Drybone's 1860 Graft Dr Searle Colorado Hair Institute

[sonikk]

BTW, I just wanna thank Drybones because what he experiences and his opinions does matter, weeding out the lame-os. End of my rant!

[sonikk]

I know that this is an old post, and it looks like Mr. Drybone hasn't been active since July. but I guess I needed to say something.

Just recently, there was a Black Friday sale from a hair clinic in Newport Beach, CA. 3.99 per graft, down from the 7 bucks.

Not only that, but if you want a Neograft procedure, they would take off 2000 dollars if you got 1000 grafts or higher.

For the longest time, I've been thinking about getting my hair restored (I'm 32 years old, baby faced still). But then..I was thinking to myself..boy this is kinda fishy. Its TOO cheap.

The clinic is owned by Dr. Gerald Searle, DO, and it seems to be a fairly new clinic. The reviews I've seen from real self and yelp were kinda generic at best. There's barely any photos of the facility itself.

Then I wanted to do some research. Then I found out that Searle was involved with , indicted in a marijuana scheme back in Colorado back in 2013. When I read it up, I was thinking 'maybe it was just by happenstance or whatever, but no...Seare was a childhood friend with the dude who had the most charges.

So obviously, Searle was able to keep his practicing as a doctor, so he was never convicted, and moved his practice over to Los Angles/Orange County.

When I found this post by Drybones, the post that stood out the most was from 1/25/2015, which stated that the doctors that worked on his second surgery (including Searle) don't even see themselves as hair restoration professionals. I've done tons of research and again and again, the thing that professionals pointed out is that there is a craft to hair restoration. That it's almost an art form, from the way the hairline looks and density, so it could look legit.


Anyway thanks for reading!

[drybone]

They cant even fill a prescription for finasteride for me . They simply tell me they are doing it and dont. In my opinion, I would not waste the airfare and expenses to go out there. They will surely nickel and dime you for prescriptions, shampoo and whatnot.

Look. You get what you pay for. I wanted 2500 to 5000 grafts and when I got there it was decided to be 2000 and then it was 1861 with virtually all of them being 1 hair groups.

I estimate that they only put in 700 hairs if that. Its your call. Maybe mine was a lone case. I promised to be fair and objective and I was. It was not worth the effort , expense and now I have to get at least 1 or even 2 more procedures to just get what I wanted the first time.

[hairhope]

drybone,

I'm in discussion with CHI and you are right they are only offering to fix it. Do you know if they offer FUE procedure and if so would it be worth trying? I'm out of alot of money now....you thoughts?

[drybone]

Well its been basically 20 months since the 2nd operation. its fine but its not 1800 grafts. Both procedures combined it was about 1500 grafts, not the 3000 they claimed.

My hair is fine to begin with so it looks like a picket fence but luckily my natural hair behind hit has held so it still looks reasonable. Not bad for a guy who turns 49 in two weeks.

[dzl210]

I would've rather had a decent car than the botched head these people gave me.

[wilbwil]

I had a terrible experience at CHI. I was left with a horrible scar and foolishly went back there for a revision and ended up with an even worse outcome. I have a scar that is 1/2 inch wide in some places and even with my hair grown out it is noticeable. Everyone please be wary of this place. They are butchers.

[drybone]

Hey .

Yeah, its not like there were no grafts at all. Here is the real problem with both Pizarro and Colorado Hair institute.

They dont see themselves as hair professionals really. They see themselves as folks who provide a service. There is a big difference.

Hair professionals care about their patients but more importantly are aware that guys are walking around with their work on their heads. Its important to them that we look good as it is a direct reflection upon their careers.

Pizarro and CHI could utterly care less what I looked like . They wanted no feedback and did not follow up with me at all.

The second procedure was a waste of time. I am sure there are 200 or 400 grafts that are there. Its too difficult to tell if they all fell out or what happened. But what is for sure is this :

In both cases they told me what I wanted to hear regarding the number of grafts and the density and didnt even come close to delivering. The real problem is that it wasted my time . Now I have to have a third procedure but it will be my last.

Thank you for reading.

[Notcoolanymore]

Perfect time for an "I told you so".

[DAVE52]

Hello everyone.

I started this thread with the best intention of showing folks that hair transplants work, and that you dont necessarily have to go get the best and most expensive one out there. Just as long as the doctor knows what he or she is doing and our expectations are manageable , then there is little risk .
.

See the attached thread

I tried to warn you that Lowest costs doesn't necessarily equate to best procedure / results

https://www.baldtruthtalk.com/showthread.php?14008-Drybone-s-Colorado-Hair-institute-Dr-Searle-3500-grafts/page2

Sorry for your results .

[Notcoolanymore]

I havent put up any photos because I have been too embarrassed. I feel like an idiot not only once, but twice ripped off. I paid for over 3000 grafts on my hairline . After all the moaning and belly aching I did on this site I have been left humiliated and ashamed.

That blows man. Sorry to hear that things didn't go well. I was wondering how you were doing since I hadn't seen you around here for a while. I was hoping you were another success story that moved on like I hope to one day. I hope things eventually work out for you.

[AubreyMcClendon]

DB - sorry to hear that you haven't had the best experience. I look forward to checking out your pictures. Do you have any theories as to why the second procedure didn't take? Good luck and keep your head up - I understand your frustration but you still have a great head of hair.

[drybone]

Hello everyone.

I started this thread with the best intention of showing folks that hair transplants work, and that you dont necessarily have to go get the best and most expensive one out there. Just as long as the doctor knows what he or she is doing and our expectations are manageable , then there is little risk .

My first transplant was with a Dr Pizzaro of Orlando who came with a good reputation and fair price of $3.50 per graft. However, when I got there and met with her and her associates , it did not go as I had hoped.

The sales lady tried to con me into a 'laser comb' for another 3.5k. I told her politely no thanks but I was thinking that they dont really work and even if they did it aint worth 3.5k . Why would she try to insult the intelligence or take advantage of one of her patients? I did the operation. It took them 4 hours and her assistants spoke Spanish the entire time. They most galling thing about it was they started speaking Spanish then stopped cold. They asked me if I spoke Espanol. I said I did not, and so they went right back to speaking it. I guess they wanted to know if I was going to be able to understand their gossiping or whatnot.

At the end I went home and felt satisfied. The hair fell out after 3 weeks and grew after 2 months. It was fine, except there was no way it was 1300 grafts. If I counted up every hair I bet there wasnt 700. I guess one of the tricks of the trade is cut the grafts short to cut down on work. How was the poor shmuck ever going to know the difference right?

Dr Pizzaro never once called me to see how I was. Never followed up 6 months, 9 months , even a year. At one year I sent her an email telling her the hair grew in and if she wanted to do a follow up exam on my scalp. She never replied.

So I knew damn well I would need another procedure. I talked to various members here who indicated different IHARS doctors until I met Chris from Colorado institute. He and I talked repeatedly for over a year. Basically since I had my first operation. I told him I wanted my frontal hairline closed in so you couldn't 'see through it' and would do as much as 4000 grafts if I had to.

He was great. He flew me out to Denver to stay in a hotel, then we got started next morning and the rest is what you read in the thread. He only did 1800 grafts on the front so I felt he caught me a break in price.

So what happened? .......................Nothing happened. Thats right. Nothing happened. I didnt notice any hair fall out really but then again Its hard to tell where the Pizarro hair ends and this new Dr Searle hair starts. I brushed it off.

After 3 months nothing. No new hairs grew. Nothing. I had to assume it was because they never fell out. I dont remember any falling out like the first time. The thing was it was pretty cut and dried where Pizarro advanced my hairline. With Searle he moved within it to apparently apply density. So I couldnt tell if the hair there was all Pizarro or some of hers and Searles. For certain no new hair grew in there so either it never fell out or it failed completely.

Well, its been 15 months since the operation. What do I see in the mirror? The same friggin hairline that you see right through. Whats more, Chris never followed up with me. I tried on several occasions to get my finasteride prescription filled and he says he kept doing it but it never arrived. After a year he writes me an email for a 'follow up' but never asks how it went. I then ask him again for the fin and he again says to send him the info. Again I send it and again it never shows up at the pharmacy..

I havent put up any photos because I have been too embarrassed. I feel like an idiot not only once, but twice ripped off. I paid for over 3000 grafts on my hairline . After all the moaning and belly aching I did on this site I have been left humiliated and ashamed. All I ever wanted was to close up my hairline because at my age I wasnt going to lose the rest of it. If I had known that there are idiots out there I would have just paid my 4 or 5 bucks a graft and got a professional job.

I am going to take some digital pictures of my hairline with high resolution and count the hairs from the spot where Pizarro put the hairs in. I would be surprised if there is 700 in total.

In the end? You get what you pay for. I am now going to have to pay $10,000 or more to go get 2000 or so grafts put into my hairline to close it up once and for all. This time by a professional who will actually tell me what i need to look good, put them all in there and make it look natural.

/end rant

Strata: Searle did a good job with the actual procedure for me. They just didnt very many grafts in and those they did fell out. My scar is good. I hope your lawsuit goes well . I am not going to bother because we both know they will just offer to put in more non existent grafts that will not take .

p.s. That picture of Searle in the news under indictment is the same Searle I met.

[Strata]

I had a miserable experience at this clinic, please check my story:

https://www.baldtruthtalk.com/showthread.php?17330-Miserable-Experience-and-terrible-results-at-CSCHI-Colorado-Surgical-Center-Hair-I

[AubreyMcClendon]

Drybone any updates? Curious if you've made any progress since your last post.