Help deciding between surgeons

[CMCM]

Hi guys,

i want to thank everyone who has posted their valuable experience to this site, it has made the decision process substatiatally easier. 

Quick background on me. I am 25 and living in the US. I started losing hair in high school. My frontal hairline and temples have receded to where I have almost no hairline. I started taking Finasteride and Biotine daily 5 months ago and have seen my crown and mid section of my scalp become even more dense, which has been encouraging. I have also seen small black hairs pop up around my hairline.

I started seriously looking for HT options this calendar year and have narrowed it down to Dr Koray and Dr Konior using the FUE technique. From reviews I’ve seen on here and elsewhere, both doctors are exceptional. I have read that Dr Konior seems to draw more conservative hairlines and use less grafts when doing so. The other key differentiator is obviously price. Dr Koray seems to be able to offer a cheaper solution based off of the fact that his surgical assistants are in charge of removing the grafts and placing them after Dr Koray makes the incesions. 

That leaves me with a few questions I’d like to get your guy’s feedback on:

1) Should I be worried that Dr Koray is less involved with the surgery than most US doctors I’ve seen?

2) From your view, how would you compare the hairline work of the two doctors? Are there other US doctors I should consider?

3) Any travel concerns when traveling to Turkey? This would be my 3rd time to Europe and have never felt unsafe, but overall safety is a concern

I really appreciate the help and feedback!

 

[JayLDD]

Post photos. Very much would base the recommendation on how bad your situation is currently.

[CMCM]

Let me know if these are helpful. Also worth noting Dr Koray recommended 2500-3000 grafts. 

[JayLDD]

Agree around the 3000 graft number is accurate, the entire hairline effectively gone and you look to have very straight and quite fine hair too which makes perfect density in a single procedure difficult as well.  I wouldn't say Konior is more conservative, but for someone like yourself he would probably suggest a multi-procedure approach if you want to ramp up to optimal density and doesn't tend to go over 2500 grafts via FUE.

There is a correlative but not causal impact on results of doctor only procedures vs doctor making incisions (Koray). The reality is that the placement of grafts and extractions is mechanical and labour intensive; it requires skill, understanding of complications and extensive experience but not a medical degree. The negative of doctor only is that inevitably they'll become more fatigued and as a result have to slow the process down drastically to not negatively impact the results (obviously going to increase time spent in surgery and costs). The potential negative of Koray's approach is that you don't personally know the technicians and they don't stake their own reputation so may be less concerned of consistency. My experience at Koray's clinic is that this isn't the case and the reality is there are very few clinics globally with his consistency in FUE track record apart from Lorenzo and Konior (although Konior only has about 15 FUE results online and most is word of mouth). You can control the quality and training of technicians, you can't control doctor fatigue without dropping quality or speed of the procedure which is what US surgeons end up doing, further ramping up costs compared to a clinic without the fatigue issue that can split between 3-4 patients a day.

Konior also uses a technique called stick-and-place also (unlike 99% of surgeons including Koray) where he immediately places the graft after making the incision which can result in more optimal results and growth particularly with dense packing. In terms of hairline design and naturalness Konior typically has an edge and I would consider that he uses stick-and-place as a major benefit

Personally I would opt for Koray for a first procedure because realistically I don't think you're necessarily a one and done patient and don't see that Konior's edge on refinement is going to matter when you aren't going to be an ultra-dense pack case anyway. Saves a significant amount of money and you can always work to refine things with Konior and get density perfect with a smaller procedure in the future. Konior also has a 1 year waiting list which might be relevant. That's not to say Konior wouldn't give a great result right off the bat, but considering that most of the area to be covered is completely bare and your hair type isn't the best  the higher graft count that Koray might provide would be beneficial and are you are unlikely to get perfect density without multiple procedures anyway.

In terms of hairline surgeons in the US I'd also consider Baubac. Both being the only US FUE surgeons I would go to.

Statistically the risk of travel to Turkey is still absolutely minimal, I never felt unsafe there although obviously would have rather been travelling to say Canada than Turkey.

[CMCM]

26 minutes ago, JeanLDD said:

Agree around the 3000 graft number is accurate, the entire hairline effectively gone and you look to have very straight and quite fine hair too which makes perfect density in a single procedure difficult as well.  I wouldn't say Konior is more conservative, but for someone like yourself he would probably suggest a multi-procedure approach if you want to ramp up to optimal density and doesn't tend to go over 2500 grafts via FUE.

There is a correlative but not causal impact on results of doctor only procedures vs doctor making incisions (Koray). The reality is that the placement of grafts and extractions is mechanical and labour intensive; it requires skill, understanding of complications and extensive experience but not a medical degree. The negative of doctor only is that inevitably they'll become more fatigued and as a result have to slow the process down drastically to not negatively impact the results (obviously going to increase time spent in surgery and costs). The potential negative of Koray's approach is that you don't personally know the technicians and they don't stake their own reputation so may be less concerned of consistency. My experience at Koray's clinic is that this isn't the case and the reality is there are very few clinics globally with his consistency in FUE track record apart from Lorenzo and Konior (although Konior only has about 15 FUE results online and most is word of mouth). You can control the quality and training of technicians, you can't control doctor fatigue without dropping quality or speed of the procedure which is what US surgeons end up doing, further ramping up costs compared to a clinic without the fatigue issue that can split between 3-4 patients a day.

Konior also uses a technique called stick-and-place also (unlike 99% of surgeons including Koray) where he immediately places the graft after making the incision which can result in more optimal results and growth particularly with dense packing. In terms of hairline design and naturalness Konior typically has an edge and I would consider that he uses stick-and-place as a major benefit

Personally I would opt for Koray for a first procedure because realistically I don't think you're necessarily a one and done patient and don't see that Konior's edge on refinement is going to matter when you aren't going to be an ultra-dense pack case anyway. Saves a significant amount of money and you can always work to refine things with Konior and get density perfect with a smaller procedure in the future. Konior also has a 1 year waiting list which might be relevant. That's not to say Konior wouldn't give a great result right off the bat, but considering that most of the area to be covered is completely bare and your hair type isn't the best  the higher graft count that Koray might provide would be beneficial and are you are unlikely to get perfect density without multiple procedures anyway.

In terms of hairline surgeons in the US I'd also consider Baubac. Both being the only US FUE surgeons I would go to.

Statistically the risk of travel to Turkey is still absolutely minimal, I never felt unsafe there although obviously would have rather been travelling to say Canada than Turkey.

Thank you so much for the input. Yes, I do have fine and straight hair. I think it would make sense to do the first procedure with Dr Koray and evaluate where I’m at after 12-18 months.