drcpa

Here are the pre and post op pics. There are more in my profile. The healing process is going well. It can get itchy at times, but everything else is going great!

Thanks guys...appreciate all of the support I'll try and get some pre-op and post-op pictures up on Monday.

All, I took the plunge and received a hair transplant from Dr. Alexander from Biltmore Surgical Hair Restoration yesterday. My experience was very positive, and I'll be sure to post the before and after pictures shortly (and will update the post as the months progress). I turn 30 in a few weeks and thought this would be a great present to myself. I’ve been balding for about 7 years now and although I’ve tried Rogaine and Propecia I don’t think I gave them enough of a chance. In hindsight I wish I would have started using Rogaine and Propecia religiously when I first started to notice the hair loss as I’ll be doing it going forward to maintain the hair that I have left. I ended up receiving 2850 grafts, and can't wait for the results! Below is a summary of how the day went: 7:30am - Arrived at his clinic (I live 8 blocks away so it was quite convenient). 8:00am - My girlfriend peppered Dr. Alexander with a bunch of questions, which he answered, and put any concerns she had to rest. 8:30am - Dr. Alexander goes through the procedure with me again in great detail, offers me a Xanex, which I kindly accept, and starts outlining the hairline on my head. Like a true artist he spent a decent amount of time drawing, erasing and redrawing my new hairline until he was happy with it. He showed me the lines, I asked a few questions (i.e. why aren't the lines straight, etc) and we were off to the operating room. 9:00am - The operating room was very clean and he stressed that he treated the procedure like it was open heart or brain surgery. Dr. Alexander used to be a general surgeon (20+ years of experience) and this was evident given the amount of sterile drapes that were placed all around me and the donor area. After I was all taped up, he started numbing up my scalp. My pain tolerance is fairly low, so I found this part to be a bit painful. I would estimate he had to give me about a dozen or so small shots around the donor area. 9:30am to 10:30am – He carefully removed the strip and his team started to separate the grafts. I didn’t feel any pain during this part of the surgery. He then sewed me up using some special technique so the scar would be less visible. I then took a quick bathroom break and stretched my legs. 11am to 1pm – Dr. Alexander used his custom made blades and started to make the holes for my new hairs. Again, I felt no pain during this part of the surgery. 1pm to 1:30pm – Nice lunch that he provided. 1:30 to 4:30pm – His team started to insert the grafts into the holes that were made earlier. 4:30 to 5pm – A few bandages and some instructions and I was all set. When I got home, I popped some of the pain pills that he prescribed which helped with the discomfort and took another pill before I went to bed. Sleeping was a bit uncomfortable and the donor area was pretty sore throughout the night, but I made it through ok. This morning I took some more pain pills and proceeded to take a shower. Per Dr. Alexander’s instructions, I placed a washcloth over the transplanted area and ran my head under the shower water for a bit. No pain at all. I then gently washed the donor area. Again no pain. I let my hair air dry and proceeded to inspect my head pretty carefully. My hair easily covered the stitches so they weren’t visible and all of the grafts were intact with some scabbing. I also haven’t noticed any swelling. The back of my head is still a bit sore, but the pain pills really help and I’m hoping that in a week when I go back to get the stitches removed that I should be pain-free and the scabs on my grafts should be gone. I have the luxury of being able to walk to Dr. Alexander’s office if I want, so I plan on utilizing his hair laser’s during the healing process. Not sure if they’ll help or not, but I figure I’d give them a whirl. I found Dr. Alexander and his team to be very nice, and thought the service was top notch. Given the amazing before and after pictures that I’ve seen on his website and this forum, I’m hopeful that my results will be just as amazing. I’ll be sure to post pictures soon and will update this post with pictures as I progress (SEE BELOW FOR PRE AND POST OP PICS). Feel free to ask any questions... Thanks, drcpa