Baldietwo

Recipient area is still numb and I can't feel a lot there. This is particularly annoying when i got an itch! Itching a numb area is pointless I went back to work after 6 days (bank holiday weekend helped!). However, I'm quite lucky in that I work from home most of the time. I haven't been to my office yet to face my coworkers nor have I seen my friends yet. I think they must be wondering what I'm up to To be honest, i'm going a bit crazy at the moment. I only see my wife and I've ventured out shopping a few times (with a hat on). I'm fairly active with sports and the thought of having to wait another 4 weeks before I can exercise kills me. At least you don't have that since you did FUE. It's not going to be a secret, but I'd like have the hair shed first and scar covered. Should be another week I think. If they see me with the short stubble on top and then it's gone next time they see me they'll think it's not worked. I'd rather tell them when it's actually growing. Otherwise I'll have 6 months of "is it growing yet?, why don't you have hair by now? I bet the procedure didn't work!. I'm more or less completely bald (NW5 --> NW6) so there's no way I can get away with it! I just can't be bothered to educate ignorant people I think my friends and coworkers will be supportive. Although my friends will probably take the piss a bit as well..who can blame them

Good to hear you're recovering well. Another 10 days off sounds bliss! About the shedding.....as you know, I was at BHR the day before you. After 12 days of the transplanted hair growing slightly it started shedding big time today! Hundreds (thousands?) of little hairs fell out when washing my hair. Will be interesting to see when your hair starts shedding. Its inevitable, but the start of better things to come.

What do you mean by natural hair fiber? You've got stuff like Toppikk, Nanogen and Caboki. They all work the same and I believe they are made of tiny bits of died wool (sheep). So it's basically keratin, just like your hair.

Spex is a user on this forum (and others) and a hair loss consultant. He knows his stuff.

Since this section of the forum is primarily for the HT experience itself and not the results section I've removed photos from this post and moved it all to a new "results" post in the Photo section of the forum: Direct link is The journey of my 4703 FUT HT with Dr. Bisanga August 2013 - Forum By and for Hair Loss Patients I'm an organised person so I'd like to use the forum as intended and post in the correct sections

I've already posted my HT experience with Dr. Bisanga in the reviews section of the forum. You can read it here if you're interested: 4703 FUT Dr. Bisanga, Brussels (21 August 2013) - Forum By and for Hair Loss Patients That section is primarily for reviewing your Doctor and day at the surgery (or at least that's how i understand it). My 1st HT is now done so I'm shifting to results mode and sharing my ugly-duckling-to-beautiful-swan journey with you all I'm healing well. Most scabs came off today which was the first day I was allowed to gently massage the recipient area. The hair also seems to be growing rapidly! I really hope it falls out soon as I don't like this look. Since the areas around was shaved it's uneven and the contrasts and transition from bald to hair is too big. I'd also like to grow my hair a bit longer so that the "island" in the back can grow into longer surrounding hair. The way it is now is just unnatural. I asked Dr Bisanga to place some hair at the back to prevent "scalp shine". Once it's longer it should "fall" in to the surrounding areas like a mini comb over. It should tie me over until my 2nd HT which will concentrate on the remaining areas. I know it will look ok in the end, but I would rather it all fell out and then grew back slowly as thin wispy hair which then thickens gradually... Hoping for a shed in the next couple of weeks Attached are my pre-op,post-op and 1 week photos. All photos are taken without flash, but the light conditions may vary slightly. Some techie specs… 1s x 527 2s x 1974 3s x 1452 4s x 750 Totaling 4703 grafts 11831 hairs 2.5 average hair per follicle

Thanks for your responses. As opposed to most other people on this forum I actually want them to shed as quickly as possible. I don't want them to just continue growing. It just looks unnatural right now (ugly duckling) and doesn't flow with the rest of my hair. I'd like them all to shed and then grow out thin to begin with and thicken...that should make the transition from bald to hair much better.

I had a HT week ago and when I took a macro picture today I noticed the hair is significantly longer than 1 week ago. I thought all or majority of transplanted hair stopped growing immediately after being transplanted and would then shed and return in 3 months time. I know they don't shed until a couple of weeks but I thought they wouldn't grow at all in their new site until next cycle.

Impatient..... They are coming soon.

Nope. I didn't do any scalp exercises. My scalp is (was) very stretchy so I didn't have to. The discomfort is pretty much gone now apart from when I sneeze, cough or eat something tough (like beef jerky). I can still feel the sutures pulling on my scalp, but that's to be expected. Another 9 days until I can have them removed.

Thanks Stephen. My advisor is looking after me and I'm getting the pictures this week.. I have a question. I'm going to try and book the local gp or nurse to remove the sutures. I've read on this forum that some gp practice's refuse to remove them since its a private procedure or they have never seen this type of suture before. Is this really a problem? If so how do other UK based patients do it?

I had my HTt with Bisanga last week and in another week and a half I'm due to have my sutures removed. I'm going to ask the local GP or nurse to do it but I've read on this board that some GPs and nurses refuse to do it. The excuse is either that the HT was done abroad or they are simply not confident of removing such a long suture. With that in mind I need to have a backup plan. If the local GP/nurse refuses where can I have the sutures removed in the UK?

Today I feel great! Swelling is almost gone and no real pain anymore. The only exception is if II sneeze. This pulls on my sutures in the donor area and hurts like hell. Minimal scabbing from what I can see. I rigorously sprayed the saline every 2 hours and I think that helped. I posted the full story with some pics in the "surgeon review" part of this forum. Yeah, the hotel was pretty busy when we were there. I thought about staying a few more days as well but decided against it. If you are there for another 4 days I think you will be able to enjoy it much more since you had FUE. I'm guessing you don't have any real pain anymore in the donor or recipient area? Looks like you had long hair in the preop pictures. I'm guessing you now are shaved to a grade 1...must be weird

Yes I was! Had breakfast at 7am with my wife (a.k.a ladyfriend Wearing the black bandanna and probably looking really miserable as I had close to no sleep and was in serious pain (from the strip sutures).

Congratulations on your transplant. You had yours on Thursday and Friday last week right? I had mine on Wednesday. I stayed at the Catalonia so our paths may have crossed unknowingly I was also at the clinic on Thursday to have my hair cleaned and checked. Hope your swelling is not too bad. I had a head like a Klingon on day 1 to 3. Now (day 4) it's finally subsiding. I'll be following you progress.

Brace yourselves....it's a long post!! I've been reading this forum for a looong time and after many years of Propecia and minoxidil, I've taken the plunge and started my Hair Transplant Journey. I've learnt a lot from this forum and would not have had a transplant if it wasn't for all the incredibly useful information on this site and the forum. The meds worked fine for a few years but I've progressed to a NW6 with nothing on top so it was time to get this party started! All of you have shared your story with me so it’s time for me to share mine…here we go! Consultation Day, Brussels - April 2013 Before visiting Dr. Bisanga I had sent some pictures through to one of the advisors. The reply I received was not encouraging. They said Dr Bisanga had looked at the photo and it looked like I had very poor donor area, but he would be open to see me in person to see what can be done. That shocked me a bit since my hair on the sides is very very thick (at least that’s my impression). I do normally keep my hair very short (I am a complete cueball on top after all!) so I was hoping that made it look more sparse than it really was. Dr Bisanga is a busy man. There was a 2 months waiting list for the consultation! I arrived in Brussels well ahead of time and made my way to the clinic ((half an hours walk from the train station). I arrived 30 minutes early and the receptionist made me a cup of coffee whilst I waited. They also asked me to fill in the same paperwork I had already sent them using the online form 2 months ago…..I would have thought they kept those? Anyway….. Unfortunately, the appointment prior to mine was late so my appointment was pushed 20 minutes or so. I was on a tight schedule but in the end I had a good 30 minutes or so with him. As mentioned I had sent pictures earlier and Bisanga said it looked like I had poor donor area. Luckily…pictures can deceive!! It turns out my donor area was averaging 78 grafts per cm2 and hardly any miniaturization. My hair is also medium coarse which helps immensely. To top it off, I had excellent laxity so he could go for the full 2cm wide strip. He gave me the all clear and estimated around 4800 grafts. This was enough to cover the frontal part of my scalp but I would need another session to fill in the crown and midscalp area. Day before D-Day Arrived in Brussels in the afternoon at Catalonia Forum hotel which is situated a convenient 1 minute walk away from the clinic. Had an evening meal at the hotel which I do not recommend to anyone. I had spaghetti Bolognese which tasted like something out of a can and my wife had a chicken burger which tasted more like veal (we think it actually was veal) and it was covered in a green guacamole type substance…awful! Luckily, I was not in Brussels for a culinary experience and had other things on my mind. In particular an awful headache which prevented me from sleeping. It was probably a nervous headache (if there is such a thing?). I eventually did fall asleep only to be abruptly woken by my 6am alarm clock! I must have gotten no more than 2 broken hours of sleep that night. Surgery Day (August 2013) A nice long shower and breakfast in the hotel (which, contrary to the evening meal was very good!). Arrived with my wife a little bit early at the clinic (07:25) and was greeted by Dr Bisanga himself who took me through the initial paperwork (consent form etc..). We then discussed the hairline. I’m a NW6 cueball and I’m not looking for Justin Bieber hair so we agreed upon a relative high hairline which would allow for better coverage. I wanted a decent frontal coverage but also a “scattering” in the back to reduce scalp shine. I will need another transplant (probably FUE) at some stage to fill in the gap and I was always aware that would be the case. 8:00 am After choosing our lunch I said goodbye to my wife as I was “taken away” to get changed and to have photos taken. 8:10 am I was in the chair. Dr Bisanga returned and drew some lines on my head as well as shaving both the recipient and donor area. Dr Bisanga then left me in great care of his team who took my blood pressure. It was sky high! I was incredibly nervous and my heart was working on overtime. I was given a half a Valium and hooked up to a hear rate monitor whilst they prepared to inject the aesthetics. Before the first injection my heart rate was a whopping 110! Then the first injection came…hmm, not so bad. Then the second, third, fourth etc. It was not that painful at all. Granted, it’s not pleasant, but noting I couldn't handle. The Valium seemed to kick in as well. My heart rate was sinking to around 80. I don’t know how many injections I got but it was a lot! 8:45 (I think) Dr Bisanga returned. They showed him my high blood pressure reading and I thought “here we go, they’re gonna say they can’t do it”. Luckily, that wasn't the case. I was given another Valium and we were ready to go. I had a loooong strip, 32 cm long and 2 cm wide. I think he cut it in 3 sections and I couldn't feel a thing. The worst part of it was when they removed the individual strips. 2 of his staff was pulling my scalp (one up and one down) really hard whilst Dr Bisanga removed the strip. That was slightly uncomfortable, not painful but uncomfortable. 10:00 (circa) the strip was removed and the donor area was all sutured. It’s an interesting feeling when he pulls the skin tight with the sutures, again, not painful, just a really weird feeling. Dr Bisanga now started to make the graft incisions. 10:30 I REALLY REALLY need the toilet!!. I kept it in for a bit and Dr Bisanga said just 5 more minutes but those 5 minutes turned to 10 so I was eventually allowed to go. When I got up I felt really dizzy and I stumbled over the heart monitor cord…hope I didn’t’ break it! I was struggling to walk. Not sure if this was due to the drugs or perhaps the blood loss during the strip removal (I saw the bin, it was full of red pads!). I staggered my way to the bathroom to do my stuff. One of the technicians asked if I was ok since it took me a while (I was only peeing, in case you are wondering!!). You try unzipping whilst slightly dizzy and lightheaded! And before you ask…I decided to sit and pee! It would have been messy otherwise. 13:00 Lunch time. My wife came to join me. We had ordered lunch in the morning during the initial consultation and it tasted 10 x better that the hotel restaurant! 13:45 Back in the chair…..I was now high as kite and the rest of day flew by. I was offered a selection of movies to watch and chose “Firewall”. Don’t ask me how it ended. I had to turn my head away from the TV the last half hour…oh well! 18:30 We’re finally finished! My blood pressure was taken again and it was back to normal. I felt very relaxed but still tired. And my butt hurt like hell! 10 hours in the chair will give anyone butt-ache! I was given antibiotics, pain killers shampoo and a saline solution along with a post operative care manual. We ordered room service that night. We both had Pizza as we figured you can’t really go wrong with pizza. It was ok (e.g. edible) I was told to sleep in a 45 degree angle. There was no way I could get comfortable and I was so scared of knocking the grafts. The anesthetics started to wear out and the donor area hurt like hell! The tension pain was unbearable. I gobbled some painkillers which took the edge of it but there was no way I was going to get a good nights sleep. I perhaps slept for an hour that night. Day 1 Post-Op OOOUUUUCH!!!!! Auuu Auu Auu!! I really wish they would have given me a better painkiller!!! Forget worrying about pain during the surgery, the post op pain is unbelievable. I didn’t know what to do with myself. We went for breakfast but even eating hurt (created movement in the donor area). I gobbled some more painkillers which helped slightly. I made my way to the clinic where they cleaned my hair. I also met Dr Bisanga again, which was good because I had a couple of questions for him. When I looked at the transplant he had placed a little “island” of grafts near my crown. I couldn't work out why. He said that this was the hair he placed to prevent scalp shine. Along with the existing hair it should blend in and “fall” (like a mini comb-over) over the remaining bald patch. I've attached a close up of that part and it looks quite neat.It kinda swirls around the crown...Looking forward to see how that develops. My second question was how much I would need to cover the remaining bald patch (midscalp). He reckoned around 2k-2.5k for good density or 1.5k for moderate density. This could be done as FUE. We said our goodbyes and they ordered us a taxi. The journey home was long and painful. We got the Eurostar back to the UK. It was the most uncomfortable train journey of my life. I also think it made the pain worse since moving all the time kept the blood pumping and this resulted in more pain. In the evening I relaxed and watched TV spraying my head with saline every 2 hours, but I couldn't really focus on anything. The pain was always there. We watched a comedy show but we had to switch to something else. Laughing is NOT recommended as it makes the pain even worse! My wife went to bed and I decided to sit in the sofa by the TV as it was very comfortable and allowed me to have a 45 degree angle. I just sat there staring at the wall…wallowing in self-pity. I had already had my allowance of painkillers but I had to take something so I took a couple of paracetamol anyway. In the end I did fall asleep. I woke up a fair few times with the pain, but I just moved my head to get in a better position and I then fell asleep again. Day 2 I feel so much better than yesterday! Had cup of tea (decaffeinated!) and some painkillers. Went to the bathroom to spray my saline solution… .. What the F***!! Who’s that in the mirror? My forehead and cheekbones was swollen like a balloon. I looked like a science experiment gone wrong. Luckily I was aware that this would happen, but I was told it would be the 3rd or 4th day and should disappear by day 6. I've now washed my hear and looking at the recipient area it doesn't look too bad. Minimal scabbing so far. I hope this is a good sign and it doesn't get too bad. Considering the amount of holes I’ve had punched in my head it doesn't look oto red either…maybe that will come later. I grew my hair relatively long (long for me) in order to try and hide the strip scar....suffice to say I failed to grow it long enough. Once the sutures are out I'll have to shave it..looks ridiculous right now. I've yet to receive the photos taken by BHR but attached are 3 photos taken today, 2 days post surgery. Hairline, back (swirly thing) and the suture. To follow my journey in pictures hop over to the photo section of the forum or click here: The journey of my 4703 FUT HT with Dr. Bisanga August 2013 These grafts will fall out in a couple of weeks and then the waiting game will being. Some techie specs… 1s x 527 2s x 1974 3s x 1452 4s x 750 Totaling 4703 grafts 11831 hairs 2.5 average hair per follicle

Thanks for your responses. There's lots of information about pre- and post procedure but not a lot about the actual sitting in the chair. Perhaps because it goes by quicker than people think. I'm scheduled for a 4.5k session (that was the estimate given during my initial face2face consultation) but I'd like as many grafts as possible so if my donor area has more or my scalp has better laxity then it might be more (or it could be less as well of course). I was told I'm in for 10+ hours in the chair!! My surgeon comes highly recommended and I've seen lots of good feedback and pictures from patients on this forum so I'm not worried that I'll be rushed. I'll try to memorize my day and write about it here. Unless I fall asleep that is...It seems that many patients do PS! I'm still nervous as ****! But it will be worth it in the end.

Hi, I'm due to have a Hair Transplant in a few weeks. Having around 4.5k (or more if there's enough in the donor area and there's time to do it) I'm looking forward to it, but the piece I'm mostly dreading is the strip removal. I know I won't feel anything but I also know that I'll be happier once the strip has been removed and the gap been sutured. I understand that I'll be in the chair for most of the day, but I was wondering how long the actual strip removal takes? Is that done in an hour or does it take longer? I'm not revealing the surgeon yet (in case of mishaps etc), but he's recommended on this site.

The surgeon actually told me the pros and cons of both and then asked what I wanted. When I said FUT he responded "wise choice as FUE for you would be very expensive and FUT would provide better results. He also said he doesn't normally do FUE for anyone borderline NW6 (which I am) as the results would usually not meet the expectations without a LOT of procedures. I've already quit finasteride (suspected side effects) and I'm not going to use that stuff ever again. I'm still using minox just to keep the little fluffly stuff I've got left. However, once the transplant is done, I'm coming off minox. I don't want to be dependent on drugs anymore. The hair that are transplanted will be immune to genetic alopecia so adding minox is pointless (other than promoting earlier regrowth from the intial shed after the procedure). The surgeon had the same view.

Nope, I had pretty much made my mind up on type of procedure before the consultations. The one I went for in the end didn't push either procedure, but explained pro's and cons about both. Another fair comment. Do I want a thin strip scar or lots of tiny scars from FUE? Let's face it, both procedures has it's fair share of risks when it comes to scarring, shock loss etc. Having a transplant is a risk in itself, regardless of method. The odds of success are very good, but there's always something that can go wrong. . I do have a shaved head today (grade 1) and if I have a transplant I'm planning on growing it...not shaving, so it won't be visible. I may very well want my head shaved again at some point in the future and there's a plan built in for that. I'll need another transplant anyway to thicken up my crown (4.5k won't cover it all) at which point I'll do an FUE and ask to transplant some hairs into the strip scar. That should allow me to cut it very short without it being noticeable. (This is my plan by the way, not something the surgeon pushed for).

Thanks for the warm welcome. To answer the questions. No, I'm not having it it the UK. I did a lot of research before choosing my surgeon, I had consultations in person with all of them. As I mentioned in my first post I'm not revealing who it is until after the procedure. I know they all lurk around on these forums and I prefer them not knowing who I am to preserve my anonymity somewhat. I was contemplating travelling to India but in the long run I'm not sure it would be cheaper. O wanted to meet all the surgeons in person and also have the option of seeing them again later if I needed to (if something went wrong or I'm not happy with the results). Multiple flights to India would soon push up the total costs.

I've been reading this forum for a very long time and I've finally got around to registering. I must admit I've been one of those who just reads the posts and never contributes, but I felt that needed to change. I've suffered from androgenic alopecia for over 15 years since my early 20s (i'm now late 30s) and have tried pretty much every regime there is to keep my hair. The big three (fin, minox and nizoral) did wonders for me in the early stages. I was a NW 5A when I was 25. The big 3 got me to a cosmetically ok 3v in about 2 years or so. I continued the big 3 for 10 years but 1 1/2 years ago I quit finasteride. My hairloss had progressed to a pretty slick NW6. I still took minoxidil to use up what I had. Existing drugs can no longer help me and new ones aren't likely to be on the market for a very long time. The only thing left is a hair transplant. I've been researching HT for a long time but I was a bit scared to be honest. Not to mention the cost!! It's not cheap! I've finally managed to save up enough and I've done a lot of researching into the procedure and various surgeons. After 15+ years of hairloss and trying to combat it with drugs I've finally taken the plunge to have a transplant to fix the issue permanently! I'm a NW6 now and my transplant is going to be around 4500 grafts using FUT. That's the amount of donor grafts I have according to the surgeon. My scalp laxity is apparently very good and if there appears to be more available on the day I'll have to think about whether or not to pay the extra as I'm a bit tight on money, this isn't cheap! It won't give me a full head of hair, but that's not my expectation either. I'm concentrating on the front and top of my head as that's what people see. Pending the number of available grafts on the day (if more than 4.5k) I might ask to have some scattered in the crown too. The deposit is paid and my procedure is coming up in a few months time and I'm really looking forward to it! It's all a secret so far and only my wife knows. I will, of course, tell all my friends but not until afterwards as I don't want the "hassle" of them commenting on it for the next few months until the procedure is done. They might also try and convince me not to do it....I've made my decision and I don't want anyone to try and change it. Although I suspect they will all be very supportive.....and of course, they will take the mickey and probably bully me (in a good way), but I'm prepared for that. Anyway, that was a looong introduction to myself. I've been reading the forum for a long time and I found the surgeon who will be performing my procedure on this very forum. It's only fair that I give something back. I'll be sharing photos and also telling you who the surgeon is when the time comes. But for now...."hello"