Dr. Gabel

[HarryHonolulu]

hey all-

 

I have been researching which FUT surgeon to go with for a 3000 graft procedure.

 

my two choices are Konior and Gabel.

 

not much to say about Konior except that his results are universally exceptional, I can't find a single bad review and his wait time speaks for itself.

 

Gabel's results overall are comparable to Konior's and he does not have a wait which obviously is a plus.

 

I had my heart set on Gabel until I read this thread:

 

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/177535-heartbroken-mental-breakdown-what-all-i-have-say.html

 

I am trying to understand how such a bad experience was possible. At first I thought it might be a fictional patient, perhaps even someone out to damage Gabel's reputation. But then I noticed that the Doctor himself jumped into the conversation and clearly the account was truthful.

 

I am now on the fence about going to him. I know it's probably an overreaction, but... even that single negative story completely freaked me out.

 

 

I can understand someone being a little unsatisfied with their result- perhaps they wanted more crown filling, or they were hoping their 1400 FUE grafts would do the trick on their Norwood 5. But the account was essentially claiming that a huge number of grafts were applied, with little to no visible improvement, over a 12 month period.

 

 

Can somebody chime in? Does that thread have a conclusion I am not aware of? Is this kind of thing "normal" even for a stellar doctor such as Gabel?

 

Thank you so much-

 

Harry

[matt3480]

Dr. Gabel is well regarded on this forum and has plenty of cases/pics to prove it....especially since this was posted in 2014.

 

After reading through that thread....to be honest, that person had no real business getting a HT. He said his father and grandfather were completely bald by 30? I've never heard of that. That's serious physiology/genetic issues there....

 

Then he said his hair was thick and perfect and he didn't start losing it until he moved....and he theorized it might have been the water. Something was up with this guy health-wise.

 

I would not hesitate to use Dr. Gabel. When a patient gets almost no growth, either the surgeon plain didn't know what he was doing (and that's obviously not the case here since we've seen 100 cases probably where Gabel's work was excellent) or, more than likely, the patient had physiology/genetic issues.

[Speegs]

Have had two FUT's with Gabel, flew all the way to Portland from Austin for him, can't say enough positive things.

 

Feel free to ask me anything.

 

My experience is that he is a profoundly cautious and empathetic surgeon with a congenial disposition and sincere bedside manner.

 

One of the things I dislike about the internet is people emotively taking their private struggles to the public without all the facts as the poster your cited did, I can't speak for the Dr. but it is not uncommon for people with unreasonable expectations or who are not engaged in accepting the possibility (however remote) that surgery assumes some risk of complications acting as though they've been conspired against by a medical unprofessional.

 

The irony in your comparing of Konior and Gabel is that Konior would be the first to accept that comparison as flattery, the two are comparable talents, peers, and friends, and would be the first to vouch for the professionalism of each other.

 

Surgery carries risk and no guarantees, and professional surgeons can facilitate everything humanly possible to achieve a great result and the body may still not cooperate, it's an unpleasant reality.

 

And although we all should empathize with a hair loss sufferer's frustration with surgery not working out, for a vast majority of patients in the hands of skilled surgeons (and Gabel is definitely one of them) patients do see results, modern hair transplantation can truly be life-changing when physiology cooperates with expert medical care.

Edited March 5, 2018 by Speegs

[HarryHonolulu]

sent you a PM!

 

Have had two FUT's with Gabel, flew all the way to Portland from Austin for him, can't say enough positive things.

 

Feel free to ask me anything.

 

My experience is that he is a profoundly cautious and empathetic surgeon with a congenial disposition and sincere bedside manner.

 

One of the things I dislike about the internet is people emotively taking their private struggles to the public without all the facts as the poster your cited did, I can't speak for the Dr. but it is not uncommon for people with unreasonable expectations or who are not engaged in accepting the possibility (however remote) that surgery assumes some risk of complications acting as though they've been conspired against by a medical unprofessional.

 

The irony in your comparing of Konior and Gabel is that Konior would be the first to accept that comparison as flattery, the two are comparable talents, peers, and friends, and would be the first to vouch for the professionalism of each other.

 

Surgery carries risk and no guarantees, and professional surgeons can facilitate everything humanly possible to achieve a great result and the body may still not cooperate, it's an unpleasant reality.

 

And although we all should empathize with a hair loss sufferer's frustration with surgery not working out, for a vast majority of patients in the hands of skilled surgeons (and Gabel is definitely one of them) patients do see results, modern hair transplantation can truly be life-changing when physiology cooperates with expert medical care.

[JayLDD]

Personally I would say if you can stomach the 12 month waiting list by choosing Konior I would opt for him, otherwise Gabel would be a very fine choice too. There is nothing to suggest Gabel didn't act ethically post-op to resolve the issue in the case in question and I could find you multiple bad results from every single "top" surgeon in the world, other than Konior perhaps (which I'm sure is luck to some degree, and likely there are some out there which I haven't seen). What matters is probabilities of success which are high in the case of both of these surgeons, and that in the case of a poor result they will offer a solution, because even in the US not all of them do and some highly regarded surgeons recommended here even make a point about NOT rectifying or compensating for poor results.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Harry,

 

Thank you for sharing your comments and concerns on our forum. Regarding Dr. Gabel, in my opinion he is outstanding and should be highly considered. I know that finding a negative review can seem daunting. However, the truth is, even the best hair transplant surgeons have cases of poor growth and complications. This is just a well-known fact, but for somebody researching the procedure who wants to believe that success rates are 100% all the time, it does seem a bit overwhelming. That said, these types of issues are very rare and in the vast majority of cases, choosing the right surgeon like Dr. Gabel or Dr. Konior will enable you to get the hair transplant and head of hair you want and deserve.

 

At the end of the day, when the rare and occasional less than optimal experience occurrence with an outstanding hair transplant surgeon, it’s more about how the doctor responds and handles the concern than the fact that there will be one occasionally. The best doctors will stand behind their patients and do whatever works and makes sense to make things right and to help them at the head of hair that they want and deserve.

 

In my opinion, both Dr. Gabel and Dr. Konior are two of the best and should be highly considered.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill