Choosing an FFS Surgeon Based on Forehead Work - Who is the best?

[abbyt89]

So as the title says, I am in the process of choosing an FFS surgeon, mostly based on their forehead work.

Here's a closeup of my forehead:



As you can see I have a pretty severe slope and thick bone on the orbital rims. In addition to having my forehead done, I also plan on having my hairline advanced and a rhinoplasty.

From my research, this is what I've gathered so far. I'm hoping to get others' opinions and advice.

- Dr. Zukowski is well known and in my price range, but I don't think his endoscopic method is aggressive enough for me. I am waiting to hear back from him in case he thinks differently, but I'm pretty sure I won't see the best results from him.
- Dr. Cardenas, while extremely affordable, may not be the best for me since his forehead work tends to not be so aggressive. The before/afters I've seen from him began with foreheads that weren't as bad as mine.
- Dr. Pimentel at Femilife is also affordable, but I know the practice is relatively new and I'm not sure how well he can do on my type of forehead. I would love to hear more about him and his work on my type of forehead though, because he is much more affordable than most others.
- Dr. O does great work and takes a more aggressive approach to foreheads. I would likely be a good candidate for him but while I haven't received a quote yet, I believe he may be outside my price range
- Dr. Bart is known for good forehead work as well, so he's a bit higher on my list. I haven't seen too much about him around here, and I'm not sure if he does online consults.
- Dr. Di Maggio does consistently good work on foreheads, and I've seen some great before/after pictures from people with my type of forehead. He is more expensive than Cardenas and Pimentel, roughly the same as Dr. Bart, and cheaper than Dr. O. Right now I think he is at the top of my list.

Are there any other surgeons I should be considering? Or any other advice in general?

[Lexi Belle]

So as the title says, I am in the process of choosing an FFS surgeon, mostly based on their forehead work.

Here's a closeup of my forehead:



As you can see I have a pretty severe slope and thick bone on the orbital rims. In addition to having my forehead done, I also plan on having my hairline advanced and a rhinoplasty.

From my research, this is what I've gathered so far. I'm hoping to get others' opinions and advice.

- Dr. Zukowski is well known and in my price range, but I don't think his endoscopic method is aggressive enough for me. I am waiting to hear back from him in case he thinks differently, but I'm pretty sure I won't see the best results from him.
- Dr. Cardenas, while extremely affordable, may not be the best for me since his forehead work tends to not be so aggressive. The before/afters I've seen from him began with foreheads that weren't as bad as mine.
- Dr. Pimentel at Femilife is also affordable, but I know the practice is relatively new and I'm not sure how well he can do on my type of forehead. I would love to hear more about him and his work on my type of forehead though, because he is much more affordable than most others.
- Dr. O does great work and takes a more aggressive approach to foreheads. I would likely be a good candidate for him but while I haven't received a quote yet, I believe he may be outside my price range
- Dr. Bart is known for good forehead work as well, so he's a bit higher on my list. I haven't seen too much about him around here, and I'm not sure if he does online consults.
- Dr. Di Maggio does consistently good work on foreheads, and I've seen some great before/after pictures from people with my type of forehead. He is more expensive than Cardenas and Pimentel, roughly the same as Dr. Bart, and cheaper than Dr. O. Right now I think he is at the top of my list.

Are there any other surgeons I should be considering? Or any other advice in general?

You really don't need a hairline advance, it'll look very weird on you.  What you do need is you DO need your forehead to be slightly more flat, it is sloped however I think it only seems as bad as it does because you DO have very pronounced brows.  If you got your brows slightly reduced and your forehead less sloped, also slightly, you'll probably look very good.

If you did choose to do a hairline advance, you'll also probably have to dabble in to nose work and jaw work, which really, your face looks amazing from a frontal view, you shouldn't take it too far.

[kinz]

hi!

i went to ousterhout in 2010 and don't have a lot to complain about. he is extremely aggressive, and his brow work was life-changing for me. (his throat work is also aggressive and was so much so that it did leave to some mild, but permanent damage, but you haven't mentioned that so you wouldn't have to worry on that front.) he is also brutally expensive. it was $30k for the procedure and $9k for the hospital bills, so that's something to consider.

you should also consider adding dr. spiegel in boston to your list. i've seen him do really wonderful work.

[Evolving Beauty]

Chettawut does very well too...

Abby last time I was pressing on you to go for SRS first thinking you were a straight trans but as you said you were lesbian, it would be better for you to go for FFS 1st. In fact I have GG lesbian friends and they tell me to have intercourse they wear a strap with a fake penis to have sex but as you have it naturally for now I think it would be a plus.  Your dysphoria is not high down there there anyways.

I see you're more paranoid and over conscious about your face, I think it's better for you to go for FFS first as the dysphoria seems higher on your face than down there.

[abbyt89]

You really don't need a hairline advance, it'll look very weird on you.  What you do need is you DO need your forehead to be slightly more flat, it is sloped however I think it only seems as bad as it does because you DO have very pronounced brows.  If you got your brows slightly reduced and your forehead less sloped, also slightly, you'll probably look very good.

If you did choose to do a hairline advance, you'll also probably have to dabble in to nose work and jaw work, which really, your face looks amazing from a frontal view, you shouldn't take it too far.

Thanks for the advice, I actually do plan on getting nose work done as well so it flows nicely with the new forehead.

I don't plan on having my entire hairline advanced, just the corners since I have the typical M shape. I agree that in the center my hairline is fine.

hi!

i went to ousterhout in 2010 and don't have a lot to complain about. he is extremely aggressive, and his brow work was life-changing for me. (his throat work is also aggressive and was so much so that it did leave to some mild, but permanent damage, but you haven't mentioned that so you wouldn't have to worry on that front.) he is also brutally expensive. it was $30k for the procedure and $9k for the hospital bills, so that's something to consider.

you should also consider adding dr. spiegel in boston to your list. i've seen him do really wonderful work.

Thanks for the advice! I looked into Dr. Spiegel but from what I read he can be a bit conservative, and I'm really looking for an aggressive approach to my forehead.

I got a response from Dr. O, and the estimate they gave me (they can't give me a real quote without seeing me in person) was $29,000-$35,000 for forehead/hairline/nose.

So I've settled on Dr. Di Maggio He is also known to do excellent work on foreheads, and the price for the forehead, hairline, and rhinoplasty is only $14,000.

Chettawut does very well too...

Abby last time I was pressing on you to go for SRS first thinking you were a straight trans but as you said you were lesbian, it would be better for you to go for FFS 1st. In fact I have GG lesbian friends and they tell me to have intercourse they wear a strap with a fake penis to have sex but as you have it naturally for now I think it would be a plus.  Your dysphoria is not high down there there anyways.

I see you're more paranoid and over conscious about your face, I think it's better for you to go for FFS first as the dysphoria seems higher on your face than down there.

Chettawut does do good work as well, but he's a bit more expensive than Dr. Di Maggio and doesn't appear to be noticeably better. I've also read of some issues where he does the nose a bit too asian (understandably) that don't fit well on western faces.

Also I am so lucky because my financial situation has changed. I can now afford to do FFS in December and still have my SRS with Dr. Brassard this June.

[LauraGirl]

Dear Abby,

I had forehead work done by dr Brt van de Ven and he does do online-consultation. You can find details on his website. I am also extremely pleased of what he has done to me! He's got magic hands!

[Sybil]

Are there any other surgeons I should be considering? Or any other advice in general?

Travel expenses can add a lot to the price of a surgeon. I live in Massachusetts and a round-trip to Buenos Ares, for example, is around $1,300. Then there are hotel and food expenses to consider. It may wind up around $2,000.

I some times consider Dr. Spiegel because he's so close to me and it would be very easy for a friend to come get me and avoid the price of a hotel or anything else. Like you, though, I worry about his conservative approach -- I've had some people tell me that the word conservative is a largely misinforming word for him, and it simply means that he tries to retain your overall look as opposed to being too gentle with his technique.

[abbyt89]

Travel expenses can add a lot to the price of a surgeon. I live in Massachusetts and a round-trip to Buenos Ares, for example, is around $1,300. Then there are hotel and food expenses to consider. It may wind up around $2,000.

I some times consider Dr. Spiegel because he's so close to me and it would be very easy for a friend to come get me and avoid the price of a hotel or anything else. Like you, though, I worry about his conservative approach -- I've had some people tell me that the word conservative is a largely misinforming word for him, and it simply means that he tries to retain your overall look as opposed to being too gentle with his technique.

Yeah, my apartment + flight (darn holiday season) is about $2,500. Plus food and other costs for 18 days. But even with those costs it's going to be ~$10k cheaper than Dr. O.

[Kiwi4Eva]

You wouldn't consider Thailand?  Dr Suporn did my FFS (my Avatar is 2 months post op) and I was still very swollen then.  It's a lot cheaper in Thailand and if you don't mind being around others from all around the world...

Dr Suporn did do nice work.  At least I will die looking like a female.

He refused to do my Adam's Apple, and gave me a refund, because he said I didn't have one, it resembles a females.

(So, I thought I had one - because we are supposed to have one) Duh!

[abbyt89]

I did look into them, but they were actually more expensive than Dr. DiMaggio - at least for the top names.

[amZo]

... I looked into Dr. Spiegel but from what I read he can be a bit conservative, and I'm really looking for an aggressive approach to my forehead.

I read this conservative label quite often now for Spiegel, but every result I've seen of his looks quite remarkable and very beautiful and natural, could this be what people are referring to?