Dr. Koher

[glc]

Does anyone have experience or heard of Dr. Koher from North Carolina's reputation? I would appreciate any comments.

[glc]

Does anyone have experience or heard of Dr. Koher from North Carolina's reputation? I would appreciate any comments.

[Robert_]

glc,

 

Welcome to the forums.

 

When researching physicians in North Carolina, be sure to take a look at Dr. Jerry Cooley of Charlotte, NC. He performed my hair restoration procedure, which you can see photos of here.

 

Good luck in your research and don't hesitate to ask any questions you may have.

 

-Robert

[glc]

Thank you. You're pictures look great he did do a great job. I live in PA and Dr. Koher has an office an hour from me. He travels there one weekend per month, he has family in the area. I am willing to travel but I was checking to see any comments on Dr. Koher.

[Mahair]

I beleive Grant Koher was once employed by MHR . Sorry keep looking.

[Pat - Community Publisher]

In fairness to Dr. Koher, I do think he appears to be doing quality hair transplant work. If you use the "Find" feature on this forum and search for "Koher" you will see that a couple of members have had very favorable results with him.

 

Dr. Koher has been doing hair transplant surgery since 1991. He did get his start with MHR. But he is now on his own and doing follicular unit transplantation.

 

To see his patient photos visit http://www.drgrantkoher.com

 

I suggest you consult with him and Dr. Cooley and choose the one you feel will do the best work for you.

[Robert_]

glc,

 

Don't limit your choice of physicians on geographic location alone. You only get one scalp and a very limited supply of donor hair. You can travel as early as the day after a procedure, so if you have to go a little farther, your stay away from home can be cut down to one or two nights in a hotel.

 

Consider these ethical and skilled physicians that are located relatively near PA:

 

Dr. Robert Haber - South Euclid, OH

 

Dr. Jeff Epstein - New York, NY

 

Dr. Robert True - New York, NY

 

Dr. Robert Dorin - New York, NY

 

Dr. Robert Bernstein - New York, NY

 

-Robert

[arfy]

I agree with Robert. Don't just go to whoever is most convenient! You're talking about permanently altering your appearance, so please don't just leave that up to chance, just based on whatever your address might be.

 

Lots of people assume that hair transplants can't be all that complicated, and they're all about the same... nothing could be further from the truth.

 

In my opinion there are only a small handful of truly excellent doctors in the field... and anything less than truly excellent, is just not good enough. An "okay" hair transplant looks like an obvious transplant, and that's not worth paying a penny for. Don't waste your money, or your limited "donor hair bank".

 

Look around, do some research, seek out the best. Avoid "just okay" or "pretty good" doctors. You will be glad you made an extra effort.

 

The best thing you can do is spend some time reading up about transplants... what makes the good techniques good? What makes the bad techniques bad? If you can spend some time reading and learning, you will empower yourself and help yourself make good decisions.

 

The rookie patient usually doesn't know what to look for and what to watch out for... he can't tell the good doctors from the bad doctors. Even to an experienced guy, the doctors sometimes can all seem about the same. They're not all the same.

[Pat - Community Publisher]

I agree that second best is not good enough. But no surgeon will claim his or her work is second best. It's up to you as the potential patient to look for the tell tale signs that distinguish decent from outstanding.

 

It is not enough to ask whether a potential surgeon does follicular units or not. Now days most will answer yes to this question.

 

But does the surgeon use a single blade or multiblade scapel to remove the donor area? And are the grafts trimmed under microscopes or just "magnification".

 

The difference between these techniques, while not neccisarily evident in the final results, can be important in how many grafts are ultimately successfully transplanted from a patient's limited donor area.

 

The multiblade knife cuts the donor area into four or five strips of donor tissue as the donor area is being removed. This multiblade technique is faster for the surgeon and staff but such blind cutting can lead to higher rates of transection (severing) of the donor follicles.

 

Leading surgeons use a single blade for donor removal so as to minimize the transection and destruction of donor follicles. They prefer to then have one donor strip then carefully trimmed into follicular unit grafts under microscopes. This is more time and work for the staff but it maximizes the graft yeild a patient will get from a limited amount of donor tissue.

 

The use of microscopes is also superior to simple magnification. Yet some clinics still do not use the microscopes because of the added expense and higher level of skill required.

 

Once again, such a short cut does not make optimal use of a patient's donor area.

 

Physicians who take such short cuts are ultimately short cutting their patients donor area - even though the transplanted hair may look great.

 

Don't be shy about asking a potential surgeon about the techniques he or she uses. The use of short cuts will tell you much about their real philosophy and commitment to the patient.

[Mahair]

It is also unfortunately true that some Drs. will lie about the techniques they are using to make a sale as they know what people want.I asked if microscopes were used and was told yes (they were even shown to my former girlfreind) only to have this revised later to "we do use them but only on fair haired individuals" and that I was just a slow healer. I was told a single blade was used on the donor only to find out after retreiving my medical records that a four blade knife was used (the 4" scar I was worried about was 10").I was shown a tiny micro scalpel (that caused no *shockloss*) for the recipient and the "Dr."actually used a multi-bladed knife to "blend" into my existing hair (to save time).Bottom line is a Quack WILL lie to you.They know how to sell a first rate procedure but they don't practice what they know only sell it.That is why pre-screening from a site like this and referals from other patients is so important.It is not enough to research the procedure as I did some but moreso to research the doctor as there are some dangerous conmen selling the dream and delivering disfigurement and worse.The irony is that my second procedure healed right away.All the while when I was a scarred up balding mess after my first botch job "Dr" Quackdalin was telling me that microscopes were a marketing tool and I was'nt being objective.I think people need to realize that alot of doctors that are in this field are not real doctors in the way they perceive them ,alot have a criminal mentality and "do no harm" is just some words.Noone that has seen my pre-op photos thought I was the great candidate that Dr. Magdalin swooned over or thought that he he had any intention of delivering the great results with no complications he promised even if he had any talent and used the latest technology,I had too much hair to risk.This field of medicine needs regultation bigtime for now sites like this are the only protection the patient (consumer) has.Kudos to to Pat for going into the procedure rooms and verifieing that the latest techniques are being employed and applied as most laypeople may/usually take a doctor on his word.

[Mahair]

I found this. In Maryland . Grant F. Koher, D.O., License #: No License,

 

Area of Practice: Unspecified (Chapel Hill, NC) Application for Initial Medical

 

License Denied. The Board concluded that the Applicant entered into a Consent Order

 

with the North Carolina Medical Board stipulating that medical services he rendered

 

through business entity constituted unprofessional conduct in the practice of medicine.

 

Date of Action: April 20, 2004

In Ohio- Formal Action(s)

 

06/09/2004:BOARD ORDER - Medical license suspended for one year, with all but six months stayed; subsequent probationary terms, conditions, and limitations for at least three years established. Based on prior action against doctor's license by North Carolina's medical board, following findings by that board that doctor provided medical services through a corporation via the Internet, and that he prescribed Propecia and Viagra to patients without a physical examination and without any prior physician-patient relationship. Order mailed 7/2/04; Order effective 7/2/04.

 

08/13/2003:CITATION - BASED ON PRIOR ACTION AGAINST DOCTOR S LICENSE BY NORTH CAROLINA S MEDICAL BOARD, FOLLOWING FINDINGS BY THAT BOARD THAT DOCTOR PROVIDED MEDICAL SERVICES THROUGH A CORPORATION VIA THE INTERNET, AND THAT HE PRESCRIBED PROPECIA AND VIAGRA TO PATIENTS WITHOUT A PHYSICAL EXAMINATION AND WITHOUT ANY PRIOR PHYSICIAN-PATIENT RELATIONSHIP. 8/14/03.

 

There is more in N.Carolina,six pages I can't copy.

[heavy kevie]

Mahair,

I feel your contrairian point of veiw of HT's on this site is very valuable.I also was a victim with my first transplant years ago.I did'nt do research,and wanted to believe the "Dr" so bad,I did.I wish I had access to a forum like this back in the early 90's.As I progress from my corrective HT,which I am pleased with,I think your post and research make alot of the 20 something kids think twice before going to a "MHR" or a local.

Keep up the good work.

HK

[Mahair]

heavy kevie, Thanks. I am so glad a reputable doctor was able to turn things around for you.I am creating an advocacy for regulations in the hair transplant industy. Pehaps you can contact your representative to initiate a bill in your state? You can p/m me or e-mail me at Mahair1@verizon.net if you would like to know how.One of the recommendations I am going to make is that this site be reccomended to prospective patients. I am going to check with Pat first, to get his approval.I feel that a forum for patients by patients is a very important tool in the process.

[Pat - Community Publisher]

Mahair,

 

I think we should make you the resident hair detective for doing background checks on hair transplant doctors.

 

I also did some research and found that apparently Dr. Koher is using the multibladed knife for donor removal and no microscopes for graft disection.

 

Yet no doubt he has some happy patients. But how many more grafts could these patients have received if the donor tissue was optimally removed and trimmed. This unseen consideration, along with licensing issues, is typically not evident in the after photos.

 

These issues alone, even without the licensing issues, make his clinic a no go on this community.

 

I do know that Dr. Cooley does use techiniques that optomize graft yeild - including single blade donor removal and all microscopic dissection. He is also using very tiny incisions that are carefully oriented. This is as state of the art as it gets. I think those in the know, know where they should go.

 

Best wishes, Pat

[Pat - Community Publisher]

Mahair,

 

Congratulations on your new website at http://www.hairtransplantregulations.com/index.html. This site and your efforts may become the seed from which legal reforms grow from.

 

As we discussed on the telephone, to date patients who have been hurt by sub pare hair transplantation and pursued legal action have come up with no legal remedy. Often such lawsuits simply added even more trauma and burden to their lives.

 

But legislative reforms to curb the most blatant abuses seem to have much more promise.

 

This community has always focused on patient education to avoid the pitfalls. But legislative reform combined with patient education may be the best antidote to sub pare work we as patients can advocate.

 

Best wishes for leading the legal charge.

 

Pat

[Mahair]

Thanks Pat, for your encouraging words.

[arfy]

I also did some research and found that apparently Dr. Koher is using the multibladed knife for donor removal and no microscopes for graft disection.

 

Yet no doubt he has some happy patients. But how many more grafts could these patients have received if the donor tissue was optimally removed and trimmed. This unseen consideration, along with licensing issues, is typically not evident in the after photos.

 

Great point. The patients of clinics who use outdated techniques will never have a clue that their clinic wasted their precious donor hair. Even the clinic might not know they wasted hair, for example, if the techs were not using microscopes. Some of your donor supply would wind up in the waste basket, and you couldn't possibly know the harmful consequences.

 

Then a few years down the road, a doctor will tell you "Gee Bob, I'd love to be able to help you out with some more grafts in that thinning area, but you don't have any donor supply left".

[Mahair]

Not to mention the follicles that are damaged in the process and never grow.Essentially you would be getting skin grafts instead of hairgrafts.Imagine having permenent shockloss and having it replaced with skin grafts. The multi-bladed knife should be banned for many reasons mainly the higher incidence of neuro-vascular damage it causes.This tool is a time saver and only serves the "doctor" that uses it.The fact that the quacks are *selling* high numbers to compete with real doctors, using antiquated technology, is a recipe for disaster.As far as wastage goes I have a report that sites up to 60%. I have also compiled a list of over 50 verifieable complications associated with mini-micro grafting techniques,not including the sublist of asthetic deficits and judgment errors.I will post it if anyone would like to see it.Any doctor that tells you there are no complications is a criminal.I have one in my sights. I can't wait until he jay-walks so I can run him down.Proverbially speaking of course.