I'm thinking of going for either Dr. Hasson or Dr. Rahal. Any pros/cons or advice? (NW2 temple restoration + maybe lower hairline?)

[deeznuts]

I'm almost 29 and my hairline has gotten to the point where I'm starting to feel like my receded temples are beginning to limit my styling options. Over the last year or so, I've noticed my hairline has gotten worse to the point that I started to realize I was receding. I always noticed very minor recession at the temples but didn't think much of it and just assumed it was just a normal hairline. The last year though with all the WFH stuff, all my terrible procrastination/playing catch up habits have really manifested and it's taken a toll on my hair due to missing sleep and whatever else. If not for the last year, I think my hairline would still be decent enough to try all the hairstyles that I was doing before. 

Anyway, I did a consultation with a local surgeon in Toronto as well as an online consultation with Hasson & Wong. I signed up for a consultation with Dr. Rahal but his sales guys feel like the type of people would try to sell you a hair transplant at a funeral if they thought it would get them anywhere. Dude called my phone at like 10 Saturday morning to ask me for photos of my hairline. 

So I talked to the local surgeon and he recommended 1200 grafts to fill in the temples. No hairline lowering or anything. Just temples only. And it would give the appearance of mild thinning I believe he said. Overall he seemed really conservative and his estimate though he did tell me that my hair donor density was about average while my hair thickness was a bit above average thickness. 

I also did an online consultation with Hasson & Wong and I was basically told that I'd need 3000 grafts. I'm assuming the reason H&W said 3000 and my local surgeon said 1200 is because my local surgeon is very conservative and Hasson & Wong are more on the aggressive side and are capable of achieving some ridiculous hair density. I don't believe H&W recommended to lower my hairline either though I was only thinking like half a cm at most. Not that any surgeon recommended lowering my hairline

Recently, I've been looking into Dr. Rahal because the hairlines on his site are jawdroppingly good and I've just been super impressed overall with all the photos I can find. Obviously, they're his best work, but to have a gallery of hairline results probably means you're doing something right. I haven't got the opportunity to consult with Rahal but it'll happen soon. 

So I've been trying to decide between Dr. Rahal or Dr. Hasson. For Rahal, I really like his gallery and he seems to specialize in hairlines. He's supposed to be a bit cheaper than H & W which is very nice bonus assuming all else is equal. Also he has an office in Toronto and it would be nice to be able to just go to see him in person for whatever issues after the hair transplant. The one reservation I have about Dr. Rahal is I'm unsure about his consistency/techs. I haven't done much research on them but I was wondering if his techs were experienced and had been with him for a long time.

For Dr. Hasson, (I'm leaning towards Dr. Hasson over Dr. Wong since Dr. Hasson seems to work with hairlines more), what draws me to him is probably his reputation and what I feel is the closest thing to a guarantee out there. I like the crazy density that H & W can achieve (not sure if Rahal attempts the same?) and he's got a few patients in his gallery that have left me impressed. But he doesn't have the sheer quantity of great hairline results. Especially since it seems like Dr. Hasson does just about everything well. H & W seem like they've got the entire process down to a T so I'm not too worried about their techs or their consistency. Also, H & W are a bit out of the way so followups after the transplant seem like it would be difficult.

Right now, my personal feeling is that Dr. Hasson is all but guaranteed to do a good job. But Dr. Rahal might be more likely to hit a home run and do something jaw dropping. I'm not sure how much density Dr. Rahal will get however I know Dr. Hasson dense packs with the best.

Anyone have experience with one or both of them? How did you guys feel about Dr. Rahals process? Any personal recommendations for one or the other?

Edited February 6, 2021 by deeznuts

[BLE123]

Do you have any pics?

H&W know what they're doing but 3000 grafts is a lot for some simple temple recession, 1500-1800 is usually more the typical number and I've seen a lot of good results using this amount but obviously every case is different. As for the other Dr saying he can do it but you'll be left with thinning temples, I'd probably avoid. To the average person, NW2 isn't balding but thinning is a sign of balding, I'd personally rather be an NW2 than a "thinning" NW1 so if he can't be confident of good coverage then I'd look elsewhere.

[kramer79]

What surgeon did you see in Toronto who recommended 1200 grafts?

Since you are going with Dr Hasson, I am guessing you are looking into FUE?

[Harry Bosch]

Both are top-notch. In these unfortunate times, you are blessed to be Canadian.

@TorontoMan received great hairline work from Rahal. his thread is really well-articulated and has all the details you need.

hasson has a reputation that is more or less spotless.

consult with both and go with whoever you feel best about.  no wrong decision here.

H&W seem to quote higher totals — 3000 sounds double what a NW2 would require— but that’s implicit in their ability to deliver a dense-pack Johnny Bravo hairline.

agree that Rahal can hit the homerun, but Hasson is an automatic triple.

[J5_95]

I don't mean to fanboy but I'm pretty happy with the hairline Hasson gave me. I'm at 4.5 months and, save for a small spot that is lagging, would be totally fine if it stopped right here. From what I've seen, he's going to use a higher graft number, but the density is excellent

[deeznuts]

18 hours ago, kramer79 said:

What surgeon did you see in Toronto who recommended 1200 grafts?

Since you are going with Dr Hasson, I am guessing you are looking into FUE?

Dr. Cotterill. He was a nice guy and answered all my questions but I don't think his style aligned with my goals. He said roughly said something about how even though I'm the patient, he's the surgeon and he has to factor in what he feels will give the best results (including down the line) and so his goals tended to be more conservative. Not that he noticed any miniaturization outside of the hairline but I'm guessing he likes to play it safe and make sure his patients don't get left high and dry in the case they suddenly get hit by a case of Norwood 7

Yeah, I'm definitely going FUE either way. I think my recession has been fairly slow (based on comments from both consultations) so I'm probably not going to be too strapped for donor hairs.

18 hours ago, Harry Bosch said:

Both are top-notch. In these unfortunate times, you are blessed to be Canadian.

@TorontoMan received great hairline work from Rahal. his thread is really well-articulated and has all the details you need.

hasson has a reputation that is more or less spotless.

consult with both and go with whoever you feel best about.  no wrong decision here.

H&W seem to quote higher totals — 3000 sounds double what a NW2 would require— but that’s implicit in their ability to deliver a dense-pack Johnny Bravo hairline.

agree that Rahal can hit the homerun, but Hasson is an automatic triple.

Yeah I saw that thread. I was really impressed with the result as well. What kind of differences would be noticeable for dense packed hair like what Dr. Hasson does verse something that Dr. Rahal might go for? Would a density of say... 50 grafts/cm be noticeably in any way? Does the extra density make a difference?

Edited February 7, 2021 by deeznuts

[deeznuts]

23 hours ago, BLE123 said:

Do you have any pics?

H&W know what they're doing but 3000 grafts is a lot for some simple temple recession, 1500-1800 is usually more the typical number and I've seen a lot of good results using this amount but obviously every case is different. As for the other Dr saying he can do it but you'll be left with thinning temples, I'd probably avoid. To the average person, NW2 isn't balding but thinning is a sign of balding, I'd personally rather be an NW2 than a "thinning" NW1 so if he can't be confident of good coverage then I'd look elsewhere.

Dr. Hasson has some crazy good dense-packing results which is why I'm assuming I was quoted 3k

 

[Britanium]

Tough choice to make as both are excellent Drs. And both are capable of doing some pretty amazing hairlines. 
If it was me choosing I would go for Dr Hasson, but It would be a close call. 

[Sean]

Dr Hasson seems to do fantastic work.  He is a good choice.  Dr Wong and him make a great team overall.  You should be in good hands with them.  Ethics matter and proper surgical protocols matter.  Best wishes to you

Edited February 8, 2021 by Sean
Spellcheck

[deeznuts]

Looks like everyone loves Dr. Hasson here. One concern I have with H & W has more to do with geography. They're all the way on the other side of Canada so I was worried about what post-op followup examinations would look like. Or if something got botched, would H & W repair it for free? One thing that I like about Dr. Rahal is that he's near me and I could just drive down to meet him if I ever needed to do follow ups. How important is it to be within driving distance anyway? Or would just sending pictures be enough for the doctor to evaluate where I'm at?

Also, how experienced are Dr. Rahals techs? I know H & W have their system down to a T but I was wondering if Rahals techs had a lot of experience with him and what kind of consistency I could expect from them.

[Brandonatill]

Hey check out the procedure i had done with Dr Rahal, maybe this will help you decide on a surgeon. Basically what he had done was a whole frontal band for my hairline, that was 2 and a half years ago, the density feels and looks great to!

 

[A Fue Good Men]

Just my personal opinion but if I had to choose between the two, it would have to be hasson 

[deeznuts]

On 7/30/2021 at 11:34 AM, Brandonatill said:

Hey check out the procedure i had done with Dr Rahal, maybe this will help you decide on a surgeon. Basically what he had done was a whole frontal band for my hairline, that was 2 and a half years ago, the density feels and looks great to!

 

Nice. I saw your result and TorontoMan's too. I was really impressed by Rahal but his reps just ruined it for me. I filled out some form on Rahal's website and the guy called me on a Saturday morning trying to get my photos. I think he sent like 2 or 3 follow up emails too. Just couldn't go to a clinic like that. Rahal's reps really stuck out to me as a bit unprofessional imo. It almost felt like they were trying to sell me a timeshare instead of a medical procedure. I had really great experiences with Dr. De Freitas's reps as well as H&W's so shout out to those guys. 

I'm actually in the process of going with Dr. De Freitas. I've just about reserved a spot but I just can't figure out how to earn credit card rewards on a bank transfer lol. But once that happens, I'll probably have a date set. I figure if I'm spending ~11k or so, I might as well get some points out of it. I thought about posting a thread but I'm like 9 months out at this point

Edited August 3, 2021 by deeznuts

[Melvin- Admin]

10 hours ago, deeznuts said:

Nice. I saw your result and TorontoMan's too. I was really impressed by Rahal but his reps just ruined it for me. I filled out some form on Rahal's website and the guy called me on a Saturday morning trying to get my photos. I think he sent like 2 or 3 follow up emails too. Just couldn't go to a clinic like that. Rahal's reps really stuck out to me as a bit unprofessional imo. It almost felt like they were trying to sell me a timeshare instead of a medical procedure. I had really great experiences with Dr. De Freitas's reps as well as H&W's so shout out to those guys. 

I'm actually in the process of going with Dr. De Freitas. I've just about reserved a spot but I just can't figure out how to earn credit card rewards on a bank transfer lol. But once that happens, I'll probably have a date set. I figure if I'm spending ~11k or so, I might as well get some points out of it. I thought about posting a thread but I'm like 9 months out at this point

I’m glad to hear you’re getting it done with Dr. De Freitas. I look forward to seeing your review 👏🏼

[deeznuts]

29 minutes ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

I’m glad to hear you’re getting it done with Dr. De Freitas. I look forward to seeing your review 👏🏼

You might have to wait like 9 months lol. They're tentatively giving me a date in the middle of May. I'd love to do a writeup but all I'd have to write about right now is just consultation stuff.

Dr. De Freitas seemed like a no brainer to me. He just has page after page of guys coming out of their transplant with NW1s. I found a ton of results of him working with my hair type/hair quality getting the end result I wanted (NW1) from similar starting points. It almost seems like his whole clinic just has guys coming out with perfect hairlines lol.

Money wasn't really the major contributing factor since I had enough savings to pay for H&W or maybe even Konior if I really wanted... Though I'm not sure I could have comfortably paid for Konior... (Can anyone?). So picking Dr. De Freitas wasn't really heavily motivated by money. He really just had great results and the value aspect of it came second. But that's not to say Dr. De Freitas didn't also offer exceptional value as well which I found to be a major boon. My only gripe is that Dr. De Freitas doesn't accept AMEX. If only Dr. De Freitas accepted AMEX... I could've paid for a vacation in Spain with the rewards points...

 

[Britanium]

De Freitas is a excellent choice. His hairlines are pretty amazing. Is he worth waiting for ? Absolutely ! It’s not like a Dr Couto situation where you could be waiting for years 😂

Look forward to seeing your review, albeit next year 😉

Edited August 3, 2021 by JohnAC71

[Melvin- Admin]

43 minutes ago, deeznuts said:

You might have to wait like 9 months lol. They're tentatively giving me a date in the middle of May. I'd love to do a writeup but all I'd have to write about right now is just consultation stuff.

Dr. De Freitas seemed like a no brainer to me. He just has page after page of guys coming out of their transplant with NW1s. I found a ton of results of him working with my hair type/hair quality getting the end result I wanted (NW1) from similar starting points. It almost seems like his whole clinic just has guys coming out with perfect hairlines lol.

Money wasn't really the major contributing factor since I had enough savings to pay for H&W or maybe even Konior if I really wanted... Though I'm not sure I could have comfortably paid for Konior... (Can anyone?). So picking Dr. De Freitas wasn't really heavily motivated by money. He really just had great results and the value aspect of it came second. But that's not to say Dr. De Freitas didn't also offer exceptional value as well which I found to be a major boon. My only gripe is that Dr. De Freitas doesn't accept AMEX. If only Dr. De Freitas accepted AMEX... I could've paid for a vacation in Spain with the rewards points...

 

I believe Spain is much easier to travel too as well. May have to pay De Freitas as visit myself.

[deeznuts]

11 hours ago, JohnAC71 said:

De Freitas is a excellent choice. His hairlines are pretty amazing. Is he worth waiting for ? Absolutely ! It’s not like a Dr Couto situation where you could be waiting for years 😂

Look forward to seeing your review, albeit next year 😉

I was actually expecting to wait lol. All the doctors I consulted with had wait lists. H&W I think was probably close to a year as well I think? Couto's wait list is not as bad as people make it out to be though still monstrous.

I shot a message to Dr. Couto out of due diligence and his rep basically said they're opening consultations starting next year. If you're lucky, I think the consult might take a year for him to get back to you? Then surgery the year after but don't quote me on that last part. All I know for sure is that he's opening consultations beginning of next year. Could possibly have a transplant by 2023/2024. 

I'm looking forward to sharing my results. I feel like I owe it to the community since everyone here's been super helpful. I just hope Dr. De Freitas doesn't mind someone named DeezNuts leaving him a review... 

[deeznuts]

10 hours ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

I believe Spain is much easier to travel too as well. May have to pay De Freitas as visit myself.

Yeah do it up man. I'd love to see a video of the clinic and hopefully the COVID stuff has blown over by then. Any plans on the date?

[Melvin- Admin]

13 hours ago, deeznuts said:

Yeah do it up man. I'd love to see a video of the clinic and hopefully the COVID stuff has blown over by then. Any plans on the date?

Ideally it would be end of this year, but it all depends on the Covid situation, and whether these passports get passed through.