lockshocked

One more thing I forgot to respond. Yes, I have been using Minox 5% and it's from India, a product called "Hairrouse". I love it because it's in a base of Aloe Vera rather than Propelene Glycol (spelling?) or alcohol which always really irritated my scalp and prevented me from using minoxidil consistently. I use it now almost 2x a day, but regularly in any case, and that's a first for me ever. I HIGHLY recommend that product and hope they start exporting to the US because I believe it really works. I brought home a 12 month supply. L

Hi DT, I am currently travelling this weekend, but I will be back on my home computer Tuesday and can post some new pics then. I can tell you that I am mostly happy with my results. I say "mostly" because I am tiny bit concerned about one small area where hairs were transplanted that seem to be experiencing no new growth. I consulted Dr. M and he said this is normal for 3 months progress and that these areas will fill in. I am going on 4 months now and I have had some tiny improvement in that one concerning area so I am still hopeful that the small remaining bald patches will start to sprout new hairs--but until they do, I am anxious. The remainder appears to be filling in nicely and with that I am quite pleased. I can't wait for month 12 and beyond! Again I will post pics of my 4 month post-ops on Tuesday and you can be the judge for yourself. In general the only other comment I will make is that I have seen slightly tighter density from other docs, but considering they cost 2x to 3x as much and achieve maybe 10% better density, this is not enough to justify the difference in cost--to me anyway. I'd appreciate community input on my results once the pics are posted. Thanks! L.

Thanks TTP! I am dreading the telogen phase these new guys have yet to go through but I am very happy with the decision and Dr. M's work.

Day 10. Pleased with line and growth. Any feedback is appreciated!

inhaaro, total costs for blood tests, procedure, and post-op meds came to 125,000 Rupees (or about $2300 USD). Post-op meds included antibiotics, an anti-inflammatory, and a pain-reliever. I didn't even use one pain reliever, the entire procedure was nearly painless. GNX1, thanks and I agree 100% I too feel the density could have been better, but considering that I usually like to keep my hair long, I am confident in the hairline and as you said, worst case scenario is I go in for a second operation in a year or two from now which is partly why I chose FUE as well, to minimize difficulty in doing so. I can tell you guys, it's already been a huge confidence boost! Thanks again.

Thanks again, Blake... Here's Day 5. Scabbing heavily, but seems like things are starting to integrate here....

Hey Future_Doc, Thanks for your response and the encouragement. It's weird to be so schizophrenic about my results...or is that normal? One day I am happy, the next I am comparing and feeling buyer's remorse, and then the next I regret being overly pessimistic the night before, look at my new hairline in the mirror and see just how much better it is!...is this common with everyone?? Man! As for an answer to your question, Dr. Mahadevia has informed me that the total transplant area is approximately 60 sq. cm. He estimated an average density of approximately 55 grafts per sq cm in the very front along the hairline tapering back to as few as 20 grafts per sq. cm towards the back, (where I still retained some hair anyway). He also said that he placed the majority of single hair grafts towards the front and the bulk of the 2, 3 and 4-hair grafts toward the back--in order to give the front a feathered appearance, and more structure and density toward the back. This sounds logical to me. It's very difficult for me to measure for myself the entire transplanted area, but my own *rough* estimates come to approximately 50 or 55 sq. cm. Even if I took a weighted average to the low side, it comes out to nearly 2000 grafts--and it would make absolutely no sense in the world for a doctor to short change me a ~100 grafts, it's simply far less likely that he would do that then I simply estimated incorrectly. So I want to make it clear that I do trust my doctor, I guess I was just getting freaked out and actually I feel bad that I so publicly questioned my Dr.s work when I was (and am) happy with the aesthetic result right now. But that's the rub, knowing there is so damn long to see what I am going to look like and living off of nothing more than hope that it's basically exactly how I look now with these tiny hairs just being longer and thicker. It's tearing me up a bit that I can't fast forward this whole thing! Any help on coping with that? Thanks a lot guys!

Sorry just figured out how to attach pics to the thread and not just my albums... I AM CURRENTLY CONCERNED ABOUT WEAK DENSITY. WOULD LIKE TO HEAR COMMENTS AND CRITICISMS AS MY CURRENT FEAR/IMPRESSION IS THAT I DID NOT RECEIVE 2000 GRAFTS. To early to say? Unfounded? Founded? Comments please.

My Hairloss (and Restoration!) Story I am a 37 year old male and I finally decided to take the plunge! Here's my story, hope you enjoy. I try to be as thorough as possible, but please feel free to comment or question, I will try and get back to you as soon as possible (although please note I am currently travelling through India and may take a while to repond). My story below is divided into "Backstory" and "Surgery". Both section are quite long so if you'd prefer to skip to "Surgery" only, feel free! Backstory I first became concerned with my "shower shedding" at the age of 20. Concidentally, this was the same year generic Rogaine became available (1996). I tried brand name Rogaine many times throughout my 20s but always had three problems with it: 1) It left my hair feeling greasy, and as it is not customary for me to wash my hair daily (normal routine is every other or third day), this was a hassle. 2) It dried my scalp out and after continued use left it tight and itching and soemtimes red and irritated. 3) It seems to have caused me dandruff. I could never tell if the flaking was simply a dried residue from the Rogaine itself or if it was actually dandruff. In any case, the 3 combined were bad enough to make it an unsteady routine at best. I believe the longest I was ever able to maintain an "as directed" routine was 6 months. I started researching HRT in my 35th year, and though I was born and raised in NY, I am of Indian descent and both my parents are Indian-trained physicians practicing in the US, so I felt confident I could find a quality surgeon in India at a more reasonable price. Price was a concern secondary to quality for me, but still a factor. My hairloss was always slow and gradual. I am a Norwood 3, proceding back from the temples first, but still with good crown coverage. In my inital researching of Indian HRT doctors, I had decided on the FUT (strip method) as I felt my need (estimated at 1800-2200 based on the online consultation with 4 different doctors) was small enough that the scar would not be bad and price was quoted at nearly half the cost of FUE. However, I never felt fully 100% satisfied with any of the FUT physicians I found despite ample evidence of their having done great work. In the end, I believe it was because I wasn't fully comfortable with FUT. I have been coming to India each year for the last 3 years (35, 36, 37), and finally decided on my 37th birthday, 3 months before my 3rd trip to India, that THIS year I would take the plunge. When I arrived in India this year, I had been emailing with a few doctors (Dr. madhu and Dr. Radha to name two) I wanted to consult with on FUT in-person, but always at the last minute I hesitated. Finally while continuing to do research online while in India, I found a doctor whose credentials I fully respected and whose FUE price was quoted only roughly 12% higher than the least expensive FUT quotes I had received. Furthermore and perhaps more importantly, his website really highlighted the differences between FUT and FUE, and I decided I really wanted to get FUE. This really was the turning point between surgery "motivation" and surgery "decision". After a few emails with the doctor, I decided to make an in-person consultation appointment with Dr. Bishan Mahadevia, of Ahmedabad, India for FUE HRT on Friday, 22 Feb 2013. I travelled by overnight train two nights prior to my morning appointment with Dr. M. I should mention at this point that I had been travelling around India since the 5th of December, and my girlfriend joined me on the 29th of December for a planned 5 month trip around India. I think I broke the news to her of my desires to get HRT only on the same day I found Dr. Mahadevia's website. She asked me several questions (as she always does) but was on the whole very supportive of my desire for the surgery. I can't tell you how much that helped my final decision, but I must say having a supportive significant other in this journey is really quite helpful! My appointment was for 9:30 AM as the Dr. had surgery scheduled for 10AM. As Dr. M is an accomplished surgeon and wasn't charging me a dime for his valuable consultation time, I felt quite grateful for the appointment. He was in the end the first and only doctor I consulted in-person. I arrived on time for my consultation. My first impression of the Doctor's office was that it was clean and as the operating theatre is fully visible from his office through wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling glass windows, I took a good look in there as well. It appeared clean and modern. Dr. Mahadevia himself has a very soft-spoken, matter of fact, friendly manner to him. I liked that. The first thing he did was ask me about different cosmetic procedures I've had (LASIK eye-surgery being the only other one to very good result), my hairliss history, and any medications I've tried to arrest my hairloss, which was only minoxidil. I will mention here that my younger brother (whose hairloss is slightly more advanced then mine) tried Propecia to a near complete loss of libido which is why I never tried it. The next thing Dr. M did was place an LED lit, USB camera on my scalp to show me, in full 2 megapixel, close-up glory, the difference between the hair on the back of my head and the hair on my crown and the areas already thinning. It was the first time in my life that I did clearly and vividly confront the fact that the hair on the top of my head was dying! Through the camera lens I could see smaller hairs. I could see thinner hairs. I could see fewer hairs. I could see wider gaps between hairs. MY HAIR WAS DYING! I then asked a few questions of options other than surgery which he politely answered. He even recommended a new non-alcohol based Minoxidil formula, released here in India, which he personally recommended. Other than medication (minox, fin, dut) he mentioned an experimental method (and he was clear that it was experimental) that he had perosnally administered and seen results with several patients: platelet rich plasma therapy. He mentioned limitations of the treatment, the largest being that it required 3 treatments initially, 2 months apart, (longer than my stay in India) and at least once yearly ongoing maintaince treatment. At no time did I feel Dr. Mahadevia trying to sell me on anything AT ALL. I *really* liked that. I asked him a few other questions and left his office informing him I would think about everything and get back to him. I should mention that I am a perfectionist and so I will now share two minor annoyances from the interview. 1) The building location on google maps from Dr. M's site is incorrect. There are two buildings with nearly the same name: 3rd Eye One and 3rd Eye Two seperated by an intersection. The google maps marker for Dr M's office is for 3rd Eye One which is 100 meters north of the intersection but the doctor's office is located in 3rd Eye Two, 100 meters south of the intersection. This is annoying because 3rd Eye Two is also marked on google maps, too. So his webmaster needs to fix that ASAP. 2) There was a minorly irritating smell I noticed when I went into reception of the Dr's office the first time. I couldn' t put my inger on it, but it was mildly chemical. I am sensitive to smells and bad smells are irritating to me. That's all. I took the rest of the day discussing all the things Dr. M had gone over with me with my girlfriend (who was also present during the consultation). The vivid display of the death of my hair was really still sinking in. It was a bit of a shock. Each time I looked in the mirror now I could see how the entire top of my head was dying. I couldn't stop thinking about it. I must have looked in the mirror 20 times that evening. To make an already long story shorter, after spending 3 hours combing over the pictures of previous patients results from Dr. M's website with my girlfriend, emailing the doctor one more time with a picture of my hairline when I was 22 (the one in my avatar) asking about increasing the number graft numbers (he originally suggested 1800) and receiving his reply (suggesting that I could go as high as 2000 if I preferred), and one more 10 minute phone consult with the Dr. to answer my final 5 or 6 questions, I decided to take the plunge and told the Dr. tp book my appointment for Monday, Feb 25, 2013 10 AM! I felt good about my decision. It felt right. The night before surgery my girlfriend and I ate dinner at one of the nicest restaurants in town (House of MG-highly recommended!) which was within walking distance of our hotel. As we dined on the terrace, I noticed that it was a full moon and unfortunately I also noticed that I did not turn into a hairy-headed werewolf. That night my girlfriend asked me if I had any last minute jitters. I really didn't. I slept soundly on my decision. Surgery Morning of the surgery: I arrived 15 minutes late for my 9:30AM appointment (an unnecessary long story at this point). When I arrived I was immediately taken into a side room where my head would be shaved. My shirt was removed, I received a surgical gown (arms in front, tied closed at the back). I was seated by one of the male assistants and we waited for Dr. M. I previously asked the Dr's permission for my girlfriend to be present during the shaving and the drawing of the hairline. Not that I didn't trust Dr. M, but a woman' point of view is always nice. Dr. M did not object. Dr. M came in and drew the hairline. I was shocked. You see, over the weekend my girlfriend and I spent the day combing my thinning temple area into all sorts of positions to really capture the extent of my hairline and drawing new mock hairlines with her eyeliner pencil to create what we thought would be the ideal hairline. What the doctor drew was significantly lower than where I had drawn my lines. I asked him about this and he showed me close up in a mirror a few remaining hairs that were holding on to and anchoring my original hairline. Never did I conceive that my entire hairline had receded--previously I was sure that my hairline was receding at the temples only. After the doctor showed me the line, I really saw the light! Nevertheless I asked the doctor to draw the line a bit back from where he had drawn the original line, just a millimeter or two, as I felt that the original really would have made me look almost ridiculously young (early 20s) as opposed to the late 20s line I desired. I hesitated for a moment, thinking of a past girlfriend who had complained of not getting big enough breasts during her boobjob, but I stuck to my gut instinct on here and asked for a higher line. The doctor erased the original line and adeptly drew a new line, which after showing me in the mirror, instantly brought a smile to my face. I was very happy with the Dr.'s sense of aesthetics. Also as an aside, my girlfriend told me after the surgery that this was the moment she totally trusted the doctor as she could see his quick calculation and sense of aesthetic with how effortlessly he drew these lines. After giving the Dr. my smile of approval, he quickly finished drawing the remaining lines and I was impressed with just how exactly they outlined my area of loss. I joked to my girlfriend that I should just get a dark tattoo in that perfect shape and go home. Then the fun began, with one of Dr's assitants beginning to shave my head. I liked that the clippers were sharp and fully-charged. I have been giving myself haircuts for the last 5 years and as I generally prefer to wear a long hairstyle, I appreciate fast, sharp clippers. The shaving itself was split into two, with the Dr. himself doing the final close shave (with a different set of fast, sharp clippers), after the assitant took off all but a few millimeters. The shaving was done and I was escorted to the operating theater--after a quick trip to the bathroom (highly recommended just before surgery)! My girlfriend was informed by Dr. M that it would take approximately 4 hours and to return by 2:30 for the finished result. I was laid face down on the surgical table. It took a moment to position me properly. I should mention here that Dr. M's team in the operating theater consists of himself and 4 male assistants (at one point during surgery there was also a female cleaning lady cleaning up around the edges of the theater a bit but she always kept a good distance from the action). Dr. M began right away injecting the right edge of the back of my head with a local anaesthesia. I could feel the pinpricks every couple centimeters (mild discomfort) as he worked along the edges of my scalp. After a few minutes, he flipped me over fully and did the same on the front and sides of my scalp. I could feel my entire scalp going numb. Other than the feeling of pressure at various times during the surgery, this was the last thing I felt on my scalp during the entire surgery. It's still a bit numb as I type this now 6 hours after surgery. I don't have a clear recollection of what took place next but I believe I was told to lay on my left side and the doctor began using what looked like a pencil like machine to remove the grafts. (I should note NO ONE other than Dr. M himself removed any grafts.) The graft removing machine sounded a tiny bit like a vacuum. He pressed on a spot, there was ~1 second of a tiny mechanical whirr or suction-type noise and then the Dr was onto the next spot. I was laying on my side for much of the initial hour and thanks to the nearly entirely glass theater, at a couple times I was able to catch a glimpse of the action by reflection off the glass. 2 of the 4 assistants and the doctor himself where wearing 1inch long magnifying occules fitted atop standard eyeglassframes over their eyes. I don't recall precisely, but I think the magnification I saw on them was written as either 4x or 8x, perhaps different assistants had different powers . The entire team worked very efficiently and well together. One assistant was entirely in charge of lighting. Different assistants and the doctor himself would often call out varying light intensities and position of the lights. They used 3, 4-feet tall, high-powered white LED lights with flexible goosenecks, in addition to all the LED lighting recessed into the theater ceiling. The theater was VERY well illuminated, but never annoyingly so, only reassuringly so. The second assistant was manning a rolling table with strips of cloth that were constantly being used to soak up blood by the two occuled assistants who handed them back to him once soaked, which he then discarded and provided new ones. There were also various tweezer-looking instruments located on his table and of course the precious grafts themselves which he was sorting into piles of "1s" and "2s" and "3/4s" on a white marble-ish (plastic?) looking mini-table atop the rolling table. (The counting of the total number of grafts themselves was occuring courtesy of an electronic counter attached to the pen-like suction machine.) I am not sure how the grafts got from the machine/Dr. to the sorting table because I didn't see that part, so I can't say. I noticed in the reflection that while the two occuled assistants were soaking up blood, both of them were also constantly using their tweezers to remove what looked like little bits of skin. They was also doing something else, which I learned after the surgery from Dr. M himself that was beginning the placement of my grafts! I was then flipped face down once more, in which the doctor continued to remove the bulk of my grafts with the suction machine and the assistants kept faithfully performing their jobs. At this point, approximately 1.5 - 2 hours into surgery I really had to use the toilet. I told the doctor the same and in about 10 minutes I was allowed to do so. The doctor had finished removing the grafts. Asi got up from the operating bed, I saw the red LED counter on the graft machine: 2020 (I assume there is a 1% margin for error so they errred in my benefit.) I went to the toilet and then briefly looked in the bathroom mirror and noticed my entire head swolled up like a watermelon. I didn't want to start inspecting anything closely, anxious to get back to surgery and not wanting to hold the process up ut my head was quite swollen! I re-entered the theater and was laid on my back and there was now a small metal frame set above where I placed my head face-up, with two plastic lines from bags of intravenous solution clipped to the frame slowly dripping solution onto my scalp and hairline. I remember looking up and reading the bags but now I don't recall what they said. (I thnk something like Nitrogen-something on them?). One thing that was dismaying was that Dr. M was no longer present in the theater. This made me anxious as I could tell two of the assistants were beginning to place grafts on my head. Within 2 minutes, Dr. M returned and took the place of one of the assistants on the left side of the table. I was relieved. They continued to work diligently for the next hour placing my grafts into my new hairline! The assistants maintained their previous jobs, except the lighting assistant was also now in charge of misting my head with some kind of spray from time to time. The mist felt nice. One annoyance I should mention at this point is that laying on my back for the 1+ hour did cause some slight discomfort to my lower back. I mentioned it silently (by shifting the pillow under me a bit) and the doctor ordered one of the assistants to place a new bigger pillow under my legs. This did help relieve the bulk of the discomfort but not entirely. A half an hour before the end of surgery, doctor left the operating theater. The original assistant took over his place. I could tell that he was working behind the line created by the doctor, deeper back in my scalp. No worries. The atmosphere seemed generally more relaxed and jovial with one assistant making a random joke (not about me) to another assistant. I do understand Hindi, so the assistants spoke to me in Hindi. Dr. M speaks fluent English of course. I didn't get the sense of English fluency from his assistants, but definitely competency. In any case, it was obvious the operation was winding to a finish and I was dying to see the work! By 2 o'clock my graft placement was officially done. One assitant sat me up while another continued to wipe the blood dripping from various places around my scalp. The surgical garment was removed from me. My shirt was returned to me and I got up to use the bathroom. For some reason, I think perhaps because of the drugs making ever so slightly woozy, I didn't take a good look in the mirror when I went to the toilet this time. Also, I have not read anywhere in other people's stories the extent to which the head swells up. I mean it really was quite comically swollen! I would estimate at least 20% larger than my already large head! Something about the swelling also turned me off from looking closely as I had the feeling I couldn't get an accurate impression with such swelling going on. I do remember my first impression which I will share: I felt the side Dr. M himself worked on seemed perfect, beautiful. The other side seemed a bit less than perfect, the angle of the hairline a tiny bit more asymmetrical and not quite as beautiful for some reason. That was my first impression: mildly happy, mildly disappointed. After using the toilet I went into Dr. Ms office (after being patted down a few more times to soak up some new blood leaks). I sat down next to the Dr. and he was smiling and asked me, "So, did you have a look?" I told him not really. He handed me a mirror. I immediately examined the asymmetry closer and asked the Dr. about it. (I hope you can tell by now, I am fastidious, to say the least). He explained to me, without worry, that nobody's hairline is perfectly symmetrical, that every person has mild assymetry to their hairline, that perfectly symmetrical hairline wouldn't look natural and that the asymetry I saw wasn't a defect of the surgery but rather very much intended and a benefit. I didn't feel like he was trying to confidence sell me on a botched job or anything. He was much too matter-of-fact, polite and confident about the work for me to feel any hint of an excuse. I decided that it was too impossible to tell at the moment with my head as swollen as it was. One thing I could see though was that the placement of the grafts did look quite nice in generally. I set the mirror down and the Dr. began explaining all the post-operative care instructions. I listened closely. My girlfriend arrived, walked into the Dr.s office smiling broadly at the look of my swollen head (I had informed her by SMS prior to her arrival to bring a bigger cap!) We left shortly thereafter after a bit more discussion with the Dr. and with the Dr. fitting me with a paper surgical cap because the cap my girlfriend brought was still too small for my new pumpkin head! I made a follow up appointment with the Dr. for my first wash the following day at 10AM and left with a smile on my face. For the next two hours I obsessed about the tiny assymetry I saw. Informed by the doctor not to remove the cap he had fitted me with due to potential damage I could cause to the grafts, I nevertheless attempted all manner of ways to look through the opaque blue cap. I looked at the picture of myself when I was 22 again (my profile pic on this site) and saw clearly that indeed my hairline was quite asymetrical. That gave me some relief. I also looked at pictures my girlfriend took after the lines were drew and to my surprise I saw that the lines Dr. M had drawn (that had definitely brought a smile to my face) were also mildly assymetrical. More relief. Finally, I started scruitinizing pictures on the Dr.'s website gallery and noticed that almost every patient had minor, almost imperceptible assymetries and furthermore, that those patients who had perfectly symmetrical hairlines looked unnatural. Relief! But the final straw was that I decided to remove the cap, ever so carefully and gingerly, so that I could see for myself again. This time when I looked, I could see just how excellent the entire hairline and graft placement looked. I could also see how the swelling had really distorted the accuracy of my initial impression. After the swelling had died down a bit (or at least shifted more to the back of my head after lying down) I got the distinct impression that the surgery was in fact nothing short of great. I was and am, greatly pleased and am 99% certain that within 8 months my hair is going to look incredible! As I type this, 7 hours after surgery now, the only thing I can say is I am absolutely happy with the work performed by Dr. Mahadevia and his team. I am of course, without a doubt, anxious and impatient to see how the final result will look a year from now. I will of course post pictures as the healing and growth continues so you can share in my highs and lows. Come on in boys, take the plunge, the water is fiiiiiine...thanks for reading!

Hi guys (and girls? , I've been lurking on the site now for quite some time and I have finally decided to take the plunge. I am planning on travelling to India this year in December and I have narrowed down my options to 3 potential HT surgeons: 1) Dr Radha Rani of Vizag 2) Dr. ****** ****** of New Delhi (specifically his staff surgeon Dr Ruby Mehta) 3) Dr. Madhu of Hyderabad I have listed them in order of personal preference based on my confidence in their work, although Dr. Ruby Mehta has the schedule that is most convenient for me. I must say I have been a bit annoyed with Dr Madhu's team, after a brief and frankly somewhat boilerplate "email consultation" they insisted that I call their office for any further questions. That's right, they refused to answer any, even simple, questions without my calling the clinic. I thought that was a bit rude and well, first impressions... Although his work as seen on this site seems pretty great, so he is still in the running albeit third. Really that leaves a toss up between Dr Radha Rani of who I have read and seen many great transplants, and Dr Ruby Mehta who I seem to be having a harder time finding any results. If anyone has any knowledge of Dr Mehta's work I would sincerely like to hear about it. I've only been able to find brief comments here and there on this and other forums. All input is appreciated. My stats: 37 Norwood II/III (although very odd in that I have hair loss deep along the temples and only very moderate crown/top balding) Been using Rogaine intermittently since I was 20 years old (although never for more than 6 months at any time with no more than 2 years absence I will be posting pics for you all Pre-Op and Post-op and follow up and my experiences. It is so great to have this forum to share. Thanks so much all for your help in this decision.