Dr. Rahal - Anyone Had Bad Experience w/ Him?

[greatjob!]

but $4/graft.. damn thats very steep!! cant rahal give a discount at least being that its so damn expensive?

Most every good doctor charges $3-$4/graft for strip. You can get a 15% discount or similar from most doctors if your schedule is flexible enough to take a last minute cancellation spot.

[koolx]

You definitely get what you pay for. If you only knew how many guys I have dialogued with over the years who were lured by a cheap price and got whacked.

excellent point, gillenator.. didnt think about it in that way.

Most every good doctor charges $3-$4/graft for strip. You can get a 15% discount or similar from most doctors if your schedule is flexible enough to take a last minute cancellation spot.

so maybe rahal may offer such a discount, maybe?

[greatjob!]

so maybe rahal may offer such a discount, maybe?

He definitely does. Unless it changed it's 15%. The only issue is you have to be ready to fill a spot at short notice, which is an issue for most people because the planning phase and making sure people don't know you had a procedure is important to most.

[koolx]

He definitely does. Unless it changed it's 15%. The only issue is you have to be ready to fill a spot at short notice, which is an issue for most people because the planning phase and making sure people don't know you had a procedure is important to most.

ahhh! i see.. even if it could be short notice, the 15% does come in handy big time!

[Dr. Lindsey]

This is a pretty decent thread.

First off, Dr. Rahal is excellent. I've never met him but I see plenty of patients who have gone to him and speak highly of him.

Second, every doctor has a few unhappy patients. Remember surgery is not math, where 2 + 2 always is 4, but its more like cooking, where different ingredients, cooked in a different kitchen, albeit by the same cook USUALLY turn out consistently but not always. Reputable doctors make every effort to get a great result, but it simply doesn't always happen.

Third, Gillenator is right, be wary of prices that seem too good to be true.


Fourth, yes often clinics have an open day or one that opens unexpectedly...we do, and yes to fill a date quickly many, including us, will give a discount. Its really never the money that gets the patient to commit in those cases, its really paying the patient to accept the inconvenience of an unplanned absence from work...where as if one schedules they have lots of time to prepare. Depsite a last minute discount...we often have trouble filling a sudden opening, people work and have family lives and just can't switch into a date with short notice. Hence the deposit is to pay the staff for that day even though they aren't working...but they have bills that continue to acrue too.

Good thread with lots of topics.

Dr. Lindsey McLean VA

[DAVE52]

. The only downside for me is now the areas I didn't have work done to now stick out and bother more and I'm broke so I'm going to have to knock off a bank to pay for round two, lol.
.

lol.........would you not say that is an issue with hair transplants in general.

As we continue to lose hair we need go back and to fill in spots or suck it up and live with it.

[greatjob!]

lol.........would you not say that is an issue with hair transplants in general.

As we continue to lose hair we need go back and to fill in spots or suck it up and live with it.

Yes but that's not what I was referring to. I didn't lose hair, I just couldn't get enough grafts in the last procedure to hit those areas.

[Super2kc]

I've just completed a 4300 graft FUT(performed two weeks ago), full marks to Dr.Rahal and his staff.
I admit that I was taken by surprise at how much swelling had ocurred within 30 hours and found myself being dragged into emergency for a second opinion by my brother, I was advised this was normal, I went home releived with a good shot of 2mg Dilaudid injection in me(babies don't sleep this good)!
Considering it's only been two weeks, not much else to say at this point, so far so good, lack of quality sleep for a couple weeks is to be expected with this kind of procedure and is more than well worth it in my opinion.
Hussein and his entire staff are nothing short of fantastic and very personable, I've looked forward to every required visit due to such excellent treatment every time.
I can't emphasize enough my highest recommendations for Dr. Rahal's services to anyone that's considering this.

[thejack]

I've just completed a 4300 graft FUT(performed two weeks ago), full marks to Dr.Rahal and his staff.
I admit that I was taken by surprise at how much swelling had ocurred within 30 hours and found myself being dragged into emergency for a second opinion by my brother, I was advised this was normal, I went home releived with a good shot of 2mg Dilaudid injection in me(babies don't sleep this good)!
Considering it's only been two weeks, not much else to say at this point, so far so good, lack of quality sleep for a couple weeks is to be expected with this kind of procedure and is more than well worth it in my opinion.
Hussein and his entire staff are nothing short of fantastic and very personable, I've looked forward to every required visit due to such excellent treatment every time.
I can't emphasize enough my highest recommendations for Dr. Rahal's services to anyone that's considering this.

I have consulted with a number of doctor's over the years and I will say that Rahal has stood out to me in providing the best line of communication, services and reassurance. I have made my mind up to go with his clinic next time I need it.

Super2Kc is your strip scar still detectable after 2 weeks or is your hair nicely covering it?

[Super2kc]

I have consulted with a number of doctor's over the years and I will say that Rahal has stood out to me in providing the best line of communication, services and reassurance. I have made my mind up to go with his clinic next time I need it.

Super2Kc is your strip scar still detectable after 2 weeks or is your hair nicely covering it?

It was a beauty shark smile at first but very quickly faded, I was back at my office 7 days after the procedure and colleagues couldn't easily see the scar, and yes my hair is quickly growing to cover it completely but my hair grows like wild well fed weeds though

[FearTheLoss]

Dr. Rahal is one of the best in the business HANDS DOWN. He is not only a great surgeon, but he is an exceptional artist which is crucial for a natural hairline design.

[morelocks]

I want to know what happened to Marco who he did work on?
I also want to know where there this guy Matt J who worked for them is? He was on the forums and then disappeared after showing his pre op pics. Since there were no post of pics this also raises a red flag

[chrisdav]

I do not think it is fair to judge a doctor based on a few unhappy patients. Nothing in medicine is 100% and if you find someone getting 100% marks all the time then something interesting is going on. In fact, chances are that if you find someone with no unhappy patients then you found someone that does very little cases a year.

Of course its good to monitor success rate. For example, failure rates or unhappy rates in transplants can be 1-10% which for most clinics(not tech mills or hair mills) is about 4 patients a year on a good year. So if the clinic is monitoring numbers, and one year has a rate of 100 then that should raise flags. It really is best to go by referrals of people you know, use pre-screened societies, and meeting the doctor if you can.

Whats also much more important is interaction and follow up. If you have concerns you want to be able to go in for regular follow ups. If things dont work out, you want to be able to discuss and execute other options. So that is a big role for customer service and bedside manner.

I trained in a hospital with world renowned physicians in all specialties and they all had difficult or unsuccessful cases. And this was true in both complicated and even seemingly simple cases. You just never know with medicine. You have to try your best and be available to the patients if things do not go well.

Very important point Dr and prospective patients need to understand this.

All top surgeons will have some unhappy patients. The proportion of unhappy patients will be smaller of course with a better surgeon. If in the event the result is not as expected, another measure of a good surgeon is how he/she deals with this when it happens.

[FearTheLoss]

I want to know what happened to Marco who he did work on?
I also want to know where there this guy Matt J who worked for them is? He was on the forums and then disappeared after showing his pre op pics. Since there were no post of pics this also raises a red flag

No MattJ posted his pics on another forum at one point, I remember thinking the same thing until I saw them. They looked very good. I would guess that he has just moved on with his life now that he doesn't worry about his hair loss anymore. That seems to happen frequently. No matter how much someone may visit the forum and post, when they no longer have to worry about it themselves, they usually get on with their lives.

[ejj]

Have you got a link to Matts pictures? I would like to see them also, he was a rep for the clinic so rather different than a client who is satisfied and just moves on. I am a member of 5 forums and have not seen them, many posters on all forums have asked for updates but remain dissapointed as none have been presented
Regards
ej