Readytodoit

The only post op regimen I am employing is saline spray every hour and a half along with my Finasteride. I usually take saw palmetto complex but I stopped this and my multi vitamins before the op on advice from the clinic. Not sure when I can start taking them again but don't see why I can't just start again now. Also washing it with the shampoo provided twice every day from today all over my head, not just the donor area.

Hi KO. I'll try to find some pre-op pictures of my own but I don't think I have any that are good quality. I'll ask Mick from the clinic if he can put some up because they took pictures just before the op.

Thanks SADbutTRUE :-) and Nick153452

Yeah, he did it all by hand. Took a long time over the two days but hopefully all be worth it in a few months. I know exactly how you feel about going out. It was really affecting my life to the point that I wouldn't even go out in the wind because it would mess it up. It would also feel ok some days and then feel absolutely rubbish the next. I think a lot of it is psychological as well because you think that everybody is looking at it. It can get on top of you really quickly. People with lots of hair don't understand how it can hit you. Also some people can say things that they think are funny and don't realise the massive impact it has on you. One throw away statement from them but a whole night of analysing for us. Keep your chin up, and remember that we are here to support each other. I'll hit the hay now and try not to scratch my head ;-)

I wish I'd known someone as well, it would have been much easier if I could have seen it and asked them about it. Try not to let other people put you off, I know that I worried about that but straight after getting it done it felt like a big weight off my shoulders. Most people at my work don't know that I'm getting it done and I've never had a shaved had before so they will notice, but the way I feel now I don't think I care what they think, it's about how we feel about ourselves. If you want to see the results close up I'm more than happy to show you.

Thanks Johnj. I get my Finasteride from Dr Singh at ukfinasteride.info costs about ?200 for a years supply. The pill comes in 5mg but you have to split it, supposed to take 1mg per day but it's too hard to split into five so I just split into four. There are some reported side effects that seem to relate to sexual matters but if can be different from person to person. I know what you mean about wanting more/better hair. I'd love to be one of those people who don't worry about losing their hair.

Just outside Edinburgh myself Johnj, small world. ;-)

Nice one JohnnyDrama, congratulations on your procedure. We can support each other, you're that bit further on than me so you can keep me up to date on what's coming my way! I travelled down from Scotland and stayed over for three nights in Manchester, becoming my second home the amount of times I've been there now.

If you are suitable for FUE then the holes where the grafts are taken out are fairly small and are supposed to be less noticeable than that of the FUT (strip) technique. Although I have seen some excellent examples of strip surgery being very well concealed... although I believe that you can cut the hair a lot shorter with the FUE technique. I am actually looking at keeping my hair very short in the future and I'm pretty sure I could take it to a number 2 or possibly even a 1. Could depend on scalp colour etc. I'm on Finasteride and have been for two years. It's very difficult to say if it works for me but I'm reluctant to stop now that I've started. It must be doing something because I used to have a hairy back and now I have hardly any hair on my back at all. The drug affects hair on the body in different ways to how it affects hair on your head. I've never used regain before and don't intend to. I've heard that the drugs and regain are most effective if you start them at the early stages of hairloss, but they could help you maintain what you already have.

Thanks for the link Chrisdav. I'll definitely keep you all updated on the progress.

Thanks Hariri.

Hi Koot. I had discussed density with Dr Farjo at an earlier consultation but to be honest after seeing all the examples of Dr Lorenzo's work I completely trusted his suggestions. He actually gave me a few options though and drew various lines on the hairline to see what I would prefer, but like any reputable surgeon he wouldn't go too low so that it was not in keeping with your age or do a density that wouldn't fit in with the rest of your existing hair. Sleeping on the first night actually wasn't too bad, because I had only had grafts taken from one side on the first day it meant I could lie on the other side. I sort of rolled my pillow into a tube and rested the lower part of my head and neck on it to try to protect the grafts at the front and top. Although with the best will in the world if whatever I was dreaming of involved scratching my head, I'm sure it would happened.

Johnj147, I won't lie and say it's completely pain free but to be honest it's only the anaesthetic injections that are a little painful. Once the first couple of injections are applied you don't feel the extraction at all. Obviously each time the surgeon has to move to another area to extract grafts he/she will apply more anaesthetic. The surgeon will always ask if you feel pain and then apply more anaesthetic if you ate feeling any. Dr Lorenzo told me that most of the implanted grafts will fall out after about 20 days and then go into the resting phase, this is a cycle that all hair goes through. If will then start to regrow from about for months from what I've been told. Dr Lorenzo said that I should notice around 40% by four months, 50% by five months and so on with full results being visible between 12 to 18 months. Depends on your age and level of hairloss Johnj, they will always advise you on what would be best for your particular situation. That's why they usually tell you to wait until you are older before getting surgery and they want you to get on meds as well to stabalise your hairloss. Not easy being told that you have to wait, but then I don't know how old you are so you might already be the right age. As hairloss is progressive in most cases, you're right, if the hairloss progressed then the grafts would remain but hairloss would continue behind the transplanted area. I'm quite lucky in that my hairloss has been fairly slow and I'm on meds, also at nearly 42 I would hope that any future loss would only progress as slowly as it has up to now. I hopefully won't have to get any more procedures but if I needed it and had the funds I would definitely do it again. You also never want to give up hope on future treatments.

Thanks Hairshopeing, really looking forward to the future.

Thanks Irishsailor. Johnj147, no problem...ask away.

It's quite a busy clinic due to its reputation and offers both FUT and FUE but I only had to wait eight weeks to get my procedure. Yeah, it was the new clinic in Quay Street.

Thanks Caddytad, he certainly had artistic flair. Johnj147, no problem. Total cost was ?12000, I went for 2500 and got over 300 extra.

Hi everybody, I just wanted to share with you all my experience and pictures of my FUE transplant surgery performed on the 25th and 26th Sept at the Farjo Clinic in Manchester by Dr Jose Lorenzo. Unfortunately I don't have any before pictures of my own that are clear enough, but some were taken by Dr Lorenzo on the day and hopefully Mick from the clinic could possibly upload some for me. I would like to say that the staff and clinic were absolutely fantastic, very professional from the start. From my first meeting with Mick the patient coordinator, to all the nurses and of course Dr Lorenzo. I arrived at the clinic at 7:40 on the first day and had my final assessment by Dr Lorenzo. I was then taken up to the surgery room where I was introduced to the nurses (Sara & Heather to name two) who would be taking care of me for the next two days. My hair has been quite grey for a long time (actually white in a few places even though i'm only nearly 42) so after my hair was shaved very closely, it was then washed and dyed so that the surgeon could see the hair more clearly for extraction. I was also shown where the knew hairline was going to be placed. After I had put on the surgical gown and been given anti-inflammatory drugs and a sedative, I was led to the chair and was positioned face down whilst the the anaesthetic was applied to the donor area for the extraction process to begin. This part of the procedure lasted around 4 hours and 1404 grafts from the left side of the donor area were removed and stored. I was then taken back to another room to rest and have lunch which was provided by the clinic. After a short break I was taken back to begin the implantation. Again, anaesthetic was applied to the site and the doctor began to place the grafts. After about another 4 hours I was finished for the day and allowed to go back to the hotel, with a saline spray, painkillers and a surgical cover for my pillow. The second day was a repeat of the first, only this time the grafts were extracted from the right side. Another 1404 grafts were taken and implanted. The doctor was always asking if I was feeling any pain and if there was any, he would apply more anaesthetic immediately. In total I had 2808 grafts implanted - Approx 1700 into the frontal third and the rest into the vertex and crown. I had very little pain after the procedure, just a tightness and what felt like bruising...which is a lot less than you'd expect after having over 5500 holes poked into your scalp! This was a very positive experience for me after years of waiting and worrying about if it was the right decision for me. I now know that it absolutely was the right thing to do and would like to reassure anyone who is worried about getting it done not to panic. I actually thought that I would go into hiding for quite a while after getting it done because I've never shaved my head before, let alone gone out with it in it's full extracted/grafted glory. But straight after the surgery I walked, with my head uncovered, back to my hotel and never thought anything of it. I actually think it gave me more courage and confidence because I had done something about it. I feel quite proud of the fact that I've done it and hope that this gives anyone reading this a bit more of an insight into what happens and what to expect if they are trying to decide if it's right for them. Once again I'd like to thank Mick, all the nurses and staff at the clinic and of course Dr Lorenzo for their help and guidance throughout my whole experience. Chris (Readytodoit)

This looks fantastic Mick. Looks like the patients loss was far more advanced than mine but still has an absolutely great result. How long was this taken after surgery? Really looking forward to my procedure now, just wish I was getting it done now. Just need to get this holiday out the way first. C