NEED ADVICE: Hair Transplant for Black Women (HELP)

[hvmxx]

Hi Everyone,

My whole life, I've always had a big forehead and high hair line (East African genes). I've also had some hair loss to the front of my hair do to tight braids and things like that.

I have paid a $1,000 deposit and I have my hair transplant procedure scheduled with Dr.Diep for Feb 1st 2023.

Type of Procedure: Hair Transplant (FUT)

Number of Grafts: #2,500

 

However, I know it will be so difficult for me to pay it and I would have to go into some debt. I also live in Canada so with the conversation rate, it would cost me 20k all together.

I'm open to traveling to Turkey to get this procedure done but I'm not sure which clinic to go to. I seen a lot of black women go to Longevita and get good results. I just don't want to take any chances. I cant afford to fall into a deeper depression regarding my hair. If they mess it up, it will really affect me negatively.

 

If anyone has any suggestions, I would GREATLY APPRECIATE IT.

 

[HappyMan2021]

Bisanga or Mwamba are the docs for you. 

How did you end up getting booked with Diep? He seems super random for your patient profile.

IMO you are definitely going to be paying above 20k with either Bisanga or Mwamba. Unfortunately I do think it will take 2 (or more)surgeries for you to be truly satisfied (and that will be another 10k+ or more, etc)

You may go deeply into debt, but having peace of mind that your hair is in good hands is priceless. 

To put it another way, can you afford to be botched?

Edited September 13, 2022 by HappyMan2021

[hvmxx]

I ended up booking with Dr.Diep because I was so depressed and emotional. I didn't even think it through properly. I just saw his videos on youtube and liked how he did some of these women.

Everyone keeps recommending to go to Dr.Bisanga or Mwamba but they are in Europe and it would cost more right?

I cant really find much of their work on youtube esp on black women.

Btw does Dr.Diep do botched work?

[HairRun]

On 9/12/2022 at 7:45 PM, hvmxx said:

I ended up booking with Dr.Diep because I was so depressed and emotional. I didn't even think it through properly. I just saw his videos on youtube and liked how he did some of these women.

Everyone keeps recommending to go to Dr.Bisanga or Mwamba but they are in Europe and it would cost more right?

I cant really find much of their work on youtube esp on black women.

Btw does Dr.Diep do botched work?

 

When I was doing research for the best doctor for my particular case, I also noticed that Dr Mwamba and Dr Bisanga have a ton of experience with black hair. Dr Mwamba has an Atlanta clinic but I believe his Brussels clinic is much cheaper than it, so you may end up saving money even after spending the extra money to fly to Europe. Dr Mwamba only has FUE prices but ask him if he could do FUT for you for cheaper. I believe flying to either of them, even with price of plane tickets and hotel, might be cheaper than Dr Diep because he is one of the most expensive. 

I had my first procedure with Dr Diep and I would not recommend him. A lot of parts about my procedure were universally criticized by not only people on this forum, but nearly every single hair transplant surgeon or their representative that I consulted with. I had my procedure a long time ago, but I have been searching his recent reviews too and he seems to be doing the same things recently what he did to me. One that sticks out in my head is that I saw he was using inexperienced staff to handle the grafts and implant them, which may have caused some of the issues myself and others experienced. 

I posted the parts he worked on a while back

 

Also Dr Mwamba also criticized Dr Diep's work when he was doing live consultations for the live question and answering session . I'm not sure if the time stamps will work for the embed but go to 55 minutes into it

 

I very recently had the work repaired and wrote an early review of it 

 

Like Dr Mwamba said, the work was so bad they actually had to remove the grafts they implanted, and replant them elsewhere. I often see this type of procedure causes permanent and noticeable scarring to the skin, but luckily I went to the best in the world and 12 days out and it's already really hard to notice the difference. 

Edited September 14, 2022 by HairRun

[Gatsby]

5 hours ago, hvmxx said:

I cant afford to fall into a deeper depression regarding my hair. If they mess it up, it will really affect me negatively.

I suggest you take your time and look at more results by surgeons on Afrocentric females that are excellent and similar to your goals you want to achieve. Diep could be the man for your situation but remember that this is for life. Everyday you wake up and look in the mirror you will be reminded of this. Did Diep tell you the cause of your hair loss? Traction alopecia? Androgenetic alopecia?, etc? It's always best to consult with several different surgeons once you have narrowed it down to a few. There is no rush and if you lose that $1k deposit it could end up being the best $1K you spent in the long run. If you are not sure, or currently in a depressed state it may help to put the surgery on the shelf and talk with a counselor first to get you back into a position to make these type of decisions. I wish you all the best in which ever path you choose.

[hvmxx]

8 hours ago, HairRun said:

 

When I was doing research for the bet doctor for my particular case, I also noticed that Dr Mwamba and Dr Bisanga have a ton of experience with black hair. Dr Mwamba has an Atlanta clinic but I believe his Brussels clinic is much cheaper than it you may end up saving money spending the extra money to fly to Europe. Dr Mwamba only has FUE prices but ask him if he could do FUT for you for cheaper. I believe flying to either of them, even with price of plane tickets and hotel, might be cheaper than Dr Diep because he is one of the most expensive. 

I had my first procedure with Dr Diep and I would not recommend him. A lot of parts about my procedure were universally criticized by not only people on this forum, but nearly every single hair transplant surgeon or their representative that I consulted with. I had my procedure a long time ago, but I have been searching his recent reviews too and he seems to be doing the same things recently what he did to me. One that sticks out in my head is that I saw he was using inexperienced staff to handle the grafts and implant them, which may have caused some of the issues myself and others experienced. 

I posted the parts he worked on a while back

 

Also Dr Mwamba also criticized Dr Diep's work when he was doing live consultations for the live question and answering session . I'm not sure if the time stamps will work for the embed but go to 55 minutes into it

 

I very recently had the work repaired and wrote an early review of it 

 

Like Dr Mwamba said, the work was so bad they actually had to remove the grafts they implanted, and replant them elsewhere. I often see this type of procedure causes permanent and noticeable scarring to the skin, but luckily I went to the best in the world and 12 days out and it's already really hard to notice the difference. 

Wow thank you for this detailed response. I just booked a consultation with Dr.Mwamba. I didn't know that Dr. Diep was botching peoples hair, esp for the price he quotes. I'm glad to see you are doing better. I will keep you updated

 

Wishing you all the best!

 

[hvmxx]

8 hours ago, Gatsby said:

I suggest you take your time and look at more results by surgeons on Afrocentric females that are excellent and similar to your goals you want to achieve. Diep could be the man for your situation but remember that this is for life. Everyday you wake up and look in the mirror you will be reminded of this. Did Diep tell you the cause of your hair loss? Traction alopecia? Androgenetic alopecia?, etc? It's always best to consult with several different surgeons once you have narrowed it down to a few. There is no rush and if you lose that $1k deposit it could end up being the best $1K you spent in the long run. If you are not sure, or currently in a depressed state it may help to put the surgery on the shelf and talk with a counselor first to get you back into a position to make these type of decisions. I wish you all the best in which ever path you choose.

Thank you so much for your response and kindness.

My hair loss is a combination of genetics and traction alopecia.

And I agree with you. Better to loose $1,000 then to loose more. I have a consultation scheduled with Dr. Muwamba which is an expert on afro hair and talk to other doctors as well.

 

 

 

[Melvin- Admin]

Dr. Diep gets it right for afro hair. Look up a few reviews here @Norman Osborne Waves @Gmoney415 @MillenialHT 

That said, if you can’t travel take a look at Hasson and Wong and Dr. Rahal, there’s also Dr. Nakatsui all in Canada. 

Use our list as a starting point for research:

https://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/best-hair-transplant-surgeons

[hvmxx]

Thank you so much for the help Melvin! Glad to see how great your transplant went for you 😃

[Fue3361]

All the recommendations in here are pretty solid.

 

Personally, I would not go with Dr. Diep, as I am not a fan of certain things he does (cornrows patters of implantations particularly).

 

If budget is a real problem, you can also look at Mexico.  Dr. Nader is very good, as well as HMR, and they’re both much cheaper than Canada or The USA. 

[Rahal Hair Transplant]

Hvmxx,

While it’s more rare to see women list in this forum, the truth is, women experience hair loss too. In fact, traction alopecia is quite common in African American females due to common tight braiding hairstyles.

I know hair loss can be highly emotional especially for women. However in my opinion, please take your time and research all your options and surgeons before undergoing surgery. My comments are not specific to the surgeon you’ve chosen, but if you were decision was strictly emotional then I would take a step back and make sure your decision is based on research and how impressed you are with that particular surgeon after looking at more than a couple videos.  

now I believe you said something about putting up with that was not deposit down. I understand I put you in a bit more of a situation. That said, if you are really having second thoughts I think you owe it to yourself to discuss that with the surgeon you selected and try to get the deposit back.  You may end up choosing him again after you do more research if that’s what you decide however, it’s important to be confident in your decision before proceeding.

I think you will find this community helpful and while there are many more men on this form than women, we all share the same common goals and condition that affects us.  and at the end of the day, the solutions are all quite similar.

I will share this with you which is what I share with everybody considering her transplant surgery. Below are the steps I always just everybody go through when  researching and selecting a surgeon.

——

How to Select an outstanding hair transplant surgeon. 

1.  Start by looking at the surgeons recommended by this community, in particular the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians.  Surgeons recommended by this community have met a demanding set of standards and are approved based on meeting those high standards.  Many online hair surgeon memberships don’t have any criteria other than to pay a membership fee.  Furthermore, physician members of the coalition have met an even higher and more demanding set of standards and have proven to be amongst the best of the best in the profession.

2. Now even amongst a list of outstanding surgeons, not all surgeons are created equally. Therefore, while it’s tempting to select a surgeon based on price or location, try to avoid this as many individuals travel great distances to undergo surgery with an elite surgeon they are most impressed with. Thus choose a surgeon based on their proven ability to produce outstanding results rather than because of cost or location.

3. Narrow your selection down to 3 to 5 surgeons you are most impressed with.  You can do this by using this discussion forum and others to view examples of patient results posted by both the clinic and their patients.  Speak with and meet with real patients in person if possible. If not, video chat works pretty well.

4. Come up with a list of consult questions to ask each surgeon/clinic you are considering. I’ve created several different posts on this forum with good questions to ask doctors.  If you need help coming up with a list of good questions, please let me know.

5. Consult with each doctor you are considering and ultimately, choose the surgeon you feel can best meet your goals.

——-

Also, I believe you said that you were in Canada. I’m not sure exactly where but I know you were concerned about conversion rates by undergoing surgery in the United States. Dr. Rahal is located in Ottawa, Canada so if you were interested in a no obligation one on one information session, feel free to send me a private message and I can speak with you more about that and get that set up for you. Keep in mind there is no obligation but it might help provide you with some more information before you make a final decision.  Dr. Rahal also has a lot of experience transplanting hair on African Americans.  

I hope this helps  

Rahal Hair Transplant