Need help for recommendations in California

[alchemist]

Hey guys, I've been reading and learning a lot on this forum. I'm 28, NW3, both my father and brother started losing hair around my age. Rogaine has yielded minimal results.

Based on the negative reviews, I'll avoid Bosley Medical and Medical Hair Restoration. I've seen many good reviews for Dr. Hasson & Wong (Vancouver), Dr. Shapiro (Minnesota), Dr. Rahal (Ottawa), and Dr. Alvi Armani (Los Angeles).

But, I would like to be within driving distance of the doctor. I was wondering if anyone has a recommendation for the San Francisco Bay Area. I would appreciate any feedback. Thanks.

 

[Guest]

I believe a good start would be to try Dr. Bill Reed and Dr. Ken Siporin-- aside from Dr. Rassman I believe these docs are solid starts to your research.

I would like to point out that I believe that your best choice is flying into Vancouver, which is just up the coast.

While the docs I mentioned are excellent docs, they have never turned out the results of H&W, IMO.

Good Luck!
Jason

 

[DaveOne]

Alchemist, you are on the right track with the docs you mentioned, although most of the results you see from Armani are from strip, while he no longer performs that method (and the jury is still out on the newer method's efficacy), and Rahal is still an up-and-comer but showing good results.

As far as travel, I think for this particular type of surgery the difference between going to a good Doctor and a great Doctor can be huge. If it costs an extra $500 or even 1k to travel, it will be well worth the investment if you go to one of the elite docs, where the chance for a good or even great outcome is much higher.

To narrow your list down even further I would choose either H&W or Shapiro for their combination of consistency, ethics, and proven results time after time. From forum to forum you will see these two clinics rise to the top of the pile. I would advise against trying to cut corners if the Doctor doesn't have the proven results that the elite clinics have. Good luck.

Edit: Grammar.

 

[alchemist]

The B Spt and DaveOne, thank you for your input.

My work requires that I meet with customers quite often, so I don't have enough vacation time for the hair transplant and time for the scabs to heal. I was wondering if anyone could give me some input on an idea. I could start with a doctor in the San Francisco Bay Area for a small number of grafts (maybe 500-1000). Then, see Dr. Hassan, Wong, or Shapiro in the future for a larger graft amount.

I mainly want to "stem the tide" of the receding hairline. Even at NW3, I keep the frontal hair long, so the bangs mitigate the balding areas. All opinions will be appreciated.

 

[Guest]

The B Spt and DaveOne, thank you for your input.

My work requires that I meet with customers quite often, so I don't have enough vacation time for the hair transplant and time for the scabs to heal. I was wondering if anyone could give me some input on an idea. I could start with a doctor in the San Francisco Bay Area for a small number of grafts (maybe 500-1000). Then, see Dr. Hassan, Wong, or Shapiro in the future for a larger graft amount.

I mainly want to "stem the tide" of the receding hairline. Even at NW3, I keep the frontal hair long, so the bangs mitigate the balding areas. All opinions will be appreciated.

you can use concealer on your transplanted area once crusts form i believe. don't tell us you can't find a way to spare 10 days- use a combo of sick time and vacation time if you have to. why would anyone avoid going to who they think is the best doctor because of cost or travel time? you're going to have to live with the results for the rest of your life.

 

[DaveOne]

Don't take this the wrong way, but it only takes 2-3 hrs to fly to Vancouver from your location. If you fly there the night before you are not really losing any time, because you are not going to go to work the next few days anyway. So ultimately it's the same in terms of time off. Yes, it's an inconvenience to fly, but it will be more of an inconvenience if you aren't happy with your transplant. H&W is one of the top 2 or 3 hair transplant clinics in the entire world and it's a 2.5 hr flight from you. I would consider that an advantage. If you really step back and look you are talking about a 20 min drive or a 2.5 hr flight, but not days and days of time difference.

I'm just not sure you are seeing the bigger picture here.

 

[sphlanx2006]

I will have to agree with the rest of the posters.

First of all it is not a good idea to start with a small (500-1000grafts) and then try to repeat for various reasons. 1. Doing strip for so small operation will give you multiple scars, while FUE would cost almost as a big strip procedure.
Plus each session no matter how small, will require time for healing of the donor and recipient area.