s2thoudriver

Well, the first month has already passed and i am seeing a lot of changes in my hair and scalp. Thankfully, everything is going according to plan, or even ahead of plan, so i am very pleased with progress so far. I am aware that i am now entering the ‘ugly duckling’ phase where i shall remain for the next month or two until the follicles awaken from their rest phase and start sprouting new hairs. In terms of shedding, again, i have been fortunate in that i still have lots of transplanted hairs remaining… and growing! Even with combing and rubbing, they do not want to dislodge and some are almost an inch long. I would say that i have approximately 30-40% of hairs remaining. So, the important part, the pictures. As with all my pictures, i have tried to catch everything in the worst light, so you have an honest view of the donor and recipient areas, both natural light and bright flash. Any comments/feedback are welcome. Thanks Rob

You can leave your hair a bit longer on top but this might cost you more (some places charge a surplus). Mine was left long on top and it helps cover the receding hairline that's been repaired. There's no escaping the shaved back and side though. After 2 weeks, i returned to work and the only comment i got was "have you signed up for the marines". You couldn't tell the donor area was still slightly pink as the hair had grown enough. Rob

Hi I am 35 and have been in almost the same position as you and decided to do something about it. So, almost 1 month ago, i bit the bullet and had 2,800 FUE to lower and re-build my hairline, with dense packing throughout the existing hair to thicken it up. Have a look at my profile and blogsite for pictures. Any questions, just ask. Early days to see the results yet, but up until now, i've had no issues, everything is on track and i haven't looked back Rob

The only issue you might face is the reluctance of good surgeons to work on someone so young. At 21, you still have more hair to loose, so a HT at this point could result in a bad look 3yrs down the line. Just keep your hair short for now, use Alpecin shampoo and other methods to help stop shedding, without the meds and when you notice your hair loss has slowed down dramatically, then go for a HT. Rob

Most painful part for me was paying for the transplant It is a bit strange to hear all these stories about pain?!? Maybe i was a lucky one, but i have had no pain whatsoever (apart from the initial anesthetic jabs). On day 3 and 4, i was told to do face exercises (basically rubbing my brow from the centre outwards and down my cheeks) at very regular intervals. This ensured no swelling whatsoever. Week 2-3 mild itchiness in the donor area, but nothing too bad. Recipient area completely fine. It is uncomfortable sleeping at 45 degrees for the first few nights, but just wedge yourself in between 4 pillows and use a travel neck pillow to keep your head in place. It's a small price to pay to help the results. I agree with Spex, FUE looks to be an unlikely candidate for you i'm affraid.

Hi MoeyK They might well have put some videos up, but no-one has mentioned it to me via email. Send me an email with a link to them as I'd be interested to see them :-) Regarding the price, it's about average for out there but the quality is excellent and the travel/ trip was excellent too. I think in the UK you'd be looking at about ?7-?8k though, not ?10k One thing I would say is that at 23yrs old I'd say you were too young to have a transplant as you are most likely going to continue to loose some. Get a consultation from a good surgeon to assess your hair loss to date and potential future loss patterns. Thanks Rob

Read previous post.

The videos i'm told are not on-line yet so it shouldn't be me but i'll drop them an email and ask as i know they were filming me. One of the company owners lives in the UK and has salons near me, so that's how i was introduced. They were extremely helpful, put me in touch with the surgeon and gave me all the information and patient references i needed. They also accompanied me out there as i agreed to let them film me etc which helped my nerves! I can PM you all the details if you need them Thanks Rob

I've been busy with work this week but will take some more pics of my hair tonight and get them on over the weekend. So far, all is good. I'd say 40% have fallen now in the transplanted area, redness is reduced in both donor and recipient sites and my hair has grown well at the back to cover the donor site almost completely. Now i'm in for the looooong wait! Question... If by now (3 1/2 weeks) i still have 60% left in the recipient area, is this a good sign or bad? Should i be wanting them to fall out so the new ones can start or is it better for them to just continue growing? Thanks in advance Rob

No problem on the info, glad i could help. One thing i forgot to mention was i was told not to put anything on the donor area, just leave that to heal naturally. This isn't a problem as mine (3 1/2 weeks) is already loosing it's redness and is covered with hair anyway (no shock loss either :-) I'm still putting body lotion on the recipient area each night although the surgeon says it's no longer necessary. To me, the skin and even hairs feel more supple afterwards. Thanks Rob

He does use concealer because he has someone help him apply it before a match. His team mate have digs at him about it (The salon that cuts my hair also cuts hair for some of the players, so the subject is often discussed). Rob

Just have laser hair removal on your neck and remove the hair follicle all together without leaving a punch mark. Costs about ?80 for 6 sessions which should do it. Worked for me, no more ingrowing hairs on my neck :cool: Rob

In my opinion, he had the HT too soon as he is still loosing hair on top, hence when he forgets to put concealer on, it looks thin. He could do with another FUE session but i wouldn't know how much donor hairs he would have left available.

Use un-scented body lotion on the recipient areas every night before bed. Put a small about on and let it sink in as you go to sleep. I am now at week 4 and the redness has died down lots by doing this (and i'm also using low level laser for 10 mins each day to help healing, but not entirely sure how much this has helped). Other thing i have done to help conceal it is to cover the donor and recipient areas up, then go on the sunbed for 5 mins, thus making the rest of me more red, which then blends into the red recipient area. Not ideal, but works Failing that, but some cheap concealer and rub it into the red areas. Hope this helps Rob

Hi MoeyK Thanks for your post and I too have my fingers crossed that everything continues as well as it has so far. I will be featuring on a video as I was being filmed throughout the treatment, but they are not on line yet I don't think. I have a familiar face (everyone thinks they've seen me or know me!), so it's probably that. I paid just under GBP 4,500 for 2,800 ( maybe slightly more), all flights and travel, all airport pickups and hospital trips in a private car, 1 week in a 5* hotel, all medication, aftercare pack etc, which is very good value based on the quality of both the trip and the surgery. If you need any more details, just drop me an email and I'll gladly help out. Thanks Rob

I'm sure due to the nature of the transplants, the 2 post op care regimes would be different, so you might want to check with your surgeon. For what it's worth, here's the regime i was told to stick to... First night: sleep at 45 degrees, no water at all to touch the head day 2: same, but with bandage removed from the donor area to let it start drying out day 3-day 6: scent free body lotion dabbed on the recipient area to help keep the skin supple and loosen the scabs without agitating them too much with fingers, leave for 30 mins, rinse, but don't rub (this was done back at the hospital for me to show me how to do it myself) Day 7: scabs start coming off, don't rub, just pat with the towel after rinsing and let them come off naturally. Day 8 - 10: stop the lotion regime, start gentle shampooing Day 10 onwards: shampoo as normal, but try and be careful. Still advised to use no styling products (i kept my hair long on top) No alcohol, no cigarettes, no gym, no sex, no direct hot sunlight (I was in Turkey), no rain to touch it, do not bang my head, sleep on my back for the first 10 days. I'm using Alpecin shampoo to try and help stimulate the follicles as much as i can and also now taking hair, skin and nails vitamins to strengthen the hair. Hope this helps.

You need to stay relaxed and positive for one reason and one reason only... think about your follicles! Stress leads to hair loss, so try and relax and remain positive for the little fellas working hard in your head. Remember, they have just gone through a traumatic phase of being moved around your scalp, so need time to adjust You are actually in a fortunate position, you can/do have buzzed hair. My recommendation is to just let it grow to a grade 4 whilst the donor and recipient areas heal, as this will both cover any signs and will let your hairs do their thing. As the new hairs come through (as others have highlighted on here), you can re-buzz, then start the full growth/style process from there. Please don't worry at this stage. As a wise man once told me "when worrying about something you can't control, all you are doing is burning valuable calories and exhausting yourself, so don't", true words. I hope that all of us on here can help you overcome the guilt factor 'what have i done!' syndrome for you as it's important you stay positive and keep the 12 month target date in mind, not the 'now'. Smile, you are not alone, we are all going through it (i'm at exactly the same stage as you, so empathize completely). Chin up

No problem at all Mop, I completely understand your earlier post and it's always hard on these forums to establish someones motives or intent when reading their posts, so please don't worry, I haven't taken offence at all :-) I agree with your comment that it's early days for mine and I too hope that the end results and yield is good. I'll do my best to capture the whole process for people to see and it'll either give future patients a recommended, proven surgeon to use, or will direct them away due to poor results. It's the least I can do for the help and advice I've received from this forum. So far though, everything has gone well and I'm pleased with it,so fingers crossed!

Hi Takingtheplunge Apologies about the link and thanks for updating it. I'll take a look into setting up another blog on here to include details of my journey and hopefully it will prove useful to others. Kind regards Rob

s2thoudriver - interesting position you take, most people usually come onto this forum and speak highly of the clinic they have been to for a HT but rarely do they slag off another clinic in the same breath ??? - Correction, i have not 'slagged off' another clinic, i have simply provided requested information based on what i saw of the gentlemens results and what he told us at the airport. I have also heard good things about Transmed (on here) too, but the idea of a forum and research is that people gather as much information as possible based on real life cases, of which this was one, stood next to me. Were you asked to do this by your Clinic as part of some simmering Turkish rivalry ? absolutely not, why would they? I don't work for a clinic, or in the cosmetic surgery business, i actually work in financial services. Again, i'm simply passing on information. It makes no difference to me if someone goes to Transmed or not, it's not my hair, but if someone asks a question and i can offer an answer, i'll provide it if it helps someone make a decision Then by some miracle, you sit next to someone on the way back who has had an appalling experience at Transmed. What are the odds of that mate ? - It wasn't a miracle and i didn't sit next to him, he was stood next to me and another FUE patient in the customs queue back in the UK and said he'd noticed we'd had work done and then progressed to talking about Transmed, his choice etc etc He had previously had a FUT with good result (can't remember where though, but was also in Turkey) and had some fantastic dental work done out there too (i commented on how good his teeth were). He didn't have 'an appaling experience' at Transmed, he just said some things which made me question it. I have been to Transmed for FUT more than once and achieved my goals.and i'm extremely happy for you, that great to hear. Or is this where i throw the comment back to you about "did your clinic ask you to write this?" ;-) I know the price of FUE at Transmed based on a recent conversation with them, do share the price you paid and I will tell you if they really are twice the price as you claim.Ok, this is what he told me... "i saw 5 surgeons in Istabul, most prices ranging from 1,500 EUR to 3,000 EUR, Transmed was 4,800 EUR but i believe they are the best, so i went with them". I never said HE wasn't happy with his results. Also, the chap said he spends 50% of his time working in Istanbul, so there were no travel costs on top for him I have been to your blog and despite titles such as COST - it is has no info. -Yes, that's because i have a full time day job and as stated previously, i haven't had time to finish it off yet. Other pages on the blog are unfinished (in fact not started!) too. I will get round to completing it in the next few weeks ( PS - I am sure you are delighted now but you could easily be one of the many with appalling growth so a tad soon to be counting your chickens and praising your clinic so soon, it may be in 12 months that you had wished you had gone to Transmed after all ! )Agreed, which is why i am documenting the whole process from start to finish, to capture everything, the good and the bad. However, having seen other patients, the hospital, surgeons and personal experience i have had so far, i am remaining optimistic. If my feedback based on discussions with a Trasmed patient aren't credible, here is a patient on here who's recently been there ;-) ..... http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/166406-my-disastrous-journey-transmed.html

Hi, I have just returned from having 2,800 FUE in Istanbul and am very pleased with it. Interestingly, on my return journey, i spoke to a guy who'd had 2,500 FUE at Transmed 6 months ago. Here's what i found out from the discussion about his experience... - It was twice the price of everywhere else in Turkey - He has swelling, itchiness and redness for longer periods than he should have - After 6 months, i could see very little growth - He said that his head still hurts after 6 months!!! Based on that information, i knew i'd made the right choice. If you'd like to know more about where i went and see pictures, please feel free to contact me and i'll gladly discuss it with you. Failing that, have a look at my blog (in my signature). I'm glad i chose who i did, so if i can help others, i'm more than willing to do so. I would avoid Transmed though. Rob

I have put daily updates on my web blog (link in my signature) but here are a few pictures of the progress after 11 days. I'll take some more later for everyone (now day 15) and will continue to update this thread and my blog as time passes. Enjoy....

Lost of saline solution on my head to keep my existing hairs out of the way, but you can see where the new hairline has been created, the area covered and the dense packing that they have done in between my existing hairs to thicken it out when it all grows back. Nice job i think

Ok, so once shaved, washed and put in surgery clothes, i was straight in to have a sedative administered and local anesthetic injections. The new hairline was designed and the donor area marked. The extractions then took place over a few hours until approx 2,800 grafts were collected and comprising of a mixture of single hair follicles, 2's and 3's.These were then separated, ready for the implantation ( single hair follicles were used in the very front to give a more natural hairline) I then had a break for lunch, then it was back in for the long haul.... Hairline incisions were done by Dr Eser to ensure the direction and style were correct. Immediate post op pics to follow...

My hair was shaved to a grade 0 at the back and sides (shorter than in this picture) and the hair was trimmed as much as needed on top. Due to the nature of my business, i didn't want to shave my head, so the team kindly agreed to leave it as long as they could get away with on the top. This picture clearly shows the target recipient areas: