godzillasbits

Hi Roopert1517 You might want to check out the post i started a year ago after MattUK also failed to reply with my questions, I found myself in your shoes about 18 months ago, infact its exactly 12 months (31st May 2013) since i had my op carried out by CHI. I've avoided any forum posts/regular updates due to alot of negative feedback received regarding the $2 grafts so didn't feel the need to share, but have responded to a few PM's since i had mine done. I've only ever had the one procedure carried out and traveled from the UK to have it done, costs over here were more than tripple which made it only a dream for me to have done. I cant compare it to any other more expensive procedure which was being offered to me like some of the guys on here have had, but all i can say is it was the best $4500 i have invested in which has changed my life, confidence and outlook in a very short space of time. Chris and the team are very professional and will take care of you from start to finish. If i was to suggest anything i would say 1) spend a few days out there if your not local, they can check post op is fine and give you a good first cleanse giving you more peace of mind that the op was successful. 2) make sure your happy with the angle and level of your hairline in the mirror and also a widows peak if it suits prior to the op. 3) if you can afford it then get as much grafts as you can afford, initially they advised 1500 grafts but after discussions I opted for 2000. (if i could turn back time id have gone 2500 for the sake of it but then im greedy!) 4) for me i needed at least 10-12 days off work to fully disguise my op with my long hair, you may need more or less if you can wear a hat at work or rock the skinhead look. Other than that you dont have anything to worry about, as i say the whole team from start to finish were very professional throughout!

Thanks guys, such a relief that I've finally reached the 3 month stage! Hopefully some more exciting times ahead

nice gains!!!

So Im a few days over the 3 month mark as of from today (operation carried out at the Colorado hair institute on 31/05/13) and have had some positive progress to report. To begin with, the first 6-8 weeks dragged!!! obsessivly looking in the mirror and taking photos EVERYDAY which didnt help. The shedding was pretty depressing too, loosing not just most of the transplanted hair but some native surrounding hair after the first few weeks. Fortunatly i managed to retain around 10% of the transplanted whispy hairs which to my surprise was enough to have a small cosmetic effect around both corners of my temples where i use to use topik, can imagine once this thickens how well the end result will be. Ive been on a strict regime of 1/4 finasteride/vit E/biotin/folic acid/silica/saw plametto every other day and also using rogain at least once a day with my shampoo products too. I cant say for sure how much of an effect this has had with overall regrowth and how much is just down to the surgery/nature taking its course but the first signs of regrowth have already started to happen which im really delighted about! My widows peak was the first area to start sprouting new single strands of hair. However they are very thin, fine and short and does look a bit funny when styling it with my native long hair as it just looks like fuzz or ive missed a few hairs whilst applying the wax. Ive also noticed slightly more whispy hairs sprouting on my right side than left but it is very early days so not too concerned yet. The hairs can only be described as a slight peach fuzz and some longer than others with no real density As i say overall progress so far im just happy that there has been some sort of growth but i know there is still a long way to go! I'll report back at 6 months. Subman i hope your surgery went well.

Stitches removed yesterday (day 13 post op) which took around 10 mins, pretty much painless other than a few minor tugs to the hair. Nurse commented on how how clean and neat the closure was and healed very nicely. Quite a relief finally having them out however doner area still tender but no pain. Transplanted area seems to be coming along nicely, scabs and numbness pretty much all gone by day 10. Carried a spray mist bottle with me and used it every couple hours, also soaked the areas day and night which i think helped a lot. Most of the redness faded around day 9 and scalp looks normal colour now just with some 4 day old stubble. Have been suffering from a bit of shock loss all over my scalp due to the trauma and the transplants have slowly been shedding but still have the majority of them...for now. Had a hair cut, shaved grade 5 sides and back, no signs of my scar so really happy with this

Will do, most likely in a few months

As everyone's mentioned, the most uncomfortable part was receiving the initial numbing needles (I'd rate it 3 out of 10) but once they had taken effect the rest was plain sailing, after that it was just like visiting the dentist only you have a TV to watch and lunch is served. I didn't feel a thing whilst harvesting the donner area, didnt even know they had begun dissecting but they did advise I would hear some cutting noises and that I could zone out with my earphones if i wanted (weird but to me It sounded like sharpening a pencil)

Whats impossible? for an individual to have as low as 17 grafts per sq.cm? Impossible would be quoting an overly-high exaggerated ridiculous final graft count which I'm not. Sorry i will rephrase what i initially said, 17 grafts per sq. cm WAS MENTIONED WHILST they examined in and around my hairline, front to mid recession, temples and Donner. During the consultation it was agreed that between 40-70 grafts per cm would be implanted to achieve the correct density for my hair restoration.

Hasson & Wong offered 2 nights hotel stay and discount too?....you wouldn't trust them?

Whilst the donner area was being prepared/shaved they *mentioned 17 grafts per sq. cm with my laxity also being great for first time. I agree, as I said before they are nowhere near as well known as the 'brand names' and can only comment about my experience with CHI so far but from initial enquiry right up until the day I left and the service and information provided was first class. Even up to day 10 post op its looking good and looks to be coming along nicely. I discussed about having more grafts than CHI proposed, they never once tried to over sell me anything or make any false claims just realistic expectations, talked about technicians carrying out the work an that they did this day in, day out with plenty satisfied customers, the facilities were also very clean and professional. The closest place to me in the UK which is a 3hr drive quoted me ?4 ($6) per graft but they advised the surgeon would fly up for the procedure and the technicians would be a team put together for the session....Id rather pay the extra and fly/stay down to Harley street in London at ?5 per graft so that at least sub consciously my mind would have been more at ease with them having more of a reputation and that was essentially it for me, to know they have probably carried out more procedures than the company local to me and that id be in safe hands, yet the local company were quoting pretty much the same going rate just because they could?! Even Harley Street in London compared to any big 'brand' name in the US i don't think carry out so many regular/daily HT's and without doubt im sure have plenty satisfied patients. The CHI have a dedicated doctor, team, experience and from what iv gathered nothing negative about them so far, If I wanted the 'brand name' in the industry then sure I'd have paid far more and have got fantastic results at the expense of saving up another year/taking a loan out, but regardless of being $2 a graft CHI have helped me get my confidence and life back on track sooner rather than later and I'm sure are still making a nice little profit for a days work. $2, $4 $6 per graft, end of the day the results will speak for themselves and come 6-12 months im sure it will still be positive posts I'm sharing with you guys.

Well 9 days have passed, just looking forward to the day im posting on my 9 month report! Eventually flew back to the UK 4 days after the operation and personally was very anxious about the connection flights/going through security etc. For me i think 1-2 days after the op would have been to early to travel , would have felt very self conscious and worried about the grafts but on the 3rd-4th day was ready to return. Airport security went very well within the US, had a baseball cap linned with one of the docs surgical caps worn throughout the journey worn VERY loosely. Just before going through all security check points i informed them i just had an op on my head and pointed and that i didnt want to take the hat off, they were totally fine and sympathised with me hurting myself on holiday.... Suffered from 4 days of face swelling, between days 2 and 4 looked like i had the mumps or too much botox along the nose and eyes but calmed down on day 4 with the meds. Overall service received from CHI up until the day i left was very satisfied. Went back in a couple times before i left just to chat and check up on my progress and each time being in there was patients or consultations going on. I did notice on day 2 i applied way too much ointmnet onto gauze and maybe pulled out a 2 graft?! was no sign of blood so maybe it was just the hair shedding with dried fluid/scabbing. Other than a slight tender doner area sleeping everything else seems to be taking its course and my hairline sort of matches my red sunburn on the shoulders, well think id get away with telling work that when the hairs dry. My doctor advised day 10-14 pending to have the sutures removed so ive booked myself in at the local docs for the removal of my stitches on day 12, or have a nurse look at it anyway.

yeah cant wait to give it a light soak and clean but in no rush, just using scab protection instructions till then and have ice on my head all day. Myself, my dad, grandad and uncle whom all have similar features and everyone commenting on all looking the younger or older version of each other they are currently between norwood 5a to 6 and have been for a while,plenty side and rear lower hair but pretty much nothing on top. looking at my dads photos at 30 years young i have by the looks of it definitely have more hair than he did and according to my dad ive done well to still have what i have. photos of him back then at 30 suggest norwood 4/4a at the same age as i am now with myself at 3/3a with some very minor/thining of the crown. i know its inevitable i will go down my dads route which is not a bad thing and will embrace it but at 30 no, if i can prolong it for at least another 15 years or so id find it easier to accept i think. I have been using/taking minox/biotin/silica/saw plameto/multi vitamins/omega 3 fish oil/nizoral shampoo for the last few years religiously with the odd breaks from minox but this has definitely slowed down my hair loss, i wouldnt say stopped it but for sure prolonged it and receded at a slower rate. Introducing the propecia was another big step but as you know its not cheap per pill which lead me to finasteride and a pill cutter. this had the biggest impact on me and for the first time AFTER the shedding phase slowed down/stopped those small thin hairs that just remained idle around my temples and front started to grow for the first time, really whispy and different lenght to my normal cut hair. i guess catching it early enough before the hairs have completly died is key.im not going to grow hair back where i use to have as a teen but any small minature hair still dormant from my experience definitly started growing back, i can also honestly say ive suffered ZERO side affects from using it, again i guess we all reactct differently but fortunatly (touch wood) for me i have been fine so far. I also staggered the use of fin 1.25mg taking it every 2nd day for a few weeks then daily for 1 week.

Hi there my hair is still a little raw and scabby sofor the sake of taking better pics id rather not disrupt it by trying to move the hair to one side but my grafts go right back to the middle of my head and a filled in denisty grafts between areas they noticed thinning, theres also grafts coming right down and round my sideburns, again i have thick dry bloody hair atm which the grafts can only be seen if i pull the hair right over. They initially planned for 1500 grafts just for the temple area and did shave/prep the doner area for that, however after explaining where the grafts would end/cover i requested an extra 500 which would be used in and amongst the areas i wanted filled in near the back and down the sides. If i had shaved my hair down to a 4 grade you'd definitly be able to see the red raw grafts EVERYWHERE and how far back the grafts really go. Once ive had my first shampoo i will post some better pics.

Good stuff Evil, i had 3-4 techs all disecting my grafts but had the one carry out the whole procedure. They said i had high blood pressure and asked if i took creatine which i had done in the last couple weeks but other than that was good with a little more bleeding than normal..I will keep tabs on your progress but as i know from research i dont expect anything other than my hair being back to my pre operation state in 3-4 months.thanks again Evil

Hi BrianR, yes i asked for a couple movie tickets and a bucket of friend chicken!....No but on top of that i did have all my connecting flights, insurance etc from the UK. The reimbursement for hotel stay is fixed as they usually use another but i wanted to stay at the Hyatt so got back $70 for 2 nights. As i say I'm not here to sell CHI but to talk about my experience with them and shed some light with you guys but essentially yes the results will talk for themselves, so time will tell if i had made the right decision or not. if i never mentioned the $2.00 grafts i dont think anyone would be questioning it. Just a wee stroy of mine and I know this is not in the same context but here goes, im out in hong kong/thailand ALOT as my family and friends all stay out there, each time i go i visit my local sports massage/body therapist massage parlour (no its not the smutty smutty snow white parlous you get, but of course these are available for a reasonably cheap rate) all in for an hours sports massage session of relaxing and taking care of costs a mere $20 in Thailand i had to tip the lady double as i felt the service was well underpaid, they do a FANTASTIC job and the service/staff there are great but dont look or have the same professional building youd associate with your high end equivilent places here in the UK. I've also had work carried out with my teeth in hong kong in 2008, again was cheaper than doing it in the uk and again great service/after care and the dental practitioner had more than 25 years experience, was very thorough than my nhs dentist. So what does this story have to do with CHI, well they all share one thing in common and that is the number of years EXPERIENCE and previous happy testimonials customers. Some may shout about it, some may not. I got the same massage here in the UK at a place called pure spa, (commercialized outlet) and for the same massage i was charged short of ?110 and whilst it wasn't bad it certainly was definitly not worth the money i paid, compared to Thailand. (Yes this is hair transplants were talking about not a a massage but as i said it felt no different thatn going to my local dentist, happy enough with the testimonials, happy customers they had) I wont go on but maybe its cause were all just so use to/accustomed to grafts being charged at $5.00 and anything more or less we find it hard to accept physiologically. End of the day if im in the care of someone with YEARS of experience and with the professional service ive experienced so far then i am happy too. I guess the most talked about doctors and celeb status wihin the industry can command there prices, who wouldnt being on the top 10 best list. MY only concern would be the top 10 butchers to avoid! Quick update day 1 post Op went back to the clinic, had my grafts and suture line hibiclensed/sailined and polysporin applied, felt a bit numb but all both docs and both techs who came past at seperate times said they looked perfect.I never managed to get hold of polysporin or hibaclense from any local pharmacy in the uk so one of the members of staff ran my to the local chemist to collect these items and even took me home, young med student currently studying but working with the clinic, pretty cool dude.

also forgot to quote my final graft count 2,040. 602 1's, 810 2's, 628 3's, and 0 4's.

Ok now that ive had a semi decent sleep, drained the hotels ice machine into my bucket and had some pain killers im able to repost. FYI i wont be posting weekly, if anything it will be every 6 weeks as i know these things take time to recover/grow so hopefully in 12 months i see some great results. History So I had online consutations with a couple companies including H&W but ultimatly i decide to go with Colorado hair institute in Denver. you may be asking why? Well essentially yes the $2.00 dollar grafts were VERY appealing and i was sceptical especially looking at there old 90's looking website which didnt do it justice. However with the costs involved, time off work and communications i had with them it meant i could go ahead with my procedure sooner rather than later which i intended to in November 2013. Dont get me wrong the uk representative for H&W was very professional and was able to give me a rough graft count/cost with the photos supplied, he told me Mr Wong had a look at the photos himself and suggested 1500-2000 grafts but would need to confirm after knowing my hair laxity, these guys were my no.1 choice at the time and have an impeccable rep. Why didnt i get my HT done locally or in the UK? Where im from there seems to be a lack of specialist surgeons or surgeons who have carried out 1000's of sucessful operations and seeing the 'Wayne rooney' (UK footballer) suggesting the procedure cost him ?30,000 that was well out of my dreams, I considered some clinics that were only a few hours drive away and less well established, but was told the doctors whom would carry out the procedure would have to travel up specifically just to carry out the procedure which didnt really appeal to me. (doctors traveling back and forth with technicians contracted on the day). I also really wanted to stay within the UK for my op but eventually opted the US was the right decision. Colorado hair institute Anyways I got in touch with CHI and did an online consultation, wanted to see how they compared to the more highly well established ones i already had, and soon after Chris Mctyre (surgical technician/director with 27 years experience was very prompt in returning my emails, queries and concerns.Over the next month or so i batted emails to him asking about EVERYTHING regarding CHI and the setup. Over this period i had developed a close personal relationship with them/him being so personal and swift with replying to messages. So i hummed and hayed for a while but finally decided to book myself in, Chris advised me with logistics, getting here and recommended places to stay, they also offer $500 discount and 2 nights complimentary stay at local hotel or a discount should i choose an alternative which i did, The Hyatt lone tree which is not far and so far have been VERY happy with service an the room they gave me! Yes they offer $2.00 grafts but after reaserching and hearing things from the horses mouth also following a guy from the UK called Mat whom blogged/youtubed his experience, i was very happ to go with CHI. They have been very professional up to this point and upon arriving at the clinic there are also other medical services within the large building (chyroptractice etc). Maybe its because they dont have worldwide professionals/consultants traveling around spreading there name or arent quite a 'brand name' but I can only assume these may factor towards the lower rate grafts. Everything they said and suggested from propecial, nizoral, finasteride you name it they had answered ina very professional mannor. The morning operation Ok so i left my house on wed 4.30am and caught the red eye at 6.30am to london, got on the plane to atlanta for 1pm for the connection flight to colorado....after waiting around longer than expected and bad weather redirecting us the long way i finally arrived some 24hours later from leaving my house. meant to arrive at 8.30pm in denver but got in and collected my bags at around 10.45pm. Chris offered to collect me but due to the flight delay and having no battery on my iphone i wasnt able to respond so decided not to call him and instead hopped on the shuttle service for $26, finally got to my hotel at 1.15am by which point i was shattered. As discussed Chris was outside waiting at 8am after i had a shower and breakfast and felt surprisingly not tired but excited. Got the small talk out the way, asked a few more questions about Chris himself and the institute, signed the disclaimer and knocked back a couple valiums. Proceeded to the operating room and meet most of the staff whom were very nice and warm, they seem to have a great team and vibe between them all which again was also comforting and really felt at home. discussed my expectations and hair line and they looked at my laxity and doner area which was 17 hairs per sq cm which im told was a decent number for what i wanted to achieve. They did mention that my crown had slight thining but still had tiny hairs coming through (i told them i had been on finasteride for a couple months and so far had been happy with the results so this had perhaps brought them to regrow again). I asked if it was worth filling it in and they advised against it due to the finasteride working so well. So after designing my hairline and agreeing on grafts we agreed to fill in my temples,/hairline and some spots going back towards my crown with 2000 grafts. One of the technitians (whom was really laid back and professional) started numbing me up (it felt no different to being at the dentist and my tonsils and root canal procedures i had a few years back were probably far worse with regards to needles and pain) but soon after i felt nothing other than a tight head. Dr Gerald Searle carried out the FUT strip and Trichophytic closure which went very well, With the length of my hair its not noticable and theresfore cant really show decent pics but i did see it with mirrors at the time they showed me. I told them i usually shave down to a 2 grade, they advised to leave a couple months before shaving down again and that my scar should be alot more advanced by then. Anyways they started to punch holes in the designed hairline which took a couple hours, by this time the valium put me to sleep on /off and i woke again to watch top gear with lunch waiting, went to stretch my legs and get some grub down me before heading back to the room, i even asked for there wifi password to check emails/do some work . I also had someone take photos during my procedure with my iphone and i tooka few vids and pics throughout. The afternoon operation So work began after i had a 30min break, asked the hair tech numerous questions before zoning out again for a few hours. He showed me all my 1,2 and 3 grafts and i took a video of some of them. Dr Searle was in and out throughout chatting to me and making sure that every step was going accordingly, he was very happy with everything so far, i didnt like the idea of having 2-3 techs filling in my hair to speed things up but CHI i was assigned jus tthe one person whome sort of treated it like an art and said if it took them XXX long then so be it, they'd have another break before procedding.. Roll on 5.30pm and i was done, dr Searle examined throughout and then prescribed me all my medications (i had problems getting everything they suggested over the counter here or without seeing my dcotor in the UK, but i also didnt want my local GP to know about my HT i.e steroids, antibiotics and some creams) chatted a bit more post surgery with him then one of the junior technitians gave me a ride to the pharmacy, even went shopping for food and to my hotel, (of couse i had to wear a medcal blue hat when i left the clinic but i threw on my shade and the other guy had scrubs on so it looked like we were some sort of medical profession...one lady even asked us if we were from some local lab/childerens research lab and if we had just finished our shift?! what?!!! i laughed it off and just said yes its been a long day. The first night well i stocked up on some chicken, fruit, water and snacks, to be fair no pain experienced other than a mild throbbing at the doner area, grafts are looking good, scabs look good but a few hours later had to knock back a pain killer as it felt a bit tender. Sleeping upright with a neck pillow was actually ok and so far i feel fine. no blood on any of the linnen so far and Ive now got 4 days before i leave back to the UK and they told me thats plenty of time and i should manage to go see some of the sites around here on sat night/sunday! This will be my biggest fear as i want to wear a hat and remove little as possible during customs and security. All in all my experience SO FAR far has been great and only time will tell with regards to my grafts/results but i will keep you all posted.

COLORADO HAIR INSTITUE FUT 2040 grafts. Ok so ive been trawling these forums for the last 12 months or so with maybe one comment posted, but probably read EVERY post there is as my night time reading material! However I thought id share MY personal experience with my HT which was LITERALLY just carried out less than 24 hrs ago and due to the time difference cant sleep! First just a brief history up unitil my current situation (or you can read my blog for full details). Im from the UK and I had an online consultation with Hassan and Wong whom i must say were very professional and responded to EVERY question/concern i had with regards to procedure and hair maintenance in general, my only concern was the cost for the full procedure which i planned to have in November however with 2 BIG weddings in 2014 i wanted to act sooner. Reluctantnly dudnt want to fly outwith the UK due to the whole logisitics thing, flights, accommodation, travel with scabbs at airport, 'down time' at work not being paid etc which i thought long and hard about but considering the results compared to the limited specialist docs in the uk i decided that the US was where id go. After sacrificing MANY things and saving up for a couple years i decided that i definity wanted a transplant after trying alll the minox/dnc spectral, shampoos, nizoral, which by the way DID help in slowing down my loss and thickening my hair when DRY but that another topic. Sopped going out so much socially drinking and just kept focused with going to the gym, running, eating right until i was in a financail situation to afford the procedure.Fast forward to 2013 and not long turning 30 years old decided it was the right time an the savings account looked healthy, so after reaserching again doctors and companies offering HT's i decided to go with colorado hair institue in denver, from what i found theres been nothing but praise commenting nothing but a professional service and being satisifed AND the fact they offered $2.00 grafts. I also followed MattUK whom posted blogs on youtube whcih was also another factor in y decision. I took the plunge and booked myself in with the hope that this procedure WILL change my life/social life/self esteem Yes they offer $2 dollar grafts compared to hasson & wong $5 grafts which to me a regular joe would work out double what i paid. By choosing the CHI it meant that i could have it done sooner rather than later...im still feeling slightly tender but ill cut to the chase and post further details about the whole expereince when im feeling a bit better...(see my blog for before photos)

Hi MattyUK, been following your posts and youtube vids . Any updates/photos on progress so far? Still 100% happy with results? would you change anything/went for more grafts?

Hi Evil Any updates post operation on your progress? Are you still 100% happy with results?