The insane before/after results from Turkish clinics you see on TikTok are not at all representative of what most transplants look like. I’ve been looking around at reputable clinics in the US and most results aren’t even visually noticeable. The most visible ones are like a Norwood 2 to Norwood 1.75 transformation. I’m not at all knocking these surgeons, I’m saying that this is a realistic expectation for what a HT results should look like. Very mild and barely noticeable. Most of the fin/min results in this sub are more drastic. Not telling anyone to get or not get one. I’m just saying this bc I spent years on the fence about fin saying “oh well if I lose too much ground I’ll get a 5,000 graft procedure like this guy on instagram” but now realize that’s not really possible haha.
I’ve been doing hair transplants since 1991 and founded the large number of follicular unit graft procedures, and in 2002, I was the doctor who pioneered FUE. I have done thousands of hair transplants (Strip and FUE), and the results were fantastic. I realized quickly, as I published everything I did and met with many doctors, that too many hair doctors don’t get the nuances, so their growth rates are underwhelming. There are, however, a large number of doctors who give you the growth in the transplant that you would expect. Your research did not take you to the right sources. You can meet many of my patients, if you like, to learn of their experiences. I used to hold monthly Open House events where 6-12 former patients would come to discuss their experience and show their results. For almost 3 decades of doing this, I have NEVER had a patient come in with underwhelming results. They could have done this and wrecked my open house event for all attendees. Never happened. Transparency is the subject that we are discussing here. That is because I set realistic expectations for the patients at the onset and work out a Master Plan for each patient to help them achieve their goals.