Help me choose a hair transplant doctor please

[greg2]

Hi there. I am 34yr old who has spent the last 3 years lurking on forums on different sites.I have now decided the time is ripe to put my scalp under the needles (no knife, I do not want a strip).
I am what Dr. Mennetrey refer as Norwood 5. My hairloss seems to have drawn to a closure and my father has pretty much the same hairloss.

I am looking for doctors who can perform fue. Preferably in Europe, but I am not averse to travel. Money is a constraint but I realize quality comes first. Before you ask, I have tried Rogaine and propecia and the sides put me off. Plus, did not get much benefit either.

The doctors I have shortlisted from different sites (based on results and consistency)
Dr. Cole, Dr. Woods, Dr.Jones, Dr. Arvind and Dr. ********.

Please feel free to add to the doctor list. I especially look fwd to reading other patient's experiences about these doctors.
Thanks in advance.
Greg.

 

[s.a.f]

For a NW5 its going to take alot of FUE procedures probably about 4 of them.

 

[greg2]

I know. I have seen many Norwood 5's get fabulous makeovers with strip but few with fue. That is why I am treading with caution.

 

[Matt27]

That's gonna be expensive. I would rule out Cole since his 1mm extractors will totally deplete your donor area after just 3-4k FU's. Feller would be my first choice, with Umar #2. Umar will be far cheaper as well, and considering the # of FU's you'll need you might want to check him out. Do a search for "hooray for hair" google and check out his results. He's a pretty recent patient of Umar's and received about 3k FU's on his first operation. He's already planning another one to lower his hairline more I believe, and add some more density. I'll bet his final results will be mind-blowing.

 

[greg2]

Has Dr. Umar lowered his prices? the last I checked he was charging $7 a graft. Besides, he uses lot more grafts for the same results that Cole or Arvind do. The cost sort of adds up. But, I will keep an eye on his results too. Thanks.

 

[greg2]

I JUST RE READ YOUR REPLY.
Why do you say 4 fue procedures. How many grafts do you envisage for each procedure. Cant I get more grafts done in a single visit and reduce the number of visits?

For a NW5 its going to take alot of FUE procedures probably about 4 of them.

 

[s.a.f]

Nope, thats the reason FUE is so expensive because its so time consuming. Done properly you should expect anywhere between 900 - 1400 in a 1 day session. I have heard Drs who claim they can perform 3000+ in a day but frankly they are either lying about it or they cant be doing a very thourough job and the yeild (actual % that grow) will probably be considerably low. This is the reason why you never hear of NW4/5/6's getting FUE its just too impracticle compared to strip where you could easily get 5000+ in a day.
Most of the top DR's will almost certainly try to persuade you to go for strip, unless of course they really need your business.

 

[greg2]

saf, you aresaying this sortof result is not possible with fue or that it will take more number of days? My hairloss is similar to this gentleman's and I will love a similar result but with fue.

 

[s.a.f]

For 5000+ FUE grafts it will take at the very least 3 days worth of surgery. I dont know if you'd be able to book 3 successive days in a clinic or you'd have to get it done in stages ie start at the hairline then come back at a later date get the next bit done then wait and so on...
It all depends wether a Dr is comfortable working on you one day then taking a break and resuming the next day to carry on where he left off. There may be implications with swelling ect or working on an area that is already starting to heal. Youd be best off asking Spex he would know about this sort of thing but its certainly not standard practice.

 

[greg2]

For 5000+ FUE grafts it will take at the very least 3 days worth of surgery. I dont know if you'd be able to book 3 successive days in a clinic or you'd have to get it done in stages ie start at the hairline then come back at a later date get the next bit done then wait and so on...
It all depends wether a Dr is comfortable working on you one day then taking a break and resuming the next day to carry on where he left off. There may be implications with swelling ect or working on an area that is already starting to heal. Youd be best off asking Spex he would know about this sort of thing but its certainly not standard practice.

Did spex have fue? I thought the standard practice bwas fue on subsequent days. Do you mean swelling will be a big issue if I go for fue on 3 or 4 consecutive days.

 

[s.a.f]

Did spex have fue? I thought the standard practice bwas fue on subsequent days. Do you mean swelling will be a big issue if I go for fue on 3 or 4 consecutive days.

Spex is Fellers consultant here in the UK, he did have fue but only needed 900 grafts but he'd be the best guy to explain to you the implications involved with multiple FUE sessions. Send him a pm.

 

[greg2]

OK, thanks. Is there no result by fue that is similar to the above one?

 

[s.a.f]

Like I said I've never seen any examples of anyone with anything more than minor hairloss having FUE.

 

[Guest]

Dr Woods is probably the best FUE surgeon in australia,But his ridiculous prices and sleazy attitude make him not one of the most popular.He is the infamous Dr who called propecia "poison".I wouldnt put him in the same league as Jennifer Martinick as terms of butchers go,But when i went to Woods for a consultation around 3 years ago,He wanted to charge me $4800 for 220 grafts,And also told me to get off propecia as soon as possible or i was at risk of devolping osteoporosis.I wouldnt trust him as far as i could spit.

 

[Rwt_Raj]

when i went to Woods for a consultation around 3 years ago,He wanted to charge me $4800 for 220 grafts,And also told me to get off propecia as soon as possible or i was at risk of devolping osteoporosis.I wouldnt trust him as far as i could spit.

Wow! that is really costly. How much does it work out to - $20 a graft? thats too much in my opinion.