Eugenix, Devroye, or Mwamba for my beard-to-beard plus hairline FUE?

[BeardHopeful]

Hi All,

Would love your advice on making a big decision!

I’m in my late 20s, and I would like to increase the density of my beard on my cheeks. I have tried minoxidil for a year with very few results (see my previous post at the bottom). I also have NW2 recession on my scalp, and I would like to fill in my corners to improve my hairline. To increase beard density, I plan to have a beard-to-beard transplant performed, taking beard hair from my neck and moving it to my cheeks. To fill in my scalp corners, I plan to have FUE to my hairline from the back of my head. To clarify, no beard-to-scalp or scalp-to-beard is needed here. I’m looking for a doc who can do both the beard and hairline during the same visit.

I’ve considered the following docs: Eugenix (Dr. Das or Dr. Bansal), Dr. Mwamba, Drs. True and Dorin, Dr. Sanusi Umar, Dr Barghouthi, Dr. Konior, Dr. Devroye, and Dr. Bruno Ferreira. It’s not too common to see beard-to-beard work from most docs, so that was a major limiting factor in my search.

I’ve narrowed it down to Eugenix (Dr. Das or Dr. Bansal), Dr. Jean Devroye, and Dr. Mwamba based on expertise and cost.

For my beard, the docs have recommended between 700 to 1500 grafts. For my hairline, the docs have recommended between 1500 and 2500 FUE grafts. This strikes me as a relatively large amount of variation, but maybe that’s normal? You all are welcome to provide your own opinions on how many grafts seem reasonable. I generally lean toward more is better.

 

So far I’ve met with Dr. Arika Bansal and Dr. Jean Devroye.

My impressions:

Devroye: The only HT doc I’ve talked to who was actually on time for the appointment. He struck me as easy to talk to, patient, and transparent.

Bansal: We had to reschedule our initial appointment, but no big deal. She seemed very busy, knowledgeable, and focused. Was happy to go into details.

 

I’ve put together the below price per graft from each of them (this includes taxes)

Devroye beard: $6.60

Devroye FUE scalp: $6.10

 

Eugenix beard: $4.50

Eugenix FUE scalp with Dr. Das: $2.70

Eugenix FUE scalp with Dr. Bansal: $4.00

 

Dr. Mwamba beard: $8.00

Dr. Mwamba FUE scalp: $4.00

 

Do you think there’s a clear benefit to picking one of these docs for this work? I believe they all get similarly great results. If price is the only remaining factor, then Eugenix is the best deal. Do any of you think I’ll regret not picking Devroye or Mwamba?

If you think I can’t go wrong with any of them, I’m also happy to hear that.

Thank you for reading

 

Previous post: 

 

[Gatsby]

Personally I've found (at least in my case and others who I know) that one's beard doesn't really peak until around 40. That's just my opinion. I would also look at Dr Bisanga as well. Eugenix are brilliant in the use of beard hair in high Norwood patients but I don't think I have seen any beard to beard results from them. I would be influenced by a surgeon's number of results (and their naturalness) and not the price. Dr Bargouthi has shared beard transplant results that look great but I'm not sure if they were beard to beard results. Keep researching and all the best!

[Rafael Manelli]

3 hours ago, Gatsby said:

Personally I've found (at least in my case and others who I know) that one's beard doesn't really peak until around 40

This is true, but some men may want a fuller beard before then. And you might get to 40 and it’s still not thick enough so you feel like you’ve wasted 20 years waiting when you could have just got surgery decades ago.

[Rafael Manelli]

Beard graft quotes vary a lot because surgeons have different ideas of where they’d draw the lines. If you mark out the areas you want filled in it would help with graft numbers.

Be careful when drawing the cheek line, and filling in anything under the lower lip.

[NegativeNorwood]

Very nice thread, and very informative. Beard to beard transplants are seldom seen or discussed here.

I would go to Mwamba, IMO he's the better surgeon for scalp FUE and also has the best beard to beard transplant results I've seen to date. I've made a post about beards btw, this is it:

I'm on oral minoxidil first to see if it makes a difference (at the moment I'm seeing some difference, but too early to tell, as only 3 weeks have passed) if it doesn't I'll also get a beard to beard transplant in the future.

Edited April 20, 2023 by NegativeNorwood

[A_4_Archan]

Oral minoxidil will make some difference but i dont think that the difference will be so great that you eill drop the idea of surgery ...i am taking oral minoxidil since long and i have got some good result on beard bt not that much...dr mwamba will always be a first choice...

[mr_peanutbutter]

are you on medication? i see a lot of miniaturized hairs in your hairline. all these littlr hairs in the front are about to go

[BeardHopeful]

Thanks all for your thoughts. Mwamba's reputation is so strong in this community. A good reminder for me. 

In terms of medication, I have been on 1mg finasteride for a few years. In the past 2 months, I started oral minoxidil at 1.25mg a day. That has caused a bit of shedding. Before that, I tried topical minoxidil but it gave me awful flakes, even the foam. So I've decided to give oral minoxidil a shot. That may explain some of those miniaturized hairs at my hairline. They seem stable, but I guess we'll see...

I'll take a look at the post that NegativeNorwood linked. Good to see some more discussion of beard-to-beard transplants.

[NegativeNorwood]

11 hours ago, BeardHopeful said:

Thanks all for your thoughts. Mwamba's reputation is so strong in this community. A good reminder for me. 

In terms of medication, I have been on 1mg finasteride for a few years. In the past 2 months, I started oral minoxidil at 1.25mg a day. That has caused a bit of shedding. Before that, I tried topical minoxidil but it gave me awful flakes, even the foam. So I've decided to give oral minoxidil a shot. That may explain some of those miniaturized hairs at my hairline. They seem stable, but I guess we'll see...

I'll take a look at the post that NegativeNorwood linked. Good to see some more discussion of beard-to-beard transplants.

 

Try 5mg oral minoxidil per day for a year, 1.25 (and 2.5mg) is too low AFAIK. Take them at night so in the rare case you have any side effect, it occurs while you sleep so you don't notice it. I'm on 1mg oral fin + 5mg oral minox per day with 0 side effects. I started 3 weeks ago, so too early to draw conclusions yet, but I'm starting to see fuller eyebrows and stronger beard hairs, so it is promising.

[MinBeard]

Hi,

Dr. Devroye looks like he has excellent results with this procedure! Were the prices quoted including the exorbitant 25% Belgian VAT tax?