland): (Link removed by moderator - See Terms of Service)

Edited October 26, 2012 by TakingThePlunge

[hairthere]

When I was researching, my short list included Dr. Feller (who I chose), H&W, and Rahal. There were other docs I considered, but these clinics showed numerous consistent results and held stellar reputations. They were on a level playing field. I chose Dr. Feller because I clicked well with him, and he was located in my backyard. I suggest you broaden your scope a bit and look at some other clinics.

 

As for the ones you mentioned, I would put Dr. Feller on top. Farjo is doing some good work, but for my money I have more faith in Dr. Feller. I don't know much about Dr. Collins. His site has some decent results, but it is hard to tell from the pics how refined the work is. It also doesn't say much about what type of surgery technique he uses, which always concerns me. I would want to be 100% certain the surgeon I chose was using the most modern technology and using ultra-refined techniques. HT surgery has changed rapidly in just the past ten years, and you want to be sure you're not going to someone using outdated methods.

 

Do your homework, and best of luck!

[Dublin]

Dr. Feller does have the reputation online but I am looking for more tangible ways to contrast and compare the three surgeons to see the benefits of each and use one to highlight the flaws of another to improve my understanding of what each offer.

[hairthere]

Dublin, Here's the most sound way to decide on a HT doctor, IMO:

 

1) Start by doing online research (understand HTs first and foremost, look at results offered by each clinic that interests you, talk to patients). Do this for a few months.

2) Consult with each clinic. Ideally you should have consults in person. If not possible, do them online/over the phone

3) See their work, up close and personal (call the clinic and see if they have patients in your area willing to display)

4) Come up with a list of pros and cons of each. This can include factors like results you saw, type of work you need done (i.e., strip, fue, graft amount, etc.), travel, cost, and just personal vibe.

[Raphael84]

Hey Dubin,

 

In my opinion, from the three Doctors that you have mentioned, Dr Feller undoubtedly has the best reputation online. But this in itself, is much deeper and informative than just having, "the best reputation online". Think about it, there is a reason for this. Reasons such as, for many years he has provided cases consistantly showing the very best results achieved anywhere. He is totally accountable, either through Spex, or himself, he will explain/answer any question/query/problem that any potential patient, or an actual patient has or has had. His opinions and ideas regarding every step of the procedure, from consultations right through until post HT care and follow ups are explained and available to view, through videos and text. The fact that you can personally go directly to several of his patients via this website, with no input from Dr Feller or his people, and ask them their experiences/opinions/results/feedback. This, in my opinion is an invaluable tool of research and aiding you to select the correct Doctor for you. Perhaps there are other incredibly talented Doctors out there, that this or other such communities are not aware of, but without the trials of this such community, it would be almost impossible to conduct such a thorough research project on each Doctor. So therefore, going ahead with a procedure with an "unknown" Doctor, also comes with potentially higher risks and unanswered questions.

Dr Feller is undoubtedly incredibly talented and achieving amazing results on a daily basis. There are also other Doctors doing equally great work. Research far and wide. But dont underestimate the thoroughness and usefulness of the tool that is this community. That is just my take on things.

I wish you all the success in selecting your Doctor and even more so on your journey there on. It would be great if you kept us all updated!

[hairthere]

Raphael makes excellent points. This forum is not the be-all-end-all of the HT world, but you can rest assured that the elite HT surgeons are on this site. Dr. Feller has a stellar rep online because his work is that good. Sure, there might be other clinics this forum/community doesn't know about doing great work, by why risk it when you have a sure thing? The reality is there are also several clinics doing sub par and outdated work, and I would not want to roll the dice on such a procedure.

 

The beauty of this forum is that it offers transparency. You have countless results from clinics and patients alike. It gives you instant access to the best, and sometimes worst, HT work being done.

 

That being said, I still recommend any patient sees some HTs in person if they have not.

[Raphael84]

Plus, just as a little addition. There may be surgeons not recommended on here that produce great work, as good as the top Doctors on here. But I feel very confident that there are not any, that are producing better work. So therefore, why take the risk, you cannot be any surer in your decision, than by selecting a pre screened Doctor recommended on this site. We are so lucky. There are hundreds if not thousands of people who have over the years, done all of the hard work for us in getting us to where we are today.

[TakingThePlunge]

There are certainly doctors doing quality work that are not recommended by our community. In order for a hair restoration surgeon to become recommended, they must express interest in and agree to meeting our rigorous recommendation criteria. Not all docs are willing to open themselves up to this kind of scrutiny and not all docs that want to be recommended perform to our high standards. To learn about our criteria for recommending physicians, click here.

 

You've received some great advice above. Carefully scour communities like this one for information on any doctor you are considering. Consult with them and try to contact or even meet with real patients.

 

You may also find our Hair Restoration Websites informative. These sites are created by real patients sharing their honest experiences, both good and bad.

 

Best of luck!

[s2thoudriver]

Out of the 3 you have mentioned there, Dr.Feller is the most respected, but the big question before you start is what type of procedure you want, FUT or FUE??

 

Reason you need to decide this is that different surgeons favour different approaches (for different reasons), e.g Dr.Feller tends to favour performing FUT (though does FUE as well), whereas other surgeons (like the one i used) no longer perform FUT as they deem it 'old practice' and will now only do FUE, even though it's more effort for the surgeon and more expensive for the patient.

 

Also, be aware that the recommended list on here isn't the holy grail... Not all HT surgeons want to pay subscription fees to be recommended by on-line forums as they don't see the need, their results speak for themselves.

 

For example, i questioned the surgeon who performed FUE on me as to why she wasn't on the recommended list on here and her response was that she is already recognized by official medical boards, has 8yrs of experience and has enough work coming to her from recommendations based on high quality results, therefore would not be interested in internet forums to further promote her work.

 

Bottom line is this... speak to patients, study this forum in great detail in terms of procedure types and results and speak to the surgeons.

 

If it helps, i had my FUE procedure done in Turkey with fantastic results, i couldn't be happier. No complications, no problems, natural design, perfect yield and no scarring. To top it off, prices in Turkey are approximately 50-70% less than elsewhere. Search the forum for my blog thread for details that might help you out... with a non recommended surgeon.

[Bobilero]

There are lots of other websites you need to research for results , experiences etc as said this site isnt the Be all and end all. It takes time to do all this research.

 

Personally i think going to the US from Europe for Hair restoration these days is madness and not required now. Just unnecessary stress after the procedure with travel , airports etc. not to mention cost.

 

The quality of the results coming from Belgium Dr feriduni , Dr Bisanga and others. Along with Dr Lorenzo in Spain are on a par or exceed anything coming from the US. There are various other clinics like Turkey above also we are now seeing results of very high calibre. Do your research.

[Raphael84]

Whilst some of the Doctors that you mention Bobilero, are undoubtedly doing great work, work up there with the very best, Europe in general is no way producing the results that North America are. This could simply be down to the size of USA and Canada, and therefore they will naturally have more skilled surgeons. Travelling to Canada/US is not particularly more stressing than travelling to other European countries. If you must fly, then you must fly, and I would rather add a few hours onto that flight time to go and visit the very best Doctors in the world. The cost to travel to some of these destinations, are not outrageously different from flying to many European destinations. The two Doctors that are mentioned in Belgium, I rate very highly. They are both undoubtedly very skilled and ethical Doctors. Whilst Doctors in Spain and Turkey, have and are achieving great results, in my opinion, they are not in the same league as many of the top Doctors in North America. The Doctors that I was seriously considering for my first session, that all important hairline and good density behind, were all situated in North America. I met Doctors in Europe, I just didn't feel quite the same way!

Not to mention USA and Canada both speak English as their mother tongue, whilst the European clinics that you mention will of course speak English, this is not necessarily the case in all areas throughout your stay, and translation issues can still always arise (not a good thing).

 

Either way, its great that there are many quality options available and everybody can make their own choices, that feel right for them!

[Bobilero]

Exactly. Its all down to where the patient is most comfortable and agreed they shouldnt let a bit of cost get in the way of that.

 

However while the US may have 'more' top level surgeons purely due to scale. After years of extensive research i did not find any significant high quality variance in results from the US against those of the European surgeons i mentioned. In fact in a lot of cases i have seen more impressive results come from Belgium and said Dr's.

 

The fact you can Eurostar to Brussels in 2 hours from London compared to 8-10 hours flight to US and dealing with US officials would be a pretty big deal for me.

 

When i say Europe i was referring to the mentioned Dr's only particulary in Belgium. My point is if you are in Europe and choose one of the top quality Dr's there is no need to travel to US.

[Raphael84]

Bobilero,

 

Thats a great point, a 2 hour Eurostar trip into Brussels is definitely easier than travelling to US/Canada and going through customs and explaining your reasons for the journey. What does this cost?

 

The Doctors that you mention in Belgium interest me greatly! Have you had a procedure?

 

Sorry if this post has got a little off topic!

[s2thoudriver]

If you choose a respectable company that accompany you throughout the whole process, you will not have any translation issues.

 

Whilst i was in Turkey, i had a patient advocate with me throughout the procedure and afterwards. She was sat next to me the whole time and able to translate any of the more detailed parts, leaving the surgeons to focus on the work.

 

Flight to Turkey = approximately ?300

Flight to US/Canada = approx ?900

 

Not to mention the extra day or 2 you'd spend travelling and the additional cost of the procedure whilst there.

 

It was a no brainer for me, but others may prefer to travel further and pay more. Each to their own really.

[chrisdav]

For my personal experience, I paid 4000 GBP for 1900 grafts. The flight I paid for using Virgin was between 350 to 400 GBP.

 

The flight is 6-7 hours to New York but it will differ to where you fly in North America.

 

You can walk through customs/security with a hat on, as I done this myself on my return flight.

 

It is not a lot of hassle in my honest opinion as knowing that hair transplant surgery is a one off (maybe 2 to 3 surgeries max) event in your life, pick the surgeon who you feel is best for the job to help you achieve your goal.

Edited October 26, 2012 by chrisdav

[Dublin]

Going from this information it would appear that not only is FUT the cheaper procedure but leads to a better result.

 

FUE v FUT.

 

Advantages of FUE:

-No linear scar in donor area

-Decreased healing time in the donor area

-No limitations on strenuous exercise after the procedure

-Less post-op discomfort in the donor area

-Useful for those with a greater risk of donor scarring (athletic and/or younger patients)

-Enables one to harvest finer hair from the nape of the neck

 

 

Disadvantages of FUE:

-Follicular units in FUE are harvested from a much greater area of the donor zone compared to FUT (In FUE, to obtain a sufficient number of grafts, follicular units must also be extracted from the upper and lower portions of the donor region and these may not be as permanent. Therefore, over time, the hair transplanted from these areas to other parts of the scalp may be lost)

-Graft quality is not as good compared to FUT (More difficult to capture the entire follicular unit – resulting in lower density)

-The scarring and distortion of the donor scalp from FUE makes subsequent FUE sessions more difficult

-In large hair transplant sessions, the entire donor area must be shaved

 

Source: http://www.bernsteinmedical.com/hair-transplant/follicular-unit-extraction/pros-and-cons-fue/

Edited October 29, 2012 by Dublin

[Dublin]

To compare the prices for each technique I am taking the price from Dr Bisangas site.

 

FUT:

The first 2000 grafts at €3.00

All additional grafts at €2.00

 

FUE:

The first 1000 grafts at €5.00

All additional grafts at €3.00

 

 

3,500 grafts:

FUT costs €9,000

FUE costs €12,500

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comparing that with Dr. Feller:

 

 

FUT: 3,400-3,600 graphs $14,000

FUE: $10 per graph - 3,500 grafts = $35,000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Farjo:

 

Quote from email: "For strip surgery we charge GBP 5 per follicular unit for the first 1000 units, GBP 2.50 for the next 1000 and GBP 2 thereafter."

 

"For FUE it is GBP 6 per Follicular unit."

 

3,500 grafts:

FUT: GBP 10,500

FUE: GBP 21,000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To put each into Euro for a better comparison:

 

3,500 grafts using FUT technique:

 

Dr. Bisanga: €9,000

Dr. Feller: €10,854

Dr. Farjo: €13,052

 

 

3,500 grafts using FUE technique:

 

Dr. Bisanga: €12,500

Dr. Feller: €27,135*

Dr. Farjo: €26,075

 

*Apparently Dr. Feller would only consider doing about 1,000 FUE graphs and recommends FUT as the best option in the majority of cases.

 

 

There is a large price difference for the FUE procedure.

 

What are the main reasons that FUE is more expensive?

Edited October 29, 2012 by Dublin

[Raphael84]

If this numbers are correct, then that surprises me greatly! Farjo charging significantly more than Feller FUT? Obviously, the states of currencies play a part here. For example, when I decided on Rahal, I exchanged this price into Euros. When it came down to paying four years later, I was paying almost 3000 Euro more, down to the huge difference in the strength or lack there of the Euro at those times.

Very interesting though!

My personal opinion sides with Dr Feller here though, that FUE is preferential (when considering all factors) to a much much smaller percentage of patients, as opposed to FUT!

[Slickers]

Dublin, if you're considering FUE I wouldn't consider either Feller or Farjo. Feller I believe prices himself out of it, or at least for the majority, because he either doesnt like doing it and/or believes more in the success/ reliability of FUT. This is just my opinion from what I've read over the years.

 

Farjo I've never seen any FUE results, let alone anything of note.

 

No, of your list when it comes to FUE I would choose Bisanga without a doubt. And seriously consider Lorenzo or that guy in Turkey, his name escapes me just now but seen some truly impressive results from him, a few on here. That's it though. It's far too hit and miss and I would caution against it altogether unless you're adamant that it's your preferred route.

 

Like others I would encourage to review your shortlist having a good look at the best results on here and go from there. If you just do that it's a pretty good start.

[s2thoudriver]

Surgeons prefer doing FUT as they get it done quicker, hence more profit.

 

Don't forget, with FUT, the grafts are usually extracted from the strip by technicians, not the surgeon, whereas a good FUE surgeon will punch the grafts themselves, therefore 'FUT grafts are higher quality' is completely false.

 

A good FUE surgeon gets the results without the scar but it's more expensive as its more time consuming.

 

20k + is ridiculous pricing. Go to Turkey and get 3k FUE (by a surgeon, not an assistant) for approx 5k including flights.

 

Rob

[s2thoudriver]

It's easier for him to do 2-3 FUT in 1 day than spend a whole day doing 1 FUE and more profitable ;-)

 

There really is no need to have FUT anymore and the 'poor yield' argument is ever weakening due to less 'poor results'. The main reason for the occasional poor results is poor tools and lack of experience.

 

In these instances, the surgeons will refer back to historic FUT practices they are familiar with to make sure they can keep patients happy.

 

A good FUE surgeon can get fantastic results up to 5k grafts, but most cap at 4k to not cause too much scalp trauma.

 

Rob

[s2thoudriver]

Likewise Spex, you are being paid by surgeons to keep pushing people into having old FUT surgery so are going to promote it ;-)

 

We'll have to agree to disagree on the FUT/FUE point

 

Again, likewise regarding you also making inaccurate statements regarding FUE.

[chrisdav]

"'It's easier for him to do 2-3 FUT in 1 day than spend a whole day doing 1 FUE and more profitable" ;-)

 

Have you got any proof that he performs 2-3 surgeries in a day?

 

I can speak of my experience of my surgery of 1900 grafts that the surgery was performed in the morning and finished after lunchtime. Then he had a consultation in the afternoon, and that was it.

[Dublin]

Going from the discussion here it would appear that some posters seem to think that FUE is better than FUT.

 

Would ye mind listing some of the benefits?

[Bobilero]

I have seen people on these forums pushing one technique over the other due to business / professional interests. Its obvious to me and most i would imagine.

 

Do tons of research (not just on this site) and make the most informed decision possible. I have seen enough top quality 2000+ FUE results (in person too) from years of research to know when done by the correct surgeon it is a viable fantastic technique and equally as good as FUT. And which will make a huge cosmetic difference. Not everyone is a good candidate though thats for sure. Higher Norwoods forget about it.

 

I also apply the importance of the surgeon on strip as in the wrong hands can equally result in poor results.

 

FUT is indeed classed as the gold standard of consistency but if you dont want that strip scar and may want to wear your hair short at the back anytime in the future. Its to be avoided. You also have to factor in if your loss progressed severly later in life with FUE you can still just shave it all off without the strip scar.

 

I also believe FUE will be a gold standard technique across the board in the coming years much like FUT is now.