Potential Recommendation of Dr. John Diep of Los Gatos, California

[Bill - Seemiller]

Dear Forum Members,

 

As many of you know, we gather as much information as possible about a physician, their staff, technique and track record before they are even considered for recommendation on the Hair Transplant Network. Part of our review process involves getting input from patients and the members of this forum community. To learn more about this review process, click here.

 

After viewing several of Dr. Diep's results and receiving positive input about him and his work from members on our forum, I agree that it is now time to formally present Dr. John Diep of Los Gatos, California for potential recommendation on the Hair Transplant Network. At this time, Dr. Diep is only being considered for recommendation, not the Coalition. To see our standards for recommendation, click here.

 

We would appreciate your input regarding his potential recommendation.

 

Dr. Diep fellowshipped under Coalition member Dr. William Rassman and has been performing exclusive hair transplant surgery at his clinic in Los Gatos, California for over 5 years. Dr. Diep and his dedicated staff of 7 technicians have the ability to perform large densely packed sessions of ultra refined hair transplantation exceeding 3000 grafts when appropriate for the patient.

 

Dr. Diep offers both state of the art follicular unit transplantation and follicular unit extraction (FUE) and only operates on one patient per day. Dr. Diep shares Dr. Rassman's philosophy for putting the patient's best interest above technical dogma as well as his commitment for producing only the best results.

 

Using cutting instruments as small as a 20 gauge needle, Dr. Diep believes that creating a combination of saggital (parallel) and coronal (perpendicular) incisions mimics the natural angulation and direction of the natural hair. Because of this, Dr. Diep does not require shaving of the recipient area.

 

Dr. Diep uses a single blade scalpel and harvests the donor strip free-hand in order to minimize transection to the surrounding follicles. All follicular units are dissected and trimmed under microscopes and carefully placed into the recipient sites by his experienced staff to maximize hair growth yield.

 

Dr. Diep uses the trichophytic closure technique for all hair transplants he performs and utilizes a double layer suture in order to minimize tension on the wound. This includes Monocryl interrupted and running sutures for deep and superficial closure of the wound.

 

Dr. Diep has been performing more FUE procedures and feels that FUE results can rival that of strip as long as follicular units are viable upon extraction. Dr. Diep uses both a motorized and manual punch with a modified serrated tip as small as .9mm depending on the needs of the patient. He also developed his own FUE instrument called "The Diep Extractor", which he believes helps to minimize transection and damage to the follicles during the extraction process.

 

Dr. Diep believes that FUE is less invasive, less painful, the risk of infection is minimal and the scalp heals faster than traditional FUT/strip procedures. According to Dr. Diep, limitations of FUE includes blind dissection which sometimes causes additional transection during the extraction process and fewer grafts can be harvested than with traditional FUT/strip.

 

Dr. John Diep also specializes in re-creating natural looking hairlines, eyebrow transplantation, scar reduction, facial hair transplantation and correcting/repairing hair plugs. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery (ABHRS) and is a member of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS), the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).

 

Given Dr. Diep's experience and commitment to today's state of the art hair transplantation, I believe that he should be considered for recommendation. See our standards for recommendation.

 

Patient and surgical examples can be found below:

 

8000 Grafts in 2 Sessions with Dr. Diep

 

5000 Grafts with Dr. Diep

 

2000 Grafts on Black Female with Dr. Diep

 

1300 Grafts on Black Male - Hairline Reconstruction with Dr. Diep

 

1295 Grafts via FUE on Black Male

 

1500 Grafts via FUE on Asian Male

 

3500 Grafts with Dr. Diep

 

2000 Grafts with Dr. Diep

 

Surgical Walkthrough

 

You can find additional examples of his work by visiting the “Results Posted by Leading Hair Transplant Clinics” forum and by using the “search” feature.

 

I welcome input and comments from forum members regarding his potential recommendation. To view our standards for recommendation, click here.

[HARIRI]

Well before thinking of recommending Dr. Diep to this reputable network, you should have a look at this case...

 

Hair Restoration Blog for hair1978

[Bill - Seemiller]

Hariri,

 

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Hair1978 is also encouraged to weigh in, especially being one of his patients. However, I see that he recently posted the following comments on this forum topic on 11/9/2012.

 

"I don't understand the bashing on Dr Diep about the bleeding and his techniques.

I can't speak for his work in 2008, but I had no problem when I did FUE with Dr Diep about a year ago. The procedure itself went better than I expected. I had no pain nor any trauma in my donor region. My donor healed up nicely in about a week. And even when I cut my hair very short, there is no visible scars.

 

But like 1978Matt says, it's all about the results at the end of the day."

 

He also posted the following comments on this topic on 10/31/2012:

 

"I too cannot believe he is not well known in this forum. Dr Diep is a hidden gem in the hair transplant world. Shame on this website for not noticing this doctor sooner. =P

 

I did my FUE procedure back in December 2011 with Dr Diep, and my hair growth is coming along nicely. I owe a big thanks to Dr Diep and his staff for changing my life. His clinic is the real deal."

 

It seems that he is a fan of Dr. Diep and is satisfied with his results.

 

What do you think about the cases that have been presented?

 

Bill

[Cant decide]

The cases posted above by Bill are solid and based on those, its a thunbs up from me but the case Hariri posted gives me pause (even though its only one case and that alone cannot outweigh the rest). I suppose that if he is happy with his result than Dr. D met expectations and we really do not know specifics of his charecteristics, what he was aiming to achieve exactly, etc.

 

One concern I have is that most docs agree that FUE is a good adjunct to FUT and FUT provides better yields and moe lifetime grafts. I just hope Dr. D is not pushing FUE in the wrong cases because of his strong belief in it. I am not saying that he is but thought I would mention it in case any higher NW level patients have first hand knowledge of what Dr. D recommends in these cases.

[Mickey85]

Well before thinking of recommending Dr. Diep to this reputable network, you should have a look at this case...

 

Hair Restoration Blog for hair1978

 

NIce observation Hariri. Keser was not given recommendation here because he took hair from 'unsafe' zones. Diep clearly took hair out of the patients crown in this case. I've said enough about Diep in the past so I'll leave it at this for now.

[Raphael84]

From the cases that were initailly presented, he had my vote. From the written words and photos included, Dr Diep seems like a very talented and ethical Dr. The results are very impressive, very natural and obviously he has the 8000 graft guy as his "hollywood" result, quite rightly so!

But the case provided by Hairiri, is a very interesting one. Perhaps the patient was very determined to go FUE, but the post op shows a huge area covered by only slightly more than 2000 grafts, The density was always going to be an issue. Im not sure if I personally feel that its okay to justify the result, because the patient is happy. Obviously that is the ultimate decider of success, but I think that this forum demands more/better. I know nothing about this case so cannot really comment, they are just my immediate thoughts. Maybe we could look for a few answers about this?

Like CantDecide correctly commented, one result can not undermine the others presented.

[Raphael84]

Good point Mickey. Very good point, especially considering the extent of loss that this huy had! Very interesting! Another question worth asking!

[Mickey85]

Good points Raphael, however, I would take 10 patient posted cases over 50 clinic posted cases, any day of the week. A clinic is not going to post up bad results, that is very rare. However with patient posted progress from day one, we usually see the bad parts of HT's that are glossed over or simply not mentioned by Doctor's and their PR people. Things like the post-op redness to the recipient, shockloss in the donor and/or recipient, pimples and scabs and lastly and more importantly bad yield.. Sure even the best clinic will have a bad result here and there but even a bad Doctor can hit the ball out of the park several times also. Not saying Diep is a bad Doctor, however I'm not convinced he should be inducted at this present time. Just my opinion.

[HARIRI]

We need an explanation from Dr. Diep about what went wrong with HAIR1978 and what did he do in order to fix it. By then we will give him our vote.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Guys,

 

Thanks for your input.

 

There are various schools of thought on the use of FUT and FUE. Many leading surgeons still feel that FUE is a good adjunct to FUT. However, many leading surgeons are beginning to fully embrace FUE and offer it more regularly to patients who are qualified candidates. Furthermore, many reputable physicians are only offering FUE because they genuinely believe it's a better option than FUT. That said, I don't get the impression that Dr. Diep pushes FUE as his approach and philosophy seems very realistic.

 

Regarding "Hair1978's" results, as others have said, given the small number of grafts over such a large bald area, he was never going to get the densest looking results. Growth yield does not appear to be an issue. Thus, I disagree with Hariri's assessment that something must have gone wrong. Given "Hair1978's" positive opinion of Dr. Diep and his results, I'd suspect he had very realistic expectations as to what could be achieved in such a large bald area with a limited number of grafts.

 

As to the procedure and extracting grafts outside of the universal safezone, I've sent an email to Dr. Diep asking for a further explanation. Many reputable physicians will extend beyond the universal safe zone on occasion on a case by case basis and if the patient consents in order to obtain more grafts for transplanting. Typically, a surgeon will consider this as an option if a patient's familiy history of hair loss shows no signs of loss in these areas. Having seen other examples of his results, this doesn't appear to be his regular practice. It does appear however, that many surgeons extract hair in areas a little higher and lower using FUE than they do via FUT.

 

I did send both "Hair1978" and Dr. Diep an email to provide their input on this patient's case. Thus, I look forward to their input as well.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Bill - Seemiller]

Clinic posted results are great. But patient posted results typically carry the most weight and credibility with patients. Below, I've presented a few additional examples of Dr. Diep's work and results that I found posted by real patient on our patient websites. I look forward to your input.

 

JoDirt's Hair Loss Website - 1865 Grafts

 

CanYouHairMeNow's Website - 1548 Grafts and his topic on our forum

 

Hair70's Testimony of His Experience and Opinion of Dr. Diep

 

YoungNorwood3's Experience

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Bill - Seemiller]

Guys,

 

I did receive an email back from Dr. Diep regarding "hair1978's" hair transplant procedure. His comments are below:

 

"As you know, this patient has very advanced hair loss Norwood 6-7. This type of class needs around 8,000-9,000 hair grafts or more for good coverage. We can not expect excellent coverage just 2,000 grafts spreading in the frontal half. Furthermore, the very magnified close zoom and frontal angle with hair combed out may make it look less dense than what really is. I will follow up with hair1978 in person next month. At that time, I will take more photos with appropriate and specific angle for clearer pictures. If the audience look at the other before and after photos of Asian and Black clients which I posted in the forum by the FUE method, you can see that the FUE method result can be very dense and natural."

 

I am inclined to agree with Dr. Diep's comments.

 

I also followed up with him regarding extracting follicles from outside of the universal safe zone on "Hair1978". His response is below:

 

"It is not a regular practice to go out side of the universal safe zone. There is no definite exact area of safe zone measurement as each person has his or her own unique safe zone and depending on the type of genetic preprogrammed hair loss. However, I can understand where you guys come from. Again, it is a rare occurence."

 

The "universal" safe zone is simply an area where most patients probably won't lose hair, even if they eventually become a Norwood class 7. There are however, cases based on their hair loss pattern where physicians feel it's appropriate to extend beyond this area. In most cases however, Dr. Diep stays within the universal safe zone.

 

In viewing other examples of his results, this doesn't appear to be the norm, which is encouraging.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Blake Bloxham]

I'm pleased Dr. Diep addressed Hair1978's case.

 

Altogether, I'm impressed with his work (especially his FUE work) and feel like he would make a nice addition to the community. I'm excited to see our FUE expert base expand!

 

Good luck, Dr. Diep!

[Blake Bloxham]

Keser was not given recommendation here because he took hair from 'unsafe' zones. Diep clearly took hair out of the patients crown in this case. I've said enough about Diep in the past so I'll leave it at this for now.

 

Mickey,

 

In my opinion, Dr. Keser's recommendation did not progress forward because we shared some concerns about "over-packing" hairlines in younger individuals and a lack of FUE results on higher NW patients, and these issues were never addressed by the clinic.

 

Also, what issues have you discussed (regarding Dr. Diep) in the past? I think this may be a good time to discuss and address any concerns you may have. Community response is a huge portion of our recommendation process, and I'd really like it to be strong and thoroughly discussed before moving forward!

 

EDIT: I looked back on the issues Mickey was discussing and realized I'd previously read these issues and commented in the thread in question. Because of this, I feel comfortable not re-discussing some of these concerns. Thanks.

Edited November 15, 2012 by Future_HT_Doc

[Bill - Seemiller]

Blake,

 

In case you didn't see the topic, Mickey's concerns and questions were discussed on the forum topic "Dr. Diep's Impressive FUE Work". Several members also provided their input about Dr. Diep and his work.

 

As always, members are encouraged to share their genuine opinions good or bad. I look forward to any additional input regarding Dr. Diep's potential recommendation.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[hair1978]

Wow.., I became an instant celebrity in this thread. Allow me the address some issues.

 

 

To correct Dr. Diep’s email response to Bill, I’m more of a Norwood 4/5, not 6/7. So I would need about 4,000-5,000 grafts for good coverage. So 2,000 FUE grafts in my front is just enough to give me “okay” coverage, which is what I was expecting. Let me also add that Dr Diep did tell me ahead of time that I would probably need a second procedure if I wanted “perfection”, so I was aware about this before I elected to do this procedure. I did not want to go with the strip procedure, which would have given me more grafts.

 

 

 

You’re all aware of my everyday photos that I have documented in my blog and account. Since Day 1, I’ve taken photos using macro-mode, flash, and shooting the same distance between my head and the camera. It’s difficult to take head photos (without my face) on my own. So even when I started to grow more hair, I decide to keep these photos consistent day after day. It does look magnified, which also enhance the scalp and makes it look less dense. I suppose my photos are uniquely different and truthful.

 

 

For the extraction outside my safe zone, I wasn’t exactly aware of this topic until after my procedure. But base on my family history, none of my family’s hair loss goes beyond this safe zone. Regardless, I’m not too concern about this.

 

 

As far as am I satisfied with my results? For the amount of grafts that I received, it’s met my expectation, but certainly not surpassed it. Dr Diep focused most of the grafts on my hairline and frontal region, so the back end (balding hairline area) is a little less dense. I have said this many times in my blog that if you see me face-to-face under normal lighting, my hair coverage appears normal. I certainly no longer have that “bald” look, but rather that “normal” look, which is what I have achieved.

 

 

I could comb my hair back to give it that denser look, but this is not the hair style that I am used to. Let me add that I have not even cut my new hair yet, simply because (for my amusement) I wanted to document with photos of what it’s like to let the hair grow out for a year. At some point, I will cut/trim it at the end of the year.

 

 

If and when I decide to plan a second procedure, I do expect better coverage and denser look. And the ultimate question is would I recommend Dr Diep to others? I will be a little bias and say “yes”. But for those who are expecting "perfect" hair transplant, you’ll have to wait until I decide to do my 2nd procedure.

 

 

Someone here mentioned that Dr Diep may emphasis too much on FUE. That’s not true. Dr Diep recommends that extremely balding patients or those on a budget should elect the strip procedure. But ultimately, he addresses both methods, and do what the patients ask for.

 

 

Bill – Let me know if there is something else you would like me to add. Thanks for addressing my case. I hope other patients from Dr Diep can chime on in.

[Cant decide]

hair1978 - First let me start out by saying that if you are happy with your results, then great as that is all that matters. But, your case must be the worst case of post op pics making results look much worse than they really are that I have ever seen. Can you take a pic with no flash at a reasonable distance under normal lighting. I am very very curious.

 

I must say that I am surprirsed that Dr. D used the term "Perfection" with you referring to needing a second operation to achieve "Perfection". In my opinion, that term should never be used in a HT consult and I would guess that in 90% of HT cases, "Perfection" is simply not achieved. Believe me, I am thrilled with my results by Dr. Rahal and I was NW 5 but even after 5000 plus grafts, my crown still needs work which makes perfect sense and Dr. Rahal was very clear about this at my consult. There is just no way that 2000 more grafts from where you are now is going to give you a perfect look. That would mean that you were able to cover your front and crown with just 4000 grafts. Simply not possible unless your shaft diameter and hairs per graft numbers are exceptionally high and I don think that is the case.

 

I know I may be splitting hairs here but for some reason, that just makes me very uncomfortable. Can you explain more what he meant by "Perfection"?

 

Bill - Also, I am wondering why Dr. D referred to hair1978 as a NW 6/7 if he is actually a 4/5. I think his response needs to be clarified. Was it truely a typo or something else?

[Bill - Seemiller]

Can't Decide,

 

Classifying baldness on the Norwood scale is not an exact science. Based on Hair1978's before photos I'd suggest his pattern is a Norwood 5A borderline 6. That said, he still has some hair in th crown (even though it's thinning) which could currently classify him as a 4 with a 5A/6 pattern.

 

Regarding the use of the word "perfection", I think you are probably being too analytical. I'm sure Dr. Diep just meant that he may not be 100% satisfied with the result and density unless he underwent another procedure.

 

At the end of the day, each member can draw their own conclusion about this result. However, based on all the results I've seen from him as a whole, I've been pretty impressed.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Bill - Seemiller]

Hair1978,

 

Thanks for taking the time to share your experience and address other member's questions/concerns. Given your level of baldness, I agree that your result is as expected. I'm also glad to hear that you are happier with the way your hair looks. I suspect that a 2nd and maybe even a 3rd procedure will give you much more density and fullness if you choose to undergo another procedure.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Mickey85]

Using family history alone to predict how far hairloss will progress is shaky at best. Dr Diep went well into the crown of a patient with already extensive hairloss. Maybe it's an isolated incident or maybe it's the norm for him, we really do not know..

[hair1978]

Dr Diep didn't exactly used the word "perfection" to me, I'm just paraphrasing. What I should had said is "better coverage".

 

For the pictures, I'll try to take some photos without flash, under normal lighting, and a reasonable distance. Perhaps I'll do this over the weekend if I remember.

 

I'm sure Dr Diep mistyped my Norwood scale, as he does so many procedures every year. Bill's response to my scale answered this correctly.

[Cant decide]

Thanks Bill and hair1978. Maybe I was being too analytical. After all, I am a scientist and I do tend to do this at times

 

Again thanks for clarifying and I do want to be clear that overall, the Dr. Diep cases posted do look good and I do believe that he deserves recommendation.

[Mickey85]

I just find it funny that Diep continually says "it's not regular practice" to things like the dual-scalpel or harvesting from the crown. Is it really an isolated case or is he merely saying so so that he can be inducted onto this forum? He says he used the dual-blade to save time for the video, what about the poor patient that he used it on? Was he informed of the transection rate of using a dual-blade? 5 minute strip removal... If he used a single blade it would take him 10 minutes.... Scary...

[Bill - Seemiller]

Guys,

 

Thanks for everyone's input regarding the potential recommendation of Dr. Diep. Despite some minor controversy about one patient's result and older videos used for demonstration purposes, I think most of us agree that Dr. Diep's technique and results overall are impressive. Also, all the feedback posted from his patients on this forum and on our patient websites is quite positive.

 

I feel that we should go with our gut based on viewing Dr. Diep's overall results and as demonstrated on the enthusiastic topic "Dr. Diep's Impressive FUE Work" and give him a chance. Thus, I've gone ahead and approved Dr. Diep's recommendation on the Hair Transplant Network. To see his recommendation profile, click here.

 

As Dr. Diep becomes a more active member of this community, I trust we'll see even more impressive examples of his results.

 

Congratulations Dr. Diep. We look forward to your involvement on this community and seeing more of your excellent results in the months to come.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[PupDaddy]

Hmm. I feel somewhat responsible for this debate, seeing as how I started a thread about Dr. Diep’s FUE work. I have a confession to make: When I took a glance at Dr. Diep’s site and then mentioned it here, I was under the impression that all of his work was FUE. As I recall, I found Dr. Diep’s work while looking at some FUE results of another ht doc on YouTube. I now understand that his site shows both FUT and FUE cases, the majority being FUT. Having looked at the cases submitted by Dr. Diep here and having taken a closer look at his site, I admit to some ambivalence regarding his recommendation. For what they are worth, these are my thoughts:

 

1. Dr. Diep has submitted eight cases for consideration: 6 FUT cases and 2 FUE cases. The 2 FUE cases are of 1 asian male and 1 black male, both of which I would categorize as specialty cases, and both are relatively small graft counts: 1500 and 1295 respectively.

 

2. Of the 6 FUT cases submitted, 1 is a black female and 1 is a black male, which, again, I would categorize as specialty cases. The 4 remaining FUT cases consist of what I would describe as 1 mega session case (5,000 grafts), 1 large session case (3,500 grafts), 2 moderate session cases (2,000 grafts each), and 1 double-session case (his “home run” 2-session, 8,000 graft case)

 

3. So I think what we effectively have to go on are 2 modest-sized FUE cases, both being specialty cases in terms of ethnicity, and 4 "non-specialty" FUT cases. I am just not sure that is a sufficiently large and representative sample to judge this doctor’s work. I recall that Dr. Diep says that he has been specializing in ht surgery for five years, with an emphasis on FUE. I would think he would have more cases to show us, both FUT and, especially, FUE.

 

4. I would describe the 4 “non-speciality” FUT cases as ranging from average to excellent, but with the proviso that the somewhat poor lighting and limited viewing angles make it difficult to judge some of the cases completely.

 

5. The 1,500 FUE case on the asian male looks solid, but as I said, it gives me pause that this case and the 1295 FUE case on the black male are all the FUE cases Dr. Diep has to share with us, especially considering his purported emphasis on FUE for low to moderate Norwood patients.

 

6. I appreciate Dr. Diep’s study and appreciation for differences in hairline height and shape among different ethnic groups. At the same time, I have some reservations about some of the rounded temple work he does. I read somewhere that good ht docs can often spot transplant work of lesser docs by rounded temple work because (according to what I read) that does not occur in nature. When I see the temple work of the top docs on here, including their pre-op drawings of the hairline and sides to be restored, the hairline and sides meet at an acute angle.

 

7. I share the concerns voiced by others about hair1978’s FUE case, especially considering that Dr. Diep has only submitted two FUE cases for consideration, both being of somewhat limited value by which to judge this doctor’s FUE work for the reasons I mentioned. I do question the judgment of a doctor agreeing to transplant 2,000 grafts over such a large area, even with a proviso that another session might be needed for better density. Even with 100% yield, this patient would seem to require much more than 4,000 grafts for a cosmetically acceptable result, and the doctor knowing how a patient with this amount of hair loss would look for a year or more with only 2,000 grafts gives me some pause. I appreciate that the patient says his expectations were met, but the photos do not paint a pretty picture, nor should a responsible and experienced ht doc expect them to.

 

8. I am a bit put off by the doctor’s self-descriptions of his artistic abilities and skills and by his (or whoever writes up the case descriptions, if not the doctor) use of adjectives to describe the results. I know that probably doesn’t mean anything and might just reflect a lack of familiarity with protocol, but the top docs let their work speak for itself and leave the accolades to others.

 

I suppose I am saying that I'd like to see more "non-specialty" cases by Dr. Diep, especially more FUE cases but also some additional FUT cases. Ideally, I'd like to see better lighting and more viewing angles to get a better idea of what we are looking at. I'd also like to see more scar and FUE donor area photos.