Potential Recommendation of Dr. Blake Bloxham of New York

[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.

 

I would appreciate this community’s input on the potential recommendation of Dr. Blake Bloxham in Great Neck, New York on the Hair Transplant Network. At this time, Dr. Bloxham is only being considered for recommendation, not the Coalition. To see our standards for recommendation, click here.

 

Dr. Bloxham (formerly known as "Future-HT-Doc") used to work for this community as an editorial assistant and forum co-moderator. This will be the first time in the history of The Hair Transplant Network that we've considered a previous associate to be one of our recommended hair restoration physicians.

 

Dr. Bloxham (who many of us are used to calling Blake or Future-HT-Doc) has a long history of providing insightful, supportive and educational posts on this forum and our Hair Loss Q&A Blog. But his real passion always lied in becoming a top notch hair transplant surgeon and being recommended by this community. He now works side by side with Coalition member Dr. Alan Feller and has almost 3 years of experience performing exclusive hair transplant surgery.

 

Dr. Bloxham's hair transplant philosophy and technique practically mirror Dr. Alan Fellers, who we all know provides realistic, state of the art hair transplant surgery in Great Neck, New York. Below are some of the highlights of Dr. Bloxham's experience, procedure, technique and hair transplant philosophy.

 

Dr. Blake Bloxham performs exclusive hair transplant surgery including FUT, FUE and a hybrid FUE procedure referred to as mFUE along side Coalition member Dr. Alan Feller. Dr. Bloxham has quickly garnered Dr. Feller's respect and approval and members of this community have provided overwhelmingly positive feedback on Dr. Bloxham's posts featuring his results.

 

Dr. Bloxham is a member of The ISHRS (International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery), the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery and is a member of the Sigma Phi medical honors society. He performed his fellowship at and is now a Partner and the Medical/Surgical Director of Hair Transplant Surgery at Feller Medical.

 

Dr. Blake Bloxham possesses a bachelor's of science in biology and pre-medical studies from the University of California and went to medical school at Andrew Taylor Still University. His post-graduate training was performed at Geisinger Medical Center.

 

Dr. Bloxham uses all the latest techniques and has the skill, ability and staff to perform densely packed sessions of all follicular unit hair transplantation exceeding 3000 grafts when appropriate for the patient. Dr. Bloxham does all the initial consultations himself and typically operates on only 1 or 2 patients per day. Dr. Bloxham specializes in FUT, FUE and mFUE (a modified version of FUE that reduces the additional forces placed on the grafts during extraction while also reducing scarring to the scalp).

 

Dr. Bloxham's philosophy on FUE has changed now that he has experienced, seen and performs FUE firsthand. When Dr. Bloxham was an editorial assistant and forum co-moderator, he believed everybody was a candidate and that his future was FUE only. But practically speaking in surgery, his view is much more modest. Dr. Bloxham performs FUE and still believes that everyone should be performing it in conjunction with FUT/strip. But he no longer feels that everyone is a candidate for FUE.

 

Over the last couple of years, Dr. Bloxham has presented numerous examples of his hair transplant technique, procedure and results. Dr. Bloxham Recent Patient and Surgical photos can be found below:

 

2,000 graft dense pack frontal band procedure

 

4,000 graft mega-session

 

3,300 graft mega-session

 

3,200 graft mega-session

 

2,200 graft frontal band

 

3,300 graft crown case

 

1,500 graft plug repair

 

2,200 graft hairline/frontal

 

2,000 graft mini-plug repair: presentation starts here

 

1,800 graft frontal case

 

750 graft temple points

 

2,000 graft hairline case

 

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.

 

Onwards and Upwards,

 

Bill

[sutureless]

I have followed his results and video blogs etc.. he is not only a good surgeon but also sounds like a nice and genuinely caring doctor. I think he is as good as Dr. Feller in FUT procedures, I think he should be recommended on here strongly.

 

But don't know if he has posted any FUE cases?. Can we list his FUE cases please?.

[hairthere]

I've actually had a procedure done with Dr. Bloxham to address a weak frontal zone area, and it grew in beautifully! Dr. B exhibited the same meticulous approach as his mentor/business partner Dr. Feller, and from what I've seen of his other patients he's shown he's worthy of being recommended on this forum.

Edited March 22, 2017 by hairthere

[Dr. William Lindsey]

Blake is a good person, physician, and scientist. Plus he has years of experience in all aspects of hair blogging and his finger is on the pulse of our industry. I strongly recommend Dr. Bloxham and know that he will raise the standards of care in our field.

 

Dr. Lindsey

[voxman]

Solid advice and a caring spirit - what's not to recommend? I think Blake will raise the bar in the industry.

[Dr Blake Bloxham]

Hi Everyone,

 

Thank you for the kind words thus far. And let me say that I am honored and humbled to be considered for recommendation. I do want to interact and share my thoughts and feelings in this thread as much as possible. I'm actually in the middle of a case right now, but I'll do my best to address any questions or requests.

 

In the meantime, I wanted to put a few additional cases/presentations up. These have all been up on HTN before, but I thought members may like a few more to review!

 

3,600 graft and 3,000 graft hair transplant(s) (actually two cases here)

 

2,300 graft case

 

4,000 graft case

 

2,500 grafts on a NW VII patient

 

2,500 graft case

 

Enjoy!

 

Dr B

[harin]

Dr. Bloxam is a wonderful doctor and a extremely nice human being, always has appropriate things to say, very knowledgeable and excellent hands with excellent results as demonstrated by numerous posts and cases, the hairlines are very very good and natural.

 

I almost went with Dr. Bloxam for my HT except for the fact that I didn't like FUT scarring and wanted combo BHT. (I didn't discuss possibility of FUE or BHT with the doctor), suffices to say that I have been very impressed with skills, results, integrity and his knowledge.

 

My strongest recommendation for his inclusion amongst recommended HT expert here in.

[mav23100gunther]

Dr Bloxham,

 

Firstly, hearty congratulations for the potential recommendation! I am yet to meet with you in person, but from what I can see, you are a true professional and a gentleman. The results above are solid enough to support your recommendation, but....

 

1) Bill mentions that you have almost 3 years of experience, and my understanding is that you were only admitted as a practicing partner with Dr Feller about 21 months ago. It is also my further understanding that you were still being supervised by Dr Feller, or at least watched over by Dr Feller in "joint procedures" as recently as a year and a bit ago during that whole Professor fiasco. In this context, I feel that it may be slightly premature to add you as a recommended surgeon at this time. It takes 12 - 18 months for a procedure outcome to be judged, so I am wondering how many of the above procedures were performed without any assistance or supervision by Dr Feller, and whether enough time has passed to truly be able to make a solid call that have proved yourself with CONSISTENTLY high quality results that are yours and yours alone, without Dr Feller handprints. Hope I make sense, and hope I am not coming off as too harsh, because the cases shown look real good.

 

2) On a slightly lessor point, it's been under 2 years since Dr Blake was a moderator of this site. Just want to ask the question if enough of a cooling off period has passed to avoid even the slightest appearance of a conflict of interest that can taint the recommendation. I feel that another year or two should pass. Just me

 

Based on the above, with a heavy weight towards the first point, I feel it is still too soon to be admitting Dr Bloxham as a recommended surgeon. I personally feel he should be given more time to demonstrate high quality results that are at his hands alone on a consistent basis. Dr Bloxham, if you do get it, then I will be the 1st to raise my glass and toast your recommendation.

[hsrp10]

After viewing all of the results he has posted to date I say absolutely yes Dr. Bloxham should be recommended.

 

When he was a moderator here he did things with a lot of class and he is one of the few docs here who will actually answer patient questions in elaborate detail (some clinics are too bothered to do this or they will pick and choose the comments they reply to).

You can fully feel he cares for his patients and hair loss sufferers based on his actions and words.

 

Anyway as a long-term member of this forum going into my seventh year here (like me or hate me lol) I vote yes.

[Dr Blake Bloxham]

Hi Everyone,

 

Again, thank you for the kind words. It's truly touching to read.

 

Mav,

 

Just to clarify: all of the cases I presented are my solo cases. There have been many others where I worked with Dr. Feller in some joint capacity (hence why the time involved in surgery before partner and solo practitioner), but I purposely avoided sharing those because I wanted to present work that was completely my own.

 

Furthermore, I know that I'm younger than some (though it no longer feels that way!) and I've been in the "public eye" in this field for quite some time. It's interesting because I think I'm one of the only doctors I know who wanted to do HTs while still a pre-med! Because of this, I came into the field at a much earlier time in my career than most. Therefore, I probably appear younger than doctors who did something else and then got into transplants at a later date.

 

However, I have been performing surgical transplantation solo on patients for nearly 2 years now; I was also very fortunate to undergo a fellowship with a Coalition member, start at a very busy surgical office, and work with excellent, excellent technician staff. And within these past two years I was able to collect data on a number of wonderful patients and present it for review. I know it's tempting to say "he's young" or "he was the moderator" etc, but all I ask is an objective and unbiased review of these cases I have presented. The community has very high standards for potential recommendation, and I simply ask that the cases will be reviewed and evaluated on their own merit.

 

Hope this makes sense!

[Bill - Seemiller]

Dr. Bloxham ( it's so weird calling you that since I've been calling Blake for years but you've certainly worked hard and deserve the title for sure),

 

So just to clarify, you have had just about three years of hair transplant experience which includes your residency but you've had nearly 2 years of full-time experience performing hair transplantation solo on patients working with Dr. Feller, is that correct? I believe that's how I remember it as well… Sometimes the timeline is fuzzy to me but when I look back on all my notes and your posts, I recall you were leaving to go full-time almost 2 years ago while you were in a residency performing her transplant surgery for a year before that. So I just wanted to confirm that I understand this correctly.

 

I know there have been a couple people who have expressed some concern about the fact that Dr. Bloxham is a bit newer to the profession. While none of our standards for recommendation indicate that a surgeon has to have a certain amount of time under his belt, I can understand why there would at least be a discussion about this. That said, here's my opinion.

 

In my opinion, three years is enough time to develop a solid surgical and technical skills and build a portfolio of before and after results. It is also enough time for any concerns patients who feel they may have gotten a bad result to come forward and express those concerns.

 

Remember also that Dr. Bloxham has been trained by a coalition member and his procedure, technique and results emulate his. Furthermore, Dr. Bloxham is being considered for recommendation, not Coalition membership at this time. There is a distinction between the two. That said, with ongoing excellence I do expect in another couple years that he will be eligible for Coalition membership.

 

Anyone else who wants to discuss this topic is welcome and encouraged to.

 

Bill

[Dr Blake Bloxham]

Hi Bill,

 

That is absolutely correct. Thank you for clarifying and for your help with the recommendation process!

[Dr. Alan Feller]

Excellent choice for recommendation. Of course I give Dr. Bloxham my highest recommendation and put my personal reputation AND my Great Neck practice behind it. As the "Wiseguys" would say: "I vouch for him".

 

The back story of how Dr. Bloxham got to this point is much more in depth and competitive than most people realize.

 

I started my search for a partner over ten years ago. I had tried out over a dozen doctors but none of them made the grade. These included: General Practitioners, Family Practitioners, General Surgeon, ENT/Facial Plastics, an Orthopedic surgeon, two E.R. specialists, an Ob/Gyn, and even a Bariatric Surgeon.

 

They either didn't have the natural talent required, or the dedication required, or just that "something" that makes a doctor "click" with patients. I let them all go after spending a week or more with me to evaluate them.

 

Then Dr. Blake Bloxham came along. A diamond in the rough if I ever saw one. The interesting thing is that his initial visits and externship with me were not in anticipation of him working with me nor for me. He was a California guy so it never even occurred to me he would want to practice in NY. He just wanted more exposure to the field and I enjoyed the visits of someone who was so well versed in the details and language of the modern HT industry. His visits were always a pleasure and I looked forward to them.

 

When he visited he would watch the entire surgery from start to finish. Every visit. He NEVER left the room no matter how boring and repetitive the process became (ever watch a doctor make 3,000 recipient sites ? It is not entertaining passed the first 100 I assure you.) But he would stay for every slit. He asked intelligent questions. Then he would ask even more questions when we stepped out of the procedure room. None of the other prospects showed that degree of interest. I could see that Blake was not only watching the techniques, he was processing the information actively in his mind. The same words would always form in my mind during his visits: "This guy is dedicated."

 

Every other doctor I brought in would walk in and out of the room during the procedure. They got bored quickly. They THOUGHT they already knew what I was doing, figured it was easy, and didn't need to watch for long.They would call their wives or friends from the other room to pass the time while I worked. In doing so they missed crucial techniques I was using. So I would quiz them at the end of the day as to how I performed certain details of the operation.

 

They would either try to BS the answer or simply didn't know. Even when I would give them multiple days to watch, they would do the same thing. They never learned that they weren't learning. I realized they were too set in their ways to allow themselves to learn something new. Worse, they would not see themselves as students. Their confidence in areas of medicine outside of HT worked against them. By the way, this is the problem with clinics who just buy FUE machines and try to add HT to their practices. They are over confident. They believe they know what they are doing but really don't know what they don't know. They refuse to become students again.

 

Blake, however WAS a student when he first started visiting. He had no pride to wound, no old habits to break, and no chip on his shoulder about admitting he was a blank slate. Then I realized a few more things about him:

 

1. He is very smart. He is intellectual, but not socially off putting. I "tested" his range of knowledge and I was impressed. He could also quote movie lines and jokes A good sense of humor and culturally tuned in.

 

2. He is used to working with his hands and is gifted with excellent hand/eye coordination. I had him perform dexterity tests in my office and he passed them all easily. Few of my other prospects could. Those who did have excellent dexterity had terrible consultation skills and visa versa. But, Blake had both skills - and they obviously came naturally.

 

3. I had him join me in consultation and invited him to interact. Because he was the moderator on this site a few patients actually knew him. They would get into deep conversations and I would just watch the interplay. He was a natural consultant, no doubt about that.

 

4. He was very motivated and responsible. Usually I start my surgeries at 7:45am which means he needed to be at the office no later than 7:30am. But I decided to test him and told him I needed him in at 6:30am instead. he was there at 6:10am. Then I told him to be in at 9am one day to see if he would allow for the traffic. He was there by 8:30. He was the only doctor who ALWAYS made it to the office on time, or before time. NONE of the others had the 100% score he did. By the way, he came in from Pennsylvania !

 

So as he finished his first year in residency I offered him to come on board. He had proved himself over and over again and I figured I was just seeing the tip of the iceberg. I realized he was young, but I was even younger than him when I started in HT and I came to realize that was an advantage. And I was right. His work product is second to NONE. He can not only handle the surgical side of HT, but the business side as well. So I offered him a partnership right off the bat. I know a great investment when I see one. And again, I was right. He is a dynamo and the embodiment of what the future of HT will be. Indeed, he is the future of HT and a rising star.

 

I believe Dr. Bloxham is BY FAR the most vetted, well known, and transparent HTN candidate to date. His recommendation would be an asset to the HTN community and the HT industry at large.

 

Dr. Feller

Great Neck, NY

[sutureless]

In my opinion, three years is enough time to develop a solid surgical and technical skills and build a portfolio of before and after results. It is also enough time for any concerns patients who feel they may have gotten a bad result to come forward and express those concerns.

Bill

 

I see that Dr. Bloxam is extremely talented and a wonderful person, but I would love to see some FUE cases posted by Dr. Bloxam, that would complete the picture. Main reason being Dr. Feller does mainly FUT. That;s not a reason for NOT to recommend him but in full disclosure its nice for patients to know that they have that option.

[HairDew]

Dr. Blake (still cool to call you Dr + First Name hehe). I think you are very gifted and passionate, although you have been somewhat new at HT, I think your recommendation is 100% warranted. I for one support your recommendation.

 

On a side note, what specialty did you match into after med school and where? (you can PM me if you don't want to post in public)

[Dr Blake Bloxham]

Hi suture,

 

I can definitely put up some FUE stuff if members are interested. I do perform FUE regularly. I think we are known as a "strip" clinic, but I perform a good mix of both -- and quite a bit of our modified approach (mFUE).

[surferhair]

I recently had a FUT procedure done with Dr. Bloxham. I was impressed with Dr. Bloxham even before I met him. I read a lot of his posts on this forum and contacted him via email for some advice. Even though I wasn’t his patient yet I felt that he dedicated as much time to me as if I were. We went back and forth via email for a while and he always provided great insight, guidance and knowledge. My communications with him never felt rushed, he never provided just a quick simple answer. His responses were always detailed and very informative. I finally booked a face-to-face consultation with him. I was even more impressed by him after meeting him. However, I felt that I owed it to myself to have consultations with other doctors before making a final decision. I noticed though that after every consultation I had with other doctors, it became clearer and clearer that Dr. Bloxham was the one. I kept comparing everyone to him and I didn’t feel like anyone else was as personable and knowledgeable as he was. I had made my choice.

 

I had my FUT procedure in February 2017. Dr. Bloxham was 100% everything I expected and wanted. Furthermore, Dr. Bloxham employs amazing and skillful technicians. The combination of all this turned a very nerve-racking experience into a very comfortable stress free day.

 

A week post op I sent a picture to Dr. Bloxham of something I noticed on my scalp. He couldn’t determine by just looking at the photo if it was something that was of concern. He wanted to do his due diligence and asked me to come in. He was thorough and showed interest; thankfully it ended up being nothing. This was very much appreciated. I obviously don’t have results to show yet, but I can vouch that my post op period wasn’t as bad as I see or read online. I know that is partially due to my pigmentation and genes but I also attest this to Dr. Bloxham’s skill and craft. Based on the videos and pictures of cases I’ve seen that Dr. Bloxham has performed, I’m excited to see what my results will look like in a few months.

 

Without hesitation I believe Dr. Bloxham should be recommended as a HT expert. I actually already recommended him to someone that has already scheduled a HT with him!

 

Best of luck Dr. Bloxham!! You have my vote!

Edited March 24, 2017 by surferhair

[mav23100gunther]

Hi Everyone,

 

Again, thank you for the kind words. It's truly touching to read.

 

Mav,

 

Just to clarify: all of the cases I presented are my solo cases. There have been many others where I worked with Dr. Feller in some joint capacity (hence why the time involved in surgery before partner and solo practitioner), but I purposely avoided sharing those because I wanted to present work that was completely my own.

 

Furthermore, I know that I'm younger than some (though it no longer feels that way!) and I've been in the "public eye" in this field for quite some time. It's interesting because I think I'm one of the only doctors I know who wanted to do HTs while still a pre-med! Because of this, I came into the field at a much earlier time in my career than most. Therefore, I probably appear younger than doctors who did something else and then got into transplants at a later date.

 

However, I have been performing surgical transplantation solo on patients for nearly 2 years now; I was also very fortunate to undergo a fellowship with a Coalition member, start at a very busy surgical office, and work with excellent, excellent technician staff. And within these past two years I was able to collect data on a number of wonderful patients and present it for review. I know it's tempting to say "he's young" or "he was the moderator" etc, but all I ask is an objective and unbiased review of these cases I have presented. The community has very high standards for potential recommendation, and I simply ask that the cases will be reviewed and evaluated on their own merit.

 

Hope this makes sense!

 

Thank you for clarifying Dr Bloxham. I was not aware that you were performing solo procedures for the last 2 years, and I think it's right to carve out the solo from the joint procedures, and only judge the solo ones to support your recommendation. To me, age is irrelevant, hell Doogie Howser was a successful doctor in his teens , but I think experience and demonstrating consistent results over a period of time is just as important as the quality of the results. I am not nearly qualified enough to form an opinion as to whether 2 years is enough time or not, but it looks like the support for your recommendation here is unanimous so far, so hearty hearty congratulations if you get it, and as a New York resident myself, I would totally make the trip to Great Neck for a consultation in the future when I decide it's time for another procedure.

Edited March 24, 2017 by mav23100gunther

[mav23100gunther]

Dr. Bloxham ( it's so weird calling you that since I've been calling Blake for years but you've certainly worked hard and deserve the title for sure),

 

So just to clarify, you have had just about three years of hair transplant experience which includes your residency but you've had nearly 2 years of full-time experience performing hair transplantation solo on patients working with Dr. Feller, is that correct? I believe that's how I remember it as well… Sometimes the timeline is fuzzy to me but when I look back on all my notes and your posts, I recall you were leaving to go full-time almost 2 years ago while you were in a residency performing her transplant surgery for a year before that. So I just wanted to confirm that I understand this correctly.

 

I know there have been a couple people who have expressed some concern about the fact that Dr. Bloxham is a bit newer to the profession. While none of our standards for recommendation indicate that a surgeon has to have a certain amount of time under his belt, I can understand why there would at least be a discussion about this. That said, here's my opinion.

 

In my opinion, three years is enough time to develop a solid surgical and technical skills and build a portfolio of before and after results. It is also enough time for any concerns patients who feel they may have gotten a bad result to come forward and express those concerns.

 

Remember also that Dr. Bloxham has been trained by a coalition member and his procedure, technique and results emulate his. Furthermore, Dr. Bloxham is being considered for recommendation, not Coalition membership at this time. There is a distinction between the two. That said, with ongoing excellence I do expect in another couple years that he will be eligible for Coalition membership.

 

Anyone else who wants to discuss this topic is welcome and encouraged to.

 

Bill

 

Bill,

 

I have been around on this forum for 2 years and quite frankly I never paid any attention to the potential differences between coalition membership and being recommended until reading your post. I was unaware that there was a difference in standards between the two, and are you stating that the standards to attain coalition membership are higher than being recommended, or is there something else at play? If the former, then doesn't that then undermine the recommendations themselves?

[Bill - Seemiller]

Dr. Bloxham,

 

If you have additional results that showcase your FUE procedure and results, I do encourage you to present them. I know you sent me a list of dozens of examples and I'm pretty sure there were some FUE and mFUE results presented there.

 

But if you could link to some of them in a reply or add a few and then present them here, that would be great.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Bill - Seemiller]

Mav,

 

Thank you for your questions and comments. I'm surprised given how long you've been a member that you aren't aware of the difference between the standards for surgeons recommended on the Hair Transplant Network vs membership in the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians.

 

The difference between recommended and Coalition physicians can be found on our physician standards page. See also, How We Recommend Hair Transplant Surgeons.

 

The Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians represent an elite group of physicians who have a stellar reputation and track record of providing large densely packed sessions of ultra refined follicular unit hair transplantation when appropriate for the patient.

 

Physicians who are recommended on the Hair Transplant Network are not required to do larger sessions or dense packing to be recommended, but must still do high quality follicular unit hair transplantation with consistent excellent results. Recommended physicians may still provide larger densely packed ultra refined procedures. However, before considering them for the Coalition, they must prove to our community that they do this kind of work consistently.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Bill

[Dr Blake Bloxham]

Hi Bill,

 

Absolutely. I'm actually working on putting together a few presentations as we speak. I tried to get them up last night, but day ended up running long. I'll have a few examples up here soon.

 

Thanks!

[Bill - Seemiller]

Dr. Bloxham,

 

That sounds good, I look forward to seeing them.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Dr Blake Bloxham]

Several members asked for some data on my FUE practice, so I wanted to share a few things.

 

First, I just wanted to show a "walk through" of a standard FUE case.

 

The patient is a male in his late 30s who is undergoing a roughly 1,100 graft FUE to restore some temporal recession. We had a thorough discussion of the benefits of FUE versus FUT (and also discussed our modified approach) during our consultation, and moved forward with an FUE surgery after this informed consent.

 

Here's the walkthrough:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next I will show two cases and discuss how I think these reflect my FUE philosophy.

[Dr Blake Bloxham]

My approach to FUE is a very slow, meticulous, manual one, and I limit the size of my sessions to approximately 1,500 grafts in a single sitting; so most of my FUE cases are smaller fills, more conservative approaches in select patients, and "tweaks." So I wanted to share a few examples of these cases.

 

The first is a "hairline tweak." This is a good example of the type of FUE cases I generally do. This patient actually had two small "tweaks," and I think it worked well for him.

 

Case done with all manual; 0.9mm - 1.0mm sharp punch (Feller Manual punch) with two handed forcep delivery.