A question about some of the clinics I've recently had consultations with.

[Danny_boy]

Hi all, 

This is my first time posting here.

I'm 31 and I'd say at the minute I'm between a II and a III on the Norwood Scale and I'm looking to get my first hair transplant. I've also started taking finasteride. 

I've had a few consultations with different clinics in the last few weeks and I must say I'm not feeling overly confident about any of them so I wondered if anyone could help me out and put some concerns to rest or at least point me along a more fruitful avenue. Below are the clinics:

1) FUE Clinics: https://www.fueclinics.com

2) Hillside Hair Clinic: https://www.hillsidehairclinic.co.uk

3) Wimpole Clinic: https://wimpoleclinic.com/home/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw0caCBhCIARIsAGAfuMwXOEjndnfr34VX0yHHDirePuwNyHt2zWojwZmlYpRwH2PXf7fxH1MaAjjREALw_wcB

4) UK Hair Transplant Clinics: https://ukhairtransplantclinics.co.uk

Now I've read some terrible things about Wimpole, especially on these forums. The surgeons they said would be performing the operation would be either Ismael Ughratdar or Mir Malkani. I have read some absolutely terrible things about Malkani although so far I've only come across good things about Ughratdar, albeit not a great deal. 

At a lot of these places it seems like I'm talking to sales people as opposed to people who are actually concerned about giving the best advice; I get it's a business but I don't like the duplicity involved in only giving advice which steers patient-customers in their direction. For example, at Hillside Hair Clinic I was told that only the specialist WAW FUE they use would prevent hairs being bisected during extraction and that other FUE procedures only yield one hair per follicle - others have told me this is complete BS. 

Apart from FUE clinics, they all seem fairly consistent with regard to telling me how many grafts I'd need to get my desired result - between 2,200 and 2,295. 

FUE clinics wouldn't give me a number, they just said they do as many grafts as they can / need to on the day for £5.5K - they seem to have only a fixed price for the day which doesn't vary with how little or how much work you need done. 

I've also requested a consultation with Farjo Hair Institute but I'm worried they'll be out of my price range. I've so far been quoted between 3.5K and 7K from the above clinics. 
 

[bricvic]

If you've read terrible things about any clinic from multiple sources it goes without saying you should cross them off your list. As for the WAW , it's not a technic, it's an  implanter pen invented by Dr. Jean Devroye. It's a good pen but all implanter pens can extract multiple follicle grafts by changing the tip, so yeah that's complete BS.  Anyway, if price is your brick wall, you probably can't stay in England. Bisanga has a clinic in Athens  that I think that may match your price point. Or you can look in Belgium which I believe is generally less expensive then England.

Edited March 18, 2021 by bricvic

[Britanium]

Hi

Welcome to the forum ! I’m also from Uk. I can safely say you should carry on your research as none of those clinics are getting good results. 
We have much better options available. Dr Arshad, Dr Reddy or Dr Farjo.All of which are recommended by the forum. And you will find plenty of actual patient results if you use the search function. Dr Ed Ball is another option. 
I personally think Dr Arshad is amazing value at £3 per graft. You could do a virtual consultation, see the following link:

https://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/Consult-a-Physician/surgeon-list/UK/United Kingdom

Feel free to inbox me if you like ! I have 10+ years of experience of uk clinics 

Edited March 18, 2021 by JohnAC71

[Craig2412]

@JohnAC71has given some good advice. I would definitely get a consultation with Dr Reddy and Dr Arshad.

If it was me personally I would avoid any clinic saying they will just take as many grafts needed on the day. There’s also great clinics in Europe too to check out. 

[Britanium]

1 minute ago, Craig2412 said:

@JohnAC71has given some good advice. I would definitely get a consultation with Dr Reddy and Dr Arshad.

If it was me personally I would avoid any clinic saying they will just take as many grafts needed on the day. There’s also great clinics in Europe too to check out. 

Agreed, if you can travel (when we can) some amazing choices in Europe. It would give you a lot more options! 

[Gatsby]

Welcome Danny_boy. John always gives sage advice and I agree with everything that he has said. Don't be afraid to travel also if you find a surgeon that matches your hair loss needs and has a life long plan for you and is on the same page. There are some excellent surgeons also in Belgium and Eugenix in India are right up there to. Take your time in doing your research. All the best!

[TommyLucchese]

Congrats on finding us before making what would probably have been a terrible decision. Keep researching here - you've already been given some great advice. Look for the clinic/doctor names that keep popping up in results threads and discussions.

I'll be going to Hattingen in Switzerland  for my next HT and based on their expertise, results and the consultation I had with them, I think they are a great choice for someone in Europe (I'm in UK too). They do both FUT and FUE so can give you great advice on the best method for you. 

Keep doing your research and you'll see the names cropping up that you should consider instead of the ones you listed.

[Melvin- Admin]

@Danny_boy

First, welcome to the forum. If you find yourself here, you’ve already won half the battle. If you’ve heard bad things here, probably best to cross them ofd your list.

In the UK, Dr. Reddy and Dr. Arshad do fantastic work. Definitely worth consulting. 
 

UK

https://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/Consult-a-Physician/surgeon-list/UK/United Kingdom

 

Check out this video, I outline how to research 

 

[Danny_boy]

13 hours ago, JohnAC71 said:

Hi

Welcome to the forum ! I’m also from Uk. I can safely say you should carry on your research as none of those clinics are getting good results. 
We have much better options available. Dr Arshad, Dr Reddy or Dr Farjo.All of which are recommended by the forum. And you will find plenty of actual patient results if you use the search function. Dr Ed Ball is another option. 
I personally think Dr Arshad is amazing value at £3 per graft. You could do a virtual consultation, see the following link:

https://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/Consult-a-Physician/surgeon-list/UK/United Kingdom

Feel free to inbox me if you like ! I have 10+ years of experience of uk clinics 

Thanks, John. 

What makes you say the clinics I've consulted with so far aren't getting great results? (I don't mean that to sound like a challenge, just really interested what to look out for). 

Thanks for those recommendations. I've heard Dr. Farjo mentioned a lot and have sent some of my information to his clinic. The same with Dr. Arshad & Dr. Reddy. 

1 hour ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

@Danny_boy

First, welcome to the forum. If you find yourself here, you’ve already won half the battle. If you’ve heard bad things here, probably best to cross them ofd your list.

In the UK, Dr. Reddy and Dr. Arshad do fantastic work. Definitely worth consulting. 
 

UK

https://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/Consult-a-Physician/surgeon-list/UK/United Kingdom

 

Check out this video, I outline how to research 

 

Thanks for that video. Some really useful questions to be asking at consultations in there. 

 

14 hours ago, bricvic said:

If you've read terrible things about any clinic from multiple sources it goes without saying you should cross them off your list. As for the WAW , it's not a technic, it's an  implanter pen invented by Dr. Jean Devroye. It's a good pen but all implanter pens can extract multiple follicle grafts by changing the tip, so yeah that's complete BS.  Anyway, if price is your brick wall, you probably can't stay in England. Bisanga has a clinic in Athens  that I think that may match your price point. Or you can look in Belgium which I believe is generally less expensive then England.

Yes, I thought as much. They tried to make it sound as if it's a technique they pioneered! It doesn't help that not one person from these "clinics" I've had a consultation with has been a medical professional - just sales people!

[Britanium]

Those clinics are nowhere near the level of Dr Arshad, Dr Farjo or Dr Reddy. None of the work I see from any of those clinics are very refined, moderate at best and some are just flat out poor. 
They all have one thing in common and thats the sales pitch. 

Edited March 18, 2021 by JohnAC71

[Danny_boy]

1 hour ago, JohnAC71 said:

Those clinics are nowhere near the level of Dr Arshad, Dr Farjo or Dr Reddy. None of the work I see from any of those clinics are very refined, moderate at best and some are just flat out poor. 
They all have one thing in common and thats the sales pitch. 

Yes, I think it's quite poor, actually, disgusting, that for a supposedly regulated profession there's so much smoke and mirrors!

On the advice of this forum I've got a consultation with Dr. Arshad's practice manager at https://www.hairdr.co.uk tomorrow. 

They said I'd need between 1,500 and 2,000 grafts and quoted me between 4.5K and 6K for the procedure which is in budget so... so far so good. 

[Britanium]

That’s great news! So pleased you arrived on the forum before making a decision. 👌

[Danny_boy]

So I spoke to the Farjo clinic and Arshad's clinic on Friday. It was interesting that I had a similar conversation with both of them. 

I was particularly impressed with the chap I spoke to at Farjo who recommended that since I have only been taking finasteride for about 3 weeks, I should stick with it for about a year, documenting my hair condition every 6 months. 

One thing in particular that I got from these places that I didn't get from anywhere else was expectation management. Everywhere else I had spoken to had to tried to sell it as "Take finasteride, get a hair transplant and you'll be sorted" whereas I was told, depending on how I take to finasteride, that I'd need at least another couple of transplants in the years to come to chase the hair that's already there. 

So I'm at least going to wait for a year before proceeding with a transplant. 

I'm also toying with the idea of shaving my head at some point to see how I'd like the look of myself with no hair - in which case it might make me realise I'd be comfortable going bald, or dead set against growing old gracefully 😁

[Melvin- Admin]

6 minutes ago, Danny_boy said:

So I spoke to the Farjo clinic and Arshad's clinic on Friday. It was interesting that I had a similar conversation with both of them. 

I was particularly impressed with the chap I spoke to at Farjo who recommended that since I have only been taking finasteride for about 3 weeks, I should stick with it for about a year, documenting my hair condition every 6 months. 

One thing in particular that I got from these places that I didn't get from anywhere else was expectation management. Everywhere else I had spoken to had to tried to sell it as "Take finasteride, get a hair transplant and you'll be sorted" whereas I was told, depending on how I take to finasteride, that I'd need at least another couple of transplants in the years to come to chase the hair that's already there. 

So I'm at least going to wait for a year before proceeding with a transplant. 

I'm also toying with the idea of shaving my head at some point to see how I'd like the look of myself with no hair - in which case it might make me realise I'd be comfortable going bald, or dead set against growing old gracefully 😁

The sign of a good and ethical clinic is managing expectations. If you haven’t shaved, definitely try it. You never know you’ll like it until you do it.

[Britanium]

10 minutes ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

The sign of a good and ethical clinic is managing expectations. If you haven’t shaved, definitely try it. You never know you’ll like it until you do it.

Absolutely this 👏

[TommyLucchese]

13 hours ago, Danny_boy said:

So I spoke to the Farjo clinic and Arshad's clinic on Friday. It was interesting that I had a similar conversation with both of them. 

I was particularly impressed with the chap I spoke to at Farjo who recommended that since I have only been taking finasteride for about 3 weeks, I should stick with it for about a year, documenting my hair condition every 6 months. 

One thing in particular that I got from these places that I didn't get from anywhere else was expectation management. Everywhere else I had spoken to had to tried to sell it as "Take finasteride, get a hair transplant and you'll be sorted" whereas I was told, depending on how I take to finasteride, that I'd need at least another couple of transplants in the years to come to chase the hair that's already there. 

So I'm at least going to wait for a year before proceeding with a transplant. 

I'm also toying with the idea of shaving my head at some point to see how I'd like the look of myself with no hair - in which case it might make me realise I'd be comfortable going bald, or dead set against growing old gracefully 😁

Not a surprise with Farjo especially... i think they're well known for being more on the conservative side, which would be reflected in how many grafts they give you compared with Arshad - which ultimately determines your final result.

Farjo in my opinion seem to be about giving you a nice transformation (great for older people who just want some hair back and a very natural look) whereas Arshad and the other top clinics are going for the excellent transformations and making a big difference. 

I don't believe it to be a matter of skill but more of a philosophy, so I'm not knocking Farjo. I just think this is important for people to know this when they're considering the recommended UK doctors.

 

[TommyLucchese]

I forgot to say - yes taking fin for at least a year and taking pics to document progress is definitely the way to go. 

And trying the shaven look is a great idea - you could put that money to a gym membership and be one of those fellas that goes bald and gets ripped!