anony4hair

1) I'm not an experienced user, but still thought I'll chip in with some tips I researched and followed this forum for almost a year, and then finally had my HT with Dr.Radha this June. When I first joined this forum, only Dr.Madhu was recommended, Dr.Radha was a matter of just word of mouth from several patients raving about not only her work, but also her care of the patient. I almost had decided on Dr.Madhu that time, I postponed the plans by few months as I was eager to see results from Dr.Radha's patients, and voila - they were amazing. By that time she also got recommended over here, and my decision was made easy. I'm telling all this cause that is how I made my decision. Coming to you, Forget Dr.Bhatti. He may be good, he could well be the best, but its not worth the risk until you are sure. There are not enough results to justify his selection, nor is he recommended on this forum. A lot of celebrities have had HT with him, and we all know most celebrities are dumb, so ... you know what i mean. Narrow down to Radha and Madhu. Have online consultations, keep interacting by mail to discuss their plans, and how they can best help you. I don't know about Dr.Madhu if he himself replies to emails or lets his assistant do it, but Dr.Radha does herself. I've had over 20-25 email interactions with her over a 3 month period, where we discussed everything, and she cleared all my doubts. She's quite quick to respond to mails too i must admit. So, do that, see who can help you the best. If possible have a personal consultation with both, by visiting them. One thing is sure, with either of them you're not going to be dissappointed. Knowing both are proven surgeons, atleast that risk of uncertainity does not exist. Hence i'd advise you to avoid Bhatti for now. 2) One would definitely need atleast 2 sittings, if he wants to cover evrything. It is impossible to cover everything in one session. Ideally look for around 2500-3000 grafts and cover the frontal area in first session. New hairline if required, dense packing at the front, and go backwards with average density till you run out of grafts. Then, in second session, do only the crown with 1500-2000 grafts. 3) FUT. Don't worry much about the mark.

Simple. Nothing to worry about unless you see blood. If you see blood coming out, it may mean the graft is displaced otherwise its just shedding.

I myself started Tugain 5% from Cipla 1 month post op. No problems. Even though the doctor (Radha) told me that its not an issue if I apply it anywhere on the scalp, I do use it only on the crown. I don't apply it at the front, where all my transplanted hairs are progressing. Also, its written on the medication leaflet that Tugain is most effective on the crown region.

Wear a Bandana for a month or so http://img.diytrade.com/cdimg/795569/6899587/0/1221456134/Bandana_Printed_Bandana_Promotional_Bandana.jpg

This are pics 1 month post surgery. There is pinkness on the donor scar, but all the white threads that were visible hanging are gone, they all completely fell off one by one slowly, and by day 25 all were gone. As a result, when I touch the donor area now, there is some sort of smoothness, as opposed to the roughness you felt before when you touched it. The pinkness on the scar is mostly visible only in bright light or sunshine, otherwise not. Hows the receipient area shaping up? I'm not able to make up if its the trasnplanted hair thats growing or normal hair. What do you guys think?

1 hair - 917 2 hair - 1476 3 hair - 100 Total - 2493 grafts or 4169 hair. My pics and graft details from the surgery. You can see the first page on the thread for my pic before the surgery how i looked. We agreed pre-surgery that she won't touch the crown or have the hairline drop lower, unless we get very good grafts, say close to 3000. Since 2500 was the final number, all of it was used around the region we targeted. Simple - shape a new frontal hairline, start with dense packing at the front, and move backwards with average density till we run out of grafts. That was the idea. Is there anybody here who understands those markings around the receipent area? Those lines, the curves, the box at the front centre. Its tecnical, what do they mean? Can anyone explain it with my example?

I'm told to have Finasteride tab once a day, and apply Tugain 5% solution by Dr.Radha. I have also asked Dr.Radha about Nanogen scalproller, if it really helps in increasing minoxidil absorbtion and healing donor scars. Waiting for her reply. If she is positive, I'll grab that stuff. Few questions: Tugain is to be applied only on the crown area, or also at the front? Day 18th Post HT - safe to start using Tugain or should I wait for few more days? and regarding Finasteride, if I take it at night today, then do I have to take the next one tomorrow night only? Can't I take it tomorrow afternoon? The reason is I work in shifts, I don't have food at work. So, when I'm working day, I want to take it at night after dinner, and when I'm working night, I want to take it afternoon after lunch. My shifts are weekly basis. If week 1 is day, week 2 is night and so on.

I have 3 weeks off before I resume work. The pain is virtually non-existent. Think if you could handle the pain that arises few hours after surgery, then that is it. You sleep, and you wake up the next morning, and from then onwards there is no pain. If at all it is just the discomfort from the sutures at the back of the head. Coming to the only point where I said I didn't research well, and it was suture removal. Dr.Radha gave a letter to me with photographic illustration and instructions on how to remove the nylon sutures without touching the continous sutures. I approached a dermatologist in my city, showed him the letter, he was confident he can do it, and then when he actually started removing it, I don't know what happened, but it didn't go right. He accidently opened a continuous suture, while removing the nylon sutures. But I don't blame him. Atleast he had the guts and was honest to tell me that he made a mistake, and that he'll stitch up the opened wound with a absorbable suture. He did that. He was actually doing very good with the nylon suture removal until that happened. He decided not to continue with the remaining suture removal because of this wound, and told me to see him back in 2 days. I approached him after 2 days, but his confidence was somewhat dent. He didn't look eager to continue it, probably scared i don't know. He delayed it for another 2 days giving reason that the wound has not healed completely. I immediately called Dr.Radha the same day. She told me that whatever happens, I should not leave the sutures for more than 7-8 days, to prevent it from leaving a scar. That was in the morning. I immediately booked flight tickets, and I told Dr.Radha that I'm coming back to her clinic tomorrow for suture removal. She sent her driver to pick me up at the airport directly to the clinic. She was actually not working that day, they had no surgery, it was off but they reported only cause I was coming. This I came to know only when I reached there. Dr.Radha, nurse Rito and Santosh had come for me. All others as usual had an off. Dr.Radha and Rito removed the sutures, they examined what the doctor did, it was fine. I had also asked Dr.Radha to arrange for a person to trim my hair, as I wanted it to happen in her presence. I was kinda shaken after that suture removal fiasco that didn't want another such incident to happen. So, I got my hair at the sides and back trimmed to match the transplanted hair, and I was dropped to my Hotel. The next day her driver picked me up in the morning, and dropped me at the airport, and I was home the same day. So, my sutures were removed on the 8th day, instead of 5th day. It looks simple, and minor and we ignore it. This is a lesson to all. Research even the smallest of the issues before taking the plunge. It didn't affect much, but only I know the nightmare few hours where all sorts of bad theories coming into my mind when that happened. I'm glad its out of the way, and ended positive. Whattay experience! Phew! Check out my Post HT - Day 17 pics.

Day 1: Boarded the A/C Sleeper bus from my home at 6 pm. Reached Hyderabad the next morning 6.30 am. I knew that Hotel Central Court was in Lakdikapul, and that my bus will stop there. Should be a few kms drive by auto, but to my surprise the bus actually stopped right infront of the Hotel. All I had to do was just cross the road. Day 2: Hotel Central Court. Complimentary breakfast and wifi. The breakfast was great. Variety and quality. The ambience was good as well. I loved it. Visited Charminar, Hussain Sagar Lake, Birla Mandir, and did some shopping. Boarded the SVR bus to Vizag at 7 pm. Day 3: Reached Vizag the next morning 8 am. Rama Talkies. 1 km ride to Hotel Budhil Park. Rs.20 by auto. Decent breakfast, definitely Central court was better, but this was decent. They have complimentary internet but its dialup. You'd be lucky if any other sites other than google and rediff open up. It sucked. Gmail was impossible, Yahoo struggled. Very very bad. The lunch was again decent 3/5. I then met Dr.Radha for consultation that evening. A 3 kms ride from Hotel, Auto charge Rs.30. She checked my sides and back, for laxity and all. Target 3000 but it was clear it'd be difficult. The idea was to re-frame my frontal hairline. We assumed 2500 grafts, and discussed the plan. She told me how she'll go with it. She was going to slightly up my hairline, do dense packing at the front and move backwards with average density till we run out of grafts. The crown won't be touched. The entire focus is only the frontal hairline.She said, if we get 3000, then she may use those 500 extra grafts to keep the hairline same level instead of upping it slightly. We discussed payment terms, I was told to transfer funds for 2500 grafts today, if I was going to make the payment online. She gave me a betadine shampoo, and I left. I transferred the money for 2500 grafts. If we get more grafts, I'll pay the remaining in cash. If we get less, she'll return back the extra. Simple. Day 4: The day finally arrived. Reported at 8.30 am. I was taken to a room, measurements taken, given antibiotics/painkillers, apron to wear, and we started. The whole process got over by 5.30 in the evening. The hardest part for me was the grafts extraction. To lie facing down, there was slight discomfort with the neck and shoulders. I think this is because I'm not used to sleeping in that position, and definitely not for that much of a time. It took a toll on my neck, but it was good of doctor to consistently keep on changing my position. That helped, and we got through that part. The transplant part was easy. You sleep normally like you do, facing up with a cloth covering your eyes from strong lights. That went like a breeze. Easy. There is no other pain. I slept for like 10-15 mins in between, thats all otherwise i was awake all the time, we were chatting and laughing all the way through the session. It was fun. Btw, we got 2470 or something, and I was told that I can expect another 1500 or so if I plan to have another session in the future. She also briefed me about few scalp exercises which I should do, incase I want to have second session. I was given a headband, a scarf to cover up, antibiotics, painkillers, icepack and left for my hotel. For few hours it was nothing. Then in 3-4 hours the pain started. The icepacks helped ease the pain. I slept at 12, and woke up at 7 the next morning. Nice sleep. Day 5: No pain in the morning. If anything, its the sutures at the back, which gave discomfort. Went to the clinic, had a shampoo wash, was given post-op instructions. The doctor even returned the extra amount by cash. I returned back. Boarded the return bus back to Hyderabad in the evening. Day 6: Hotel Central Court, Hyderabad. I'm a download freak when it comes to internet, I immediately switched my lappy on, turned on wifi, and started downloading stuff from torrent. Good download speeds, ranging from 250kbps to 300 kbps. By foreign standards it'll be low, but pretty good in indian scenario. I utilised the service to its max. Checkout at 6pm. Return bus back home. Day 7: I'm home. P.S - I'll post surgery pics and graft details as soon as I get it from Dr.Radha.

P.S - Changed the title, as I'm now done with my HT. Continuing with the story, after consulting Dr.Madhu, I consulted Dr.Radha and few doctors here in Pune and Mumbai. I then shortlisted and visited Dr.Madhu personally, it was satisfactory. Wanted to meet Dr.Radha as well, even had an appointment fixed, but my work related commitments prevented me from travelling, so had to cancel it at the last minute. That was the time when Dr.Madhu had built up a strong reputation, while Dr.Radha was coming up as a competitive option, as more and more patients kept approaching her. Instead of taking the plunge that time (Oct 11), I decided to play a waiting game, I waited to see few results from Dr.Radha's patients, and then decide between the two. As time went by, we could all see the impressive results.That alone didn't clinch it. You want your doctor to be the best in whatever he/she does, but work aside you also want him to take a great care of you. I guess that made me inch towards Dr.Radha over Madhu. I targeted June HT, but I started communications with Dr.Radha from April or so. In the 3 months leading up to the surgery, we had almost 25-30 email exchanges. She is quick to respond, and cleared all my doubts. I had done my research well, been doing it for almost a year. I thought I have done everything prefect, though there was one subject which I neglected, it would come back to haunt me, minor but still it gave me a nightmare for few hours. I'll come to that later. Not only was I researching for a year, it was also a phase of fund arrangement. The idea was to have 3000 grafts, so approx Rs.1 lac, a further 15,000 for travelling, another 10,000 for accomodation, as I planned to stay there only for 2 days. Leaving the next day after surgery. You'd need another 10,000 for food and another 15,000 if you're thinking of shopping like I do . If not shopping, it acts as spare money. It helps incase by chance instead of 3000 grafts, say 3300 were extracted. You have to plan for that scenario too. I was ready with the funds by May. Only my parents, my aunty and my best friend knew about my HT plan. For rest, there was a full-proof story. I asked the doctor for payment terms, she said I have to deposit Rs.10,000 as non-refundable advance, (this is part of the full total, not a deposit or extra fee or anything like that) and the rest I have to pay on the day of surgery. Just before travelling, I transferred the advance sum through online banking. I didn't carry the remaining cash, its too risky by travel + it always stays in your mind that you have a bag full of cash lol I thought I'll make her remaining payment in the same mode ie online transfer. It hardly takes 1 few hours anyway, so even if I make the transaction morning of surgery, by evening she'd get confirmation. Now, to the travel and accomodation planning. Booked A/C sleeper bus to travel to Hyderabad, Hotel Central Court to stay in Hyderabad, SVR bus from Hyderabad to Vizag, Hotel Budhil Park to stay in Vizag for 2 days, SVR bus to return back to Hyderabad, Hotel Central Court to stay in Hyderabad again, and finally A/C sleeper bus to return back home. Whenever you're planning travel, if you're unknown to the place like I was, Google Maps to the rescue. I was looking out for hotels on makemytrip.com, and then located it on Google Maps to see the distance from my destination. Because you don't want to get down from the bus, and realize that your hotel is another 20 kms away, and the autorickshaw guys will eat you out for money So, research and plan. Just a few recommendations: If you're going to stay in Hyderabad on way to Vizag, like I did, the keyword is "Lakdikapul". Book a hotel in that area and you'll have no complaints. Hotel Central Court is bingo - my bus actually stopped opposite to that hotel. This is generally their last stop in Hyderabad. I just had to crossover, and reach my destination :cool:. Also, SVR Travels office/landmark is within 500 mts from this hotel. This is also vital, as I have to board the bus from there to Vizag that evening. The keyword in Vizag is "Rama Talkies". Rama Talkies is hardly 2-3 kms from Dr.Radha's clinic, and like Lakdikapul in Hyderabad, it is a main hub here. Hotel Budhil Park is 2 kms from Rama Talkies, and again SVR office/landmark is also 2 kms from this hotel. I have to board here to return to Hyderabad. This is how you plan fool-proof. You get what you expect, and no bad surprises :cool: That is it with the Pre-HT plan. I'll post my HT experience later. Thanks

Rockstar, May I know what medicines you use? I started Finasteride by Dr.Reddy's about a week after my surgery. But I'm having a hard time in picking Minoxidil. Just too many options, with different makers, brands and strengths, and with no knowledge on which is best. May I ask indian users here, what Minoxidil they use? Also, when is it safe to use Minoxidil after HT?

clayman, I'm done with my HT with Dr.Radha. Your post 2 week pics for the donor area are identical to mine currently, as I'm at day 15 post-op now. I can see those white threads around the donor area. I'm eager to know what happens to them in the future. I understand that they come off, and can be seen hanging, when we have to cut it? Is that so? Around what time frame do they completely come off? I can see white threads around my donor area, hanging in some parts. See the pic attached Do comment. P.S - I'll post my full HT experience, when I get time. Too busy these days

@simply complicated Great indepth insight. Thouroughly enjoyed it, since I'm also likely to have my HT from Dr.Madhu Are you from the same city/state or did you travel there from some other place in the country? The reason i ask this is cause I'm from Pune, and if I plan to have my HT with Dr.Madhu, then for how many days would I have to stay in the city? In short, I want to know what happens after HT? Do they call you again? and the headband which is to be worn for 3 days, we have to return it to them i guess after 3 days?

Did consult Dr.Madhu's clinic online, to which they replied "from the above pictures we can expect around 2400-2900 grafts with which we can cover the front 30-40% area in the first session. All this is a rough estimation after personal examination of donor condition and scalp laxity we can give you real picture." Didn't understand this below point. Can anybody explain this to me, how it works, what it means? You can opt for non-absorbable (no extra charge, need to be removed in between 8-10days) or absorbable sutures (extra charge)

Norwood 5a. No medications. I'll definitely consult them to have their views but as far as the main surgery is concerned, it definitely has to be in India only. It is nothing to do with cost. There is no reason at all for me to go abroad, wouldn't be able to hide the reason, while I do travel all over the country because of my marketing field commitments, hence I can do it in India, without anyone knowing about it. That is the main reason.

Going abroad is not an option. My choice is restricted to India. Apart from Dr.Madhu, is there any reliable surgeon here?

I am only 26, been losing hair for last 5-6 years. Started off with a receding hairline, then thinning at the top and then thinning at the front. Tried treatments with Dr.Batras and Richfeel without any success, though fortunately realised pretty soon, that they're nothing but a waste of time and money. Thinning is ok as long as you still have some hair left that can cover the other bald spots on your head. Nanogen's Aquamatch and nanofibres have been of great help to me for last 1 year or so that i've been using them. Not many people know I'm this bald, since i cover most part with nanofibres and design frontal hairline with aquamatch, but its reached a stage now where hair transplant is a must. The maintenance cost of these nanogen products is too much and you're always trying to protect yourself from water all the time, in the rainy season, as the fibres get washed up. I contacted Dr.Madhu's center, online consultation. Estimated i'll require around 2400-2900 grafts that will cover up 30-40% of the frontal area in the first session. This is just an estimate as it is just through online consultation. I'm planning to visit them in the next month or so and then have surgey later in the year. What would you guys advice me, looking at the pics? How should I plan my transplant? It probably would require two sessions i guess to cover everything? Frontal hair is the priority for me, want to restructure the entire frontal curve, only then i can think of other areas. Do advice!