Opinions on Dr. Rassman

[LosAngeleshair]

Hey community- I find it strange that there is very little opinion or recent documentation on Dr. William Rassman of New Hair Institute. He's been a pioneer in the field and has years of experience and practice but there just doesn't seem to be much recent info. on the doctor, his work, or his results by patients, new or old, good or bad. I find that odd, any thoughts?

 

BTW, this is not meant to be a disparaging post about the doctor, he seems to be compassionate and the "Balding Blog" on his website is sometimes an interesting and educational read.

[hairweare]

I was one of Dr. Rassman's first "mega-session" FUT patients back in the early 90's. At the time he was truly a pioneer and way ahead of the majority of HT physicians of that era who were either still using large plugs or very limited mini graft sessions. I was a NW6 at age 43 when he placed 3600 grafts to my hairline and mid scalp. Back then, microscopes were not used and after care instructions were much less refined i.e., recipient area was not cleaned POD #1 and I probably returned much too quickly to strenuous activity resulting in a widened scar. That said despite the less that optimal graft viability and scar minimization techniques the results were actually quite satisfactory. I didn't take meds post op and over the ensuing 7 years had progression of hair loss affecting the mid scalp and crown. I subsequently had two additional strip surgeries of 1200 and 800 grafts respectively. The second procedure weighed the grafts on the right side of the mid scalp and the third addressed the crown.

 

Again the results were satisfactory for another 5-7 yrs but over the last 3 yrs while in my late 50's I lost a significant amount of density throughout the hairline, mid scalp and crown resulting in noticeable patchiness and uneven coverage even in the front which I always assumed would have been permanently addressed by the first HT. As Dr. Konior had previously pointed out miniaturization can occur even to grafts that were thought to have been harvested from the safe area, which I believe is what happened in my situation.

 

While it would not be fair to judge Dr. Rassman's results by today's standards, I did have concerns that the latter two procedures were performed by his associates after I was led to believe that he would be the operator. Both times I was informed of this on the day of the surgery which I felt was inappropriate and less than professional. The third surgery not only yielded a scant 800 grafts but left me with a widened scar and misdirected hair due to a slight "dog ear" closure above my right ear. The crown grafts were also placed at a 90 degree angle resulting in hair that now appears somewhat pluggy and does not lie quite right.

 

I am now 3 months s/p 1500 FUE grafts to the hairline and mid scalp and 300 beard grafts to the scar performed by Dr. Lorenzo. My donor area is obviously limited although Dr. Lorenzo believes that another 1000-1500 grafts are available to address the crown for another procedure which I will consider towards the end of the year.

 

I don't believe that Dr. Rassman does much surgery himself these days. His associate Dr. Pak is doing the majority of the work and NHI current emphasis appears to be more geared towards SMP

[hsrp10]

I think that sums it up nicely, used to be a major pioneer but now Dr. Pak is doing the work, and as SMP has boomed they perhaps are more focusing on that

 

And I do agreed the balding blog is a decent read, always seems to come up with most any hairloss topic search.

[LosAngeleshair]

hairweare-

 

thank you for sharing your story and experience. a good summation indeed and appreciated.

[johndoe1]

I did a phone consultation with Rassman last year. Yes, Dr Pak is now doing the HTs and Rassman is pretty much retired from HTs

[LosAngeleshair]

johndoe1-

 

thank you for your input, much appreciated.

[squiggle]

Dr Rassman doesn't do any surgeries himself; he says he has cataract. I met with him last year around October in his LA clinic. From the email correspondence I thought he was the person doing the HTs, but when I was there he introduced another Dr (could have been Dr Pak as others have said). Dr Rassman was generous with his time and advice and also showed me a recent paper he had written (Aug 13) in a medical HT journal, but since he wasn't doing the HT there was little more for me to discuss.

[LosAngeleshair]

squiggle-

 

thank you for your input. interesting how Rassman basically being the "face of the franchise" but not an operating surgeon isn't more predominantly known.

[Paulygon]

My HT surgeon, Dr. Mohebi, worked under Rassman for a number of years before starting his own clinic.

Since I knew that Rassman was an HT pioneer, I was very interested to learn more about Mohebi's work; that was an attractive selling point.

I've also heard good things about Dr Pak.

[LosAngeleshair]

thanks for your input Paulygon

[Shampoo]

I did have concerns that the latter two procedures were performed by his associates after I was led to believe that he would be the operator. Both times I was informed of this on the day of the surgery which I felt was inappropriate and less than professional.

 

That happened to me with my first surgery many years ago. I walked in on surgery day and was told the Dr.Stough would not be performing my surgery and one of his highly qualified understudy doctors would perform my surgery...but not to worry because Dr.Stough would be checking in on me from time to time.

 

I was younger and naive and had traveled out of state for the procedure so I went through with it.... and it actually turned out ok...but being more educated/older now....that would be a deal killer if a clinic tried that on me today.

[hairweare]

I agree completely and frankly I am still surprised that Dr. Rassman would do that since he has staked his reputation as being one of the more ethical leaders in the field. The high turnover at his clinic most likely was a reflection of docs wanting to join him so as to learn his techniques before heading out on their own or ones that just couldn't cut it. In retrospect I wouldn't have wanted to be operated on by either.

[KO]

Dr Rassman is a reputable surgeon, but I don't feel his strip work is as good as other clinics like HW or Shapiro.

[mahhong]

I agree with the above comment. I've never had any interaction with Rassman but know he's a very credible and respect member of the field, who has been something of a pioneer in some aspects.

 

The examples I have seen of the work performed by him and his associates are largely very good, but I too feel there are more impressive bodies of work by other doctors. That's not to say I don't think NHI do quality work as they do, but that's my honest impression. I think they're a very safe pair of hands though, and Balding Blog is always an interesting read.

[hairweare]

Again, you have to keep things in perspective. In the early 90's not too many physicians were doing 3500 graft sessions and he took a lot of heat for it. He was also one of the earliest to provide FUE but neither he or his colleague at the time Dr. Bernstein seemed to realize at the time how far that technique would eventually develop and gain acceptance.

 

I chose FUE and Dr Lorenzo for my most recent procedure because with him you know exactly what you are getting and with whose hands are doing the work.

[Mickey85]

Bit of a shame that he isn't involved in the surgeries much(if at all?) anymore. Based on that, I would not go to that clinic. It's a shame because he was quite pivotal in moving strip forward in the 90s and seemed like a very progressive surgeon. Is he still recommended here?/

Edited June 8, 2014 by Mickey85