“It Was A Confidence Thing”
Other men might have been happy to have Darren’s* head of hair. To a stranger, his locks looked just fine. But over the years, he’d noticed his hair was thinning, and it was starting to wear on him.
“From between the eyes, drag your finger back; that’s where it was receding.”
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, he often traveled for work. Every week, he was flying to a new city and making presentations. And though he doubted anyone else gave a second glance to his hair, he knew how much it had changed.
“It was getting to a point of thinness that I wasn’t comfortable with; it was a confidence thing. I’m arrogant enough that I’m the only one whose opinion I worry about – I could care less what other people think. But I know what I looked like. And something had to change.”
He tried fiber sprays and minoxidil, but nothing seemed to slow it down. He knew if he wanted real results, he needed to see a doctor.
Botched First Time FUT Hair Transplant?
Darren started researching hair restoration in 2016, but he was nervous about undergoing a procedure himself.
Hair loss is a common problem, but people rarely talk about it. In an ideal world, he would be able to ask his friends or colleagues for recommendations. Unfortunately, the topic is still taboo.
“I couldn’t point to 10 folks to ask, how was your procedure? That wasn’t the situation.”
He only knew of one person who had undergone a hair replacement treatment, and his experience wasn’t feasible for Darren.
“I have a friend, he’s from Europe, and he actually went to Turkey to get his done. And I’m not going to do that; I can’t fly to Turkey for that.”
Plus, he didn’t exactly love his friend’s results.
“You could kind of tell. It wasn’t great; it didn’t look awesome.”
So Darren was a little skeptical about hair transplants.
Finding an Atlanta No-Shave Hair Transplant Doctor
A Google search led him to North Atlanta Hair Restoration, and he was intrigued by Dr. Danyo’s Shave-less FUE technique. But his friend’s lackluster results had put him off from hair transplants.
He decided to do more research. For two years, he shopped around.
“I actually booked an appointment with another practice, where they cut your head and put staples in as stitches? Luckily, I got skittish about that and canceled.”
By 2018, he was convinced that North Atlanta Hair Restoration was his best option.
He met with Dr. Danyo again and was blown away.
“I felt like I was talking to a friend. He’s got a great bedside manner. He was calming, he wasn’t in a rush. My journey with him started years ago, but everything takes time. When the time was right, he was there with a consultative methodology. I just loved his style.”
Dr. Danyo assured him he was a great candidate for No-shave FUE. This technique is one of the most discrete forms of hair transplant surgery.
Unlike other hair restoration surgeries, Dr. Danyo’s innovative FUE procedure does not require patients to shave their hair, nor does it leave the tell-tale linear scar.
“The before and after pictures he showed were comforting. Paying attention to what he did and the consulting with him, I felt comfortable that nothing was going to go wrong.”
His procedure was a success, and he was pleased with the results. He was even happier with the personalized attention he received from Dr. Danyo and his staff while he recovered.
“My wife flew to Dallas the day after my surgery, and I was at home by myself. But it was okay because I had Dr. Danyo and his staff. I was texting them and we called each other.”
Within three days, He was back to work.
The Benefits of Shave-less FUE
It’s not unusual for clients to return for a second – or even third – procedure. As often happens, Darren and Dr. Danyo had planned his first operation conservatively.
“Everything was like, ‘What’s my tolerance for pain,’ ‘How much can I afford in one go?’ And so we did something that was good for the time.”
He loved the results and felt great following his surgery. But three years down the line, he was ready for more.
“You know, I’m getting older every day. My hair is still thinning. I said I’m going to finalize it and get to the point that I’ll be a hundred percent satisfied with the look.”
Three years after his first surgery, Dr. Danyo remembered him. He was surprised – his procedure had been relatively minor, and after several years, he expected he would have faded in the doctor’s mind. Not so.
“The whole process, the office, the setup, there’s an intimacy. They treat you like you’re a celebrity. You’re paying for it; you should be treated like that. They deliver on it.”
Once again, he was thrilled not only with his results but with his entire experience.
“It looks noticeably better, even than the first one. Even with my ego, I’m pretty convinced I won’t do anymore! It’s only been 30 days, but man, I just know it’s different. It looks awesome. I’m a happy camper.”
He found that this time around, the results were subtler. Except for his wife, who sees him every day, no one noticed a thing.
“The first time, my close family knew. But my kids are twenty-six and twenty-four years old, and they didn’t notice I did it the second time! Isn’t it crazy? We’re a pretty tight family. But they were none-the-wiser.”
North Atlanta Hair Restoration specializes in these kinds of artful, natural results. Hair follicles are removed individually from one area of the head and moved to the thinning spots.
Dr. Danyo performs each procedure himself, extracting and placing every graft on every patient. He takes care to set every follicle so it lies naturally, blending seamlessly with the surrounding hair.
This patient-centered approach is what drew Darren to North Atlanta Hair restoration years ago, and it’s what brought him back for more.
Going to Atlanta’s Top Hair Restoration Expert
Darren’s nerves nearly stopped him from having any kind of hair restoration procedure.
“There’s nervousness tied to this. Any time you do something cosmetic, there’s nerves and anxiety. But Dr. Danyo’s friendliness and his approach were just awesome.”
From Darren’s earliest days researching hair transplants, North Atlanta Hair Restoration stood out to him. Dr. Danyo is one of only 400 doctors in the world certified by the American and International Board of Hair Restoration Surgery.
“Dr. Danyo is on top of the research. He’s always looking at the latest procedures – what’s new on the horizon? What should he be looking into, as a practice, so they’re always cutting-edge? He knows to bring it back to science.”
That expertise infuses every part of his office, and Darren feels, his life.
“Dr. Danyo is a guy who does Iron Mans, who constantly trains. And I sometimes joke with him, ‘I think you’re just doing those armbands to make yourself a better surgeon and a better doctor, so that you can stand for 15 hours.’ That’s how dedicated he is to the profession.”
Darren knew he could trust Dr. Danyo, not only because he’s qualified, but because he’s experienced hair loss himself.
“He practices what he preaches. He’s lived the journey himself. And that’s comforting.”
Discrete Results After Having a Hair Transplant
Darren’s favorite thing about his procedures is how much his confidence has improved, even though the results are nearly invisible to others.
“If people don’t know about the procedure, they don’t know. You go back to work after a couple of days, and no one can tell. It’s much different than having someone, you know, put an incision in the back of your head and shaving the hair off.”
Darren was never as concerned with other people’s opinions as he was with his own, but he’s still enjoyed the reactions he’s gotten.
“I got a haircut since I got the procedure done, and the guy I went to wasn’t my normal barber. I didn’t tell him I had just gotten a procedure done. But he said to me, ‘I love the way your hair looks.’”
It’s a subtle difference, but to him, it means the world.
“It’s really the confidence. Without a doubt.”
Atlanta’s Best Hair Restoration Clinic
Your self-image is your own. Your hair loss may not be as dramatic as another person’s, but you shouldn’t let that keep you from looking for solutions.
To schedule a personal consultation with Dr. Danyo, please fill out the confidential form on our website here. During your hair transplant virtual consultation, Dr. Danyo will review your family hair history, discuss your expectations and provide an honest evaluation of your situation. We will also estimate your treatment cost and recommend a timeline.
*Name changed to protect client privacy
