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Thanks Chris, was definitely surprised I didn't need the hat, nothing has fallen out yet at day 18 so still having no issues there. I am amazed how easy and time saving it is to have really short hair! We'll see how brave I am when the shed starts... Thanks hairshopeing will keep you updated, probably wait to post pics until the 1 month point, everything still looks good to me at this point. Thanks Koot, good to know I got the Lorenzo classic . Actually enjoyed Manchester and thought the people were really great - a little rain is not so bad. Sleeping at the hotel was not a problem, Dr. Lorenzo's tech's give you covers for your pillow and you bleed into them from the donor area the first night for both days of surgery, There was maybe a little bit more on 2nd day and then nothing. You just sleep on your back, I was worried that I would dislodge a graft in the crown or temple area (because I also had to lie on my side during surgery after one set of temple points were implanted you are lying on them the next day as the second set is implanted) but Dr. Lorenzo said after an hour and the blood clots form it was fine to lie on my back (or side). He was right as nothing came out and there was no bleeding in recipient area, but it definitely makes you nervous that something will come out so I understand the concern. I think as long as you put your head down gently on the pillow (which you will do anyways because the donor is sore) you should be fine.

Thought I would post some photos at day 10 and give a quick update on my status. Getting to day 10 is a big milestone because I feel safe that the grafts are not going anywhere now, was a bit stressful at times worrying that your doing something wrong when you shampoo your hair twice a day or trying to survive the itchiness (which was the worst part for me). Most of the scabs are gone here by day 10, the rest were gone by Day 11. Anyway I've made it thru the first 10 days! Went to the gym on Day 11 bright and early and again on Day 12 doing full workout and feel fine. I was back at work on Day 11 and other than people who knew I was having the surgery people just thought I'd had a short haircut. Got a couple, "you aren't sick and going thru chemo are you?" People say some surprising things but for the most part no one thinks I did anything but get a short haircut. There is definitely some pinkness in the recipient area but it doesn't bother me. I thought I'd be wearing a hat all the time for sure but I haven't so far other than to protect my head when out in the sun. Of course, I haven't gotten to the shed yet so the hat may come out more as that kicks in, dreading that part but hopefully time flies and I get through the holidays and on to growing. If the grafts all come back where they are now I will be really happy with the final result. Pictures aren't perfect but hopefully give you an idea of what to expect with Dr. Lorenzo at Day 10.

Hi Moudar, Dr. Lorenzo is 6 GBP for the first 1,000 grafts and 4 GBP for all grafts thereafter. I would get in touch with Mick at Farjo if you are interested in seeing Dr. Lorenzo. His email is mick@farjo.com. Good luck!

Here are morning of the 4th day post surgery updates from Dr. Lorenzo's office

And here are some pictures taken the morning after surgery was completed. Will also do my best to answer any questions or address anything I may have missed.

About 7 years ago I started considering a hair transplant, I had started losing my hair in my early thirties but didn’t get on meds (wish I had). Finally, in my early forties I got on Propecia and my loss stabilized to where I probably had a Norwood 4 pattern but slightly more filled in thanks to the meds. At the beginning of my search for a transplant surgeon I came very close to going to H&W for strip surgery but the idea of a giant scar just scarred me off even as I looked at their impressive results. Fast forward 5 years later and spending time using the excellent research of guys like Mickey85 (as well as my own) and watching the cases of guys like JohnnyDramma I became comfortable enough to decide FUE was the route for me. So what’s a guy from LA looking for FUE to do next…my advice if you’re in North America and considering FUE is look to Europe. There is just much better work being done in Belgium and Turkey (and now the UK), I would suggest you do online consultations with the top docs and make your choices accordingly. There have been many threads on the top docs recommended here but I was looking at Bisanga, Feriduni in Beligum and curious about Erdogan & Hakan in Turkey but always in the back of my mind was Dr. Lorenzo at Injerto Capilar in Madrid, Spain. I felt he was the best of the best from all of the research I had done and videos/pics I had looked at. Getting in to see him as an American, however, was really difficult he was booked up so far out and not really taking foreign patients so I decided to go to one of the others and was in the middle of online consultations with them when a great opportunity opened up. Reading the board I saw that Dr. Lorenzo was entering into a partnership with Dr. Farjo and their clinic in Manchester, UK. I quickly decided this was my perfect opportunity to get the best FUE work possible and I contacted Mick at Farjo. He was extremely responsive and after sending pictures and giving him some history we set up a couple of skype sessions and I booked the first available dates with Dr. Lorenzo in early November 2013. Thanks also to ReadyToDoIt who around this time posted his experience with Dr. Lorenzo which was very helpful. Mick helped me get a hotel in Manchester and off I flew to the UK. The following day I had a quick in office consultation with Dr. Lorenzo where we sketched out a hairline and I skyped in my girlfriend for final approval on the hairline. Dr. Lorenzo mentioned that if we got 3,000 hairs I would have the hairline we had just discussed and then if we got more he could be more aggressive and sketched in another one. On the first operating day I arrived at Farjo’s nice and modern office space in Manchester at 7:45am, I met Sara who took my blood pressure, gave me a valium and some anti-inflammatory pills and took me in where Dr. Lorenzo shaved my head personally – no turning back now. I then lied face down in the operating chair with my head turned to one side and the anesthetic was applied. That part is not fun but certainly tolerable when you keep the end goal in mind, it was also difficult trying to find a comfortable position when lying on your stomach with your head turned to the side. In addition, the anesthesia makes you have to go to the bathroom which was really frustrating as I didn’t want to interrupt the flow of the extractions, but Dr. Lorenzo had no problem with me getting up and going when necessary. In the end, Dr. Lorenzo was able to get 1,801 grafts from half my head on day 1 which was a great result and he said we’d be able to do whatever we want with the hairline. At that point I had a quick ten minute break where they brought me a sandwich, some tea and a movie selection sheet. During that time the clinic set up for the implant process. Right on time they came to get me and Dr. Lorenzo drew in the hairline and temple points and away he went with his implanter. For this part you are in a much more comfortable normal reclining position watching the movie. Important here to say Dr. Lorenzo is with you every step of the way, there was not one part of the process he was not doing himself (except loading the implanter, and he even was watching that). In an early post I made after the first day some people commented about price. Not going to rehash all of that but I felt I got the value I wanted by having the Dr. do all the extractions and implants himself. I understand he is not cheap and everyone can do their own cost/benefit analysis. Also, wanted to point out that the techs trained at Injerto Capilar so they are very proficient at working with Dr. Lorenzo. Day 2 started in the same manner but I was really struggling with lying with my forehead down as it was pretty sore from the anesthesia the previous day so Dr. Lorenzo found a way to move me with my head to the side and still get to all the grafts he needed. I will say by the end of day 2 I was dreading every time I heard Dr. Lorenzo say “anesthesia” because that meant another shot was coming. We finished Day 2 with 1,752 hairs for a total of 3,553 grafts. We then repeated the process of a quick lunch break, movie selection and sitting in reclining position for implants. At this point I want to thank Mick for making everything so smooth from the moment we first connected through to the finish. You could not find a nicer more knowledgeable guide for the entire process. Sara and Grace were fantastic as techs throughout and of course Dr. Lorenzo is just spectacular. He makes you feel completely safe and in the hands of a master. I came back the following morning for a donor area wash, was given more anti-inflammatory meds and a thorough post-operative discussion with Dr. Lorenzo going over my care for the next month. My forehead was a bit swollen from anesthesia and sore, but otherwise I felt pretty good. I did not need to take pain medication and my donor area was not difficult to sleep on. First couple nights they give you surgical pads to cover your pillows which you will need them as you bleed a bit. Did the saline spray for first two days, swelling in forehead was gone by day 3. Starting washing all hair, including recepient on day 3. I’m just returned from my final check up from Dr. Lorenzo on Day 4 and will be flying back to LA tomorrow morning. Pics are taken by Dr. Lorenzo day before, first and second day of surgery. Will post some taken day after surgery as well. Here were the statistics from the surgery: Statistics: grafts: 3553 Hairs. 7851 Hairs/graft: 2.21 Singles: 505 Doubles: 2418 3 HFU: 998 4HFU: 129 Hair Thickness: 55 microns (aprox) Punch: 0.8 mm.

Quick update - finished up today and Dr. Lorenzo is just such a great guy as well as an amazing surgeon. When I get pic's from the clinic I will post them in a new thread and give my summary of the whole process. Dr. Lorenzo took 3,553 grafts total (1801 day one and 1752 day 2), he stopped there because he said it was a good number I'd remember and of course we had enough to do what needed to be done. Johnny I asked a quick question about donor density and he said that he took less than 20% of what I had available and that if I needed another 3,000 we could definitely get that but he didn't think it would be necessary (but good to know in any event).

Thanks Johnny, yes we talked about that right after the procedure and he was explaining that's part of why he is so successful is his extraction pattern. I was in a bit of pain at the time and waiting for the pill they gave me to kick in (which it did about 15 minutes later, and I've felt fine since) but I don't remember exactly what he said. Maybe Mick can answer or I'll ask him again tomorrow. No one knows I'm almost 50 stop bringing it up

Here are some photos I took today with my iPhone, so not perfect but I'm sure Mick will add some better photos as the clinic took pictures. But just to give you an idea, first pick is outline marking the hairline that Dr. Lorenzo created, then me at the halfway point bandaged up, then me in recovery room after we finished the 1,801 grafts for day 1. Will report back after Day 2 with a more detailed outline of the whole 2 day procedure.

Quick update, and I didn't mean for this to evolve into a price comparison was just answering Lorenzo's question, so back to original topic. I had a fantastic experience with Dr. Lorenzo today, he was able to get 1,801 grafts from one side of my head and expects to get the same amount tomorrow for a total of 3,600 grafts. I'm very happy with his work and all the people at Farjo were fantastic. He did all of the extractions himself, which was about a four hour process. I then had a quick 10 minute lunch and then back in the chair were Dr. Lorenzo placed all of the grafts himself for another four or five hours. Back to the money for a moment if you consider the amount of time he is spending then the price per hour compared to most of the other physicians may be more comparable where their techs to the extractions and often some placement. To each there own and I certainly understand if it doesn't fit into someone's budget but since I could afford it I would definitely do it the same way again. In addition, he is not charging me for the extra 600 grafts. Dr. Lorenzo is incredibly talented and after talking to him after today's surgery was done I know better understand why he is better than most other FUE practitioners but everyone is entitled to their own perspective. But for anyone considering Lorenzo I would get him while you can, once he's back in Spain I think he will be very difficult to impossible to schedule.

Great question Spanker and it was one of my major concerns upon booking the surgery. He did not bring his staff from Injertocapilar, which concerned me in the beginning but after going over with Farjo how it works I'm satisfied (I guess I'll find out if I was right to be tomorrow). Dr. Lorenzo does all the graft extractions himself, he also does all the graft placement via the implanter himself. The only thing the techs do is load the implanter which apparently isn't very difficult and they have been trained and doing it for awhile now.

Thanks Johnny, I followed your case with Dr. Bisanga with much interest - looks like you are doing well and getting close to the fun growth stage. I was very close to going to Belgium myself had Dr. Lorenzo not done the switch to Manchester from Spain I probably would be using Dr. Bisanga or Dr. Feriduni.

Hi Lorenzo, thanks for the well wishes I believe I'm paying 6 GBP for the first 1,000 grafts and then 4 GBP for anything after that. The exchange rate is about 1.6 dollars to GBP, so for 3,000 grafts that comes out to about $22,000. So it's more expensive than paying in Euros for the Belgium or Turkish (plus Turkish doctors are signficantly less per graft) doctors for sure, but I felt more confident in a better result with Dr. Lorenzo so it was worth it for me. I'm sure Mick can correct me if I missed anything but I think they are treating me fairly and giving me a bit of discount because I'm coming from the US. At least for me, the money was second to getting it done as well as possible but I completely get that for some people the Belgian or Turkish doctors are a better option and they do great FUE work as well.

Safely back in my Manchester hotel room after my quick consultation with Dr. Lorenzo and preparing for surgery tomorrow I thought I'd drop a quick message to the forum. First off coming from LA, Manchester is cold and wet but that's easy enough to suffer for the expertise of Dr. Lorenzo, who I just had the good fortune of meeting. I had booked the surgery after years of research and deciding that FUE was the only option I personally wanted to use. After meeting Dr. Lorenzo while I am certainly nervous I'm very confident I choose wisely. He has a calm confidence about him that is very reassuring and despite all the time you do researching and trying to understand how best to manage your situation there is nothing quite like meeting the real expert. The next two days I hope to have 3,000 to 3,500 grafts placed with roughly 2,000 in the front and 1,500 in the crown. Mick at Farjo has been a very helpful and outstanding guide througout the process. I will do my best to document the surgery over the next two days and give you a window into Dr. Lorenzo work.

Looks great! Have you lost any grafts yet, looks like they are all (mostly) still there. Donor is very clean, congrats!

Thanks Chris, that is very helpful and I'm looking forward to having the discussion with Dr. Lorenzo. Since I'm coming from Los Angeles I won't really have the chance to discuss it until the day before surgery, but I'm sure we will come to an agreement on what will look best. Any advice for things I should definitely bring with me? Thanks again, and I'm sure you will have a fantastic result in a few months as the growing begins.

Chris - this is a great post for me, I'm booked with Dr. Lorenzo in November so this was really helpful. I had some questions for you on the hairline design. I had heard that Dr. Lorenzo is a bit conservative in this area...did he seem willing to work with your wishes (within reason and appropriateness of course)? I'll be traveling over from Los Angeles anything in particular I shouldn't forget to bring? I am convinced, as I've been waiting to do this for a long time, that Dr. Lorenzo is the way to go (assuming you can afford him) - glad to finally see a patient review from Farjo before I go - so many thanks! The work looks great, I'm sure you will have a fantastic result and I'm happy you feel you made the right decision!

Thanks everyone for the replies and help. Yes Bill in my case I am not interested in the strip procedure for all the possible complications that can come with the scar and the recovery seems more difficult. Ultimately it's a personal choice and one I've been researching for years and I've just never been able to convince myself that strip was a good way to go, I did do an online consultation with H&W 5 or so years ago but wasn't convinced it was right for me. Thanks Mickey your thoughts echo mine exactly so that's comforting, I do like Feriduni's hairline's quite a bit and that's one of my highest priorities. Feriduni proposed two sessions, the first around 2,000-2,500 for the front and then do another 9-12 months later using 2,000 for the crown. Dr. Lorenzo seems to think I can do about 2,000 for the front and maybe another 1,500 or so for the crown over two days. My conclusion thus far is the same that with high number of grafts Lorenzo may be the way to go. I'm hoping I can work out a good hairline plan with him if we proceed. Great idea Matt I hadn't thought of that probably wouldn't hurt to get an evaluation in SoCal. Thanks Spanker I fear you are probably right that I shouldn't just plan for a one and done. Another question I have and more of a side issue is how people feel about the importance of PRP and/or Acell helping with FUE procedures. Thanks again everyone and I'll do my best to document my procedure when the time comes.

So first off I would like to say how much this forum has helped me as a lurker over the years, I suppose the single thing I'm most grateful for is that it kept me from making any decision or a "mistake". I'm 48 years old now and have attached some pics, I've never had hair transplant surgery of any kind. I've been afraid of strip for some time and kept waiting for cloning or some other miracle treatment to come along and calm all my fears. I've been losing hair since my early thirties, but propecia has slowed it down. Have lost a lot on my hairline and have pretty thin crown. I finally decided that at 48 I've waiting long enough and the miracle cure is not around the corner, but mostly thanks to the excellent work by Micky85 I've gotten comfortable enough in my research to believe FUE is the way to go for me. Also thanks to JohnnyDrama, MPBsucks4545 and chrisis (might be on another board) your stories were very helpful to me. One of my difficulties is that I live in Southern California and have decided that I'm only interested in the European docs and for various reasons I had narrowed things down to Belgium and was ready to go. For my personal situation budget is not a big concern, I'm most concerned with 1) ethical doctor, 2) talented, skilled and highly experienced doctor, 3) very aesthetically pleasing hairline (eye of the beholder, but there are some more consistent than others), 4) best chance of minimizing or eliminating shock loss, 5) managing donor area and keeping future surgeries to a minimum and 6) hopefully correcting both issues in 2 days with one visit as the travel, downtime, going around with shaved head, etc. would as little as possible. I know there are no guarantees but now that Dr. Lorenzo is working in the UK I'm thinking he may be a better option than the Belgium docs (Bisanga & Feriduni). I've spoken with reps for all of them. I'm not considering Turkey at this time. So pretty much I've narrowed it down to three really great docs, but in looking at everything I'm starting to lean towards Lorenzo am I missing anything important? Hoping to book very soon. Thank you in advance for any help. I also realize a great result could be realized with any (all) of them but I'm just hoping to make best choice I can as I'm sure you all are.