Hair Transplant: Stories

K

Let's do it they took me for$24,500 Harry White

Malakh, Welcome to the nightmare, my friend. I know it feels terrible but you're not alone. Of course it is unacceptable and disgusting, Yes, you are wise to never let them touch your head again. The doctors and clinics that perform these surgeries gloss over the inherent risks. They also lowball long-term costs and completely misrepresent the very poor long-term cosmetic results of the procedure. It's impossible for me to put a number on it, but I would imagine hair transplant success stories are about 5-10% of the men that go in for a procedure. You and I and the vast majority will end up feeling ripped off, disappointed, depressed or physically deformed. If you want your suffering to come to something positive, I think your post is good. However, please recognize that it is not simply Bosley that is the culprit but the entire hair transplant indsutry that is a fraud. Hair loss is a war most men will never win and the hair transplant industry exploits the insecurities of balding me to sell them a lie in exchange for a small fortune and lifetime of physical and mental scars.

I'm a guy in my mid thirties who had a receding hairline from my early 20's. I had one procedure 5 years ago with DHI (2000 follicles) and have had a great experience and now have a much thicker head of hair that even when I get my hair cut the hairdresser couldn't tell I have had a procedure. Maybe worth checking? Cost me €4000.00

And they gave you a 10% discount when you promised to place a few 'compliments' on websites like this one?

Haha I love the skeptic in you. I actually just came across this site today by chance thru a random junk email...I haven't needed to have any other 'procedures' to take up any 10% discount... All I know is that it worked for me so wanted to share...

Atlanta is worse.i spent 12,500 for 1 procedure and does not look like thei tv commercials. My wife says I still have thin hair and is mad at me.ishould of gone with a local company in Atlanta and not a big chain.

I had bad results with Bosley in 2004. I tried again, with the Sword Clinic in Torrence, California --in 2011. Great results! I don't need any further transplants and am very glad to have had the procedure at a reputable clinic.

I recommend Sword clinic in Torrence. I had great results there.

Mr. Midlife Crisis...

Thank you for your post. Your story proves my point.

You had your first transplant done in 2008. If you are 51 now, then that made you about 47 then. You were already at an age where you could - from a financial and psychological standpoint make the choice for a hair transplant. But most importantly - you were at an age where you could reasonably predict where the hair loss was going to go. You were already used to the hair looking older and thin. So if you want a few extra weeds up there (even if it doesn't make much of a cosmetic difference) and are willing to spend on it - then great. You have appropriately low standards for what a hair transplant is. That makes you a good patient.

A lot of the rest of us (especially NW5's in their 20's) started much younger. We want so much more. We want to look like our peers. We don't want to have deal with this problem. It's demoralizing to get a hair transplant and then watch your hair continue to fall out. To spend all of that money and to have to keep saving up for the next procedure. To face the potential scarring and the potential loss of hair in our donor region. To feel so insecure and worried about the inevitable loss of your hair. It's so scary. I could explain it further, but you couldn't understand unless you lived through it.

I'm glad things worked out for you. But, honestly, beauty and confidence come from within. With the exception of a few extra weeds on their heads, hair transplant patients do not look too much different after their surgeries than they did before. In fact, a lot of them look even sillier - as if they are trying to hide something. Besides, bald is becoming more and more in style. You may have missed out on an opportunity for a better look.

Wow. It's official. No one can post any testimony on this forum anymore without Understand issuing some sort of ultra-biased rebuttal. Understand, my friend, to tell a 51yo who had an overly positive experience that he probably should have shaved his head instead is just plain asinine. I'm surprised you didn't call him out for being a patient rep who is deviously trying to spread false hope to the masses, especially since he even named his physician and had good things to say about him.

Look, we get it, you had such an overwhelmingly traumatic experience that it left you both mentally and physically scarred. That is truly a sad thing, and I wouldn't wish that upon anyone. As a result, you've made it your personal mission to warn people of the dangers posed by the mostly fraudulent hair transplant industry. That is a noble cause, truly it is. But you have to understand that by taking such a steeply biased and aggressive stance against anyone who posts anything objective, reasonable, or positive, you are only hurting your cause. People tend to believe objective, reasonable testimony, not irrational ranting. Example: "With the exception of a few extra weeds on their heads, hair transplant patients do not look too much different after their surgeries than they did before." Although in every single one of my posts I am very quick to call the industry out for largely being full of scam artists, no one is buying that hair transplants are incapable of making you look any different. Incredibly bad hair transplants, maybe, but you have yet to ever admit there is such a thing as a good hair transplant with good results. That, my friend, is the epitome of being overly biased and unreasonable... and why your testimony on this forum has become droning and tiresome.

Its ok, thanks for the info. I will post some pictures at my 6 month point. Its not at all like a few weeds on my head.

To be perfectly honest, I thought you were the one that wrote that comment that I replied to.

I figured I was wrong. And as soon as I hit the submit button, I felt bad about writing it. But now that you answered back so quickly, it makes me wonder if I wasn't right all along. Hmm....

I can completely understand why you might find my testimony on this website droning and tiresome. I certainly don't want to make realself.com seem one-sided. Besides, I think I've mostly made my point. So I can stop here.

With that said…

As far as irrational ranting is concerned, I would beg to differ. I'm simply trying to hammer home the reality of the LONG-TERM implications of hair loss and hair transplants. Hair transplants DO work IF your hair loss is extremely limited AND it does not progress to the final stages. But there is so much variation in the degree of male pattern baldness that it is hard to predict whether or not that is going to happen. If you are a young man, you are taking a gamble that you won’t go severely bald, that the donor region won’t thin, or that you won’t have painful long term scarring (mostly strip but also possible with FUE).

For example, one of the patient reps at Hasson and Wong who does an excellent job of trying to inform the public posted this on the Hair Restoration Network. It is an image of what 4800 grafts would look like on a NW7. Any young man interested in a hair transplant should definitely follow this link for a clear-cut reality check of what might be in their future.

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/164997-most-important-fact-remember.html

That amount of hair to cover that area of balding is absolutely inadequate. In military terms, it is tantamount to invading Iraq with a battalion of soldiers and a couple of jets. Think the U.S. could have gotten Saddam with such pitiful reserves of forces? That picture clearly shows what might be facing a hair transplant patient long term. As I’ve said before, there just isn’t enough hair in the donor region to warrant the risks if you are a young man.

And there are risks even if you are older. Take a look at this recent victim of a clinic in St. Louis. He has posted up a website where you can see what Hans Wiemann did to him. The man suffered from a severe case of necrosis. Take a look at the website, NewGuy77. Take a look at it.

http://hanswiemann-nightmare.com/

Don’t you think that poor man entered the surgery with high hopes and a positive attitude? Don’t you think he was also looking to improve his image like Mister Midlife crisis? And what now? What would you say to him about the marvels of hair restoration? Well, take a look at what the technicians that did his procedure told him. It’s written on Page 1 of his website.

"If sitting in a dark room in front of your computer and making unflattering comments about my coworks and myself as a healthcare provider go ahead, because thats what people who are unhappy with themselves as a person do, transplant or no transplant. No transplant, no matter how well the outcome would change this".

How inhuman to blame the victim after he spent all his money to suffer so much! You think that’s cool? You think that’s right? When things go wrong, many of these so-called doctors head for the hills and break off all contact with their patients. Happened to me. Happened to so many others.

You say that I’m down on transplants. Yeah, I am. However, I do think that there are a handful of surgeons who seem to do consistent good work. Shapiro and Cole come to mind off the top of my head. But no matter how good they are, they can’t guarantee a good result LONG-TERM. And a lot of them with good surgical skill are trading on hope and men’s insecurities. Take a look at this picture of work by Carlos Wesley, otherwise competent and talented.

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/164163-frosty-hair-holidays.html

Sorry. But giving that old man a transplant is equivalent to stealing his money. Because there is absolutely no real cosmetic difference between the before and after pictures. And, yes, you can argue that maybe the man knew that and wanted that result. But I can guarantee you that 99% of men out there are not willing to shell out $7,000-$10,000 for that result. It's hard for me to read Wesley's comments and believe he's actually proud of that work. As I wrote above, hair transplant doctors have very LOW standards of what is a cosmetically significant hairline. The link I posted is Exhibit A.

You seem like a pretty smart and generally nice guy. As with myself, I really hope and pray your hair never goes that route when you are 57 years old. Because it means that all the grafts that you transplanted are going to die. Same could happen to me. Or to any of us that have had transplants young. Or do you think that man had hair like that when he was in his 30’s? He was probably a NW4 just like you. His hair was probably still thick. Just like yours. But time can negate the results of the hair transplants by killing those very hairs that were transplanted. As I’ve stated before, take a look at the pictures of older men and see if that is worth the TIME, MONEY, and RISK you will take for a few years of happiness.

You can say a lot of things about me – that I’m cynical, biased, etc. But the one thing you CAN’T say about me is that I am uninformed. You CAN'T say that I'm just making stuff up. These links I’m posting up are real. My interpretation of what hair transplants are – as negative as it comes across - is valid. You can contact the victim of Hans Wiemann and give him your positive stand on hair transplants. Go ahead. Me? I’ll advise those considering hair transplants to view his story as a cautionary tale.

So that’s it. After this one last long message, you can hang my jersey from the rafters for a little while.

It’s cool. You win. Hair transplants are great. Hair transplants are awesome. Hair transplants are risk-free and have guaranteed long-term benefits. Keep telling yourself that fantasy. Or go visit the links I posted and see if the facts don’t argue otherwise. I encourage any young man to think twice about what they are getting themselves into because they too may one day find they regret having succumbed to their own vanities and insecuries.

Thank you so very much from the bottom of my heart for all the info you've posted here, I was JUST about to spend 12 grand at Bosley and I thank God I decided to search reviews before doing so, I feel very lucky to have read your posts and may God bless and be with you.
Adam

Understand speaks the truth...
Thank you so very much from the bottom of my heart for all the info you've posted here, I was JUST about to spend 12 grand at Bosley and I thank God I decided to search reviews before doing so, I feel very lucky to have read your posts and may God bless and be with you.
Adam

When God wanted you to have hair, you would have.
When you think that there's a God, that is.
Gee, imagine what you can now do with those 12K ;-)