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Frustrated-1 yr later


pikmin2004

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I had a HT about 1 yr ago. I am a female with patterned baldness (thin in front). I see virtually no difference from what I looked like when I started, still very thin on top and still having to use some type of concealor. I am angry and frustrated since it cost me $6k. The whole experience was bad the day of the surgery. They said 15cm x 1cm was my donor hair (1200 yielded). They placed 1185 units on 1024 sites. They used masking tape to hold my hair out of the way, which ripped out a lot of hair when removed. The worst part is, the doctor denied using masking tape despite the fact the nurse confirmed it (and I saw it). One of the techs showed up late, and her ride home arrived early, so I don't really know how much was placed. They used goggles instead of a microscope when grafting the hairs. While they were placing the hairs, the tech showed me the hairs and they were just sitting on the palm of her hand. I'm not sure if that is normal procedure or not. Now I feel that not only am I still thin on top, I'm a lot thinner in back since he removed more hair than was placed. My hair was very dense in the back before the surgery.

This was Dr. Berg in Seattle. Do I have any recourse?

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I had a HT about 1 yr ago. I am a female with patterned baldness (thin in front). I see virtually no difference from what I looked like when I started, still very thin on top and still having to use some type of concealor. I am angry and frustrated since it cost me $6k. The whole experience was bad the day of the surgery. They said 15cm x 1cm was my donor hair (1200 yielded). They placed 1185 units on 1024 sites. They used masking tape to hold my hair out of the way, which ripped out a lot of hair when removed. The worst part is, the doctor denied using masking tape despite the fact the nurse confirmed it (and I saw it). One of the techs showed up late, and her ride home arrived early, so I don't really know how much was placed. They used goggles instead of a microscope when grafting the hairs. While they were placing the hairs, the tech showed me the hairs and they were just sitting on the palm of her hand. I'm not sure if that is normal procedure or not. Now I feel that not only am I still thin on top, I'm a lot thinner in back since he removed more hair than was placed. My hair was very dense in the back before the surgery.

This was Dr. Berg in Seattle. Do I have any recourse?

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pikmin2004,

 

Welcome to our community.

 

I'm really sorry to hear about your poor experience. I have not heard of Dr. Berg and there doesn't seem to be any information posted about him on our forum.

 

Did any of the transplanted hair grow? I'm a little confused by what you mean 1185 units on 1024 sites. Did they end up coupling some of the single hairs?

 

Is it possible that the transplanted hair grew but you have lost additional native hair?

 

The good news is, whereas masking tape may have taken out some hairs - it wouldn't have removed any of the follicles. In other words, any additional hair loss you have experienced would have not have been from the tape or removal of the tape.

 

Whereas I can't say anything about Dr. Berg specificly - many hair transplant patients that have seen unknown or lesser known doctors have often regreted it because many of them do not do state of the art hair transplantation.

 

I strongly recommend consulting with one of our coalition doctors. All of them perform state of the art hair transplantation using ultra refined follicular unit grafting with high success rate.

 

In the meantime, if you feel comfortable, I encourage you to share your before/after pictures with our community.

 

Feel free to ask any additional questions that you might have.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

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Yes, it is Dan Berg. I guess I saw that he is with the "University of Washington" and his name came up with two different derms I asked, so I thought it was ok to go with him.

I did see Mike Ferco with Hasson & Wong a couple of months ago. He basically told me to head to Vancouver and meet with one of the doctors. He also suggested I contact some guy (whose name I can't remember) that does radio shows about hair transplants or something and he would most likely help me get my money back. Mike was not impressed with the transplant, but at the same time, he wants to sell me a service through H & W. At this point, I don't think I'd want to go through another HT, I just want my money back.

Reading this website, it makes it seem that a transplant can give you the appearance of a full head of hair. Dr. Berg told me I would always be thin, and basically introduced me to Toppix.

As for pics, unfortunately the only ones that exist are with Dr. Berg.

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pikmin2004,

 

There is a big difference between a full head of hair and the "appearance" of a full head of hair.

 

I recommend reading the following article that I wrote on this: Will I be able to obtain a full head of hair with hair transplantation?

 

Not all hair transplant physicians perform state of the art hair transplantation. It might be worth consulting with Hasson and Wong just to consider your options.

 

That being said...if you want to know what these doctors are capable of, use the "find" feature of this community and view patient posted before/after photos. I myself was a patient of Dr. Hasson's for my third surgery and am very satisfied with my hair. My hair is still a bit thin in areas (especially the crown), but I'd be a full norwood 6 if not for my three transplants.

 

Best wishes in your decision making process,

 

Bill

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