Dr. Konior - ~2,000 graft FUE, Asian Male

[sbguy01]

About Me

I’m 49, Asian.  I’ve always had a high forehead, which didn’t bother me.  Over the past 10 years, maybe it’s because of the stress of kids and family, the front of my scalp began to thin out.  My wife and I joked about me getting a hair transplant over the years.  The trigger for me was when I saw myself playing my with kids (in pictures and videos) when my head was bent down, I was like “what the heck is that, I’m balding!”  Time to do something!  I have the time and money now, so why the heck not.  One life to live, I might as well look good living it 🙂

Doctor Selection

I had no idea where to start looking for a hair doctor.  You guys might laugh, but I started with Yelp.  I found this local doctor that had good reviews but was based out of Las Vegas and only came to my town a few times a month.  I was on the calendar for a consult when I got an email from his office that he was also retiring next year.  So I gave up on him.   I found another doctor 100 miles away and she has some good Yelp reviews.  But my wife saw some bad reviews of her other cosmetics work and concluded that if the reviews for other work aren’t good, she can’t be that good for hair transplant.  I should find a hair transplant expert.  

Then I found another doctor in the Bay Area (CA) who has lots and lots of videos on youtube.  I thought, wow he must be really good and has done lots of work on Asian guys too.  It took a couple of months just for a video consultation.  I felt the consultation just wasn’t very in depth nor informative, or maybe it was my fault because it was my first consultation and I didn't ask all the right questions.  The consultation was more like a sales pitch “No worries.  I can make you look good.  You’re going to look 10 years younger.  You’re a good candidate for FUT ($17K) .  It’s cheaper and will save you money.  There’ll be a scar, but you can cover it up with long hair (but I don’t wear my hair long and he didn’t ask what I really want). You can do FUE if you want, but you’ll have to see me for a few sessions and it’ll cost $26K (how the heck do I know I want?  I need advice, not a FUT or FUE menu).”  Then the disorganized communication from the office really turned me off. 

Then I found HairRestorationNetwork.com and the rest is history.  Reviews of that first doctor were mixed on here.  I wanted the best and with a direct flight.  Dr. Konior had a great reputation on the forum here and there was a direct flight to Chicago.  I submitted a website inquiry in September 2021.  I can’t believe it, but I got a response from Dr. Konior the same night 9-10PM Pacific Time, which was 11PM Chicago time. I was expecting to talk to some sales consultant, but I got Konior himself. Over the course of a few days, he looked at my pictures, answered all my questions, and said I was better as an FUE patient because a FUT scar would show in my donor areas (probably because of my short spiky Asian hair).  The fact that I couldn’t find anything bad about Konior on the forum was really comforting.  Some guys here even said he had the hands of God, how can I resist?  He said he was booking for February 2023 and I said let’s do it, I’ve waited decades so what’s another 1.5 years.  At the final booking time, he said there was an international client cancellation and got me a slot for mid-April 2022. I paid my deposit and waited.  My quote was $27K for 2,000 grafts. 

So the lesson of this story is that you must interview several doctors and make sure they have a good reputation, good reviews, and above all else your “gut instinct” is comfortable with your selection.

 Lodging 

Dr. Konior’s office was in a suburb outside of Chicago.  They gave me several hotel choices close to the office, but my wife found a nice AirBnB house in Westmont, IL on a small lake, which made my stay very pleasant.  I couldn’t partake in lake activities during my recovery, but the view was way better than a hotel wall.  It was 4 miles and 10 minutes to the clinic.

This is the view from my bed looking out.

 

Day 0 

I was told to be at the office at 6:30. I woke up at 5AM, showered and cleaned up as instructed, had a healthy light breakfast as instructed, called an Uber, which came too early and I got to the clinic 20 minutes early.  At exactly 6:30, all the lady staff came, welcome me in, and were all very nice.  They know my name (of course, as I was the only patient that day.). Dr. Konior only sees 1 patient a day. 

I was told that the initial consult with Dr. Konior would take about 1.5 hours and it did.  Dr Konior explained to me how the day was going to go.  He’s a really easy-going guy.  We worked on my hairline design together until I’m happy.  He kept saying I’ll do whatever you want and I said “yeah, but you’re the pro so it’s gotta look good too.”  After some back and forth on hairline design, we were both happy.  They gave me some valium and I was off to the surgery room.  I love the valium, it gave me some much-needed sleep.

As you may know from reading this forum, Dr. Konior does everything himself assisted by his very capable techs.  He punched every donor hole and placed every graft with his own hands.  He pays special attention to natural placement and direction.  Direction and natural random placement are the keys to a natural hairline restoration.  This guy is an artist and really loves what he does.  The team with him was 3 women techs.  I think during graft implant there were 3 people working on my scalp, Dr. Konior and 2 techs, meticulously punch and implant, punch and implant, one graft at a time.  After I was done they put a gauze dressing over the back of my head to go home.  This way I don’t have to worry about soiling pillowcases, even though I was prepared with doggie pee pads 🙂

When I was done at 7PM, they said they put in 2159 grafts, even though my quote was for 2,000 grafts, they didn’t charge me any extra.  I think the extra charge for additional grafts in the contract is legalese for pain in the ass clients.  So don’t be a pain in the ass client and they will take care of you.

They didn’t lose any grafts, they used every last one.  Dr. Konior said I have a very strong donor area and strong reserve for the future.  So that was encouraging.

By the way, the office is nothing fancy and doesn’t look expensive, but comfortable.  This means you know you’re paying for the people, instead of expensive furniture or artwork which has nothing to do with the result of your hair transplant.  

As for post-op, I was totally prepared for battle to deal with pain, swelling and bleeding etc.  In my case, I felt no pain, no bleeding, except for a few minor spots in the donor area.  I asked if I needed to ice my forehead, and Neosporin my donor area.  Dr. Konior said, “Don’t worry, you’re fine.  Don’t do anything tonight except sleep upright, come back tomorrow and the girls will clean up.  If there’s swelling in your forehead and eyebrows, just wipe your brows with your fingers and push the fluids to the side.”  It was wise and effective advice.   I took advil the first day for prevention and that’s it.  

Thanks to Melvin’s suggestion for the neck pillow for sleeping upright.  For us newbies, it’s not so obvious how to sleep upright.  

 

 

 

 

 

  Day 1 

Went in for a clean-up and changed the donor area dressing.  Dr. Konior came in for a quick look shook my hand said I was looking good.  I agree!

 

 

Day 2

 

Happy Guy!

 

 

[RTC]

Congrats, looks great

[WhiteyUK]

Excellent write up  ... good luck 

[sbguy01]

Thanks!  Look forward to month 4 or so!

[WhiteyUK]

1 minute ago, sbguy01 said:

Thanks!  Look forward to month 4 or so!

Yes that’s when mine started looking good 👍🏽

[Melvin- Admin]

Excited to see your progress happy growing 👏🏼

[Mountinvan]

You have coined the new slogan for the Network: " One life to live, I might as well look good living it..." Just think of the service you are doing for those who live in your world. As fellow Konior patient, I can only tell you from my experience (and I now have had two) that you worked with a terrific surgeon who take great pride in his work. The results ("proof") are in the pudding--and I would Dr. K. make my pudding any day. He combines artistry with meticulous attention to the details. You made a great choice.  The next several months will be the "ugly duckling" stage but  come August I bet you will be seeing some really good results. Keep posting so we can see your progress.

[sbguy01]

Thanks Mountinvan!  Yes, I believe I made a great choice too.  Plus Dr. K is just a really chill guy to talk to.  And the staff are really great.  

Can't wait for August!  My donor area hair usually grows fast, hopefully ugly ducking phase will be short lived 🙂

Edited April 14, 2022 by sbguy01

[Chetman2112]

Thanks for the write up, very helpful! Please keep us posted going forward, Im sure your results will be amazing! I have scheduled a consultation with Dr.Nadimi in May, I’m nervous but like you said only one life to live and it’s better with hair:)

[sbguy01]

4 minutes ago, Chetman2112 said:

Thanks for the write up, very helpful! Please keep us posted going forward, Im sure your results will be amazing! I have scheduled a consultation with Dr.Nadimi in May, I’m nervous but like you said only one life to live and it’s better with hair:)

I was nervous too, but it all worked out very well.  Nadami works with Dr. K, so I'm sure her level of service and work is on par.  

Hey I like your modification to my quote.  Could be a t-shirt slogan 🙂

 

 

[FUT4000]

That's crazy how Konior can make it look so full with only 2000 grafts. I had less hairloss than you but received 4000 grafts. Konior is really a great doctor. 

[Future Hair Doc]

This is an incredibly detailed and helpful writeup. Thank you for sharing. Dr. Konior is truly an artist. Please keep the community updated and happy growing!

[Curious25]

Nice write up and congrats on your surgery, the work looks very clean! 
 

Do you know your avg hair shaft diameter in microns and what your native density (FU per cm2) is in areas that you have not lost . . and finally what the implanted density was? 

[sbguy01]

33 minutes ago, Curious25 said:

Nice write up and congrats on your surgery, the work looks very clean! 
 

Do you know your avg hair shaft diameter in microns and what your native density (FU per cm2) is in areas that you have not lost . . and finally what the implanted density was? 

Thanks!  Your questions are super technical and I don't have the answers to them.  I just wanted hair and Dr. K did his magic 🙂.  He told me I have good donor density and that my hair is thicker than most.  

Edited April 15, 2022 by sbguy01

[mrmane85]

Happy growing my friend!

Great choice of surgeon.

For me Dr Konior is the best of the best. 

He'll make the 2000 grafts look like 3000, will look after your donor plus his communication is 2nd to none. 

[stephcurry30]

looking good! this will be a great resukt i'm sure

[sbguy01]

Thanks for the compliments and encouragement, everyone!

Day 4

Last day in Chicago.  Leaving tomorrow.  I've been going into the clinic every day since the Tuesday surgery.  They spray cleaned me the first 2 days and I shampooed myself the last 2 days, and they checked that everything was all right and got rid of a few whiteheads.  Dr. K came in on a Saturday to do a final check to send me off.  I did have mild to moderate face swelling on days 2-3.  Today, Day 4 is very mild.  I guess no way to really avoid swelling, even with icing (which helps of course).  It's just post-surgery physiology. 

I was pleasantly surprised at how well my donor area is healing. Maybe it's the neosporin I asked for on Day 2.  They said FUE patients don't really need it.  But I know that my body loves neosporin for wounds.  So I asked and they gave it to me.  I also applied some myself on Day 3.  Didn't apply anything today, Day 4.

The graft area looks pretty good too.  I might be one of those lucky ones that won't get the crusty flakes.  Hopefully, it'll just mini-scab and fall off.  We'll see.

I was going to wear a surgical cap on the plane, but I think I'll just go with the monk look and let little guys air out.

 

 

 

[BuellerBueller]

Congratulations! I have to agree, your writeup was extremely detailed and helpful. Thank you for that. What a crazy journey we are all experiencing with hair loss. Your quote was fantastic. It’s exactly how I feel (at 54). I looked in the mirror one day and finally said I’m done with this. I’m scheduled with Dr. K next month. Wish I had booked your ABB too! 🤣

[yesplease]

On 4/14/2022 at 3:59 PM, FUT4000 said:

That's crazy how Konior can make it look so full with only 2000 grafts. I had less hairloss than you but received 4000 grafts. Konior is really a great doctor. 

Hey there.

Wondering if you created your own thread about your procedure. Would love to see it, as I’m considering FUT with Konior as well. 
 

Thanks for considering. 

[yesplease]

On 4/14/2022 at 8:32 AM, sbguy01 said:

About Me

I’m 49, Asian.  I’ve always had a high forehead, which didn’t bother me.  Over the past 10 years, maybe it’s because of the stress of kids and family, the front of my scalp began to thin out.  My wife and I joked about me getting a hair transplant over the years.  The trigger for me was when I saw myself playing my with kids (in pictures and videos) when my head was bent down, I was like “what the heck is that, I’m balding!”  Time to do something!  I have the time and money now, so why the heck not.  One life to live, I might as well look good living it 🙂

Doctor Selection

I had no idea where to start looking for a hair doctor.  You guys might laugh, but I started with Yelp.  I found this local doctor that had good reviews but was based out of Las Vegas and only came to my town a few times a month.  I was on the calendar for a consult when I got an email from his office that he was also retiring next year.  So I gave up on him.   I found another doctor 100 miles away and she has some good Yelp reviews.  But my wife saw some bad reviews of her other cosmetics work and concluded that if the reviews for other work aren’t good, she can’t be that good for hair transplant.  I should find a hair transplant expert.  

Then I found another doctor in the Bay Area (CA) who has lots and lots of videos on youtube.  I thought, wow he must be really good and has done lots of work on Asian guys too.  It took a couple of months just for a video consultation.  I felt the consultation just wasn’t very in depth nor informative, or maybe it was my fault because it was my first consultation and I didn't ask all the right questions.  The consultation was more like a sales pitch “No worries.  I can make you look good.  You’re going to look 10 years younger.  You’re a good candidate for FUT ($17K) .  It’s cheaper and will save you money.  There’ll be a scar, but you can cover it up with long hair (but I don’t wear my hair long and he didn’t ask what I really want). You can do FUE if you want, but you’ll have to see me for a few sessions and it’ll cost $26K (how the heck do I know I want?  I need advice, not a FUT or FUE menu).”  Then the disorganized communication from the office really turned me off. 

Then I found HairRestorationNetwork.com and the rest is history.  Reviews of that first doctor were mixed on here.  I wanted the best and with a direct flight.  Dr. Konior had a great reputation on the forum here and there was a direct flight to Chicago.  I submitted a website inquiry in September 2021.  I can’t believe it, but I got a response from Dr. Konior the same night 9-10PM Pacific Time, which was 11PM Chicago time. I was expecting to talk to some sales consultant, but I got Konior himself. Over the course of a few days, he looked at my pictures, answered all my questions, and said I was better as an FUE patient because a FUT scar would show in my donor areas (probably because of my short spiky Asian hair).  The fact that I couldn’t find anything bad about Konior on the forum was really comforting.  Some guys here even said he had the hands of God, how can I resist?  He said he was booking for February 2023 and I said let’s do it, I’ve waited decades so what’s another 1.5 years.  At the final booking time, he said there was an international client cancellation and got me a slot for mid-April 2022. I paid my deposit and waited.  My quote was $27K for 2,000 grafts. 

So the lesson of this story is that you must interview several doctors and make sure they have a good reputation, good reviews, and above all else your “gut instinct” is comfortable with your selection.

 Lodging 

Dr. Konior’s office was in a suburb outside of Chicago.  They gave me several hotel choices close to the office, but my wife found a nice AirBnB house in Westmont, IL on a small lake, which made my stay very pleasant.  I couldn’t partake in lake activities during my recovery, but the view was way better than a hotel wall.  It was 4 miles and 10 minutes to the clinic.

This is the view from my bed looking out.

 

Day 0 

I was told to be at the office at 6:30. I woke up at 5AM, showered and cleaned up as instructed, had a healthy light breakfast as instructed, called an Uber, which came too early and I got to the clinic 20 minutes early.  At exactly 6:30, all the lady staff came, welcome me in, and were all very nice.  They know my name (of course, as I was the only patient that day.). Dr. Konior only sees 1 patient a day. 

I was told that the initial consult with Dr. Konior would take about 1.5 hours and it did.  Dr Konior explained to me how the day was going to go.  He’s a really easy-going guy.  We worked on my hairline design together until I’m happy.  He kept saying I’ll do whatever you want and I said “yeah, but you’re the pro so it’s gotta look good too.”  After some back and forth on hairline design, we were both happy.  They gave me some valium and I was off to the surgery room.  I love the valium, it gave me some much-needed sleep.

As you may know from reading this forum, Dr. Konior does everything himself assisted by his very capable techs.  He punched every donor hole and placed every graft with his own hands.  He pays special attention to natural placement and direction.  Direction and natural random placement are the keys to a natural hairline restoration.  This guy is an artist and really loves what he does.  The team with him was 3 women techs.  I think during graft implant there were 3 people working on my scalp, Dr. Konior and 2 techs, meticulously punch and implant, punch and implant, one graft at a time.  After I was done they put a gauze dressing over the back of my head to go home.  This way I don’t have to worry about soiling pillowcases, even though I was prepared with doggie pee pads 🙂

When I was done at 7PM, they said they put in 2159 grafts, even though my quote was for 2,000 grafts, they didn’t charge me any extra.  I think the extra charge for additional grafts in the contract is legalese for pain in the ass clients.  So don’t be a pain in the ass client and they will take care of you.

They didn’t lose any grafts, they used every last one.  Dr. Konior said I have a very strong donor area and strong reserve for the future.  So that was encouraging.

By the way, the office is nothing fancy and doesn’t look expensive, but comfortable.  This means you know you’re paying for the people, instead of expensive furniture or artwork which has nothing to do with the result of your hair transplant.  

As for post-op, I was totally prepared for battle to deal with pain, swelling and bleeding etc.  In my case, I felt no pain, no bleeding, except for a few minor spots in the donor area.  I asked if I needed to ice my forehead, and Neosporin my donor area.  Dr. Konior said, “Don’t worry, you’re fine.  Don’t do anything tonight except sleep upright, come back tomorrow and the girls will clean up.  If there’s swelling in your forehead and eyebrows, just wipe your brows with your fingers and push the fluids to the side.”  It was wise and effective advice.   I took advil the first day for prevention and that’s it.  

Thanks to Melvin’s suggestion for the neck pillow for sleeping upright.  For us newbies, it’s not so obvious how to sleep upright.  

 

 

 

 

 

  Day 1 

Went in for a clean-up and changed the donor area dressing.  Dr. Konior came in for a quick look shook my hand said I was looking good.  I agree!

 

 

Day 2

 

Happy Guy!

 

 

Looks very promising indeed. Thanks for the write-up, looking forward to your progress! 
 

are you on minox or fin? 
 

best of luck 

[sbguy01]

On 4/21/2022 at 7:53 PM, BuellerBueller said:

Congratulations! I have to agree, your writeup was extremely detailed and helpful. Thank you for that. What a crazy journey we are all experiencing with hair loss. Your quote was fantastic. It’s exactly how I feel (at 54). I looked in the mirror one day and finally said I’m done with this. I’m scheduled with Dr. K next month. Wish I had booked your ABB too! 🤣

Congrats to you my man!  You picked a great doctor.  Yeah, that ABB was awesome.  My wife booked it as soon as I had a surgery date. It gets booked fast!

My only regret, if you want to even call it that, is that I should've made my left hairline (right on the pictures) a bit lower.  While the left and right side is symmetrical from the top view, I feel like it should be a tad lower from the front view (where most pictures are taken).  Dr. K said that heads are not perfectly round cue balls, so it's tough to get symmetry in all direction.  However, I think it would've been no big deal if I asked him for a few millimeters lower on the left side.  

So a little tip for you... before you finalize your hairline, look at the picture on his or your camera and adjust for the "picture perfect" hairline (in your opinion) and not the "technical perfect" hairline in the doctors opinion.  After all, you're the one looking at it everyday 🙂. I'll see how my hairline looks when my hair grows out.  If I ever want a fix, it's probably just a 100 or so grafts.  

 

[sbguy01]

18 hours ago, yesplease said:

Looks very promising indeed. Thanks for the write-up, looking forward to your progress! 
 

are you on minox or fin? 
 

best of luck 

I am not on anything.  I've never used them before.  Dr. K said minox is optional.  But the instructions said it could get messy.  Seems like more "stuff" I have to do every day 🙂.  So going for organic growth for now.

Will post and update next week when I wash out the scabs. 

[Chetman2112]

@sbguy01How are you healing? Everything going well?

[sbguy01]

Day 13-15 Update

The way my scalp looked during week 1 of post-op, I thought I might get lucky and not get any crusting.  But no such luck with the low-humidity of where I live.  The dryness of itchy was really annoying and unbearable at times.  I finally followed post-op instructions and used Aquaphor Ointment Body Spray ( which was optional).  Upside - instant relief all day long from itchiness and helps separate the scabs from the scalp.  Downside - it's an ointment and leaves an oil waxy residue that sticks to the scabs and crust.  But, I just powered through it until week 2 when I can take a scalp massaging shower to remove the scab.

Day 13 came and I couldn't wait a day longer and took the long awaited de-scabbing shower.  I put conditioner on my scalp for 30 minutes then gently massaging the scab ointment loose under the shower.

Viola!  I fee like a new man and the grafts and scalp (although a bit numb at places) feel like a natural part of me.  My scalp is red, but that's expected.  However, with my natural dark hair, and darker natural scalp color, the redness isn't that bad. 

I did lose grafts along the way.  I think I probably lost 200 grafts by now.  But I learned from this forum and Dr. K that this normal, so I didn't freak out.  The grafts were supposed to fall out so the follicles can give birth to new and stronger hair.  

Here are some pix.  As you can see my crusting was not nearly as bad as other people.  

I've been debating whether I should use Rogaine (optional by Dr. K).  I still haven't done it.  Going to try the oh-nautural approach and see what happens before I slather chemicals on my scalp.

 

 

 

 

[sbguy01]

And the donor area today.