Any info on Amber Martinez who used to work with Mcgrath?

[Bill Smith]

I'm considering 5000 transplants at a local clinic where I live.   The Tech who does the surgery is Amber Martinez.  She has worked at Mcgrath and Neo Graft. 

Anyone familiar with her work please, leave comments.  Thank you.  

[Britanium]

I would say don’t go local, choose someone that you can actually see real patient results from. There are many good Drs/Clinics recommended here. Check the find a physician link at the top of the page. 
You don’t want a tech doing the surgery, you want a Dr supported by top techs.

Edited December 2, 2020 by JohnAC71

[Gasthoerer]

I agree...sounds like a bad plan. HT is for life, do not be lazy...do your research. 

[Melvin- Admin]

I would avoid the neograft, it’s worse than the artas IMO. Take a look at our recommendations, and if you see a surgeon that impresses you, submit a virtual consultation.

 

https://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/Consult-a-Physician/hair-transplant-surgeons.asp?sr=HRN-MOB

[Bill Smith]

I'm not sure how being on this sight researching Amber is being lazy, but.....   Or, how a local clinic can be rejected out of hand just because it's a local clinic.   I've tried contacting several Drs. that have been recommended on this sight, and so far none have responded.  I've sent pictures etc. and don't get a response. I've called and emailed Nader, who is close to where I live,  for months with no response.  nothing , nada.     I'm not thrilled about going across the border, but at this point I was willing to risk it, since no one from here has responded.  I'm not having any luck with him either.  

Melvin , are you referring to the ARTAS robotic transplant procedure?  One of the Doctor's that was recommended to me on this site uses ARTAS.  Should I be worried?

 

[Gasthoerer]

22 hours ago, Bill Smith said:

I'm considering 5000 transplants at a local clinic where I live.   The Tech who does the surgery is Amber Martinez.  She has worked at Mcgrath and Neo Graft. 

Anyone familiar with her work please, leave comments.  Thank you.  

Sorry, this first post sounds "lazy"! It does imply that you are not "researching" at all, but want confirmation to proceed.

And we do not reject this clinic purely because it is "local", we do cause this is the typical first sentence (incl. description of the clinic which wrings all alarm bells) of a new members, who went to the first clinic around the corner. Pure statistics tells us: This clinic is with a 99.5 % probability a bad one. Cause 99 % or all clinics are horrible and your description makes it even more likely that this clinic is bad. 

A few more comments to help you:

- Also in here not every clinic is on the same level. The list is just a starting point. 

- There are certain clinics better for smaller and other more for bigger cases. Some are specialist for hairlines

- There is almost a negative correlation between clinic quality and how fast they react

- Maybe you have not given enough info to answer your request or the clinics do not consider it serious

- Maybe you are not even a candidate 

- Maybe some clinics have reduced staff as the business is going down due to COVID

... no one knows 😉

My recommendation: The typical path is to present your case in here to the forum (pics, family history, age, meds). I am sure then a lot of guy can guide you in the right direction. 

Edited December 3, 2020 by Gasthoerer

[Bill Smith]

Thanks for the info. I have done what you have suggested: filled out online forms, submitted pictures , given history ,  I'm very serious and have the money to pay for transplants.  I got tired of no responses which is why I did a google search "hair transplant clinics in my area" and  found there was a clinic 30 minutes from my house. They answered my email and phone calls and set up an in person appointment. They said I had a good donor area and transplants could definitely be done.  But, they suggested I try minoxidil first for a few months before jumping into transplants.    I'd never used minoxidil.  I've been on Propecia for years.

I just had a second visit a few days ago and was told the hair is looking better with the minoxidil and suggested I keep using the it a few more months before transplants. They sell their own brand of Minoxidil, vitamins etc.  The cost is about the same as the over the counter. They told me I could use their brand or get it elsewhere. They didn't pressure me in anyway to buy their products. I've used one of their minoxidil and bought 2 bottles of generic minoxidil from the grocery store.
   I was told the individual hairs that I have are looking better and thicker and it looks like I'm maintaining what I have.   I viewed the before and after pictures.  I'm a photographer, so I know they didn't use any camera angle or lighting tricks to make me think my hair was improving or maintaining.  I know the tricks. I use lighting "tricks" and camera angle all the time when I'm taking pics of balding guys and women.  I told them I was getting impatient waiting on transplants. They informed me that they could do the surgery right away if I wanted, but suggested I wait a couple months more for the minoxidil to work.  I have almost a full bottle left from the grocery store, so they told me to continue using the one from the grocery store.    

I asked for the name and info of the person who would do the surgery. I told them I was going to go on the hair loss forums to check out the reputation and reviews of the tech.  They said they'd email me her info, but needed to get her permission first. Within an hour they emailed me her info and I immediately posted on this forum.  

As far as a tech doing the procedure.  A couple friends have had transplants and told me the techs did their surgeries while the Dr. supervised.  I don't know if this is standard practice or not.  Since this is cosmetic/artistic, I'm open to the idea that a tech might have a better eye and hand for it than the actual Dr.     My brain, however, tells me that the Dr. has all the fancy book learning, so he must to be better at it than some tech.  I've seen some really bad transplant jobs done by actual doctors,though. 

So, I'm left trying to decide what to do and trying to research the tech that the local clinic uses. I'm sure they'd put me in touch with some of their transplant patients to talk to , but no clinic is going to put me in touch with unsatisfied patients, so.......

 

[Melvin- Admin]

Are you in Texas? Have you considered Dr. Arocha? 

[Gasthoerer]

Ok, I really got your point and I hope you believe that I do not want to be rude, but just help you. By the way, in the end I have chosen a clinic myself which is "around the corner". The owner/surgeon lives actually in the same city like me. But: I knew it is a top clinic, and it got the best feeling with him out of the 3 top clinics I have visited. 

Googleing for the clinic next door or just book surgery at the typical celebrity is the straight pathway to a disaster.  

Again my take on it:

- You are not ready to make a decision about a clinic YET, cause you know nothing about hairtransplants or the industry (and I am saying that, believing you are a smart guy)

- The right approach is:

1. present your case here and some users will recommend some clinics to you
2. Use the time to look into the the clinics which are recommended to you and in the meantime, review results from patients in here and read some of the "Top clinics" threads in here. Do this for at least 3 month
3. In parallel make appointments with some of your preferred clinics (good clinics usually have a waiting time for consultations with fits the 3 month timeline). Like said before: Good clinics typically respond slower than poor ones, but in case you get no response this could be due to the current COVID situation. In this case: Just call the office of your preferred clinics. I had to do this with the Konior (who is kind of a legend in here) as my mail was obviously blocked by the SPAM filter.

P.S.

Many top clinics use techs as a part of the surgery. A tech doing the entire (!) clinic is very unusual. Actually, none of the top clinics I know does this and I am aware of only one(!) clinic in the second tier clinic doing this. How big is the chance that you found a hidden champion using this approach?

 

 

[Bill Smith]

Melvin,

Yes, several times.  Unfortunately, no response. I've been on the forums researching clinics and asking advice for several years now and have received advice and recommendations from people that have had transplants.   I'm ready go for it now. The Dr. you mentioned has been recommended as well as Nader. Several others have been  suggested, but don't recall their names.     I've  done everything Gasthroer has suggested. Not sure  why Gas is so rude.   Everyone on this site and other sites have been very helpful.. I was truly  surprised at Gas' original response calling me lazy, just for trying get info. on the tech or considering a local clinic.   At any rate, rudeness like that could drive people away from the site.