Hair Transplant: Stories

Karl... Bingo -- it was Greg Pistone. Fascinating that the bad experiences were so similar, from the unnatural hairline, to the misplaced and misdirected implants, to the gaps and spotty coverage. I moved to Florida a year or so ago and found a physician with a REAL transplant team -- skilled and knowledgeable -- who essentially fixed the hairline problems caused by Dr. Pistone. It's not perfect, but it's infinitely better than it was, especially given the awful results from the previous surgeries. Point is, I'm a lot less self-conscious, though I still might need one final procedure (if I still have a viable donor area), essentially to do the "fill-ins" and repairs that should have been done long ago. Not yet sure if I'm going to go that route -- these things are expensive -- but if I do, at least I have a doc I can trust. However, with hindsight, if I had the choice to do it again, even with a qualified surgeon, I wouldn't. Just not worth it. Thanks for you message... Good to know that we're not alone. Really appreciate it.

Jazz, I have a funny feeling your talking about Dr. Pistone. I only say that because if I had to tell my story on here it would sound almost identical to yours. The funny thing is he did the same thing to my friend. I think he's out of business now or partnered up with another company because he was getting a lot of complaints. He is a nice guy and I think he means well but he is far from an artist and your right, he does NOT listen to his patients. He told me I would only need one. After one, I basically had a new hair line that was not that natural with a lot of spaces. Went back a second time to "fill it in" and after a year, basically the same. I expressed to him how unhappy I was and disgusted I even started with this. He said he would do a third one on him as long as I paid the operating room costs. After a year and a third procedure, its better but he does sloppy work. The way I found out about this was I had to go to another top doc in NYC. He explained to the job was sloppy due to the fact that all the transplanted hair was put in the wrong way. I would notice this after the shower mostly. My regular hair was going one way straight down, while the transplanted hair would grow upwards. That unnatural look along with too much space in between the hairs caused me to have that "rag doll" appearance. The grafts with two or more hairs are suppose to be in the back and the single ones are suppose to go in front. Not the case with this doctor and his careless staff. They basically just put them where they pleased and in the wrong direction. Now I had to go to Dr. Epstein in NYC for a revision, something he known for according to his reviews. He had to remove all the hair in the front and replant them in the right direction, create a more irregular/natural hairline and also take a fourth strip to fill in those spaces. I am disgusted I had to do this again but I am praying with every breath this doctor took pity on me and did what I hope can be done to just make it look natural. I honestly feel like hanging myself when I think about what I had to go through and the amount of time it took away from me. Now I have to wait another year to see what happens. All I can tell you is that it seems this doctor knew his stuff and was a true artist. Of course, only time will tell. Thought you might want to know this because I feel your pain and if you have the funds to do so, I think (I hope rather) there is something that can be done. Feel free to message me if you want to discuss further.

Karl

"Talented enough" and "a straight line across my forehead" don't match up at all to me. Any hair transplant surgeon making straight hair lines across the forehead is not talented in the least and should find another profession entirely. Straight lines might have been acceptable back in the 80s when these procedures were first being done, but 30 years later this science has progressed enormously. This science has now become an art form. There are surgeons out there today who are creating amazingly natural hairlines that are absolutely undetectable (like mine). They are of course going to charge you more than a mediocre surgeon (I paid $12k for 1750 grafts), but this level of service does absolutely exist. I've even had another hair surgeon tell me he couldn't tell my hairline wasn't natural. He was shocked to find out it had been made entirely by hand by my surgeon.

I'm sorry for your unfortunate experience Jazz60, but I would like to stress to the others readers of this site that amazing hair transplants do exist...and they are worth every penny.

JW-