Umar vs. Armai vs Ziering vs Rassman (California)

[SummerOf2010]

Ziering is close to my house - does strip - wants $10K for 2000 hairs

Armani is out of the country right now - hard to get an audience with him

Umar - wants $50 just for the consult

Rassman - they want me to consult with his partner but Id reather meet him

Once Dr. Andrews at Bosly told me I did not have enough doner area, but I was walking in with a coupon and noone since has confirmed that. I once saw a doctors consultant (forget the name) who was an optemetrst in Lake Forest CA, who also did hair but i cant remember the name.

Does anyone have anythng good or bad to say about these doctors i am considering?

 

[thylax]

unk:

 

[SummerOf2010]

Has anyone here been to that Beveraly Hills Doctor? What was it like?

 

[SummerOf2010]

wow! thanks Dudemon! this is great info. I see Rassman and Umar in the next couple of weeks (had to juggle dates a few times to insure taht i saw rassman and not one of his understudies)

I'll post here with my experience.

 

[SummerOf2010]

Did anyone actually have surgery at : www.lahairmd.com

This Doctor was suggested in this post

 

[SummerOf2010]

WOW! Thanks again dudemon, for all this very detailed info. I was under the impression that after a couple of days the surgery scabs (and what not) were way decreased, but you speak of the plane ride home sitll being a "hat time".

I like that the toronto doctor actually posts his rates on the site. how cool. each of these best of the best seems to be in a differnt city. how on earth did you elvauate them? It would break my heart to think htat I live in the cosmetic surgery capital of the world (Los Angeles) and would need to fly thousands of miles away. There must be a "best of the best" out here. on the ohter hand maybe the price of the procedure would be less in a smaller city than in LA, therby making up for the travel?

New York and Toronto are interesting cities. How incapacitatied are you on day 1 and 2?

what mthodolgy would i use to evaluate theses doctors, with them allbeing so far away and everyones testimonils and websites being so identical.

There is a doctors consultant form a Doctor called newlookmd that calls me every 3 months , has greate rates and may in fact be horribel, but i would never know by looking at the website. how can you know who is a "best of the best"?

anyway ....thanks for all the info...i really appriociate it.

 

[wesleyBelgium]

i would recommend fue ...
did strip and fue , and fue is less heavy , healing goes faster, and if everything fails you can still shave your head and dont end up with a wide scar on the back of your head....

if you want to have a hair transplant in america i would recommend umar...
i have seen lots of results of him , and there verry good , and he uses fue

 

[SummerOf2010]

Results of visits:

Everyone came up with 2000 to 2500 grafts. I'm NW3.

Rassman - Did a very thorough eval including biopsy to see if I was a good candidate for FUE (which I was not based on the collagen elasticity of my scalp) Price is high but many satisfied customers. . but it gets less if the surgery is performed standby or by another surgeon

Umar - spent some time talking with me. Only does FUE. Price is right in the middle. . I'm stuck though because Rassman believes I am not a good fit for FUE.

Ziering - spent allot of time talking to consultant and waiting. Does strip. Price was good though.

Armai - is out of the country

Based on the good things said about Feller and his pricing, it may be worth considering the travel to NY. Rassmans price and Umars FUE may rule them out. Flying standby with one of Rassmans other doctors may also be a way to go. Not sure. I dont know how to eval Ziering fairly.

 

[Petchsky]

Definitely go see Dr Feller. His strip price is very good, and his FUE results are consistently good.

I know Rassman is popular, and been round for a long time, but his results are not as good as Feller's.

Never heard of Zeiring before, and I'd stay clear of Armani, quite a few bad results floating around the net.

 

[Innermind]

yeah Umar is probably the most talented individual out of the top docs. He does cases no one would go near and has improved their live drastically. Dr. Feller is good so is Shapiro I went to shaprio for 200 FUE into a strip scar and Im happy i went with them, Hasson and WOng do only strip but ARE THE BEST IN THE WORLD AT STRIP. Shaprio, feller are a close second and may do better on some.

I personally think rassman is kind of a scumbag after what he did with this guy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IjB5u_fAz8

He fucked him. He was apart of this scam. Check out at 0:35, thats what he could look like ... wITH 20k grafts lolololol " There you go buddy" Seriously f*** that announcer. Theres is no way this KID, yes hes only in his early 20's and a Norwood 6 already, is going to get good results. DEFinalty headed for a Norwood 7by the time hes 35, and Rasman gave him a transplant that might look good on TV with the right angel and with make up, but come on...... In person it probably looks like sh*t You cant add enough grafts to someone like that and have it be age appropriate. With his hairloss now at 20 something, were talking joe biden at best. This kid would look better if he just shaved his head and lost 50 lbs. Im just very very dissapointed in rassman for this. It made me lose all respect for him. He obviously only did it for the media coverage and the money.

 

[Thickandthin]

Rassman definitely should have refused to perform surgery on that kid.

He messed up Jon Gosselin too, who is now thinning BADLY in the crown with a strong hairline up front. He looks horrible.

 

[SummerOf2010]

I think the kid in the Rassman video would have looked good with a custom "system" becase he had very good density on the sides with which to blend or glue to. (just my opinion)

Since Rassman believes I cant do FUE I guess I will look at Feller and H&W.

I'll post the results of my evaluations, but they are long distance so Im not sure how these online consults will go.

I do like that both Rassman and Umar respected my time by sparing me the "consultant thing". Whats up with that anyway? who does any kind of surgery based on what a layperson tells you? Did Boseley invent that model?

 

[paperbag]

Man some of the stuff I see here scares me.

1. Don't do FUE first if you plan on doing a second surgery. FUE causes scarring in your donor that will reduce the quality of your donor for future surgeries. Do FUE last. It also has lower yield.

2. Don't go to a doctor just because he's local. Anyone with an MD can do hair transplants.

3. If you are serious about FUE, e-mail Dr. Feller or Dr. Shapiro. They will tell you straight up the yield is never as good as strip. I think Rassman should be able to tell you that too. FUE has its place, but for a NW3? I bet they all recommend strip.

4. This business is full of crooks. There are very few ethical hair surgeons. Some have been mentioned here. I feel very confident directing you to Hasson & Wong, Feller, Shapiro, Konior, Beehner, Rahal. I don't know too much about Rassman so can't say either way.

5. If you need more than say 2000 grafts, you are going to have to do strip, or multiple FUEs. I would only trust Shapiro and Feller with FUE. I don't know enough about Rassman to say either way.

6. Don't go to a doctor who 'only' does FUE. This is an obvious red flag (read "greed").

 

[SummerOf2010]

Thanks everyone!

Think perhaps i'll contact Umar about a small test piolet ot FUE (maybe 150 grafts) and see how it goes. (Rassman belived I am not an FUE candidate)

-or-

Take a trip and do a 2500 mega session with Feller.

I got alot out of this thread and all the reponses.

1) this is not somethign to take lightly like having your car washed

2) The doctors and consultants give you the "best case scenario" but there is a "dark side" to this

3) each solution has tradeoffs (transplants create scars compromising a future headshave) ("systems" wreak havoc on the hair they are stuck to) (drugs can mess with endrochronolgy and can create issues far worse than hairloss)

- If I were NW6 with good sides I would do a custom piece.

- IF I were NW1 with thick hair I would do a hair transplant for sure

....but at NW3 with cotton candy like hair, I am righ up the middle so its a tough call.

Any future suggestions are more then welcome.

 

[ajl]

a

a

 

[keepinthehair]

dudmon,

You mentioned that 90% of hair transplant recipients are not satisfied with the end results because of a lack of density. Is this because of the limitations of donor supply or inability to place grafts close enough together causing the "see through" look. As mentioned in the "Cole FUE" thread, I would consider FUE and dense packing all my available donor hair as close as possible starting at Norwood 3 with a sparse crown and if available working toward NW2. I would have to guess that I am somewhere at a NW2/3 pattern with miniaturaized crown.

 

[keepinthehair]

I have been on finasteride/min for 3/5 years respectively. I am sure by now I would have been NW4+ without them. I do believe it is only a matter of time before I reach that point. I know a few people who have been on finasteride longer who have now reached the NW6 stage and I plan to also be there in a few more years. Maybe 5-8 years.

So, I am at the point where I have to decide if I am going to "chase" my hairline with several hair transplant. The money I could potentially save would buy my dream car, 1969 corvette convertible 427 cubic inch with 435 hp. Ultimately I cut my hair down to #6 on top and #2 on sides anyway. I never had the beautiful fancy hair type anyway.

 

[keepinthehair]

Unfortunately I have diffuse miniaturization throughout the NW5/6 pattern when I look under the little microscope. So, only a matter of time. I have a younger brother who took after our father. He started balding at 25 vs 37 for me. He is NW6 at 35 so I figure I will to at 47 (five years away) So, the corvette is starting to look pretty good. Looking back, would you rather spend $40 grand on hair that may not be satisfactory (too thin) or your dream car? I would be happy though with a widows peak and thick band of hair across the top such as NW4 though if it looked natural. Pondering.....

 

[bor83]

Just remember that with FUE there is a great chance of not getting complete yield.

 

[LooseItAll]

Dudemon is there any chance you could show your pictures(of your hair)? If not here then on PM...