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Let's talk money. Did we pay too much?


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  • Regular Member

My transplant is going well however I do wonder about the money 

I paid 3375 euros (£2,900) ($3,755) for 2,700 grafts 

Or 1.25 euro per graft. Which I thought was cheap 

But since then I keep seeing dudes who got a way better deal  

For example the same kinda money but for 4,000 grafts 

How much did you pay and are you happy about the cost?

Edited by Medina
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That's considered cheap, yes there are clinics that will offer unlimited grafts for 1500$ everything included, are you trying to save 1000-2000 dollars regarding something as important as your hair? these things are not valued with money, you are making an investment that will last a life time..

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Let’s talk results. Did you choose a clinic with real patient reviews, or did you go to some low-cost FUE hair mill in search of the most grafts at the cheapest price? 

I truly hope you did your research, because this mentality is dangerous. You’re not shopping for a washer machine, you’re having cosmetic surgery. The results will change your appearance forever. 

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You get what you pay for. The better question is are you happy with your results? It's really a long term investment. I'll give an example. A high quality suit will usually run you a lot of money. However, when you consider the opportunity cost, it's a good investment. I think of it as a cost per wear. I'll get much more mileage out of a high quality suit than a mediocre quality suit. In the long run, I'll end up saving money and have peace of mind. 

Skimping on something as important as this can come back and haunt you because of not being happy with results and having to get more surgeries to repair the prior cheaper surgery. Hopefully it works out for you though. 

Edited by Dr. Suhail Khokhar
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My advice does not constitute a patient-physician relationship nor as medical advice and all medical questions/concerns should be addressed to your medical provider. 

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On 1/15/2020 at 1:14 AM, paddyirishman said:

You will forget and not care about the price of a great Hair Transplant. 

You will never forget the price of a poor Hair Transplant.

 

Brilliant post @paddyirishman

What matters is chosing a surgeon that has great results posted by actual patients and several of these surgeons are in fact charging very affordable prices.

I have found that there are even some Doctors charging less than they what their results are worth (@Dr. Bruno Ferreira Dr. Kaan Pekiner, and Dr. Arika).

None of the surgeons I mentioned above are charging 1.25€/graft and I would think twice before going to a doctor charging this price, unless it`s Demirsoy. He does charge 1.25€graft and has some decent results in this forum (but he has techs doing part of the surgery which is a no-go for me).

Edited by Portugal25
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3 minutes ago, HelpfulFriend said:

I'm booked in with a top doc, it's going to cost a lot, and I mean, a lot. 

But I figure, a 10k difference is a bit of saving, sure, but I'd prefer to have a top notch doc perform it and have confidence in my decision.

If the sky is your limit then all the power to you 

I went with Demirsoy who I see as the "middle ground"

Not big £££ but well known and some good reviews 

Sure, it's a question of "better safe than sorry" and I totally get that 

Good luck 

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15 hours ago, Dr. Suhail Khokhar said:

You get what you pay for. The better question is are you happy with your results? It's really a long term investment. I'll give an example. A high quality suit will usually run you a lot of money. However, when you consider the opportunity cost, it's a good investment. I think of it as a cost per wear. I'll get much more mileage out of a high quality suit than a mediocre quality suit. In the long run, I'll end up saving money and have peace of mind. 

Skimping on something as important as this can come back and haunt you because of not being happy with results and having to get more surgeries to repair the prior cheaper surgery. Hopefully it works out for you though. 

I agree with you but your example is completely inappropriate!
I live in Italy, wear only classic suit and I can tell you that the more expensive a suit is, the less time you can wear it because top quality wool is not very resistant! :)
 

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Cheap does not equal poor result.

Expensive does not equal great result.

There are no guarantees in surgery so there are no guarantees in price.

Anything can happen

All that matters is High ethics and standards of care and patient satisfaction.   

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Medina that is much less than I paid for 2300, and I consider that I got a good price with good results.  About 15 months post op.

"Imagination frames events unknown in wild fantastic shapes of hideous ruin, and what it fears, creates." Hannah More

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This is a conversation that has been covered significantly countless times before, and will of course continue to spark conversation.

There are individuals that have chosen budget clinics and have achieved what would appear to be impressive results, and others who have paid above average with more well known "respected" physicians and who have experienced disappointing results and had disappointing experiences in general with below deserved aftercare/response.

As a patient, if I were entering this field now and researching clinics, of course without knowledge my initial preference would be an unlimited graft count for 2 - 4k as advertised everywhere (sports events, shopping malls, magazines etc..). This is because I am promised the world for an amount that I could potentially afford. Their Instagram accounts show many amazing results. Why would I pay 3/4/5 x this amount to go with a more well known physician?

This is the situation that most guys that consider hair restoration surgery find themselves in. This is why forums such as this one offer a great platform for individuals to begin to understand more regarding the industry, practices, risks and things to look out for.

Lets address this logically and intelligently with no agenda. We will all have our own points of view and disagree with those opinions from other posts. But as a potential patient, I want to give myself the best possible chance to achieve the best result considering both short and long term objectives and necessities. 

To give myself the best opportunity to achieve a good result, and therefore try and limit the possibility of a lesser result I would create certain criteria. This would include previous patient results, reputation of ethical practice from the surgeon/clinic, ideally an in person consultation with the physician (I appreciate this can present a challenge for many international patients), ensure that all of my questions and concerns are appropriately addressed, price is of course a factor that would be taken into consideration.

The reason Turkey has such a bad reputation is that despite the fact that it has some good Doctors, when viewing the Turkish industry as a whole, there are far more low quality, low price clinics. Many of them using other clinics photos and results as their own, and creating fake accounts/reviews. This is the problem. This is not my opinion. This is reality. Therefore is this a fair reputation? I would suggest yes. Is this fair for the ethical physicians in Turkey, definitely not. But there is no control of this. Therefore as a potential patient, this presents a large risk. A risk that I would not be willing to take.

Being associated with a clinic, I see evidence of this on an almost daily basis. I personally began researching hair restoration for myself around 2006. I had my procedure in 2012. The whole black market FUE issue was not prevalent then. I have seen photos of guys whose lives have been destroyed by poor surgery, and their donor areas have been left in tragic conditions. But allow me to say this, it is one thing to read an individuals story and see their photos, and this can be hard enough. It is really something else to meet these people in person, see the result of their poor surgery and to feel their pain and what they would do to reverse their decision or to find a solution, that sometimes just can not be found. It is heartbreaking. A large percentage, the majority, of such patients had surgery in Turkey. Not all, but many. I would not subject myself to this risk.

There are bitter guys who did their research, saved for years, and chose a "top" surgeon, only to be left disappointed by their result. I understand their bitterness, they did everything right. As previously mentioned in this thread, there are no guarantees. But considering the risk attached to this, it is significantly less. Can a physician have a 100% success rate? This does not exist in any form of medicine/surgery/elective surgery. Having said that, I would suggest that the best physicians have incredibly impressive records.

Pricing is very personal. We all wish we were in a position to drop 20k on a procedure with our chosen physician, but this is entirely not possible for the large majority of us. We all have different backgrounds, from different countries/economies, different responsibilities, expenditures and earnings. This is the reality and completely true. We need to make choices that work for us personally and for our situation. What always surprises me however, is that in many cases, these same individuals will look to take finance on other material possessions. Lets use a car for an example. The same guy who can only "afford" 4k for hair transplant surgery, will take finance on a 12-15k + car. Which in most cases they will change in 3-5 years. Your hair transplant can not be changed in 3-5 years. It lasts a lifetime. I know which investment I would prioritise.

Another thing to consider, younger guys are now in a generation of instant gratification. A guy at 25 years, only has his previous years as a point of reference. At 25, we all think we knew everything. When in reality, we have/had no idea how we would feel at 35, 45, 55 etc. Clinics that do not prioritise our unique long term situations, will set us up for long term failure. An excessive number of grafts into my hairline may be great for me right now, but as loss continues and with clinics more focused on quantity rather than education, what situation will I find myself in, in 10, 15, 20 years. Will this "pop up" clinic/Dcotor still be around to take care of me? Was further loss considered when planning hairline design and therefore graft count?  Was my donor managed appropriately? Look at the market, look at the Doctor, look at the clinic. Do they have a reputation of taking care of their patients longer term. 

Dont rush your research or your decision. If you need to save for a little longer, then do so. Eliminate/avoid as much risk as possible.

People say the only thing worse than the pain of hair loss, is the pain of a poor hair transplant. This is without even considering the cost of potential repair work!

Patient Advisor for Dr. Bisanga - BHR Clinic 

ian@bhrclinic.com   -    BHR YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcH4PY1OxoYFwSDKzAkZRww

I am not a medical professional and my words should not be taken as medical advice. All opinions and views shared are my own.

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I think the point we're all trying to make here is that money should not be the focal point. I have always said that if you cannot afford a high-quality hair transplant, you shouldn't have one. Raphael makes a good point, a lot of people wouldn't think twice about going in to debt for a car that will be depreciate once it's off the lot, but turnaround and bargain shop for a surgeon. This is insane! I hope anyone reading this can put things into perspective. 


I’m a paid admin for Hair Transplant Network. I do not receive any compensation from any clinic. My comments are not medical advice.

Check out my final hair transplant and topical dutasteride journey

View my thread

Topical dutasteride journey 

Melvin- Managing Publisher and Forum Moderator for the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q&A Blog.

Follow our Social Media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, and YouTube.

 

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Bottom line; it's plastic surgery.  Most plastic surgery is a great way to get botched.  I've had many surgeries (nose/chin/hair) - I would tell most men in their 20's to forget about all of it.

It's a big risk.  IF you are going that route you must go to the very most experienced surgeons w/the best reputations & consistency.  Usually that means big bucks.  So be it.  If you can't afford it you are simply not a candidate.

Most U.S. guys would be best not going outside N. America. You could travel to the  2-4 most qualified surgeons you could personally visit for 3K or so in total travel costs over the course of say 18 months to 2 years before making a completely informed decision.

If you consider you'll have your hair restoration surgery results for 30 to 40 years - the cost in the long term is a non factor if you have a job and know how to budget long term.

Frankly, to learn how to live as a balding guy into your early 30's (when your hairloss pattern is showing long term) is an exercise in how to be a man in a world of superficiality.  You would be better served building up other areas of your strengths whilst dealing w/a natural condition shared by at least 50% to 80% of your peers as they get older.

Guess what - when you are 30 or 35 years old you might just say - nah.  Plastic surgery isn't for me & you go on and live your life.  99.99%+ of men do just that.  And they are no different than you.

Having written that - it wasn't for me.  It's my self loathing and cynical nature.  YMMV

Edited by jjsrader
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  • Senior Member

Surgical protocol, ethics, standard of care, patient relationship, attention to detail, again— high ethics is key to a safer less risky journey.

There are 1$ Per graft surgeons here and 12$ Per graft surgeons here.  One is not better then the other.  You got Dr Vories (IN US)that has one of the lowest prices for fue done manually and by himself all the way.  That doesn’t mean another doc is better than him if they pay more and in some of those cases, other docs may have various techs extract grafts surgically.  

It all comes down to ethics.  There are Turkish docs that were once never on forums and now they are recommended on forums, same goes for any doc.  You just have to scope out the practice and get a feel of what they have to offer .  Look for key traits and see if their actual results and people you meet in person, satisfy your expectations.  Be smart about it- if you see a hair mill, avoid it.  If you see cases of failures, avoid it.  If you see doctors bashing patients, avoid it.  If you see anything surgically wrong, avoid it.  Look at the tools they use, their explanations and so forth.  Only you can decide.

money means nothing.  You can have a ferrari or lambo and still break down or you can have a toyota camry and last 500,000 miles while giving you better gas mileage.

 

i can buy an armani shirt and spend tons and wash it and it is screwed vs buying a gap shirt washing it over and over and not buying as frequently.  Price does not dictate quality, materials do.  What the item is made out of.

So many points still remain so many factors, but im not going to write a book.

do your due diligence and do not fall for elaborate marketing- just focus on the practice and ask plenty questions 
 

 

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$30k+ here and it doesn't bother me one bit that some people have had passable results for 1/10th of the price.  More often than not I can see flaws in their results and while they get excellent growth there is usually some sort of issue: hairline shape, position, too thick grafts, depleted donor, etc.  I would never have been satisfied with it even if they are.

Fortunately where I live I do not need a car, although I do own a cr4ppy one...well, not that bad but lets just say worth $4000 at most.

I'd probably be in a bigger apartment or a house by now had I not taken this path but then I didn't really need the extra space, and with it comes more taxes, mortgage interest and bills.  So everything kind of evens itself out in the end.

4,312 FUT grafts (7,676 hairs) with Ray Konior, MD - August 2013

1,145 FUE grafts (3,152 hairs) with Ray Konior, MD - August 2018

763 FUE grafts (2,094 hairs) with Ray Konior, MD - January 2020

Proscar 1.25mg every 3rd day

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On 1/15/2020 at 2:14 AM, paddyirishman said:

You will forget and not care about the price of a great Hair Transplant. 

You will never forget the price of a poor Hair Transplant.

 

There is nth more to say than this. The result is all that matters. 

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I cant tell you how many patients I have seen that went to a very inexpensive clinic for their hair transplant and were very unhappy with the results. They then had to go somewhere else to get it repaired which ended up costing them more money in the long run. Plus they had all the unnecessary aggravation and wasted time.

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5 minutes ago, Dr. Glenn Charles said:

I cant tell you how many patients I have seen that went to a very inexpensive clinic for their hair transplant and were very unhappy with the results. They then had to go somewhere else to get it repaired which ended up costing them more money in the long run. Plus they had all the unnecessary aggravation and wasted time.

Probably a great number from that clown Dr LS!

4,312 FUT grafts (7,676 hairs) with Ray Konior, MD - August 2013

1,145 FUE grafts (3,152 hairs) with Ray Konior, MD - August 2018

763 FUE grafts (2,094 hairs) with Ray Konior, MD - January 2020

Proscar 1.25mg every 3rd day

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