My Hair Restoration Research; Eventual Procedure with Dr. Parsa Mohebi

[Batman25]

Disclaimer: I literally had my hair transplant days ago on April 9th 2019, so I don't have any Before/After photos to show just yet clearly. Down the road I am happy to post them to this thread. However, I do think that my experiences thus far are worth posting for people in my situation who are still researching and considering options.

My story:

I'm a 46 year old male with a balding crown. I refuse to be dragged into the land of the bald, and it's been something that I have been wanting to address for years. I decided to eschew the minoxidil/propecia route and I opted to go for something permanent. I'm American but I live and work in London. I do have family in LA, so I thought I'd look around LA to see if I could find a doctor the next time I was in town visiting the family. I did my research and in 2017 narrowed it down to Dr Parsa Mohebi and an unnamed competitor -- both highly rated on different websites, and both with very impressive resumes. I saw the latter unnamed doctor first, let's call him Doctor No. Doctor No certainly seemed impressive as my background research had suggested. Now, in addition to my balding crown, I also have a small area of scarring alopecia in a part of my forehead. Dr. No told me in my consultation that it would be no problem to address the crown and forehead issues over a day and a half of hair transplantation. Dr No also gave me a booklet of his extensive research on hair transplant techniques that he had published in academic journals. Hang on to to both of these facts for a second. To digress a bit here, I have a PhD in theoretical physics, and I am not someone who is easily impressed/intimidated by others' scientific achievements. So a folder of academic papers on hair transplant techniques is really of no use or relevance to me, other than a pure and cheap show-off tactic. I am not looking to research or learn how to do hair transplants. I am looking to have an expert do one. Whoopty-doo if he has published papers. With so many experts out there, I would almost expect nothing less.

So I shelved Dr No, and a few months later on a subsequent trip to LA, I met with Dr Parsa Mohebi and this consultation had a very different flavor. Firstly, after inspecting both my bald spots he told me flat out that while the crown would be a standard process, I really didn't need to have a transplant for the small alopecia in my forehead, since I could simply cover it with other forehead hair while combing. More importantly, he wasn't certain whether hair could grow in that scar tissue, although he would be happy to take a biopsy to ascertain this. Two things about this. Here is a hair transplant surgeon sitting in a Beverly Hills office frankly recommending a cheaper and more cost-effective way to deal with one of my hair-loss areas, when any other doctor could have easily just said he would happily transplant hair to the spot, and make the extra buck(s) (per each hair graft). And it wasn't just his candor that stood out, but the fact that he didn't want me to do a needless procedure without verifying first whether it would be successful. The other unnamed doctor above seemed to have no qualms about this whatsoever.  Note: I mean no disrespect to Dr. No despite my comical moniker for him. He did come across as a very competent and successful hair transplant surgeon and I am sure he is great. This is simply my personal opinion/experience. 

The other thing that stood out about Dr Mohebi vs Dr No: Dr Mohebi could have also wowed me with his academic research (which again would have been pointless and irrelevant from my perspective, as I already know that he is a renowned hair transplant surgeon from my background research). Instead he gave me a book that he has published -- THIS IS A MUST READ BOOK EVEN IF YOU DON'T SEE HIM -- "Modern Hair Restoration, A Complete Hair Loss Guide for Men and Women, 2nd Edition."  The book is excellent and written exactly for people like me, who knew nothing about hair transplants, aside from all the myths and half-truths. He goes over all the techniques that are used (strip/FUE etc), what's involved in transplant procedures, the recovery process, etc etc etc, and written for the non-specialist and future patient.  

My research stage was now complete, and I was ready to take the plunge and go ahead with the procedure. And this is where I got to know and work with the team at Parsa Mohebi Hair Restoration better. Not only are they super-professional, but also super-nice and friendly. In fact, I had to cancel my initial procedure scheduled in November 2018, owing to a sudden bout of horrific influenza that hit me literally two days before my procedure. Melissa and Niki, who are part of his admin team were very accommodating and kindly worked with me to find another date in April 2019, with no extra expense on my side for the cancelation and rebooking.

As far as the actual procedure went, Dr Mohebi's exhaustive (but very easy to read) book really helped with the prep. I had also spent some time watching other hair transplants on YouTube by other doctors so none of it was a real surprise. But I will say, it was much easier and more straightforward that I had expected. During the procedure, they let me listen to whatever music I wanted, and even listened to me talking nonstop (as much as I could without disturbing the procedure), and I even got to watch movies from their library, while they worked on me. Dr Mohebi's staff of technicians who assisted him on the day, Ashley, Christina, and Rizza, were very friendly, efficient, and not to mention thorough to the point of annoying in terms of the follow up, and with what I had to (and this also included all the pre-op instructions and prep I received). When I use the word "annoying" here it is meant as a *HUGE COMPLIMENT* to their thoroughness. You can tell a lot about someone from the quality of a team that they have assembled. My experiences with his technicians, and also Niki/Melissa who assisted me with the admin, speaks volumes about Dr Mohebi.

The little things matter too. You have to go in on an empty stomach, but they offer you a three course tasty Persian meal (with dessert). I also appreciate that that they wash and donate the woolen blankets (that they use to cover you) to a homeless shelter. In the end they ended up using more hair grafts than they had originally estimated prior to the procedure. The tacit understanding is that I would clearly pay for any extras, however Dr Mohebi waived the extra charge. When I asked him about it afterwards, he told me that he had found two other smaller spots of scarring alopecia. Recall from above he was unsure about the suitability of a transplant for the area of scarring alopecia on my forehead. He decided to put in extra grafts in those small newly discovered areas, but not charge me because it wouldn't be fair to me if the transplants didn't last in those small areas that he himself was still unsure about. He did also perform a biopsy on the main scarred area on the forehead free-of-charge, and I am currently awaiting a pathology study on it to determine whether I can one day address that small patch with a transplant in a future visit.

This story may perhaps be a bit atypical compared to some of the other threads on here, as I don't have any before/after pics, which of course is the true test of a successful hair transplant. I am after all still only on Day 4 after my procedure, and still religiously following the very thorough post-op instructions I received. However, I felt it was important to share my experience because if you are considering a hair transplant then at the very least a consultation with Dr Mohebi is well worth the investment. Incidentally, if you don't live in the LA area, note that Dr Mohebi regularly has patients from abroad and also offers travel and accommodation discounts. 

And finally, I am a believer in the fact that when you see a doctor for anything, the best results happen when you are working as a team with the doctor, as opposed to the doctor just doing stuff on you or to you, without you being involved in anyway. The technical term with physicians is "bedside manner" and any amount of research has shown the beneficial impacts this has -- ultimately it is your body that has to receive the treatment and "do the work" and heal and recover. The more empowered and involved you are, the better are the results and I certainly felt that way with Dr Mohebi & team.

I hope this story is informative and helpful.

Good luck,

Batman25

 

 

Edited April 12, 2019 by Batman25
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