Dr. Cooley or Dr. Vories?

[butchcoolidge]

I'm considering Dr. Cooley (North Carolina) and Dr. Vories (South Carolina) for a FUE procedure.

 

Both doctors seem like control-freaks as far as doing most of the work and not having techs do it - this is of course fine with me

 

How many grafts do you guys think I will need to fill in the frontal and crown?

 

Dr. Cooley estimated 2500-3000 (suggesting 2000-2500 frontal and 500 crown)

 

Dr. Vories estimated 3500-4000 (suggesting 2000-2500 frontal and 1500 crown)

 

Of note, both clinics said my hair does not currently look natural at all, which is disappointing. I suppose they could just be trying to sell me a H.T. but I like to think they are both busy enough and have such solid reps that they would only give their truthful opinion. My right side is more sparse than the left.

[gillenator]

butch,

 

My premonition is that they both are implying that a much higher percent of men with MPB are losing their hair with the more common pattern involving temporal lobe recession and/or recessionary loss front-to-back or even a diffused pattern of loss. If you take a peek at the Norwood scale, you will see what I am referring to. So I think that's what they both meant when they said it does not look natural, it's more like they meant "not common".

 

There are some breaks in your hairline which is not typical however it can easily be fixed and IMHO once those hairline grafts grow in, your hairline will look very nice. I think you are fortunate that you still have a substantial amount of hair still there...

 

If it were me, I would not go with 1500 grafts in the crown because there is diffused loss in that area and from my observation, that would be a little too much. You would be surprised how much of a difference that 500 grafts would do in your crown for now.

 

In addition, the loss in your crown can and may progress with time. If you are taking low dose finasteride such as Propecia, then you stand a good chance of stabilizing further loss in your crown.

 

Ultimately the crown can demand a significant amount of available donor and so it's critical to be managing our donor reserves so there will be enough for the frontal zone as time passes and further loss progresses there as well.

[ontop]

Both Doctors would do a excellent job but I feel if your willing to take medications in your situation, the more i look at your pictures the more i think meds could do pretty well given your hairlosss.

 

If your willing to try meds at low dose for a year prior HT that could work out well & if a good responder you may not even need undergo HT.

both Doctor's are not selling you anything trust me, they proberly both mentioned medications to you also.

Edited August 26, 2016 by ontop
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[elicash80]

Researched and met with both myself. I think Cooley has the edge on FUT (Dr. Vories does not even do it) and he gets incredible results and Dr. Vories has the edge on FUE (has gotten so good at this specialty) and he also gets incredible results. Both docs are masters, but I would decide based on FUT or FUE.

[Spanker]

I think you should do sone very detailed research looking at pics and go with who you think gives the most natural results.

[Speegs]

4000 is mega-session territory, so make sure you always do due diligence to get an elite doctor to make sure graft survival is held at a premium with that many grafts potentially outside the body for that long.

 

I'm not saying Vories isn't acceptable or even elite, i don't know enough about him to give an opinion of his work, but he is recommending a procedure size that is only to be entrusted to an elite doctor.

[andy_+_+]

I would definitely go with Dr.Cooley whether it be FUT of FUE.

 

Lots of great results and his documentation of results are best practice.

 

I also feel that Dr.Cooley produces great results with using fewer graphs.

[ready4Hair]

...

 

Of note, both clinics said my hair does not currently look natural at all, which is disappointing. I suppose they could just be trying to sell me a H.T. but I like to think they are both busy enough and have such solid reps that they would only give their truthful opinion. My right side is more sparse than the left.

 

Just for your own edification, I consulted with Dr. Vories recently and he said nothing about my hair not looking natural so I'd imagine it was an honest assessment. Also he said/did nothing to influence/push me into an HT and his rep Mike Frame made clear to me too there is no rush until I am ready and want to move forward. I think HT Docs at Vories level don't need to beg/borrow/steal business so take whatever he told you at face value I believe.

[T-TYPE]

yea 500 grafts will not cover ur crown. Vorhees is correct at least 1500 there and 3500 elsewhere is correct too. and I agree it doesn't look natural.

 

imo Vorhees is one of the better HT surgeons anywhere these days. his graft placement is tight and dense and his hairlines are reasonably aggressive.

[HairLostYears]

I dunno, that Voorhees seems more like a strip specialist to me.

 

[butchcoolidge]

thank you to everyone for the replies. i really appreciate the feedback. i've been on fin for a couple of years now and use rogaine foam daily as well. loss does not seem to be progressing any further, which is comforting. i am 31 years old.

 

i will be looking at patient results from both doctors over the next few months and go with my gut instinct.

 

cost won't really be a factor with these doctors because they are similarly priced. Well actually, Vories is significantly cheaper per graft, though with his higher graft estimate, I suppose it will mostly even out.

 

cost with Cooley would end up around 16k. Vories would be similar total price if I did the low end of his graft estimate (15.5k) but up to 19.5k if I did the high end of 4,000 grafts.

 

yes i know, price should never be the primary reason for a decision, but lets be honest, not everyone is rich

 

looking forward to doing more research on these 2 doctors.

[JON86]

I mean no disrespect to doctor vories he does really good work . Dr Cooley is elite on another level. I had an fut procedure with him in July. The experience was amazing and I have never had a better doctor in my life than him. He is a fantastic doctor and even a better person. He got me a lot more grafts than I paid for. He is one of the genuine good people in this field. He really cares for his patients. I searched did consults with a lot of bad doctors until I found him. At two months my scar is pretty much non existent and hair is starting to grow. I could not recommend him more. I did not start a page of my results but I will get the numbers and pictures from them soon and will post. Dr Cooley is a brainiac does so much research testing on improving results for patients. He is a fantastic doctor. I know he changed my life for the better.

[True]

On 8/28/2016 at 10:49 PM, HairLostYears said:

I dunno, that Voorhees seems more like a strip specialist to me.

 

HAHA!!!??????