My Armani consultation, pretty good price... Few Questions..

[gr0]

Ok so first of all I went for this consultation about 5 months ago. I had been on finasteride for a year before that. I started minoxidil right after the consultation. I`m 26.

Here are the photos from the consultation.


my hairloss seems to have stabilized with the finasteride, and I have`nt seen any regrowth at all with the minoxidil. 5months after those photos and my hair is exactly the same.

Ok so here`s the quote from armani.

First Session: 1030 Units in Zone 3 1130 in Zone 4 for $11,250
Second Session: 2530 Units in Zone 1 and 1030 in Zone 2 for $15,750

these are the zones if you`re wondering

http://www.hairlosshelp.com/forums/attachments/baldingzones.gif

So around $5 per graft. Which is half of what they say on the website. and I was told it will be performed by alvi himself or his sister.

Now I was wondering is this too much? Should I try and conserve my donor area a little bit more? after 5700+ grafts with FUE what`s gonna be left? In the consultation I was told they can get 8-10K... is this accurate?

I`m gonna go in for a second consultation soon to see if I can get zones 2, 3 and 4 done in one session, that`s 3200 units. Is this too much to do in one session? scalp shock?

I`d greatly appreciate it too if anyone would share their experience with armani.

Also to anyone that got big sessions like this done, how is the recovery? is two weeks enough for the donor area to heal. The recipient area I can cover with a hat, how long till the redness goes away? and in 4 months will most of the implanted hair start to grow?

Here are a few more photos with the hair a little bit longer, I took these about 2 weeks ago.

 

[Avery]

Prices don't sound too bad. I've heard his prices have come down, they used to be astronomical, so that's good.

Did he say you have 8-10k grafts, or the average patient has 8-10k grafts? If he quoted that number about your head, that's good density, your donor area shouldn't look too bad after so much removal.

Doing it all at once sounds like a lot on your body. Personally, I'd split it up just so I could evaluate his work. A little of a bad thing is easier to tolerate than a lot of it, heh. But he doesn't get a lot of critism for his work, just his ethics. =p

 

[gr0]

Did he say you have 8-10k grafts, or the average patient has 8-10k grafts? If he quoted that number about your head, that's good density, your donor area shouldn't look too bad after so much removal.

He said 8-10k in general, but he did say that my donor area is high density.

 

[Petchsky]

I think you would be better off with strip. It's cheaper, and easier if doing a big session. You can normally get up to 4/5000 grafts done in a session. Also go on another consultation with another clinic, this is not something you want to rush in to doing.

Check out there forums for transplants http://www.pb-hair.co.uk/forums/ www.hairlosshelp.com

 

[gr0]

I don't think strip is an option for me, I like to keep my hair shaved with guard 1 or 2. The scar would show. I'd like to go to other consults but any other reputable surgeon is at least 8 hrs away while Armani is less than an hour away and his rep is pretty good. Maybe I'll try to do some online consults

 

[Petchsky]

ah i see, still worth it though, seriously.

And, i wound make sure it was armarni doing my transplant, and if not, check the net for pictures of previous transplants by whoever is doing your transplant. I know his sister does transplants now as well, but she has not been doing it as long as armarni himself, hairlosshelp does seem to have a lot of armarni patients on there so definitely check that site out.

All the best and try to post back here if you can with any outcomes

 

[Dude,Where'sMyHair]

No offense...but you do not have the density, in my non-expert opinion, for that many grafts.

P.S. One bad yielding procedure and you are screwed. It is better to work front to back! unk:

 

[gr0]

No offense...but you do not have the density, in my non-expert opinion, for that many grafts.

P.S. One bad yielding procedure and you are screwed. It is better to work front to back! unk:

I'm doing zone 2 to 4 using 3200 grafts out of the 8k. Zone 2 starts about 2cm back from the current hairline.

Plenty of grafts left and a nw2 wouldn't look that bad anyways, The end result in 8 months should be 60-90 hairs per square cm.

I went for a second consultation today at Armani.

About the strip vs fue I was told 95% survival rate with fue and not taking any grafts from nw6 area. And they can do 3500 in one session.

 

[Avery]

About the strip vs fue I was told 95% survival rate with fue

That sounds like a tremendously optimistic number.

 

[Petchsky]

About the strip vs fue I was told 95% survival rate with fue

That sounds like a tremendously optimistic number.

I thought that was the survival rate for strip...

 

[Avery]

That I would believe.

 

[HT55]

Did he say you have 8-10k grafts, or the average patient has 8-10k grafts? If he quoted that number about your head, that's good density, your donor area shouldn't look too bad after so much removal.

He said 8-10k in general, but he did say that my donor area is high density.

Now that is funny because there are debates at other sites where Armani says 15K is the average and he has a patient that he extracted 20K FUE from.

If Armani is saying you only have 8 -10K FUE your donor probably isn't very good


I don't know if I will get in toruble for saying this but I would go to hair loss help and look at the many Armani Patients who have blogs there.

IMO you should wait as you have a LOT of hair loss for your age and possibly a weak donor


Armani does a LOT of touchups on his FUE patients which is OK I guess if you have enough donor but 8 - 10K is not going to cut it for you with FUE as it's survival rate is much lower that strip.

If you want the truth about FUE contact DR Feller as he performs both surgeries and I trust Armani about as far as I can throw him.

You need to realize most of the pics you see from Armani are strip surgeries or strip and FUE combined.

That price also sounds like a last minute cancellation rate as he should be able to tell you who is doing the surgery.

 

[gr0]

Hey guys thanks for all the feedback.

about the 95% survival rate, I was told that with the instruments they use now there is minimal damage and the grafts are inspected under microscope and if there is damage they won`t get implanted. I taught strip was 98% or 99%

I took a quick look at hairlosshelp forums when Petchsky mentioned it, there seems to be a lot of sara armani patients on there, the board seems down now :/

I also contacted rahal and feller. Rahal estimated I need 4000 grafts from the photos. Which will cover hairline to crown.

Pricing for your procedure based on 4000 grafts will be $14,700 Canadian (tax inc) I will be able to give you a $1000 off this price to pay for your travel and hotel expenses while you are here in Ottawa.

I asked feller about fue and strip survival rate and how much donor is typically available. I hope he answers me soon.

 

[Petchsky]

Rohal and feller are both good docs, getting mine done with feller in January, i'm sure he'll get back to you.

 

[HT55]

Is Believe rahal is quoting you 4K STRIP which I believe is about right. If Armani says you have 8 -10K donor I bet Rahal tells you about 6-7K.


As Dr Feller will tell you don't believe anyone who tells you FUE is giving the same yield graft for graft as strip does, it's not even close.

Ask Dr Armani to GUARANTEE a 95% survival rate and watch him change his tune.

As I said before your donor hair doesn't look that great so don't let Armani say he will give you a free touch up if you are not happy because it will take away from your limited donor.

 

[HT55]

Hey guys thanks for all the feedback.

about the 95% survival rate, I was told that with the instruments they use now there is minimal damage and the grafts are inspected under microscope and if there is damage they won`t get implanted. I taught strip was 98% or 99%

Armani is using some sort of Drill to extract FUE and last I heard very few grafts were actually inspected. FUE takes a lot more time than strip (where every graft is cut and inspected under a scope ) do the math for 3500 grafts in a day and I think you will see very little time could be spent examining the grafts

Did you actually see Armani himself or a rep ? Last I heard Armani was charging $250 for consults with himself.

I strongly encourage you to talk to Dr Feller before doing FUE

 

[BlahBlah12]

how much does a consultation with armani himself cost?
and also, if you would just like his medical opinion, does he try to lock you into paying for a transplant or would he recommend propecia or something first.

in other words, does he act like a doctor or a businessman in that consultation...

im thinking of going in for a consultation but not if im going to be told that "if i sign up now ill get this really great rate"

 

[oxymoron]

Hey guys thanks for all the feedback.

about the 95% survival rate, I was told that with the instruments they use now there is minimal damage and the grafts are inspected under microscope and if there is damage they won`t get implanted. I taught strip was 98% or 99%

Armani is using some sort of Drill to extract FUE and last I heard very few grafts were actually inspected. FUE takes a lot more time than strip (where every graft is cut and inspected under a scope ) do the math for 3500 grafts in a day and I think you will see very little time could be spent examining the grafts

I have been talking with Dr. Cole in Atlanta and finally set up an 1000 graft fue for the end of Nov. I show up at 8am and leave at 7pm. In that time frame, which includes a pre-op walk through, he would only be able to perform 1500 grafts (but w/ me he's doin 1000). That is all that he feels is feasable in one day. I'm not sure if he would guarantee it but he claims 95% survival minimum. From what I understand he's a very reputable hair transplant surgeon.

 

[HT55]

I have been talking with Dr. Cole in Atlanta and finally set up an 1000 graft fue for the end of Nov. I show up at 8am and leave at 7pm. In that time frame, which includes a pre-op walk through, he would only be able to perform 1500 grafts (but w/ me he's doin 1000). That is all that he feels is feasable in one day. I'm not sure if he would guarantee it but he claims 95% survival minimum. From what I understand he's a very reputable hair transplant surgeon.

95% is high for FUE but since he is taking all day to do 1K grafts vs Armani doing 3K plus I be Coles odds are much better

I'm guessing you need hairline work ?

 

[oxymoron]

I have been talking with Dr. Cole in Atlanta and finally set up an 1000 graft fue for the end of Nov. I show up at 8am and leave at 7pm. In that time frame, which includes a pre-op walk through, he would only be able to perform 1500 grafts (but w/ me he's doin 1000). That is all that he feels is feasable in one day. I'm not sure if he would guarantee it but he claims 95% survival minimum. From what I understand he's a very reputable hair transplant surgeon.

95% is high for FUE but since he is taking all day to do 1K grafts vs Armani doing 3K plus I be Coles odds are much better

I'm guessing you need hairline work ?

Actually crown only. My top is thin but screw it... it happens. I've got a very bizarre hairloss pattern so i'm going for 1000+ just to even it out. I'll attach a pic. Looking down from the back, I need to fill in high left and also lower center. I actually don't mind the thinning, I just want it to look natural
Clearly it would take more than 1000 grafts to fill that sucker in though