www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Hola amigos,
With 8000 mostly middle age members here I cant be the only one where the grass aint growing like it used to any more . I cant remember this topic being discussed before. I have done a bit of research on the net and found several providers at about 1/3 the price versus the USA. But the providers so far I have found in CR do not specialize in transplants but rather all cosmetic surgery, silicone, facelifts ect. In the USA it seems that they have specialty practices which only do hair and of which I feel more comfortable with. My question is does anyone have any knowledge of this procedure in CR. Saving money is important but not at the expense of a bad job due to lack of experience. Ideas?? Junkyard dog

Judging by the quality of most boob jobs coming out of CR, I personally wouldn't be too eager to let them fool around with the few precious follicles I have left. But if you do hear of someone reasonable and reputable, please pass it on.

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GR you actually have some hair follicles?

Talked to an amigo who had it done last year in CR, cost around 2k. Said the Dr. was in the Rosenstock building, forgets his name but he is satisfied and would recommend him.
Googled and this must be the place... http://www.cosmetic-cr.com/index.htm

PS
You'd think they could come up with some better photos and models for the before and after shots of the hair transplant. Those guys looks straight out of a bad 1950's horror flick.

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Sounds like a bargain to me. I had an angioplasti at Hospital Cima back in May that cost 18K and I am STILL going bald.

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My life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming...." MAN....WHAT A RIDE!!!!"

Actually, at first glance I could have sworn that first one in the side view was VB...

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First off, let me qualify myself by saying that I am in the aesthetic surgery business, and that I, too, have been losing my hair on the top for well over 5 years now.

My bottom-line, final answer is... don't do it.

Hair transplantation is a very funny thing. Because it's still, for the most part, a novelty type of procedure (i.e. not many people do it, and out of those, only a small percentage do it WELL), it is very VERY dangerous to "bargain hunt" on this... You'll find a killer deal out there somewhere, but man, you'll regret that decision for the rest of your life.

Hair transplantation has many potential negative effects. First off, there are like little "pock marks" that remain where the hair follicle was implanted. This is a sure-fire, tell-tale sign of a hair translplantation. The good news about this is that certain medical groups has gotten so good at this that they significantly have minimized the visibility of the small scars all over your head. RISK #1 if you go with cheaper... be prepared to have those visible red dots everywhere on your head for the rest of your life... they won't go away.

The second potential negative effect is the risk of cornrowing or having a symmetric pattern implantation technique done on you. We've all seen them... Guys that look like their heads are doll-head, and others where the hair follicles are so evenly spread out that it just looks... WRONG. Hiar is not only assymetrical in all senses of the word, but it also grows out of the head in many different angles. Again, groups that specialize in hair transplantation (i.e., Bosley, MHR, etc.) will make the transplantation look more natural than others, but not the cheaper, more inexperienced groups.

Finally, the scar. It's funny, people that were once obese who lose tons of weight never realize that even though, yes, they will be thinner, they will always look just as bad, or even worse than when they were fat... The excess skin must be removed surgically and the "Frankenstein scars" left all over the body makes you look like a horror-flick-mangled-mess. Well, be very aware of the fact that when doing hair transplantation, you will have a pretty significant horizontal scar on the back of your head. The traditional way of harvesting hair for this procedure is to make a football-shaped excision of hair and skin from the back of your head (right around the natural crease where your skull ends and you feel that "peak" on the back of your head) and then suturing up the skin. From that harvested patch of skin the doctor will remove hair in incrimints of 1, 3, and more hair (less-quality doctors wil get much bigger numbers of hair per group to "plug in") and start "plugging" it into your bald areas. You must be aware that the scar on the back of your head will always be there and visible, so it you like to wear your hear "high and tight" or with any kind of fade on the back, you probably won't be pleased with the fact that the scar is so noticable.

Besides all that, I ALWAYS tell my friends that you should NEVER go bargain hunting with something as serious as a procedure that affects your aesthetics (your looks). Moreso, you should NEVER, EVER, EVER go abroad from the U.S. for these kind of procedures, it's just not wise on many levels. No liability, no real way of verifying if they are good or verifying their credentials (i.e., there are associations and societies in the U.S. that verify through membership that the surgeon is in fact VERY WELL qualified in their specialty), and the risk factor is just much much higher... Don't save a buck on something as big as this, as a matter of fact, throw cost completely aside and go with the absolute best you can find (which is not necessarily the most expensive, but most of the time it is)... I promise you that this is the best way to go and you will guarantee yourself the kind of outcome that you want.

Hope this helps,

Ruffnutz

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EVERYONE'S A ROCK STAR IN C.R.!!
"Just when I thought I was out... They pull me back in." -- Ruffnutz on trying to quit CRT

I agree with the last post. Don't go cheap on this!!!

Had my first procedure January 06 and my second in August 06. Could not be more happy with the results.

Shopped around for a doctor for 2 years. Took me a long time to build up the courage.

Doctor's name is Limmer. In San Antonio. One of the top specialists in the States and relatively reasonable. Highly recommended.

I don't know about hair transplants, but I think this tico doctor came up with a VERY nice model for a breast implant procedure: http://www.costarica-net-guide.com/par.jpgAs others have said, you get what you pay for. I'm sure many of those chicas you're referring to really cheaped out even by tico standards, so I wouldn't judge potential CR cosmetic surgery based solely on that. As you can see from the above photo, if that was done in CR, then that tico doctor definitely knew what he was doing.Maybe hair transplants really are a special case that require more expertise to do properly. I know I've seen a lot of botched jobs that were done here in the US. But many americans are having many other sorts of more routine procedures done in CR such as liposuction, blepharoplasty, rhinoplasty, etc. so the tico doctors must at least be doing some things right. Also while I respect your expertise and experience that definitely qualifies you to comment on this authoritatively, I think it might also be at least somewhat possible that that same experience biases you unfairly against medical tourism. You certainly raise some very valid points, such as much different liability laws, but I know some of your points aren't completely true.

For example, in that link that Paco provided one of the doctors got her cosmetic surgery training in the US and is an active member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery, American Academy of Liposuction, International Society of Cosmetic Surgery, and European Society of Aesthetic Surgery. Another did his residency at St. John's Hospital in London and is a member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery, American Academy of Liposuction and the International Society of Cosmetic Surgery. And the one who does hair surgery, a Dr. Cohen (and you know what they say about Jewish doctors ) is a member of The American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery, The American Academy of Restorative Hair Surgery, and The International Confederation for Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic
Surgery (IPRAS). And that is just at that one clinic. Of course that could all be just a bunch of BS, but I doubt it and I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to check out. So much for not being able to verify credentials or not belonging to recognized societies and associations.

What about the risk factor being so much higher? I'm not so sure about that either.

In response to the World Health Report 2000, Columnist Thomas A. Pearson (Rochester Review), writes in his article regarding healthcare in Costa Rica: "America likes to be No. 1--in military, economic, and even sports confrontations. So, it came as a shock that America ranked 37th among the nations of the world in the performance of its health systems, according to a recent World Health Organization report." In the same report, Costa Rica ranked above the U.S., and ranked 25th in performance while the U.S. ranked 72nd.

I agree that you shouldn't go to the same CAJA doctors that most ticos rely on for their free medical care for something as critical as cosmetic surgery but there are also many fine doctors who operate in the private sector in CR for those who can afford to pay more (or have higher quality secondary medical insurance). I also agree that even with those doctors one should check out their qualifications very carefully, Of course, one would probably want to check out their US cosmetic surgeon's qualifications carefully too, but this probably becomes even more important down there. All that said however, with nearly 14% of gringo visitors getting some form of health procedure done when they visit CR, I wouldn't dismiss ALL forms of cosmetic surgery so cavalierly.

Most of the time any type of hair transplant looks worse than just letting it be and going natural. I’ve seen hair transplants done by some of the best doctors in that field and the patients don’t spend enough money to get it done right and they look silly! Lol Sometimes a procedure like that can make you stand out in the wrong way and you can easily become the brunt of jokes, especially in a bar setting. Don’t worry about the hair loss. Spend it on the beautiful Tica’s!

My amigo that had this procedure done still has quite a bit of hair so the places the hair was removed from and transplanted to are pretty much covered by existing hair so any scars or plugs are really not noticeable- and I'm not sure how much they would be. I didn't get many details other than he was happy with the results and recommends the place. He said the transplanted hair actually dies and falls out then starts growing again in a month or so.

Some interesting points brought up here by Ruffnutz and Prolijo, is paying less always better? Of course not but in CR shouldn't we be looking at the going rate in CR instead of compared to the states? After of course making sure the doctors themselves are comparably qualified and educated. For instance take a look at Prisma dental- http://www.cosmetics-dentistry.com/index.htm , I checked some prices with them and they may be the most expensive place in SJO but from reviews it is one of, if not the best facility in CR to have extensive dental work done. Although priced higher than most all other dentists in CR they are still say- 25%(?) of the cost of having the same major work done in the states, so although they are a bargain compared to here they apparently are one of the best and most expensive in CR.

Maybe the same applies to Rosenstock, if they are one of the best and most expensive in SJO is it logical to view the place as just a cheap alternative by comparing it to US pricing? With that in mind Prolijo brings up the most important things to look for, credentials, references and risk factor. And as has been stated paying 4-5 times as much in the states doesn't always guarantee the best of anything, so the harsh reality is you don't always get what you pay for.
As with any procedure it's best to do your homework, get more than 1 professional opinion, dig deep getting as much info & as many references as possible regardless of the price or where you have it done.

Does anyone actually know any details about medical liability in CR and how it applies to gringo patients?

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Living well is the best revenge
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PacoLoco wrote:



Have you ever had any procedures done at Prisma? I have read a number of comments (Costa Rica Living at Yahoo groups) they are less than complimentary concerning Prisma. I also have spoken with a few people who say they are not only expensive they seem to find work that needs to done, in their opinion, that no other dentist agreed with.

I would be very careful using them.

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Alex Levine

I will be seeing Dr. Sergio Chen in January for some dental work. My hometown dentist wanted $2550.00 for the work, and he abruptly walked out of the exam room without even saying goodbye when I suggested getting the work done in Costa Rica . I Emailed Dr. Chen and he Emailed me back the next day.....quoting me $440.00 for the same work.

Apparently, having dental and medical work done overseas is a growing trend. I read an article in the newspaper last week that some corporations and health insurance companies are kicking around the idea of "out-sourcing" medical procedures such as heart by-pass surgery to places like Bangkok, Thailand because it is so much cheaper than the U.S., and apparently, the quality is as good, even to the extent of having recovery facilities which are similar to vacation resorts.

The article stated this is another example of how the world is becoming "flatter."

Zebra

No I did not get the work done but made inquiries into some cosmetic procedures and based my statements on my research of the place and talking with several CRT guys that have used them. You do bring up a good point ID as far as people "finding work to be done", I went to a highly recommended dentista on the forum and she claimed I had 4 cavities and needed all my old fillings replaced. An amigo went to her and got a similar pitch, I went to Chen for another opinion, he found only 1 cavity and said my old fillings were fine and would last many more years. Let's say it again -always get at least one other profesional opinion.

I didn't mean to turn the hair transplant thread into a dentist discussion but it's probably best if we go into any situation where we are going to spend money prepared for the "screw the gringo$" mentality- whether it's the guy selling those real cuban cigars on the street, a doctor, or anyone in between.

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Living well is the best revenge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwUtj_YnNoY

A few assorted other thoughts on this subject:

Hey, the rest of us have been getting screwed for years by the outsourcing of american jobs, so why not now US doctors too?

You know we were talking about the difference in liability laws but that may not be entirely a bad thing. A huge part of the reason for the higher cost of medical care in the US is precisely the result of our liability laws and the resulting humongous costs of malpractice insurance.

Brent, you need to be careful about drawing too many conclusions about the hair transplants you've seen in the US just as one shouldn't draw too many conclusions about breast surgery based solely on the cheapie jobs that some chicas have gotten. Forgetting for the moment the issue of where to get hair transplants done, I do know that the quality of the newer procedures is much greater than the earlier jobs that most of us are used to seeing. The same applies to laser eye surgery. These sort of things are getting more and more refined every day.

One additional advantage of having cosmetic surgery done overseas, as opposed to other medical procedures, goes beyond the basic question of cost and that is discretion. You can go down to CR for a week or two and not only stay at some luxury resort while you are recuperating but think about the advantage of being able to heal up from the procedure away from the eyes of your friends and coworkers. No telltale healing incisions to give away the secret of your sudden youth.

Holy resurected thread, Batman

Look at the date - late 2006 - the posters have either gone bald or had the transplants by now - what a wierd thread to reply to after almost 5 years of dormancy