I'm a Norwood 3, who do you think would be the best surgeon for my case? Currently considering Laorwong and Konior but open to suggestions!

[Norwood311]

I am willing to consider any surgeon on earth, I want the best possible result so price isn't really a factor to me. However, as far as I can tell most of the benefits of higher priced surgeons aren't really seen at my Norwood level. I'm only Norwood 3, which is still pretty bad, but I don't have diffuse thinning so essentially all I need is hairline work and possibly some upper temple restoration, but even that doesn't need to be perfect as I tend to wear my hair long in the front.

Dr Laorwong is generally considered very good, the only somewhat negative reviews I've seen are from 5 or 6 years ago. But he's also way, way cheaper than Konior, like 1/4 the cost, which does make me think the quality is just going to be worse. Even if I get 3000 or more grafts (and he thinks I need less, more like 2500) it still would be well under 10k, which is far less than Konior or FUEgenix (Dr Ahmed I think?). However, I can actually get in with Laorwong. Guys like Couto or Pekiner aren't even taking new patients apparently. The higher priced guys like Konior can always get you in too, the real benefit with Konior is I wouldn't need to travel as far as I live in the US. But would there be any benefit? Could I get better angulation, more growth, or less scarring going to Konior?

The main things I want are relatively high density (AT LEAST 50 hairs per cm^2), good hairline design, and possibly some temple restoration, but mostly high up, close to the hairline. And I would definitely prefer FUE over FUT, but maybe FUT is better for me? Not sure

What do you guys think? Is a more expensive surgeon worth it? Even if it's only 50% percent better, I think that's worth paying more because this is something that I want to last my whole life and I don't want some messed up donor region. Konior generally has very good outcomes, especially for guys like me and almost zero scarring. 

Frankly I think these are very comparable results. Maybe the photos are too low resolution but I don't see a major difference. If anything I think Laorwong's results look a bit better, and the photos are higher resolution. But Laorwong does a TON of surgeries, I worry he may be inconsistent, but I haven't seen any evidence he is. 

https://hairtransplantnetwork.com/dr-kongiat-laorwong/patient/hairline-restoration-fue-2540-grafts-7-months-post-op

https://hairtransplantnetwork.com/dr-raymond-konior/patient/raymond-konior-md-chicago-hair-institute-2884-graft-hairline-restoration

Is Konior really worth paying 25 thousand dollars more? I just don't know. But the idea of going outside the US for surgery is definitely odd to me. I mean what if I have complications and need to go back? Not exactly and easy thing to do.

 

[jjalay]

If money is not an issue i would go with konior, he produces the best results that i have seen for cases like yours with almost half of the grafts that other doctors are using. You need around 2000 grafts so for this amount of grafts better to go with fue and not fut.

Second in my list for hairline work like yours would be couto. He has a long waiting list but he is cheaper and work is up there with konior.

[Norwood311]

21 minutes ago, jjalay said:

If money is not an issue i would go with konior, he produces the best results that i have seen for cases like yours with almost half of the grafts that other doctors are using. You need around 2000 grafts so for this amount of grafts better to go with fue and not fut.

Second in my list for hairline work like yours would be couto. He has a long waiting list but he is cheaper and work is up there with konior.

Do you have some examples of cases like mine Konior has done? Or Couto? I understand the idea of wanting to use fewer overall grafts, but at the same time you can't ever achieve true density unless you use more. How dense do you think Konior would make my hairline? I'll try and schedule a consult with him soon. Also, would Nadimi be worth considering, or should I just go with Konior? Thanks 

Edited December 16, 2023 by Norwood311

[jjalay]

23 minutes ago, Norwood311 said:

Do you have some examples of cases like mine Konior has done? Or Couto? I understand the idea of wanting to use fewer overall grafts, but at the same time you can't ever achieve true density unless you use more. How dense do you think Konior would make my hairline? I'll try and schedule a consult with him soon. Also, would Nadimi be worth considering, or should I just go with Konior? Thanks 

Do a research in this forum and you will find many cases similar to yours from konior. For couto you will find many cases in his youtube channel like yours. It doesnt have to do only with the number of grafts used to achieve good density. It also has to do with the survival rate and if the clinic knows how to split grafts properly to create more singles for the hairline. If money is no issue between konior and nadimi i would definitely choose konior. Couto would be my second choice and after that dr Laorwong.

[Hairy Henderson]

If you can afford Konior, go there.  He’s magnificent.

 

Laorwong seems good but not Konior level

[UKLad81]

I second / third Konior as well. If you can afford his fees he would definitely be the one - hands down and i mean no disrespect to the other surgeon, his work is very good also. If its hairline work you are doing Konior is probably the best - very natural hairlines and dense and he can do wonders with less grafts.

Dr Cooley is another one you could consider also in the USA over in Charlotte - very ethical doctor and does some really decent hairline work.

If you would consider Europe i personally really like some of the work from Pinto and Ferreria and there is another i just cant remember the name right now. 

[gillenator]

You have very good hair quality and you also are correct that you have more of a recessionary pattern of loss…however, anyone who has MPB will have some degree of diffusion, some more than others.

Having said this, a big factor of your case has to do with your wide color contrast with that black hair on a fair complexion…the high visual impact area is your frontal zone and so every graft must be carefully selected, positioned, and “anguled” perfectly or the result may not look aesthetically natural…the first several rows of your hairline should have a somewhat thinner caliber with the grafts behind them gaining caliber to better achieve the illusion of density…remember, it’s the illusion that can be achieved without having to dense pack when individuals like yourself have optimal hair quality.

Both surgeons that you are considering do top notch work but I highly recommend that whoever you are considering, look at as many mature results with patients that have as similar hair characteristics as you.

Lastly, I feel some surgeons are sorely overpriced and again, by comparing results, there are other very talented FUE surgeons who can give you an awesome result without paying those exorbitant fees!…just put in the time researching the top established talented FUE surgeons who have the track records and documented results.

[Norwood311]

1 hour ago, gillenator said:

You have very good hair quality and you also are correct that you have more of a recessionary pattern of loss…however, anyone who has MPB will have some degree of diffusion, some more than others.

Having said this, a big factor of your case has to do with your wide color contrast with that black hair on a fair complexion…the high visual impact area is your frontal zone and so every graft must be carefully selected, positioned, and “anguled” perfectly or the result may not look aesthetically natural…the first several rows of your hairline should have a somewhat thinner caliber with the grafts behind them gaining caliber to better achieve the illusion of density…remember, it’s the illusion that can be achieved without having to dense pack when individuals like yourself have optimal hair quality.

Both surgeons that you are considering do top notch work but I highly recommend that whoever you are considering, look at as many mature results with patients that have as similar hair characteristics as you.

Lastly, I feel some surgeons are sorely overpriced and again, by comparing results, there are other very talented FUE surgeons who can give you an awesome result without paying those exorbitant fees!…just put in the time researching the top established talented FUE surgeons who have the track records and documented results.

I appreciate your input but I wish you could have been more specific as to which surgeons I should be considering or who you think would do the best job on me.  I feel kind of overwhelmed, I don't really know who is truly better or who is just hype. Even Konior has some patients that are upset with their results so I really don't know which surgeon to trust. 

Edited December 17, 2023 by Norwood311

[Belve]

13 hours ago, Norwood311 said:

I am willing to consider any surgeon on earth, I want the best possible result so price isn't really a factor to me. However, as far as I can tell most of the benefits of higher priced surgeons aren't really seen at my Norwood level. I'm only Norwood 3, which is still pretty bad, but I don't have diffuse thinning so essentially all I need is hairline work and possibly some upper temple restoration, but even that doesn't need to be perfect as I tend to wear my hair long in the front.

Dr Laorwong is generally considered very good, the only somewhat negative reviews I've seen are from 5 or 6 years ago. But he's also way, way cheaper than Konior, like 1/4 the cost, which does make me think the quality is just going to be worse. Even if I get 3000 or more grafts (and he thinks I need less, more like 2500) it still would be well under 10k, which is far less than Konior or FUEgenix (Dr Ahmed I think?). However, I can actually get in with Laorwong. Guys like Couto or Pekiner aren't even taking new patients apparently. The higher priced guys like Konior can always get you in too, the real benefit with Konior is I wouldn't need to travel as far as I live in the US. But would there be any benefit? Could I get better angulation, more growth, or less scarring going to Konior?

The main things I want are relatively high density (AT LEAST 50 hairs per cm^2), good hairline design, and possibly some temple restoration, but mostly high up, close to the hairline. And I would definitely prefer FUE over FUT, but maybe FUT is better for me? Not sure

What do you guys think? Is a more expensive surgeon worth it? Even if it's only 50% percent better, I think that's worth paying more because this is something that I want to last my whole life and I don't want some messed up donor region. Konior generally has very good outcomes, especially for guys like me and almost zero scarring. 

Frankly I think these are very comparable results. Maybe the photos are too low resolution but I don't see a major difference. If anything I think Laorwong's results look a bit better, and the photos are higher resolution. But Laorwong does a TON of surgeries, I worry he may be inconsistent, but I haven't seen any evidence he is. 

https://hairtransplantnetwork.com/dr-kongiat-laorwong/patient/hairline-restoration-fue-2540-grafts-7-months-post-op

https://hairtransplantnetwork.com/dr-raymond-konior/patient/raymond-konior-md-chicago-hair-institute-2884-graft-hairline-restoration

Is Konior really worth paying 25 thousand dollars more? I just don't know. But the idea of going outside the US for surgery is definitely odd to me. I mean what if I have complications and need to go back? Not exactly and easy thing to do.

 

Both surgeons are great. Their price difference is huge though, so if I had to choose I would go to laorwong who is also safe choice but with much less cost. Otherwise I would look to other surgeons in Europe such as Ferreira, pinto, Freitas, couto etc. 

Edited December 17, 2023 by Belve

[Gatsby]

4 hours ago, Norwood311 said:

I appreciate your input but I wish you could have been more specific as to which surgeons I should be considering or who you think would do the best job on me.  I feel kind of overwhelmed, I don't really know who is truly better or who is just hype. Even Konior has some patients that are upset with their results so I really don't know which surgeon to trust. 

You will find in that in this industry every single surgeon no matter how talented or how long they have been working will have unhappy patients. For whatever reason every surgeon has had a bad result. It's surgeons that produce the same results you need to be chasing on patients with the same hair loss as yourself. You're limiting yourself by choosing just two surgeons. All the best.

[Norwood311]

6 hours ago, Belve said:

Both surgeons are great. Their price difference is huge though, so if I had to choose I would go to laorwong who is also safe choice but with much less cost. Otherwise I would look to other surgeons in Europe such as Ferreira, pinto, Freitas, couto etc. 

So I've looked into a few of them. Couto seems to be booked out for several years, so he isn't really an option. De Freitas does row implants, so that's not really an option either, I might wanna cut my hair short sometimes and rows just don't look as good. Pinto apparently does rows too. No idea about Ferreira but I've heard he's booked out several years too

 

5 hours ago, Gatsby said:

You will find in that in this industry every single surgeon no matter how talented or how long they have been working will have unhappy patients. For whatever reason every surgeon has had a bad result. It's surgeons that produce the same results you need to be chasing on patients with the same hair loss as yourself. You're limiting yourself by choosing just two surgeons. All the best.

Who specifically should I be considering?

[Belve]

2 hours ago, Norwood311 said:

So I've looked into a few of them. Couto seems to be booked out for several years, so he isn't really an option. De Freitas does row implants, so that's not really an option either, I might wanna cut my hair short sometimes and rows just don't look as good. Pinto apparently does rows too. No idea about Ferreira but I've heard he's booked out several years too

Even if a doctor has a longer waiting list you could pay a deposit and wait for cancellations, so you would definitely do the hair transplant much earlier than expected.
min genera You do a hair transplant to have long hair. I have seen results from dr Freitas which look good even with short style, so it will not be a problem even if you do short style too. Same with pinto. 
 

Other options would be Eugenix, bisanga, feriduni, lupanzula, Mwamba, Pekiner, keser, Lorenzo, Vila, dr Espinosa, dr hans heinicke …there’s too many options to consider. 
 

Edited December 17, 2023 by Belve

[Norwood311]

28 minutes ago, Belve said:

Even if a doctor has a longer waiting list you could pay a deposit and wait for cancellations, so you would definitely do the hair transplant much earlier than expected.
min genera You do a hair transplant to have long hair. I have seen results from dr Freitas which look good even with short style, so it will not be a problem even if you do short style too. Same with pinto. 
 

Other options would be Eugenix, bisanga, feriduni, lupanzula, Mwamba, Pekiner, keser, Lorenzo, Vila, dr Espinosa, dr hans heinicke …there’s too many options to consider. 
 

I've contacted a few, Eugenix I don't think is that good, Feriduni and Pekiner are booked out. Keser does very few grafts per day, Bisanga I've heard isn't very good. I haven't heard of the rest of them. Is there any one surgeon in particular that you think would be particularly good for me? That I would actually be able to see sometime next year (even if it's late 2024)? Because at the moment the only one I can see that has good results and is taking 2024 appointments is Laorwong. Would I just have to get on a waiting list for anyone else?

[Moshico18]

1 hour ago, Norwood311 said:

I've contacted a few, Eugenix I don't think is that good, Feriduni and Pekiner are booked out. Keser does very few grafts per day, Bisanga I've heard isn't very good. I haven't heard of the rest of them. Is there any one surgeon in particular that you think would be particularly good for me? That I would actually be able to see sometime next year (even if it's late 2024)? Because at the moment the only one I can see that has good results and is taking 2024 appointments is Laorwong. Would I just have to get on a waiting list for anyone else?

Maybe Dr.Mwamba?

[Belve]

1 hour ago, Norwood311 said:

I've contacted a few, Eugenix I don't think is that good, Feriduni and Pekiner are booked out. Keser does very few grafts per day, Bisanga I've heard isn't very good. I haven't heard of the rest of them. Is there any one surgeon in particular that you think would be particularly good for me? That I would actually be able to see sometime next year (even if it's late 2024)? Because at the moment the only one I can see that has good results and is taking 2024 appointments is Laorwong. Would I just have to get on a waiting list for anyone else?

Where have u heard that dr bisanga isn’t that good? He is a world class surgeon.
Eugenix also is very good clinic, especially dr Sethi and dr arika are top class doctors. 

dr pittella is also very good, dr luis Nader, Bogota hairlines too

Also I have seen from other members who contacted the other surgeons that I listed above, that they have free appointments . Anyway there’s many options, so do your research.

here’s the forum recommendation list 

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

 

Edited December 17, 2023 by Belve

[Gasthoerer]

My 50 cents:

1)There are some infos missing to make a clear recommendation for next steps (age, meds, donor, etc.)

2) You focus too much on the availability of the clinic. This is a long way, couple of month make no difference.

3) Meet with several clinics for a personal consultation. Mark the recipient, make pics, review them at home, discuss different options.

4) Decide which plan of 3) you like most and consider to go in 2 steps: Conservative hairline first and after a good result, have a more aggressive hairline and temples. 

5) If money is not an issue my short list would be: US - Shapiro; Europe/Switzerland: Heitmann, Feriduni; 

Good luck

 

 

[mr_peanutbutter]

fuegenix is better then konior atm

[Eli_Avdikian]

On 12/17/2023 at 4:59 PM, Norwood311 said:

So I've looked into a few of them. Couto seems to be booked out for several years, so he isn't really an option. De Freitas does row implants, so that's not really an option either, I might wanna cut my hair short sometimes and rows just don't look as good. Pinto apparently does rows too. No idea about Ferreira but I've heard he's booked out several years too

 

Who specifically should I be considering?

Since when did this "planting in a row" become a thing? Dr. De Freitas and Dr.Pinto are one of the best in the industry

[Hairy Henderson]

Pinto is too conservative

[Hairy Henderson]

On 12/18/2023 at 4:22 AM, mr_peanutbutter said:

fuegenix is better then konior atm

I haven’t seen any Fuegenix full temple restoration.  I’ve seen a couple partials but not from scratch.

I would be extremely doubtful that they have surpassed Konior 

[A_4_Archan]

If money isn't any hurdle than dr munib ahmad (fuegenix) is no brainer and specially his hairline work is amazing...plus he is a hands on doctor who does all the steps himself and takes great pride in his work....