Who Are The Best Hair Transplant Docs in Los Angeles?

I've long considered consulting with a hair transplant doc for my own thinning issues, and at this point my only hesitation is the fear of choosing a doctor not at the top of his game.

Needless to say, I've searched the Internet but results are primarily limited to self-serving websites owned and operated by the doctors themselves.

My other tact was to search for "celebrity hair transplants" to see who came back as having the procedure, and then -- once isolating which celebs I thought looked good -- I would try to work backwards to find their doctor. Unfortunately, as you might imagine, it's a pretty closely guarded secret as to which celebs have had work done and who their doctors are... so the Internet is basically only a forum for speculation.

Considering the above, I would love it if the forum could chime in on which doctors have the best reputation in the Los Angeles (and surrounding) area. Also, if anyone has a beat on which doctors have worked on which celebrities that would be really helpful as well.

THANKS GUYS!

JM

You need to stick with IAHRS doctors www.iahrs.org only and if you're comfortable traveling to have surgery there are some great doctors in San Francisco or even Arizona.!

Thanks for the tip. Will definitely check out the site.

I also have to imagine there are a few guys out their in the community that are the gold standard -- just the top 3 or 4 guys in the country that everyone talks about. Even if not in L.A., anyone know who those guys are?

Hey JMorgan,

I am of the opinion that there is some advantage to finding a doctor that is local to your hometown. So, if you are in Los Angeles, I'd recommend that you find a Los Angeles doctor. But again, this is my opinion.

Definitely check out a Los Angeles doctor named Doctor Paul McAndrews. He is a member of the IAHRS and is a phenomenal hair transplant doctor. I had a procedure with him in February of 2008, and I could not be happier with my results. His approach is conservative and his results are consistently good. Check him out! You may just find what you're looking for, and he is local.

Good luck

TeeJay

Oh one more thing ... don't believe too much in the celebrity hype. Celebrities will endorse anything if it furthers their careers or if they can make a buck. Look at that yo-yo Matthew McConnnahagy (or however you spell his name) and how he claims his hair came back with some bogus shampoo called Regenix. It was all BS. My first hair transplant was with a large chain clinic that had celebrity pics and endorsements all over the place, and my results sucked. Celebrities are nothing more than a marketing vehicle. Hair transplants and hair loss is surgery and medically based ... it's not about marketing. My second hair transplant with Doctor McAndrews of Los Angeles had no mention of celebrities, and the results were amazing.


TeeJay

The IAHRS doctors are the top doctors. A lot of what you read on the sites is BS. The more web oriented clinics seem to get all the attention but some of the best doctors in the country don't post or have their employees on the sites. When I read some other websites and see the same names over and over I laugh to myself because as you say it’s self serving. You should contact Spencer Kobren through his radio show or maybe he’ll read this and post something. Don't believe the hype about two or three TOP doctors only, it’s silly. Dr. Bernstein in New York helped me out many years ago and I know he’s one of the best in the world but he's hardly ever talked about on these sites. This is the only honest website to learn about this stuff because real people are responding to questions and the doctors here are honest. I read Dr. Bax’s post talking someone out of having hair transplant surgery yesterday, I thought that was very cool. You don't read such honest answers anywhere else.

Unfortunately, regardless of what you read or hear, there is a very short list of doctors who do world-class work. There are however, thousands of HT doctors.

Ask your doctor to see patients in person and to provide at least 20 before and afters with good lighting.

Additionally, you should be willing to travel for such a visible procedure.

If you do your homework, you will discover who does great work, and who is just fluff.

Good Luck!
Jason

All good advice. Regarding the celebrities, I wasn't so much looking for endorsements as I am looking for "samples." In fact, I'd prefer that they didn't endorse any doctor and instead tried to keep their procedure private. The celebs who look the best are typically the ones who don't want you to know they had any work done in the first place, so an endorsement actually has the effect of negating my interest in a particular doctor. The best doctors are probably as discrete as they are effective.

Here is my thought process: If there was a celebrity out there who had good work done -- even if they don't publicly acknowledge it -- there will no doubt be an abundance of pictures of them, thus giving me a good opportunity to get a close look at their doctor's work. Also, I would imagine that most high-end celebs have support systems substantial enough to significantly vet the litany of available doctors on their behalf. Accordingly, I could sort of reverse engineer and/or co-op some of this leg work for myself.

Even if I could isolate such a person (i.e. a celeb who very quietly had excellent work done) the trick would be figuring out who the doctor was who performed the procedure. Needless to say, I'm sure these are closely guarded secrets... but I was hoping that perhaps a few whispers would have emerged over the years.

Hey J,

As the well-informed folks who have replied to this thread mentioned, stick with the IAHRS list -- then check local IAHRS docs first. Obviously, if someone doesn't have a local IAHRS doc, then they must travel, and from the many stories I've read on this site, that usually works out just fine. I will say though, that it was very very nice to be able to drive to my HT and back from my HT and then be in my own house where I could take care of myself (sleep in my own bed etc.). Luckily my local HT doc here in Portland Oregon, Steven Gabel, is a freaking HT rock star who has done incredible work and is about the nicest, most sincere guy you will ever meet.

That's my two cents, I would follow's TeeJay's advice about Dr. McAndrews -- he's right in L.A., he has posted great results here, and TeeJay personally recommends him. Why not ring him up and have a consultation?

Best of luck!
Michael

Thanks Michael. Good thoughts.

Hey -- anyone aware of the reputation of Dr. William R. Rassman? He maintains a site called baldingblog Seems to be a relatively prominent HT surgeon.