dugman

Update:

I got a call from Dr.Madhu today and he said was sorry for me to see the results turn out this way. He said that this could have been due to external factors which can only be determined by having a personal inspection to assess what went wrong. It was good of him to respond to both my email and directly call to my cell phone and he assured me that he will help in anyways possible and that he is there which was very reassuring if you ask me.

From my part, I need to fly to his clinic to have a personal inspection. I am convinced that the donor grafts lost are lost and I probably have to get in touch with him to see on what to do further.

I should say that I have had difficulty contacting Dr. Madhu in the past via email. He appears not to receive many of my communications so let's give him a little time to respond.

Sure David, will wait.

David,

Thanks for your reply and helping in reaching out to Dr.Madhu. I am eagerly awaiting his reply.

However I do not quite get what you mean by 'lack of defined hairline'. Because Dr.Madhu gave me a hairline which I thought was correct and the same can be seen here in my blog.

http://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/blog/journal.asp?CopyID=8262&WebID=2369

The plan was to cover the 1/3rd of the frontal region and Dr.Madhu said that he would require 7000 grafts to cover the entire head which I thought would only be possible with multiple transplants.

And he gave a practical hairline as well. The only nightmarish part is the result

Thanks,

Dug

I have not yet spoken/consulted to them yet. Wanted to wait for a year atleast before approaching them as they have advised that in their post op manual. I have sent an email to them regarding this only today requesting an appointment or a call back. I hope I would get a reply from them.

Losing my non transplanted hair on the crown of my head was not much of a disappointment to me. One of the reasons I wanted a HT was to minimize the consumption or attachment to medicines. My requirement and expectation was only focused on the frontal region as far where I had around 2700 grafts transplanted to.

I was even told that the few hair I had before transplant on the front will eventually be lost and that they are taking that into consideration and thus performing a dense transplant only in the frontal portion. Dr.Madhu told me that he can cover only 1/3 rd of the front which I agreed and thought was fair. But the results were catastrophic

Yes. For 30 days I took finasteride as per their suggesstion.

Hi,

It has been 1 year and the results after the transplant has been really frustrating. I am no where close to even 'average'. Frustrated with my monthly progress, I thought I would only post after a year thinking that some hair will grow, however only disaster awiated me.

Please see the pictures for yourself. I am totally in a hopeless situation now. Please help me out!

Hair Restoration Journal for dugman - 1 year - Total Disaster

Thanks,

Dug

Just uploaded my 7th month photos. Kindly give me feedback.

Hair Restoration Journal for dugman - 7 months

Thanks,

Dug

@Allabouthair: Thanks for the reply. Yes, I have trimmed my hair. The main concern was the bald island areas in the frontal portion of the head where dense packing was made. After 6 months some sort of hair should come out of it but none has come. That was my major concern.

And no, I am not using any medicines.

At this point of time, I am remaining neutral on the feedback you've requested. Will have to wait few more months to see any comprehensive results before start giving feedbacks. Hope you understand.

​It has been 6 months since I've had my transplant and I am very concerned about the progress thus far. My understanding was that most of the grafts should come out by now at least as fine hair so that it will keep thickening in the coming months.

But seems its not the case. Any feedback would be appreciated.​

Please take a look at my before photos before analyzing the pictures as most of the hair I had already that are being shown now.

Hair Restoration Journal for dugman - 6 months

Sure RodG! Waited this long, will wait 2-3 months more ! Thanks.

@RodG: Thanks for taking time to reply.

To be honest, I am not that much concerned about my scar as I read through the forums that the scar should be hidden under a Grade 4 cut. But I did a Grade 2 which is only 6 mm and probably that may be the reason this was the case. On the long run, I strongly believe scar will not be an issue at all.

But the thing I am slightly worried is the density of the hair in the top. If you could look closely, I see very slight difference between the pre-HT and the current pictures (5.5 months post HT). But then, I cannot judge since it is only 5.5 months and as the clinic had advised me to wait at least 8 months to see convincing results.

Thanks again for your feedback.

Updated 5.5 months pics. Nothing much to say. Still only slight progress I should say.

Hair Restoration Journal for dugman - 5.5 months

hi allabouthari..

the hospitality is good but i am still concerned about the quality as the thickness of mine is very low compared to many other folks who've had transplants worldwide. I still have to wait for 1 more month to see how my transplant is going to turn out. So, given my skepticality, I would try to remain neutral at this point of time.

-dug

@JustOne - Thanks for the reply.

I have updated my blog album with 5th month trimmed photos. The concern I have here is the scar. Should it be that much visible ? Am I odd or it is how it will be if people trim their hair to 6 mm after 5 months?

Hair Restoration Journal for dugman - 5 months 6 mm trimmed head

Thanks for the feedback/replies.

Hair Restoration Journal for dugman - 5 months

I have uploaded my 5th months photos in the journal. I am seeing my new hairline and hairs are at places where I was pitch bald before

But I am very much concerned about the density. :confused:

Thank you for the replies. Yes, I am keeping my fingers crossed

Hi Vinny,

Since it has been almost 6 months since you had your hair transplant, can you post some of your before and after pics ?

Thank you, yes I will keep updating regularly

Hi,

I had my hair transplantation done (FUT, 50 INR per graft) from Dr.Madhu on November 5 2011 and I would love to hear the feedback from my fellow forum members. I have posted my latest pictures in my album. Please check it out and let me know.

I totally had 2780 grafts transplanted to the frontal region. Dr.Madhu advised me that the existing hair I have will eventually fall away after inspecting its quality. My existing hair in the front was shaved before transplanting. I was asked to wait at least 8 months to see convincing results.

The split

1 hair - 820

2 hair - 1740

3 hair - 660

Total grafts - 2780

Total hairs - 4960

Total cost : 139000 INR or 2835 USD

Thanks!

Dug

Finally I had my transplant done on November 5 2011 to be exact. Here are some photographs.

The follicular units count are as follows.

1 hair - 820

2 hair - 1740

3 hair - 660

Total grafts - 2780

Total hairs - 4960

I am having my transplantation done tomorrow and went for an official consultation today. Dr.Madhu inspected my head and told that I would require around 2.5 - 3 K follicular units. I was asked to use the Finasteride and Mioxydl post operation in order to retain the existing hair.

I will posting the post operation pictures in a couple of days.

Wish me luck!

Did you feel any side effects yourself?

Nope, no side effects. But then I asked should I really use it. Since it is not going to cover my frontal and temple regions. Only a transplant can get me there. This also was another reason to stop it.

Remember Dug, graft count needed is not an exact science. You may hear different recommendations from each doctor you visit for a consultation. It is pretty easy for most of the semi-educated, like myself, to say that 2,500 grafts may give you great results, however a trained doctor is the best because they can personally evaluate you and better predict future hair loss, current hair health, donor hair available, and all the other things, that should be considered when deciding graft count.

 

What I do is look at photos of others that have similar pre-op loss to mine. Then I look at post-op pictures and graft count and the results they achieved. This is also kind of generalized as well, because there are many variables such as: survival rate, the doctors artistic and medical abilities, personal healing characteristics, and so on.

 

My non professional answer is that if "all goes as expected" 2,000 to 2,500 grafts would likely make a difference you would be happy with, and with minimal continued native hair loss, you can go years and years with one procedure and probably be happy about it.

Thank you for giving your honest opinion. Yes I agree with you on the number of graft count required is totally "specific" to each person based on history, gene and many other factors that needs to be consulted with a doctor thoroughly before getting a transplant.

One of the doctors I met advised me that I have decent amount of hair such that Finasteride and Mioxidyl would alone do. But then, I am now greedy since my hair loss has considerably reduced if not stopped and want to have my old hair style back.

Thanks again for your input, I am feeling comfortable already in this forum !