redman

Wow...if you can class that as the 'Ugly Duckling' stage, I'd happily be an ugly duckling for the rest of my life if I had as much hair as that! I can't even see that you have any hair loss. Looks like your previous HT's have done a great job!

Thanks Bobilero - I got the pure aloe vera from Holland and Barrett. Strangely within a few minutes of applying it to my head, my head has gone extremely red and started burning! The opposite of what it should do! Concerned I may have done permanent damage to the graft growth! I've attached a photo I took outdoors a few hours after applying the aloe vera. Think I'm going to go with the Hat option for the wedding, especially as I've now shaved my head down to a #1 in an attempt to allow me to be a bit more aggressive whilst shampooing and get the remaining grafts to shed as advised by H&W as quite a few grafts are lying flat on my head. Look like Dermmatch is out of the question for the wedding now!

Thanks for your input HairGirl...just looking for advice on tips for attending a wedding not on the size of my procedure. But as you've mentioned the size of my procedure, I'd like to say, I've actually got no concerns about having a 4000 graft procedure, I went to Hasson and Wong, one of the best in the business, and they've done thousands of successful procedures of over 4000 grafts.

Thanks Bobilero, I've been advised by my clinic to apply pure vitamin E to the recipient area and not Aloe Vera. Is Aloe Vera better at reducing the redness?

Thanks every one for all the advice, it's appreciated. I'm very pale skinned hence why my recipient area is still quite red. Plus I've been back on minoxidil which as it increases blood flow probably takes longer for the redness to disappear. My donor hair is also quite fine which is probably why my scar is still pretty noticeable. I'll probably put some dermmatch in the hair around the scar a bit in the shockloss area...I can always say I have sunburn on my head, hence the redness - although that's not a great excuse given that the British 'summer' has been constant rain this year :rolleyes:

I'm going to a wedding next week - I'll be 8 weeks post op a 4120 graft strip procedure. My recipient area is still very red, I've got substantial shockloss on the right hand side of my head exposing the donor scar and my donor scar is still visible at the back of my head. I've shaved my sides down to a #2 to try and minimise the shockloss being so obvious but it's not really worked. Has anyone got any advice, tips to cover the scar, redness, any good excuses when people ask questions etc? I've bought some dermmatch but i've heard mixed reviews and I'm a bit reluctant to use it - certainly on the shockloss area as there isn't any hair left there to blend it in with. Not going to the wedding isn't an option as it's a close family member. Any advice would be really appreicated.

I used their 12.5% minoxidil with azelaic acid for about 2 or 3 years. The first year I did see very good regrowth in the mid crown area and a little bit in the frontal area. Generally minoxidil is more successful towards the crown rather than the hairline. After a year or so the regrowth peaked and in year 2 I felt it regressed a bit. The only problem with Belgravia is that their prices are absolutely extortionate. From memory, for 12 months supply of this formula you'll be paying upwards of ?600! You can certainly buy propecia and minoxidil cheaper at a variety of other places, but as yet there do not seem to be any places where you can order this specific formulation of 12.5% minoxidil cream with azelaic acid.

I totally agree with you regarding the self esteem, and pre op I was also unbelievably nervous about the thought of removing my cap at passport control. Even when people were telling me not to worry, I took their comments with a pinch of salt and didn't really believe them. But they were mostly correct and after you have the op, hopefully you'll find a huge weight lifted off your shoulders and a sense of relief that the worry about passport control is really minor in the grand scheme of things. All the best

Very good experience at H & W thanks. It's like a well oiled machine! My only small annoyance was that even though I would have preferred to leave the surgery with nothing on my head, I was advised to wear a cap or bandana. When I got back to the hotel and removed the bandana, the lining of the bandana had pulled some grafts out :mad:

I'm just 5 weeks post op a procedure with Hasson and Wong in Vancouver. I flew back from Canada to England 3 days post op with quite a bit of facial swelling. To be honest I was initially worried about having to remove my cap at Passport Control, so I thought to avoid the problem I'd just not wear a hat at all from the time I arrived at the airport in Vancouver to arriving back home in England. You have to remember that we're not famous celebrities, people don't really care what you look like - they're too interested in their own lives, especially when they're stressing over getting a flight. After a long queue at check in, going through passport control, doing some duty free, getting some food and walking to a full departure gate lounge which probably had well over 200 people in it by the time I got there, I can probably count on one hand the number of people that even looked up at me. There were no comments, no snide remarks - nothing. The only comments I had was from a lovely old lady sitting next to me on the flight who asked me if I was ok. I explained about the op and she decided it was her duty to look after me for the duration of the flight - which was greatly appreciated! Don't worry - other people really don't care about your life, in any case you're not going to see them again!

Over the past few months I've noticed more and more Dr Rahal patients posting their photos and results on this forum. I realise Dr Rahal has gained a lot of attention and great reviews in recent years due to the high standard of his work, but it seems that the vast majority of Patient photos on the site seem to be posted by Rahal patients, certainly more than are posted by patients of the other top rated docs...H & W.....Feller. I wondered whether there was any specific reason for this? Do Rahal patients get actively encouraged to post their results or is it because they are beginning to churn out more satisfied customers than the other docs?

Wow...unbelievable result for 3600 grafts Joe! If I can get that type of final result with my 4120 grafts from my procedure with Dr H at the end of last month, I'll be over the moon!

Thanks Greco...Just had a look at your photo blog, really helpful stuff apart from hitting your head on the taxi - ouch!!! I'm in the chair with Dr Hasson in a few weeks...hoping to hit 4500 if my laxity is good enough. Any recommendations you can give me from your experience with H&W? Cheers

Looks like he should get a decent final result...any idea how many grafts he had?

Thanks Hariri for the info. Hope you're growing well.

I've read a few reviews of MinoxidilMax and they are not good to say the least. It seems when anyone has asked questions about the genuine nature of the products, the manufacturing process, whether their product is safe to use, why they do not insist on clients getting a prescription for their high strength products.....the general response is 'we have a 100% ebay positive feedback rate'. For me they are completely avoiding the questions...when medical supply companies aren't transparent when questions like that are asked, that immediately sets alarm bells off...and I wouldn't touch them until they were able to answer them. I remember Dr Lee was always very open and would be happy to open all questions. Although Belgravia is hugely overpriced...at least I know I am getting the real deal...and don't have to worry if I am just buying snake oil.

Great thanks Hariri..one question though. Wasn't minoxidil max shut down a few months ago? Is there a reason the higher concentration minoxidil suppliers are getting shut down?? I remember Dr Lee and his Zandrox seemed to get shut down...it makes you worry about whether the products are genuine or not?

It's all well and good slating Belgravia but where else can you buy 12.5% minoxidil + azelaic acid? I completely agree their prices are hugely inflated and there are a lot of people out there that are uneducated about where else they can source fin in the UK. For the record I started using them about 6 years ago and was paying a huge amount for 12.5% minox and azelaic acid plus propecia. I regained a lot of hair even on my frontal area but after a couple of years found that regrowth peaked and ultimately reversed. I then asked their advice on Hair Transplant doctors and they recommended Dr Michael May - who I'm sure most people on this forum will agree is not the best! I soon realised I'd be making a huge mistake if I went to him. I also visited Jeremy Isherwood at Norton Clinic - good talker, but I realised there was no substance there. Luckily I began to educate myself on the forums, did my research and met up with Spex, Dr Feller, the H&W guys, started sourcing my fin through Dr Ashcroft at a fraction of the cost and started buying Zandrox. When Zandrox supplies got cut, I reverted to Kirkland minoxidil which is very cheap and also went onto generic finasteride which didn't seem to work as well as MSD proscar (so I'm now back on that). I've recently started back with 12.5% minox from Belgravia and alternating it with 5% generic minoxidil but if there was another 12.5% minox plus aa cream supplier I'd be there like a shot as Belgravia prices are extortionate. I'm booked in for a HT with Dr Hasson in 2 weeks - I don't want to think what would have happened if I hadn't started researching other Docs, and had my procedure with Dr May. This forum has been so important in terms of research and choosing the correct Dr.

Thanks for the feedback Dr.

It should read Oleorosin of Capsicum not Capalcum and MSM not M8M in the ingredient list!

I'm booked to have a HT with Dr Hasson at the end of this month and have been purchasing a few products for my post op care. I've seen on various forums that Emu Oil is recommended (as well as Aloe Vera) to be applied to the recipient site to reduce redness/irritation/scabbing and to the donor site to help the healing of the scar. Also talk that Emu Oil may stimulate early growth? I've just bought a product called Blue Ease cream (from a UK pharmacy - Holland & Barrett) which contains Emu Oil, MSM, Aloe Vera, Vitamin C, E, nettle extracyt and witch hazel antiseptic. Sounds a perfect combination to help the healing process! However there are various other ingredients - alcohol, capsicum - which i think may be too harsh on the newly transplanted grafts. Ingredient list as follows: Aloe Vera Gel, Emu Oil, 8D-Alcohol 40-B, Glucosamine Sulphate, Dimethyl Sulphone (M8M), Olearesia of Capalcum, Arnica Extract, Sortbital, Chondroitin Sulpate, Menthol, White Nettle Extract, Cerbomer, Witch Hazel, Coriander Oil, Willow Bark Extract, Propylene Glycal, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Diazolldinyl Urea, Chamamila, Marigold Extract, Triathanolamine, Ascorbyl Paimitate (Vitamin C), Tocopharol Acetata (Vitamin E), Fragrance, Colour (Brilliant Blue). I was wondering whether anyone had experienced this product, especially UK guys...i.e. Spex?? Would it be safe to use or should I play it safe with just Aloe Vera, or should I mix Aloe Vera and PURE Emu Oil. Cheers Redman