Senior Member HappyMan2021 Posted July 20, 2023 Senior Member Share Posted July 20, 2023 Hey all, I just finished up my 3rd repair surgery with Dr. Mwamba. I had 1000+ bad angles to start with and Dr. Mwamba has essentially removed all of them over the course of these 3 repairs. The bad news is that, by extracting so many bad angles from my scalp, even though I am no longer in the "repair patient" camp, Dr. Mwamba predicted my right corner/temple will be around 35 cm/2 and left corner/temple around 45 cm/2 density. Dr. Mwamba said I have 1500 grafts left in my donor area and said he seemed super confident this would be enough to dense pack for a final surgery. However, the issue I have is that while Dr. Mwamba is skilled in many things (bad angles, donor management, repairs in general) - he has had a consistent string of poor results when it comes to density. Many non-repair patients have lately reported really poor density with him. I honestly don't think I can trust Dr. Mwamba if the #1 goal of surgery is high density, given these recent cases. So, while I enjoyed Dr. Mwamba for his repair abilities and getting rid of my bad angles, I am seeking a new doctor for my next surgery, which will essentially be a straightforward dense packing of the temples using 1500 grafts. Essentially: my question is who are the best doctors when it comes to consistent, straightforward, no-frill, dense packing? In terms of pricing, 1500 grafts will be at play (that is literally all I have left in my donor area), and I'd say the top limit of my budget is $10-15k (so sorry to Dr. Konior or any other absurdly high-priced doctor really.) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Big Rome Posted July 20, 2023 Senior Member Share Posted July 20, 2023 DR Freitas & DR Couto (Spain) DR Pinto & DR Ferreira (Portugal) DR Munib Ahmed (Holland) DR Konior (USA) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valued Contributor A_4_Archan Posted July 20, 2023 Valued Contributor Share Posted July 20, 2023 Dr munib ahmad ,dr pinto,dr Ferreira ,dr couto ,dr de freitas, dr sethi Check Out My Hair Transplant Journey --> My Thread 3611 FUE Grafts With Dr Kongkiat Laorwong | Norwood 5 | 2nd May 2023 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member asterix0 Posted July 20, 2023 Senior Member Share Posted July 20, 2023 Dude, think about what you are saying. You only have 1.5k donor supply left, and you want to dense pack your temples? What if you go norwood 6 slick bald? You will look completely foolish with a dense pack hairline and temples and nothing behind it. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member HappyMan2021 Posted July 20, 2023 Author Senior Member Share Posted July 20, 2023 (edited) 14 minutes ago, asterix0 said: Dude, think about what you are saying. You only have 1.5k donor supply left, and you want to dense pack your temples? What if you go norwood 6 slick bald? You will look completely foolish with a dense pack hairline and temples and nothing behind it. I totally get what you are saying. If it helps clarify, while I do not have confidence with Mwamba in terms of his density/dense-packing abilities, I do have confidence in his surgical ethics and donor management. He himself said he saw no problem utilizing the rest of the 1500 grafts to dense pack. I am a NW3, have been on Dutasteride for years, with no further hair loss. Mwamba did say that there is always a possibility that a decade or decades from now, I may get a tolerance to Dut and/or if my native central forelock weakens (currently its super strong), then I may need another HT. But in that case there is always beard or body hair 🤷♂️ Idk, Mwamba did also say he thought there was a "50%" chance I would be satisfied with this mediocre density he is currently predicting. But just knowing myself, how many surgeries total I've been through so far (6!!!) all the agonizing stress and cost, I just dont see myself being happy going through all this effort for sub-par density. Essentially - While I am critical of Mwamba in a number of aspects, I don't think he would have recommended using the remaining 1500 grafts if he truly thought it would cause donor issues in the future. Edited July 20, 2023 by HappyMan2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member asterix0 Posted July 20, 2023 Senior Member Share Posted July 20, 2023 39 minutes ago, HappyMan2021 said: I totally get what you are saying. If it helps clarify, while I do not have confidence with Mwamba in terms of his density/dense-packing abilities, I do have confidence in his surgical ethics and donor management. He himself said he saw no problem utilizing the rest of the 1500 grafts to dense pack. I am a NW3, have been on Dutasteride for years, with no further hair loss. Mwamba did say that there is always a possibility that a decade or decades from now, I may get a tolerance to Dut and/or if my native central forelock weakens (currently its super strong), then I may need another HT. But in that case there is always beard or body hair 🤷♂️ Idk, Mwamba did also say he thought there was a "50%" chance I would be satisfied with this mediocre density he is currently predicting. But just knowing myself, how many surgeries total I've been through so far (6!!!) all the agonizing stress and cost, I just dont see myself being happy going through all this effort for sub-par density. Essentially - While I am critical of Mwamba in a number of aspects, I don't think he would have recommended using the remaining 1500 grafts if he truly thought it would cause donor issues in the future. I mean, look always think for yourself first, no matter the credentials of whom you are speaking with. Read up on the appeal to authority fallacy. Are you sure you will be on dutasteride for the rest of your life? Are you sure it will continue to hold your hair? It probably will to be honest, it is much stronger than finasteride. But it is still a serious consideration to think about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member HappyMan2021 Posted July 20, 2023 Author Senior Member Share Posted July 20, 2023 1 minute ago, asterix0 said: I mean, look always think for yourself first, no matter the credentials of whom you are speaking with. Read up on the appeal to authority fallacy. Are you sure you will be on dutasteride for the rest of your life? Are you sure it will continue to hold your hair? It probably will to be honest, it is much stronger than finasteride. But it is still a serious consideration to think about. yea totally, I get you. I havent even begun the doctor consult process for this, but remaining donor availability is certainly something I will 100% bring up with all doctors. I also personally have no clue, but perhaps the remaining 1500 grafts wouldn't all need to be used up. Because this isn't operating on bald areas - ex. going from 0 cm/2 to 50cm/2. Its instead just boosting density by 20cm/2 or so. But yea, its alot to think about. And yes, absolutely at the end of day, I know the Gods honest truth is none of these doctors will care about me long-term as long as they have my money. Its up to me alone to navigate the risks and future outlook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Yan bio Posted July 20, 2023 Regular Member Share Posted July 20, 2023 How can such a top surgeon not be good in dense packing? You sure about that?🤔 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member RTC Posted July 20, 2023 Senior Member Share Posted July 20, 2023 2 hours ago, Big Rome said: DR Freitas & DR Couto (Spain) DR Pinto & DR Ferreira (Portugal) DR Munib Ahmed (Holland) DR Konior (USA) Munib Ahmed charges circa 20k. Scrap him and Konior from that list. Co sign the first four. 2 Hattingen September 2023 - Punchouts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member hairywannabe Posted July 20, 2023 Regular Member Share Posted July 20, 2023 27 minutes ago, Yan bio said: How can such a top surgeon not be good in dense packing? You sure about that?🤔 @Yan bio Well, we have some cases on the forum that were not satisfying for patients who had procedure with Mwamba:https://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/topic/67566-repair-procedure-7-months-can-i-expect-much-more/https://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/topic/63234-dr-patrick-mwamba-fue-clinic-1300-grafts-5th-6th-of-july-2021https://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/topic/65602-dr-mwambas-fue-2200-grafts-work-7-months-review/https://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/topic/64494-dr-mwamba-june-2022-asli-tarcan-botch-job-repair Even some representative cases are not that dense:https://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/topic/33417-my-whtc-dr-mwamba-3585-grafts-by-fit-shaven-6months-post-op/https://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/topic/40267-my-whtc-dr-mwamba-2041-grafts-fue-by-fit-shaven/ (the left corner) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member HappyMan2021 Posted July 20, 2023 Author Senior Member Share Posted July 20, 2023 (edited) 45 minutes ago, Yan bio said: How can such a top surgeon not be good in dense packing? You sure about that?🤔 Pretty sure....I've only been operated on by Mwamba 3x now 🤷♂️ There are also a significant number of threads - both on here and Reddit - of people who have gotten surprisingly poor density from Mwamba. I'm not even talking about complex repair cases either. These are straightforward, run-of-the-mill 1st timers who have gotten poor density Just because a doctor is considered "elite" in one or some areas of hair transplants does not mean they are elite across the board in every single aspect of surgery. For example, I have no clue what you do for work, but whatever you do, I'm sure there are some job tasks you are much better at than others. Most people are not "amazing" in every single aspect of their job. Some things you are better at, some things you are worse at. Edited July 20, 2023 by HappyMan2021 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Yan bio Posted July 20, 2023 Regular Member Share Posted July 20, 2023 Of course, you’re right, it’s just that I considered ‘dense packing’/‘relatively dense packing’ as something that every decent surgeon is able to achieve .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member HappyMan2021 Posted July 20, 2023 Author Senior Member Share Posted July 20, 2023 (edited) 14 minutes ago, hairywannabe said: Well, we have some cases on the forum that were not satisfying for patients who had procedure with Mwamba: thank you for providing these. Also stating for anyone reading that these cases are not like spread out over a 10 year period. A lot of low-yield cases have been in the last year. This is a consistent pattern. There is even a case of cobblestoning from Mwamba, which is incredibly disturbing coming from a repair doctor. For me personally, I can't risk investing my last remaining 1500 donor grafts and gambling their survivability with such a questionable track record. Edited July 20, 2023 by HappyMan2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Big Rome Posted July 20, 2023 Senior Member Share Posted July 20, 2023 2 hours ago, RTC said: Munib Ahmed charges circa 20k. Scrap him and Konior from that list. Co sign the first four. didn’t see the budget bit at the bottom, great spot, defo scrap the bottom 2 🤣 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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