Dr. Lupanzula - pros and cons

[hsrp10]

I'm thinking of adding Dr. Lupanzula to my shortlist of doctors for my small procedure next year as I have been very impressed with his clinic's many recent postings of HT results both images and HD videos.

 

However since there are not many English reviews from actual patients on this forum (only 1 old one on HRN I could find) and on the internet in general, I thought I'd start thris thread so we could discuss Dr. Lupanzula pros and cons from the patient/potential patient side.

 

So far this is what I've come up with, please add yours.

 

Pros

- Ethical and skilled FUE surgeon trained under Dr. Bisanga

- Has a good reputation in Europe especially in the French speaking community

- Uses manual punch technique with .8-9mm punches and does all the extractions himself

- Price is on the "affordable" side, at least is not in the high end range and is 4.5 euro first 1000 grafts and 4 euro for subsequent grafts

- Natural looking hairlines and temple points

- Only performs on 1-2 patients a day and maximum 2500 FUE grafts

- Clinic offers driver pick up service from the airport (not all clinics in Belgium do this)

- Good donor management approach, especially important if having 2nd 3rd or last procedure [added this one to the list]

 

Cons

- As mentioned not many actual patient results in English on the internet (the best you can do now is search the French language posts on this site: <http://www.international-hairlossforum.com>

- Possibly not a density king?! If you look closely at his hairlines and some areas behind the hairline you can see scalp even in pictures with many patients. I don't know, even though my transplanted hair does not have "amazing" density at least in pics you cannot see my scalp. Bit worried about this..

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/185097-dr-lupanzula-medikemos-clinic-1732-fus-manual-fue.html

 

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f35/Medikemos2016/2-DAVCHO-1732FUE/Dr.%20Lupanzula%20-%20Medikemos%20-%201732%20FUE%20-%20NW%20II%20-%2014_zpsrej8pcff.jpg

Edited December 3, 2016 by hsrp10

[hsrp10]

There are actual two patient experiences on here regarding Dr. Lupanzula, this is the second one.

 

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/185037-2800-fue-dr-lupanzula.html

[JON86]

An honest person can't really give an answer or speculate unless they have had a surgery with a surgeon. The lists people beat others down with on here is meaningless in my opinion.

[hsrp10]

An honest person can't really give an answer or speculate unless they have had a surgery with a surgeon. The lists people beat others down with on here is meaningless in my opinion.

 

You won't get a major argument from me on your statement by itself, however I want to hear opinions of what other's think of Dr. Lupanzula (a single surgeon not asking for a list) and his work overall.

 

Members come here from all over the world so am looking for a diverse range of opinions and trying to gather as much information as possible.

We always debate what we like or dislike about other doctor's work here, I don't think there is any requirement whatsoever to have undergone surgery with a doctor before being able to discuss things here freely and openly on HRN.

[JON86]

He is my favorite fue surgeon from what I have seen and Diep is second from what I have seen. Yes I have ripped Diep for his fut and bed side manner but he has produced fantastic fue results hard to ignore. I really love Konior at fut but I honestly believe Diep is better at fue than him or H and w. After what I personally have been through I would never choose anyone over Cooley but just my opinion of what he did for me. When a doctor comes through and does what he says it's normal people vouch for their doctor. Lupanzula does great work from what I have seen .

[BaldingBogger]

Very interested also and chiming in here so I'll be notified on thread .

 

Like hrsp I'm considering Lupanzula for some temple work. I need to see some patient documented experiences in order to feel fully comfortable.

 

Let's be honest all clinics can cherry pick and make it seem like they hit a home run each time. We know that's not reality.

 

 

Anyone know if lupanzulas patient threads exist on another forum perhaps?

[JON86]

Most are on French forums. That other forum if you know what I mean with the radio show talk about him like he is the future. Who knows.

[hsrp10]

Anyone know if lupanzulas patient threads exist on another forum perhaps?

 

Hey BaldingBogger,

We will tackle our remaining temple point area in grand style in 2017! :cool:

 

Use Google itools web translation and try these.

mostly French posts: <http://www.international-hairlossforum.com>

Spanish: <foro.recuperarelpelo.com> (thanks to another user via PM, thanks!)

Italian: bellicapelli

[Melvin- Admin]

My honest opinion is I don't think much of him not because I don't think he's good but because I don't know much of him, I've seen some good results that his clinic has presented, but then again when has a clinic presented a bad result, I know there are some members on here that really like him and nearly post on all of his clinics presented results.

 

Most of his work on YouTube is on Norwood 4 and below, this is not a knock on him but being a Norwood 6 I'm more interested in docs who can achieve good results with guys similar to me, to be 100% honest I haven't seen one result that blew my mind, again this isn't a knock on him, but usually it's a result that garners my attention from a doctor. Typically, there has to be a result that warrants a "how the hell was that possible" reaction from me. I try not to get caught up in cheerleading sessions with other posters about doctors I know nothing about.

 

With that said, Dr. Couto has posted some results that have been mind blowing real "how the hell was that possible" reactions from me, I'm much more intrigued by him. But again, I will reserve final judgment until I see some patient reviews in a language I can understand.

 

This result blows my mind

[wibbles180]

I personally really like dr lupanzula but have only seen virtual results and I agree there are limited patient results , I think this is something the clinic are trying to get going and if you ask they may offer a rebate/discount system for patients to give there honest review of there experience with there clinic . Which shows they have confidence in the doctors work . The main attraction for me is the fact that the doctor does all the extractions and incisions and of course his super soft hairline work . Like most people know there is no 100% guarantee with surgery but this surely gives you better odds than using a tech based clinic ?? Or am I overthinking things ?

I'm hoping to get a consultation this jan with dr lupanzula in London.

 

I agree about dr coutos recent videos they seem almost too good to be true !! I've sent some pictures in for virtual consultation and will update my response in the couto thread as and when I get a response ... might take some time due to his 3.5,year waiting list though

 

But back to the original question ! Dr lupanzula gets a huge thumbs up from me but purely based on his own online results

[hsrp10]

Thanks HTsoon and Wibbles for your opinions, adds good stuff to the discussion.

The biggest con is indeed the "unknown" factor currently.

 

Here is the the latest and most recent thread from KO: (linking it here for consolidated posts on Lupanzula).

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/185463-3382-grafts-lupanzula.html

 

Btw, what are the thoughts on this statement? The more I look the more I feel it's true, very natural but not so wowed by the overall density, and this is in pics so in person means even less dense..

Possibly not a density king?! If you look closely at his hairlines and some areas behind the hairline you can see scalp even in pictures with many patients

[KO]

There is no "unknown" factor truly. Just that his experiences are with patients who speak a different language.

[Melvin- Admin]

I know several senior members like Mickey are big fans, with that said, I'll be honest I haven't been wow'd by any of the presented results, now I'm not saying he's bad, his work looks clean refined and natural which is the most important aspect. IMO his work looks identical to Bisanga, good, but no wow factor, maybe it's because he is conservative, that's not a bad thing, it just depends on your goals. Maybe he does have patient reviews on foreign forums idk, he hasn't called my attention enough to research extensively, if there's any doctor I'll be researching it's Dr. Couto that's my opinion.

 

Again, I don't want to ruffle any feathers I know some guys are offended when someone has anything other than praise for their doctors or doctors they endorse. I've never been that way, you had a negative experience with Diep fair enough I don't blame you that you don't wanna go to him, I have nothing to gain from promoting any doctors. So this is just my opinion.

[KO]

Btw, what are the thoughts on this statement? The more I look the more I feel it's true, very natural but not so wowed by the overall density, and this is in pics so in person means even less dense..

Possibly not a density king?! If you look closely at his hairlines and some areas behind the hairline you can see scalp even in pictures with many patients

 

I'm not saying this to defend Dr Lupanzula, but more of a general point. I think anytime you start appointing a doctor as a "density king" or a "hairline king" or a "temple king"...it's rarely a useful way to think about it. (Although I'm sure it serves the clinic, Rahal is happy to be considered the hairline king). Each case has different demands, and maybe high density is not always the desired endpoint. Let's not make an individual case a microcosm of a clinic's work (true for any clinic IMO, not just Lupanzula).

[hsrp10]

Expressed another way, I'm not impressed by the density I'm seeing in pics, and we all know pics can be deceiving for appearing to show more density than their actually is.

 

Still he's on my shortlist otherwise I wouldn't be wasting the time to discuss about him.

As for Mickey he has helped this forum a tremendous amount and that's an understatement. He's actually not a hairloss sufferer but wants to correct an asymmetric hairline (or at least that was his previous goal), so his goals and yours and mine overall may be different.

 

Thanks HTsoon for your frank opinion too, that's the type open discussion and dialogue I was looking for.

Hope we can continue same style without anyone taking offense.

[hsrp10]

Very interested also and chiming in here so I'll be notified on thread .

 

Like hrsp I'm considering Lupanzula for some temple work.

This is the case we discussed in another thread that really got my attention, very aggressive temple point area. Bit tad too aggressive but the result is very dense (you have to copy and paste it as I don't want to embed the video here, as want to keep more about discussion)

 

<

 

and here are the photos from it:

http://medikemosclinic.com/en/gallery-2/nggallery/resultats/fue-2675-ufs-nw-ii-iii-dr-lupanzula-medikemos/

Edited December 3, 2016 by hsrp10

[Melvin- Admin]

Expressed another way, I'm not impressed by the density I'm seeing in pics, and we all know pics can be deceiving for appearing to show more density than their actually is.

 

Still he's on my shortlist otherwise I wouldn't be wasting the time to discuss about him.

As for Mickey he has helped this forum a tremendous amount and that's an understatement. He's actually not a hairloss sufferer but wants to correct an asymmetric hairline (or at least that was his previous goal), so his goals and yours and mine overall may be different.

 

Thanks HTsoon for your frank opinion too, that's the type open discussion and dialogue I was looking for.

Hope we can continue same style without anyone taking offense.

 

Yea absolutely I think that's what this forums all about, I know several people including Mickey aren't fans of Diep and that's fine I will never get offended or even debate it, it's good for the community to be objective. If you see something give your honest opinion.

 

With that said, KO brings up a good point, I've noticed many of the cases presented on this forum by Medikemos are of patients in their mid to late 20's. This could be the reason for the conservative density which I think is a good thing. I'm sure a guy in his mid to late 40's Norwood II -III could be a lot more aggressive. I really want to be impressed I do, it's like when everyone's talking about a new movie how awesome it is and you watch it and don't feel the same. I would love to see some high density cases and some high Norwood cases from this clinic.

[hsrp10]

I think this is a pretty dense result, the transplanted hair even seems thicker than non-translated middle front tuft.

(another forum says this case is 53 grafts/cm2.

So this is the second dense result I've seen.

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/185456-dr-lupanzula-medikemos-clinic-1489-fus-manual-fue.html

 

And a third one, this one is quite nice. Btw interesting in French they call the temple corners as "golf" for golf course?! or maybe it's gulf (bay?) I studied french many years ago but am not good at french slang/colloquial terms lol

http://bellicapelli.forumfree.it/?t=68151975

Edited December 3, 2016 by hsrp10

[Melvin- Admin]

I just want to preface this comment with I'm being objective, I'm trying to be as impartial as possible, not trying to offend anyone.

 

The blonde guy has color contrast working for him, the result could look different if he had dark hair light skin, the third one definitely looks dense, but I just don't see anything special. I don't see any work that sets him apart, like I said he's good, none of those cases amaze me to be honest. I'd love to see challenging cases, some total hairline reconstructions including the temple points, some crown work etc.

 

I think most "good" docs can produce results like that on temple corners using 1,500-2,000 grafts, the smaller the session the less time out of body for the grafts, less fatigue for the surgeon. I think for me personally what seperates a good doctor from a great doctor is the ability to produce results like that on challenging cases. I haven't seen one yet, but great research hsrp keep em coming this thread will be very helpful to others.

[hsrp10]

Awesome HTsoon, I'm really loving the keeping it real comments to sanity check this surgeon as a member on my shortlist! Keep em coming. :cool:

I don't want any beating around the bushes lol

Agree his work resembles Bisanga (naturally) and like Bisanga in certain cases he can go dense if the patient's requirements and situation warrants it.

 

My goal is natural temple points/sides - specifically in my case the area just below the temple points to square them off some and "maybe" some grafts just behind the hairline.

 

Btw how much is Dr. Diep per graft?

MHTA emailed me they were booked until June next year in any case.

[Melvin- Admin]

He charges $7 per graft not cheap and he's booked far out he may not be the best option to be honest. Check out this thread even Dr. Hasson hits homeruns with FUE with a small number of grafts, this result impresses me a hell out of me perfect hairline and natural and not cherry picked from the clinic.

 

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/181443-dr-hasson-660-hairline-grafts-update-9.html

[KO]

So who isn't booked out into oblivion?

[hsrp10]

So who isn't booked out into oblivion?

 

Seems among the better ones, Bisanga, Lupanzula and ASMED you can get a booking date 2-3 months out depending on the timing. But the last one mentioned is maybe not an ideal choice when looking at surgeons for donor management...

 

Of course cancellation dates with the big guys do open as we know, if you're lucky and it coincides with your downtime. Actually my surgery with Hasson (not considering him for FUE now) and maybe my first one with Konior were cancellation dates that opened up.

[hsrp10]

He charges $7 per graft not cheap and he's booked far out he may not be the best option to be honest. Check out this thread even Dr. Hasson hits homeruns with FUE with a small number of grafts, this result impresses me a hell out of me perfect hairline and natural and not cherry picked from the clinic.

 

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/181443-dr-hasson-660-hairline-grafts-update-9.html

 

That's one of my all time favs as he doesn't have very coarse hair but still got stellar results. Though his hair turned quite dark so you can tell he is an excellent responder on Fin, which also played a major part in the results.

[KO]

While Aftermath had a great result, that was over 8k grafts focused on the front, it "should" look very good...