What and where are the best budget-friendly FUE clinics?

[judoka_clark]

Hi guys! 

I have been wanting to take care of my hair loss problem for awhile now, but just in the past week or two finally decided that I'm going to do this FUE thing.

I've gotten a few different quotes, ranging from $12,000 in metro Detroit, Michigan to $2000 in Turkey. I've been told I need 2700 grafts by one quote and 4000 grafts by another. I think both are inflated and that the number is more likely around 2200. I can tell there is a lot of smoke-and-mirrors and scammery that seems to take place in this area of medicine. I could, and probably will do a video on my opinion on the same, but that's for another time. I am presently furloughed from work due to COVID and I want to use this time to my advantage. I'm hoping there will be some overlap between the time that travel bans are lifted and when I'm called back to work. I want to use that time to get my FUE treatment. I make less than 50k a year and am in law school, so cost is definitely a huge factor. My goals are to make my hairline/hair much nicer/better, but I'm not chasing perfection, and as such I feel I should not have to pay boutique prices. I'm in law school, raised by a nurse mom and a dad who is a healthcare attorney for a hospital and prior to that, a medical school. As a result, I'm pretty knowledgeable about healthcare costs and the like. The idea that a firm would charge $12000 for 8 hours of work for a minimally invasive, minimal liability, outpatient procedure is absolutely ludicrous.  Sorry, sorry. . .I already said that was for another day 😛 

I'm looking at the idea of getting the procedure done in the United States, Canada, Mexico, or Turkey. I'm completely open to discussion, and I'm asking for recommendations.

My preliminary research shows that the cost order ranks: US, Canada, Mexico, Turkey, with Turkey being far and away the least expensive. I've concluded that you can't really trust what you read online for reviews though, so I'm hoping to get some truth right from the source. Some considerations I have are that while Turkey is the cheapest, it is also the most difficult and most expensive to travel to. Getting there from Detroit will cost over $1000 and be a hard day of travel. Mexico will be about $300. Toronto is a four-hour drive. That said, another consideration I have is that if I have to spend $4-6k, do I want to do it here or do I want to go on a whole trip, see another country, and actually SAVE money?

Dr. Nader of Nader Medical in Reynosa, Mexico is of particular interest to me. From what I've read so far he is very good, with great prices. His practice is also a four hour drive from my best friend's place in Texas, so i could fly to Texas, visit/stay with my friend, and drive to the border. Kind of a two birds-one stone thing. I hear he's notoriously difficult to get ahold of. I've called several times though and e-mailed. If anyone knows how I can reach him, I would be very grateful because he's my number one pick right now.

I'm open to any and all advice and I thank each of you that contributes.

~respectfully,

Dan

PS, just another interesting tid-bit that some may find interesting. I had my Mexican friend help me with contacting a few Mexican clinics. I did one quote request on my own and it came back way higher than expected. She said that it was because I wrote in English and contacted them from an American e-mail. She said if you do that "boom, you're rich" and the price goes way up. She advised that we make a Mexican e-mail and write the request for quote in Spanish. 

Edited April 30, 2020 by judoka_clark

[TrixGlendevon]

Not sure where to begin with this. I will work backwards.

1) Any clinic that charges you according to how much they think you are worth is not ethical and therefore you should avoid them. You will get a bad result, either short-term or long-term but it will be a bad result.

2) I would avoid Turkey and Mexico fullstop. They have no reliable ethics boards and it is basically the Wild West in countries like this. I have heard of Dr Nader and he may be an exception but I haven't seen his work to comment one way or the other. I would err on the side of caution and avoid.

3) Europe does the best graft to cost ratio (outside of the third world) for FUE. Check out Belgium.

4) What is your actual budget? I am not sure if you are saying it is $4000-6000 because I missed the point you were making. 12,000 USD is about 10,000 euros which is about 2000-2500 grafts worth I would say (in Europe) for FUE including flights, food and hotel etc. That is not a ridiculous price. It sounds like you are willing to risk the quality of the result to save money. Do not do this. You will very quickly change your mind about how good you want the result to be when you have a shitty, unnatural hairline which is what everybody sees when they look at you. Then you will be going to one of these apparently overpriced clinics to get a repair job which will use more precious grafts and in the end have cost twice as much. We see it all the time. It is only minimal liability if you go to Turkey or Mexico. EU, Canada and US have rules to protect you and this is also why you should go to an ethical clinic. Which aren't cheap. 

5) In the US and Canada you are spoilt for choices. Hasson and Wong are arguably the best clinic in the world. Konior is amazing. Dr Bloxham has been doing excellent work too and contributes to this forum in person quite a lot. However, I have not seen Konior FUE and Dr Bloxham is an FUT clinic (technically they offer both but in practice for the majority of customers they will only offer you FUT). There is at least 1 clinic recommended on this site in the US that I would definitely avoid. Admittedly though, my knowledge of American clinics is limited as I was never going to go there (or even leave Europe) for my transplant so I didn't research them.

6) How do you even know you are a good candidate for FUE? If you are basing that on your preference and the recommendation of Turkish and Mexican clinics who probably only offer FUE anyway, I would be skeptical. Post photos here or get in touch with clinics who offer both procedures so they can give you an impartial opinion. FUT is cheaper too, which appears to be a factor for you. . 

Edited April 30, 2020 by TrixGlendevon

[Melvin- Admin]

You’re asking the wrong questions, you should be asking which are the best surgeons, not the cheapest. Take some time and look at our surgeon reviews section.

If you find some results that impress you, start researching the clinic. Never let price or location be the deciding factor

[hairlossPA]

Dr Christian Bisanga of BHR Clinic in EU is the best FUE in my opinion.

H&W in Canada is the best in NA in my opinion.

[judoka_clark]

can we delete this thread please? I am trying to delete it for privacy reasons, but can't see how to do it.

[Melvin- Admin]

We do not delete threads, what privacy issue could you have? There’s no pictures or names on this post. I can change your screen name if that’s a concern. 

[Portugal25]

@judoka_clark I would advise to go to @Dr. Bruno Ferreira in Portugal. He’s works with one of the best FUE Docs in the world Dr. Lorenzo in Madrid but also does surgeries in his own clinic in Porto for 2.5€/graft.

He only has 1 patient per day and operates using DHI technique the same as Dr. Juan Couto and Dr. Rafael De Freitas.

You won’t find any other Doctor with his skills charging this price.

[general-etwan]

I'm disappointed in the poor responses to this original post by some members. OP clearly stated that cost is a factor for him. Members responded (poorly) that cost shouldn't be a factor. Do you not operate with money in the real world? 

Cost matters for many and that is a totally fair and valid point to make. Telling someone not to care about the cost...is egregiously out of touch.

I'm not sure what has occurred in the time since, OP, but I hope you're doing well. 

[Rahal Hair Transplant]

Judoka,

I think it’s good that you found this hair restoration forum that you’re researching your options. I’m sure you’ve heard it already by other members but I’m going to caution you to be very careful searching for and selecting a clinic solely based on price.

i’m not suggesting that there aren’t good quality hair transplant clinics that are affordable. However, in my opinion, prospective patients should select a surgeon first based on their proven ability to produce consistent outstanding results. Thus, skill, ability and experience with the latest and greatest techniques should be paramount to location and cost.

Be careful also not to fall into impressive marketing traps. Unless claims can be backed up, substantiates and proven, they are worthless.  For example, for quite some time the NeoGraft hair transplant machine was touted as the latest and greatest FUE tool that every hair surgeon “needed“ to obtain the best results.  It was also stated by the company that inexperienced and neophyte surgeons could use this machine with stellar success and produce results even more impressive than experienced and skilled surgeons.  Long story short, this is Completely baseless and downright dangerous. Now, the machine itself has some advantage and disadvantages just like every other tool and device used to extract follicular units during FUE.  But at the end of the day, is the skill and experience of the surgeon backed up by exceptional results produced consistently.

This is my best advice and what I always tell people looking into hair transplant surgery to do.  

Note that the below assumes that you have already taken all the steps necessary to learn about the actual procedure, how it works and what it can realistically accomplish.

1. First, start by looking at the list of recommended surgeons on the site, in particular those approved for the Coalition. This community has done a lot of light work in pre-screening surgeons, ensuring they are experienced, skilled and use the latest and greatest techniques. More importantly, they had to be probably prescreened by this patient community and approved based on actual patient and clinic posted results presented here over a long period of time.  Note that the list of recommended surgeons are not an exclusive list of all the best surgeons in the world. But those few are recommended here have been pre-screened and proven to have met the sites set of demanding standards.

2.Now, just because a surgeon meets a set of criteria, as demanding as they are, does not mean that every surgeon on the list is equal in their skill, experience and ability.  But it’s a good starting point for anybody considering surgery. Thus, The next step would be to begin narrowing your selection down to 3 to 5 of surgeons that impress you the most. Don’t look at location or price at this point. Look at consistency in producing the most impressive results posted not only by the clinic but by patients as well.  The way to begin narrowing this down would be to use this and other forums, social media and Internet as a whole to view results posted by patients and the clinic.

3. Consult with the 3 to 5 surgeons you’ve narrowed your selection down to. This is where you can begin looking at location and cost as considerations.  Be sure to have a list of questions ready to ask each surgeon/clinic. This should include questions about your own personal case, developing realistic expectations, how many procedures you might need to meet your long-term goals, what your first procedure can accomplish, etc.  

no also that you’ll quickly learn which surgeons/clinics will take the time to actually answer your questions and truly help guide you to the process and which ones are quick to brush you off because they are too busy, etc. Keep in mind that everyone is busy but it’s important that surgeons and clinics take the time to address prospective patients questions and concerns. It’s also important that they are honest, even if they say things you don’t want to hear.

4. Talk to and meet with actual patients, find out how the procedure went for them step-by-step - ask what they were both happy and unhappy with regarding their experience, view their results in person if possible, etc  

5. Be sure that in addition to consulting with a clinic rep that you actually speak with the surgeon as well.  It’s important that you feel some level of connection with him or her   Be sure to ask about the technicians and nurses that will be working with the surgeon during your procedure. After all, there is a team of individuals working on your scalp and it takes a team to ensure we receive impressive results.

6. Finally, select a surgeon based on their approve an ability to produce any results, your connection with them and all of the above factors.

finally, if you’re stuck between a couple of surgeon/clinics, use price and location as the last determining factor.  Long story short, it is far better and cost effective to travel and pay more the first time to get it done right then to have to undergo a repair procedure to fix what went wrong because you selected somebody strictly because they practiced nearby and offered you a steep discount.  Hair transplant surgery is a lifetime investment. I strongly suggest saving up your money to get it done right running and paying less because you have that money saved up now.

I hope this helps.

Rahal Hair Transplant 

 

[Britanium]

@Rahal Hair TransplantThe OP hasn’t logged in for 2 years and asked the thread to be deleted, safe to say he’s not coming back .. 

Edited May 24, 2022 by J-C

[Rahal Hair Transplant]

@general-etwan

I understand that cost is a major factor in the real world. And I understand that you were disappointed with some peoples responses, possibly even mine. But allow me to explain.

Keep in mind that hair transplant surgery is an elective procedure that is not needed or required. It is something that people desire and while it’s certainly possible to undergo surgery at a cheaper price with a lesser known surgeon, there are reasons why people are saying not to let cost be a factor.

i have described all of this above but I’ll say a few more things because I understand that it is probably very frustrating to hear blank statements that cost shouldn’t be a factor especially without any real explanation.

The bottom line is this. Many people on this forum including me have been here a long time and we’ve seen people choose a surgeon strictly based on cost or location.  At the end of the day, many have ended up with major problems, poor growth, scarring and ended up a detrimental position.   Not only have they spent their entire savings on this poor result and don’t have the money to correct it, they’ve used viable donor hair that’s limited and might not have enough in the tank to fix it even if they could come up with the money.  

This is not the best example but it’s the best one I can think of at the moment. Imagine you’ve saved up money your entire life for your dream car.  You know exactly what make and model you want and you’ve always wanted it.

But realistically, in order to get your dream car in the best possible condition in the color you want with all the options, you simply don’t have the money and would need to take time to save more.

During your research you find out that there are a couple cars in the make and model you want but the condition is unknown, you’re not sure what color it is, and you have to blindly hand over your life savings for it.  Do you do it?  Or do you take more time to save the money necessary to buy the perfect version of your dream car knowing with full confidence that you won’t have any problems?

The difference here is, the ultimate results of your hair transplant will impact your life in a much more major way.  Also, donor hair is limited so not only are you potentially jeopardizing your savings by going the unknown route just because it’s cheaper, if you do need a repair, you’ll have to save a lot more money and you simply might not have the donor hair to fix it.

So long story short, it’s simply not in the OP’s best interest for any member of tan time to simply list the cheapest surgeons and suggest he goes to one of them. It is far better to explain why cost and location should not be deciding factors and encourage individual to save their money and get their transplant of their dreams.

Rahal Hair Transplant

Edited May 24, 2022 by Rahal Hair Transplant

[Rahal Hair Transplant]

21 minutes ago, J-C said:

@Rahal Hair TransplantThe OP hasn’t logged in for 2 years and asked the thread to be deleted, safe to say he’s not coming back .. 

J-C,

Thanks however, I do see that a few members bumped this topic which brought the topic back to the top of the forum.  Even if this particular member doesn’t read my response, I typically post not just for the OP but for anyone researching this particular question and topic now and into the future.  Having been a member of this forum since 2004, people are always researching topics by using the search feature and if somebody is researching topics about choosing a doctor based on cost and location, I certainly hope they read my response which addresses critical and key points that anyone considering this should know.  

But thanks for pointing this out 🙂

Rahal Hair Transplant 

Edited May 24, 2022 by Rahal Hair Transplant

[Britanium]

4 hours ago, Rahal Hair Transplant said:

J-C,

Thanks however, I do see that a few members bumped this topic which brought the topic back to the top of the forum.  Even if this particular member doesn’t read my response, I typically post not just for the OP but for anyone researching this particular question and topic now and into the future.  Having been a member of this forum since 2004, people are always researching topics by using the search feature and if somebody is researching topics about choosing a doctor based on cost and location, I certainly hope they read my response which addresses critical and key points that anyone considering this should know.  

But thanks for pointing this out 🙂

Rahal Hair Transplant 

I get that, as you addressed it to Judoka i thought you may have mistook it for being posted this past April.. it seems he was put off by the responses at the time and promptly asked for it to be deleted and then disappeared. I have been around for 10+ years here and sometimes see that we can occasionally fail in posting a positive response, it’s a shame when we fail to get the balance right. As you rightly point out we need to tell it as it is, but hopefully in a tactful way.. we can all be guilty sometimes of being a little bit too passionate in giving our advice (I have been guilty of doing the same) The message is always to steer away from the cheaper procedures but with good reason, results first we say, but this can still be affordable.. 👍🏽

Edited May 24, 2022 by J-C