I'm a Norwood 2-3 without any noticeable diffuse thinning, who would be the best surgeon for my case, Kaan Pekiner, Kongkiat Laorwong, or Thiago Bianco Leal?

[Norwood311]

Hi I am 29 years old, I am at least a Norwood 2, possibly a Norwood 3 (I've always had a large forehead so it's hard to tell) not really any diffuse thinning, just hairline/temple recession. Been on 1mg of finasteride about 8 months, definitely planning on being on it at least a year before I get a transplant and of course staying on finasteride after. I get zero sides, I did try dutasteride for a month but it gave me dry eyes so I switched back. Anyway, aside from my awful hairline I've got really dark and thick hair, not just the density but my individual hairs are really thick, especially on the back of my head. So I would be a really good candidate for a hair transplant, I just need to figure out who I want to go to. I would need a very high density transplant, seeing as I have such a huge contrast between my hair and skin color.

Anyway, I've reached out to three surgeons, Laorwong, Pekiner, and Leal, as those appear to be the best guys for hairline work (I have heard good things about Nader and Keser but didn't contact them). I also know how dense they do, Laorwong is around 50cm², Pekiner is 55-60cm², and Leal is apparently up to 70cm² in some cases (though most on his instagram don't look nearly that dense)

Laorwong responded first (he's very responsive), he gave the below photo as an example of what he could do for me. He said this would be around 2000 grafts.

I asked if he could go lower and he said this below photo would be 2000-2500 grafts. He didn't seem to want to do more than that, though he said he technically could. It's definitely not bad but still not really a huge improvement. 

 

Pekiner responded next, he took like a month before he sent me an email with a bunch of information and this below example, which he said would be around 1500 grafts.

Again, kinda underwhelming. I mean my hairloss isn't that bad I guess but I had a big forehead and I kinda wanted more improvement than that. I think Pekiner wants to do my surgery in a single day, any more than 1500 would take him at least two I think. I personally want like 3000+ grafts, I have a huge donor hair supply and I wanna use it.

 

Last one is Leal. Leal's representative responded quickly, but he don't do free consults. To even do an online consult I would need to pay him 400 dollars, and even then it wouldn't be with him it would be with someone who works for him. The consult with leal is 800 (this is USD mind you) which seems insane, but maybe he really is the best? I dont know, I definitely don't like that he makes you do full anesthesia, local seems much safer to me. 

Anyway, what do you guys think? Who should I go to? I'm kind of leaning Pekiner. I could get the online consult with Pekiner I guess but the photos on his instagram aren't really any better than Pekiner and Leal costs twice as much. Though flying to Brazil would be a lot easier than Turkey as I am in the US.

[jjalay]

You really dont need more than 1500 maximum 2000 grafts to cover this area. I think both pekiner and laorwong are great options and you cant go wrong with anyone you choose.

[hairman4321]

don't lower the hairline more than the first picture from laorwong or pekiners design. the density isnt the same as the native area and lowering it too much makes it look like diffuse thinning.

also, you're only 29. might need those grafts for a future top up depending how you respond to medication.

Edited March 23 by hairman4321

[Melvin- Admin]

Hairlines are subjective. I would take some time and look at some hairline cases on this forum. We have a gallery of before and afters that might help you.

https://hairtransplantnetwork.com/latest-patient-photos

[Norwood311]

So I actually don't hate the first hairline photo. the issue is my forehead is really, really wide and I probably need my temple points brought in a bit. Pekiner doesn't do that and Laorwong doesn't do it well. Leal does do temple points, but only on certain patients and he charges twice as much. I am personally not worried about losing more hair in the future, I am on finasteride and plan to stay on, the amount of guys who start finasteride with my level of hair loss (Norwood 2-3) and continue losing hair is minuscule, even over 10 years. And while the density won't be the same as native with Pekiner or Laorwong, Leal gets very very close to native density, especially on guys with thick follicles like myself.