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FUE with Minimal Growth and Hairs Implanted at Wrong Angles
Dr Pak
I had a corrective/2nd FUE procedure with Dr Pak in early March of 2022 (first one was at a different surgeon). He’s a very nice guy. Unfortunately the surgery did not yield any improvement.
I wanted to fill in gaps in my front temple areas. He estimated I’d need 500-700 follicles but “wouldn’t know til does surgery and would bill accordingly.” Fine. This graft estimate was in line with 4 other Dr’s quotes I had received.
When I woke from surgery, he used 1,200 follicles, many more than he or other doctors had initially suggested.. and used up a TON of my donor area, making it look like a moth ate the back of my head, unnecessary for the small area I wanted follicles added to. Instead, he wasted follicles by adding them to the front center of my head where there already was thick hair!
I questioned this immediately after surgery. I felt taken advantage of, but he said he had to make it look even. (Spoiler alert - it’s NOT even.)
The surgery itself was a good experience. Friendly staff, with minimal pain (maybe because hardly any grafts took?)
Initially 3 days after surgery- I emailed the office, concerned over scabbing and looking like large spaces between follicles (see picture- this was far different from my first FUE surgery where the follicles fell out after a couple of weeks- mine were gone in a few days and I followed ALL post op instructions). I was told no cause for concern.
The next few months I saw no growth whatsoever. Every time I called or emailed was told to “wait” even though when I had my first FUE surgery, I had a decent amount of growth at 4-5 months and had NONE with Dr Pak.
I asked a few times for an appointment at 4.5 months as I was getting concerned. This day in the office was a 2 minute appt with Dr Pak where he seemed annoyed that I was there. He told me I may not see any growth til many months later- completely contradicting what I’ve read online (and even his OWN comments on hair transplant forums online!)
Fast forward to 6 months- I still had very minimal to no growth. I was told that he was going to place the new hairs to angle down to look more natural since my previous transplant at another Dr were implanted in the wrong direction.
However, it appeared his transplanted hairs are also going in the wrong direction. Also, one side of my hairline had not grown in at all.
At the 6 month appt - visited mid September, Dr. Pak “agreed one side doesn’t look good” but nothing can be done just wait. Referred me to another doctor to go get PRP even though he told me on my initial visit that PRP Doesn’t work. And if I’m having bad growth I should see a different doctor. Even though in all the forums he comments in, he always advises people to “check back with their surgeon” when they have concerns. Ironically when it comes to his own patients concerns, he refers them elsewhere.
Ultimately, It’s now been exactly 8 months since I had my procedure in early March. I’ve had minimal growth and a widows peak hairline formation (which I was very clear I did not want) because he put the same amount of new hair in the front middle as the sides near it.. but there was already a lot of hair in the middle so it’s thicker and much more noticeable now than the temple areas.
My hairs all point straight up and when I let my hair grow out, I look like a devil with the right side and left side both pointing inward. It’s super embarrassing and I either need to wear a hat or a lot of gel to try and make it look somewhat normal.
If the purpose of using more hairs during the surgery was to have more uniformity/ blend with existing hair, then why aren’t they pointing in the proper/ same direction? If Dr Pak knew the transplanted hairs were going to be in the wrong direction as well, he could’ve just filled in the gaps I wanted and my surgery would’ve been much less expensive and still match what I already had.
Overall I’m very disappointed with minimal growth, wasted follicles, the angle of implanted hairs and the end result is not what I hoped for. I trusted him for my second surgery hoping to fix a bad previous one but unfortunately it isn’t what I’ve gotten. It just made an initial bad FUE procedure even worse. Please see before and after pictures where my hair looks exactly the same. I feel like I was taken advantage of.
I asked what could be done to fix it and rather than an offer to fix the problems, I was sold another procedure or a slightly discounted hair tattoo. I don’t want and shouldn’t need to have either. Very disappointed unfortunately.
I had a corrective/2nd FUE procedure with Dr Pak in early March of 2022 (first one was at a different surgeon). He’s a very nice guy. Unfortunately the surgery did not yield any improvement.
I wanted to fill in gaps in my front temple areas. He estimated I’d need 500-700 follicles but “wouldn’t know til does surgery and would bill accordingly.” Fine. This graft estimate was in line with 4 other Dr’s quotes I had received.
When I woke from surgery, he used 1,200 follicles, many more than he or other doctors had initially suggested.. and used up a TON of my donor area, making it look like a moth ate the back of my head, unnecessary for the small area I wanted follicles added to. Instead, he wasted follicles by adding them to the front center of my head where there already was thick hair!
I questioned this immediately after surgery. I felt taken advantage of, but he said he had to make it look even. (Spoiler alert - it’s NOT even.)
The surgery itself was a good experience. Friendly staff, with minimal pain (maybe because hardly any grafts took?)
Initially 3 days after surgery- I emailed the office, concerned over scabbing and looking like large spaces between follicles (see picture- this was far different from my first FUE surgery where the follicles fell out after a couple of weeks- mine were gone in a few days and I followed ALL post op instructions). I was told no cause for concern.
The next few months I saw no growth whatsoever. Every time I called or emailed was told to “wait” even though when I had my first FUE surgery, I had a decent amount of growth at 4-5 months and had NONE with Dr Pak.
I asked a few times for an appointment at 4.5 months as I was getting concerned. This day in the office was a 2 minute appt with Dr Pak where he seemed annoyed that I was there. He told me I may not see any growth til many months later- completely contradicting what I’ve read online (and even his OWN comments on hair transplant forums online!)
Fast forward to 6 months- I still had very minimal to no growth. I was told that he was going to place the new hairs to angle down to look more natural since my previous transplant at another Dr were implanted in the wrong direction.
However, it appeared his transplanted hairs are also going in the wrong direction. Also, one side of my hairline had not grown in at all.
At the 6 month appt - visited mid September, Dr. Pak “agreed one side doesn’t look good” but nothing can be done just wait. Referred me to another doctor to go get PRP even though he told me on my initial visit that PRP Doesn’t work. And if I’m having bad growth I should see a different doctor. Even though in all the forums he comments in, he always advises people to “check back with their surgeon” when they have concerns. Ironically when it comes to his own patients concerns, he refers them elsewhere.
Ultimately, It’s now been exactly 8 months since I had my procedure in early March. I’ve had minimal growth and a widows peak hairline formation (which I was very clear I did not want) because he put the same amount of new hair in the front middle as the sides near it.. but there was already a lot of hair in the middle so it’s thicker and much more noticeable now than the temple areas.
My hairs all point straight up and when I let my hair grow out, I look like a devil with the right side and left side both pointing inward. It’s super embarrassing and I either need to wear a hat or a lot of gel to try and make it look somewhat normal.
If the purpose of using more hairs during the surgery was to have more uniformity/ blend with existing hair, then why aren’t they pointing in the proper/ same direction? If Dr Pak knew the transplanted hairs were going to be in the wrong direction as well, he could’ve just filled in the gaps I wanted and my surgery would’ve been much less expensive and still match what I already had.
Overall I’m very disappointed with minimal growth, wasted follicles, the angle of implanted hairs and the end result is not what I hoped for. I trusted him for my second surgery hoping to fix a bad previous one but unfortunately it isn’t what I’ve gotten. It just made an initial bad FUE procedure even worse. Please see before and after pictures where my hair looks exactly the same. I feel like I was taken advantage of.
I asked what could be done to fix it and rather than an offer to fix the problems, I was sold another procedure or a slightly discounted hair tattoo. I don’t want and shouldn’t need to have either. Very disappointed unfortunately.
Provider Review
Hair Restoration Surgeon, Board Certified in Emergency Medicine
11620 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, California