Hi - has anyone had any dealings with Vinci hair clinic for HTs?

[Stanth]

Hi, I'm new to the forum...

I'm 33 and have been steadily losing my hair since I was about 25. I've never had really thick hair, but now at the top there is more skin than hair and it's thinning in a line from there to the temples.

I have quite a few intolerances/allergies, so I'm very wary of taking the drug route, which means that I've been looking at HT options.

Ziering seemed quite expensive, Farjo suggested the drug route instead (which I'm not keen to go down) and Vinci weren't pushy and are cheaper (though not worryingly cheaper) than Ziering. The only problem is that I can't find any proper reviews of their work... does anyone have any good/bad experience with them?

Thanks

[Stanth]

Hi Highlander, thanks for the reply. They did suggest the regimen to control my hair loss - usual finasteride, minoxidil etc.but apart from the reason I mentioned above, I'm also trying for children, which is another reason not to go down the finasteride route.

[UK_]

Beg Ziering to slip in a few shots of HSC?

[Stanth]

That's still a few years off isn't it? If there was a guarantee that HSC would be safe and on the market in a few years then a HT now would last long enough until that comes out... I never thought losing my hair would bug me this much!

[PatientlyWaiting]

I've never heard of that doctor. You shouldn't get HT's with random doctors like that. That's where horror stories come from. Then people think HT's are bad, when in fact the surgeon they picked was bad. Then they go crawling back to the big boys of the IAHRS for a repair and claim how they regret getting an HT. They go around telling every one not to do it because of their bad experience with a bad surgeon.

[25 going on 65]

Hi, I'm new to the forum...

I'm 33 and have been steadily losing my hair since I was about 25. I've never had really thick hair, but now at the top there is more skin than hair and it's thinning in a line from there to the temples.

I have quite a few intolerances/allergies, so I'm very wary of taking the drug route, which means that I've been looking at HT options.

Ziering seemed quite expensive, Farjo suggested the drug route instead (which I'm not keen to go down) and Vinci weren't pushy and are cheaper (though not worryingly cheaper) than Ziering. The only problem is that I can't find any proper reviews of their work... does anyone have any good/bad experience with them?

Thanks

Never heard of Vinci. Some general rules of thumb that may or may not apply to you:
HT's in general are less recommended in diffusely thinning areas and people who can't take meds.
Meds in general work well on diffuse thinners but may give you side effects.

If you can't find much information/results about a clinic's work, it's probably not worth the risk. This is a permanent surgery that everyone will be able to see constantly, it's not something to be risky about. You don't want to get stuck getting repair work done down the road like many unfortunate patients have had to do.
One "nuclear option" is to get densely transplanted hairline and temples, then wear a partial hair system to cover the rest (avoids showing mesh in front). I have heard about this in theory but am not sure how well it works in practice. But you cannot cover a bald scalp with transplanted grafts except with relatively low density. (Although some men choose to get their frontal scalp transplanted and simply leave the bald spot in back alone.)

More description or even a picture of your current hair would be helpful.

[Stanth]

Hi 25 going on 65 - thanks for the reply. I heard of Vinci when one of the people did an interview with Jeremy Vine on radio 2, but I guess anyone who sounds plausible can do that.

My hair falls in the diffusely thinning category at the moment, but there are definitely fewer hairs than a few years ago and when viewed from above the thinning area is taking on a more typical pattern on the crown, leaving the fairly obvious horseshoe line at the back, but with the front half of the hair fairly intact. I thought I would be able to upload a photo, but as you need to enter a URL rather than a simple upload it might take a little while.

Apart from a bit of thinning down the side of the temples (thinning rather than receding) the rest of the front is largely unscathed from hair loss. I know that nothing is permanent and getting a HT will likely mean needing another in 5-10 years time, but I just don't trust finasteride, given the potential side-effects (and I wouldn't risk taking any unecessary meds whilst trying for a child).

The hair system option doesn't sound too appealing as each time you have to get it refitted would be a reminder of how bald you really are.

I kinda hoped I wouldn't sound as pessimistic as I do...

[25 going on 65]

Yeah I understand your concerns about having a child and also about wearing a system. I have never liked the idea of wearing hair myself even though it can look very good.
If you're dead set against meds I understand, but one option would be to have your child and then see how meds work for you after that.

So it sounds like the majority of your loss is diffuse thinning except maybe getting closer to bald scalp in the crown? Ultimately a consultation with a reputable hair surgeon will be able to tell you more than any of us about how good a candidate you are for a transplant, what area of the scalp are reasonable targets for grafts, etc. Maybe some of the doctors you've seen have already discussed these things with you.
Whatever the case you certainly would want to save a good amount of donor for future loss, especially if you won't be on meds. One option would be to get a fairly conservative transplant in whatever areas are reasonable to do so (conservative in terms of density), and if you aren't satisfied with how dense it looks when it all grows in, you will be in a good position to use concealers like scalp makeup or keratin fibers. Having more hair in an area of scalp can make a huge difference in how well concealers work for you, and you'd be surprised just how little hair you need overall in order to pull this off.
One other thing I can think of is that while I personally have real reservations about the laser comb's effectiveness ("light laser therapy"), some diffuse thinners say they respond to it. If that's the case it just might give you some extra coverage, although like I said, I can't personally vouch for this method.

If I think of other options I'll post them. Remember not to take this stuff as gospel since a good surgeon can definitely give you more accurate advice for your situation, and depending on a lot of factors he/she might feel comfortable giving you a denser transplant than what I would expect.

[aj11]

Hi Stanth,

I have booked to have surgery with Vinci Hair Clinic in August. I fly to their Malaga surgery to have a procedure of 2500 grafts FUT. So far I have found then fantastic to deal with.

After sending several emails back and forth, I decided to travel to London for a consultation. During the consultation I was talked through the blading process, what a hair transplant entails and I also had all my questions answered with no problems at all. One thing I liked about Vinci is that, as you said, they were not pushy at all and they seemed like they genuinely wanted to help me and not just grab my money.

After much deliberation, I decided to book the transplant (about 1 month ago). Since then, I have been in constant contact with them. I have bombarded them with email after email with my worries and questions I felt I hadn't asked during the consultation. Time after time, they have responded promptly and have cleared up all my concerns. I am having my surgery done by Dr. Nesto Pissano http://www.vincihairclinic.com/team/...r-pissano.html

He seems to have a good reputation and after trawling the internet I have found no bad reviews about him.

Obviously I haven't had the procedure carried out yet but they have given me every confidence that the transplant will be carried out to a very high standard.

If there is anything else you want to ask or need to know i'd be happy to help!

[Stanth]

Hi aj11,

Thanks for your reply! It is the Malaga clinic that I'm looking at, but after a recent haircut where more of my head was visible than last time I'm pretty sure my hair's still thinning fairly quickly, so I'm putting off a decision until next year to see whether it stabilises as I don't want to have to follow up a HT this year with another one very soon afterwards to fill in the newly shed bits.

When I saw them last month they suggested about 2,500 grafts for me as well. Unfortunately my hair loss isn't quite following the pattern of any of my relatives, so it's hard to tell whether the whole lot's going to go, or whether I'll be left with some at the front like my dad, so I'm waiting to see what happens.

Vinci have been very good at answering my questions as well, so please let me know how it goes as I might be going, depending on whether my loss stabilises.

Thanks

Stanth9