My Intro and story

[Radiomir]

Hello! I discovered this community a few years ago, and have found it to be an excellent resource. I decided to officially join recently as I’ve seriously started to consider hair restoration surgery. I wanted to jump on to share some info on my journey and hopefully get some input from more seasoned members. 
 

I’m in my mid 40’s, hairline started receding in my early 20’s. Never bothered me too much until I realized I was starting to “comb over” which is something I always cringed at when I saw folks doing it in my younger years. I also started to more closely examine the top and crown of my head using mirrors and realized I was thinner than I thought. Like anything, once I noticed and started monitoring my hair loss, it started bothering me a bit more each day. That said, throughout the years I have always looked in the mirror and thought “if the thinning stops now, I’ll be satisfied” .. only to gradually lose more and more. Although my dad and brother have thick full heads of hair, I have male pattern baldness on both sides of my family and have come to accept that I drew the short straw and will only lose more hair if I don’t do something about it now. 
 

I was always reluctant to get on meds, but after doing some research on recent studies, I’ve decided to start FIN/MIN to start the battle and hopefully slow or stop future hair loss. And for a more permanent solution, I’ve decided that I would like to pursue FUE and am strongly considering scheduling my procedure for December of this year. 
 

After realizing there are no recommended doctors in my area (Dallas), I decided first to have a consult at Advance Hair Restoration, just to get a feel for what a live consult was like and to benchmark. I’ve read on the forum that high marketing shops can be risky, but I thought I’d give them a shot as part of my research. I made an appointment and met with a sales guy who was not pushy, but spoke about their clinic, team, and surgeon as if it was God’s gift to man, he raved about his years of experience in the industry and how the Dr in this clinic was by far the best he’s ever seen. His too good to be true attitude was a turn off for me. I tried to research the doctor but found no reviews or info about him anywhere online. So I ruled this clinic out in favor of a forum recommended doctor. For context, Advance Hair quoted me 2200 grafts at $6.99/graft plus a ~$3K promo discount, bringing the price down to around $5.75/graft. 
 

I next had a virtual consult with Dr. Arocha in Houston (forum recommended doctor) who took the time to speak with me himself via FaceTime. I found his personality, patience and professionalism reassuring. He estimated ~2350 grafts at a price/graft comparable to Advance Hair pre their promotional discount. I’d like to speak to a few more clinics, and continue my research before I make a decision, but as of now, I’m strongly leaning toward booking my FUE procedure with Arocha in December. 
 

I have submitted photos to Hassan and Wong as well as Hairlines Bogota (I am a Colombian native) and am waiting to hear what they say. My barber and everyone with an opinion says I need to check out Turkey.. I am not opposed to traveling there (and plan to consult at least one or two clinics there), but my ultimate goal is to find the right doctor that will hopefully give me the most natural looking procedure regardless of cost and location. However, I don’t believe in spending more than necessary if I can find a comparable level of service and quality, so I’m keeping my mind open and will ultimately go with the doctor I feel the best about. 
 

Below are my photos. I welcome any feedback from those that have been at this a lot longer than I have. I know I have a lot to learn, but I feel like I’m all-in on doing this by the end of 2023. 
 

Thank in advance for any feedback and support!

[BackFromTheBrink]

Welcome to the forum!

Did they cover exactly which areas would be covered, the hairline design etc?

It seems like the numbers mentioned would tackle crown or hairline, but not both.

[A_4_Archan]

Hi welcome to the forum my friend ...good that you are doing your research and understand how the marketing lure patients....hasson and wong is top notch and you can easily go with them if you can afford them....and if you are open to travelling than you got many options in between 3 to 5 euro per graft...you can check out

Dr bisanga ,dr pinto ,dr Ferreira,dr de freitas ,dr pekiner ,dr couto,dr pittela, Eugenix clinic,ximena villa 

And if there is no budget issue than you can also check out Dr munib ahmad from fuegenix who is producing top notch results 

And good that you are on medication which would help you to stabilise your hairloss or slow down the progression 

Edited June 19, 2023 by A_4_Archan

[Radiomir]

9 hours ago, BackFromTheBrink said:

Welcome to the forum!

Did they cover exactly which areas would be covered, the hairline design etc?

It seems like the numbers mentioned would tackle crown or hairline, but not both.

Thanks for the welcome! Adv hair provided the attached — focus on restoring the hairline and front of the head. The rep said they would address the crown if possible, but I mentioned up front that my focus would be on the front. Dr. A had a similar approach but mentioned that it all depends on how many grafts they can safely extract and achieve a natural look without depleting the donor area. 

[Radiomir]

8 hours ago, A_4_Archan said:

Hi welcome to the forum my friend ...good that you are doing your research and understand how the marketing lure patients....hasson and wong is top notch and you can easily go with them if you can afford them....and if you are open to travelling than you got many options in between 3 to 5 euro per graft...you can check out

Dr bisanga ,dr pinto ,dr Ferreira,dr de freitas ,dr pekiner ,dr couto,dr pittela, Eugenix clinic,ximena villa 

And if there is no budget issue than you can also check out Dr munib ahmad from fuegenix who is producing top notch results 

And good that you are on medication which would help you to stabilise your hairloss or slow down the progression 

Thanks for the suggestions. I will look into them. 

[BackFromTheBrink]

1 hour ago, Radiomir said:

Thanks for the welcome! Adv hair provided the attached — focus on restoring the hairline and front of the head. The rep said they would address the crown if possible, but I mentioned up front that my focus would be on the front. Dr. A had a similar approach but mentioned that it all depends on how many grafts they can safely extract and achieve a natural look without depleting the donor area. 

Interesting. So they're proposing a relatively nature hairline and treating the hairline and midscalp. 

Presumably they'd assess the donor and consider a mega session (with 1500-2500 more grafts for the crown) or (preferably) do that in a second pass.

Alternatively, with a 5 euro budget I'd be tempted to go for Zarev and get the procedure done in one shot (though there's a 2 year waiting list).

 

Edited June 19, 2023 by BackFromTheBrink

[Hairboy67]

Before you choose to have surgery, please give medication a chance to improve your hair. Doing so will probably improve/ fill your crown and the quality of your existing hair. There are a lot of options. Some guys have had good results with oral minoxidil or finasteride. Some including myself have been experimenting with topical Dutasteride. After 6 months, reevaluate and then decide if you want to proceed with surgery.  Dr. Arocha seems like a good doctor, but I would meet with him personally and ask to see some of his patients results that most resemble yours. Best of luck.