James6000

I just came across this post and thought I'd give a big thumbs up for Dr Pong and his work. I had my HT surgery done with him last year and I am very happy with the outcome. Like densedream said, check out his web site and look around on this forum to see some of his work. If I need or decide to have another procedure (which is likely) in the future Dr Pong will be my first choice because I have complete confidence in him and his team and I had a great experience with them. Try not to be nervous and relax because I'm sure good results are just around the corner for you.

Corbyn, As anyone on this forum will tell you there is no 'need' to take propecia if you absolutely don't want to but if you choose not to you must also expect your hair loss to continue as it naturally would. I have been taking Finasteride of one brand or another for over ten years now and continued after my HT surgery because I know if I stop taking it I will very quickly begin to thin out behind my transplanted hair and into the crown area. I know there is much debate over weather or not Finasteride is good or bad for you but from my experience it works wonders and keeps my hair growing where I want it so I'll be continuing to take it as long as it continues to work.

Thanks for your comments guys. zsharp - the cost of the surgery was in US$. For 2774 grafts it was $5274 which at the time was about 169000 Thai Baht.

Ok, so here I am at 12 months after my surgery and having withheld judgement on the success or failure of the procedure for that length of time I have decided to judge it as a complete success. Not only am I happy with my new head of hair but I have a major confidence boost to go with it. Most of the transformation seemed to be over by the six month mark for me with just a bit of thickening and texture changes for the rest of the twelve months. I'd like to thank everyone who posts on this forum because it helps so many people (myself included) to become better informed on options and treatments available. If HT surgery is something you are considering, my advice is do your research and go for it.

Thanks for the feedback Cryingoutloud. I'm happy with Dr Pong's work and wouldn't hesitate to recommend him.

Wayne, I’d say your doctor has given you good general advice. The reality is that buying anything online has an element of risk and you remove this risk by going to a company like A&M, this risk can also be reduced by spending time doing a little research. There is no way A&M would provide bad meds and you are almost certainly guaranteed results with them. I believe they market a 98% success rate. It doesn’t matter where you get your meds from if they are of the same quality and dosage etc and everything else is equal it stands to reason you will achieve the same results. This is how I see it: 1) Proceed with A&M and have a 98% chance you will get results with and pay whatever they end up charging for their treatment. 2% chance you will not get results and they refund your money. 2) Research and undertake your own equivalent treatment plan for far less cost and the same chance of results saving you a lot of money. Same chance you will not get results but have to write of the cost of this option with no refund. You need to decide whether you prefer to have a professional organisation manage your treatment and pay the premium that comes with that or are you comfortable enough to manage your own treatment plan and save money? The cost needs to be considered but shouldn’t be the only deciding factor. For me, I took the second option and I’m glad I did but at the end of the day you need to weigh up your options.

Can't believe it's been three months, feels longer. So at this point I keep hearing that most of the worst is behind me with all the good stuff to look forward to. I'm happy with my results for three months and am trying to remain realistic about my progress to this point.

Wayne, I couldn't agree with lorenzo and MusoInOz more if I tried. I was like you and at the age of 24 I approached this same company. I went on exactly the same treatment program you have described with good results and fortunately zero side effects. I stayed with them for eleven years until I began to wonder if the meds were still working and started to consider surgery as my only real option to restore my hair. While researching surgery options I came across this website and others and discovered I had spent so much money over eleven years that I could have avoided if I was given the advise to look elsewhere. Bottom line... there are cheaper options available to get the same meds and achieve the same results. After HT surgery I kept on the same meds at a fraction of the cost.

Hi venkz111 I'm about 5 weeks out from my op and had basically the same questions as you. this is what I was told: 1) after day 10-13 you can cut, colour, style your hair as you normally would. 2) I use Minoxidil every day except for the 10 days after my surgery. My doctor told me after day 10 it was ok to start applying it again. 3) If you were told not to use oils then you should consider your doctors advice, however I was given olive oil by my doctor to apply after day 10 and also used a PH balanced moisturiser without any fragrance or perfumes in it.

Well here I am 5 weeks after surgery but for some reason it seems so much longer, must be a waiting thing. Anyway at this point I have lost pretty much all the grafts and some of the native hair in the recipient area as expected. I am noticing new growth which I wasn't expecting to see yet. I'm fairly certain its too early for the grafts to be growing and the hair seems too thick to be the grafts so I assuming it's some of the native hair making a comeback. If anyone can explain this I'd be grateful. My donor scar is healing well and I actually have difficulty finding it, still a little bit red but otherwise healing well.

Cheers Johnny, I had my stitches out the same morning of your op and them flew out that afternoon. Great experience with Dr Pong and I guess you'd agree which is why you're back for op number two. Shame I didn't catch you before I left, would have liked to see some of the docs work 12 months down the track, hopefully give me an idea what I'm in for this time next year.

Thanks KO. I will be continuing to cut my 5mg tabs until I run out of my supply and then move onto 1mg tabs but only because it works out cheaper for me and not because I'm concerned with cutting the tabs. Just as a side note, if there is anyone living in Australia and being charged massively over priced rates by one of the nations "leading hair loss specialists" who supply 5mg tabs as part of their treatment plan - there are cheaper options available to you which I have only just been made aware of. PM me if you have any questions and I will tell you who I was seeing in OZ and what I'm doing to save a lot of money now.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to find anything on the net which specifically discusses finasteride but have found info on how other tablets can degrade once they are cut and exposed to the atmosphere. I did find this article which discusses tablets in general - The Do's and Don'ts of Tablet-Splitting Most people seem to think it's ok to cut them and I have been doing it for years and it worked for me. Perhaps there is a reason I can't find much on this topic...

I have been using 5mg tablets for over ten years now and cutting them into 1/4 like so many others but have recently been advised to change to 1mg tablets because when you cut a tablet the ingredients are exposed to the atmosphere and degraded while waiting to be consumed. Apparently new information and studies show this to be the case but I have no idea and wonder if anyone else can put in a word or two on this topic.

Day 1 After my procedure and I guess I’m lucky because I had almost no discomfort at all and had very little problems sleeping. I can see some swelling above the head band and can see why Dr Pong insisted I keep it on for the next 5-7 days. I imagine if I removed it the swelling would travel down to my forehead and eyes. I have seen some photos of people who have removed it too early so I think it is best to keep it in place. I had my first hair wash today at Dr Pongs clinic and a large amount of the dried blood around the grafts has gone with some still remaining as can be seen in the pictures. Day 2 I am still experiencing no pain at all unless I am silly enough to touch the area near the donor scar but even then it is only very minor discomfort which I am very pleased about. I do notice the skin in the implant area becoming a bit more red as time goes on but I assume this is normal and may remain that way for a little while? Perhaps someone could verify this for me and tell me if this will be the case. Day 3 Despite not removing my head band today I have some swelling moving down towards my eyes and across the tops of my ears but it is not bad at all so I’m happy with that and some swelling is obviously to be expected. Other than that I seem to be healing well.

Hi all, I have been considering HT surgery for some time and weighed up the pros and cons of going through with it but finally settled on Dr Pong in Chiang Mai Thailand. I wanted to share my experience for others considering the same and in particular others considering Dr Pong as there doesn’t seem to be enough reviews on him compared to other doctors out there. When I was assessed by Dr Pong (via email) he told me I was a Norwood 4A as can be seen in the attached pictures and suggested approx 3000 grafts to restore my hair loss. Upon a physical assessment he suggested 2500 – 3000. The actual breakdown of what I received is as follows: 1H = 255 2H = 612 3H = 617 4H = 264 2FU = 1026 TOTAL = 2774 Grafts (6438 Hairs) 13th of August 2014 was my surgery date and I have to say I was very nervous about it having flown from Australia not knowing if I was even making the right decision or if I should just accept my hair loss and shave my head. Considering a shaved head doesn’t suit me I am glad I made the decision to go through with the surgery. Once you enter Dr Pongs office you notice how clean and professional the facilities are and wouldn’t look out of place in any western clinic. He sits you down to discuss your procedure and explains what will be a realistic outcome for your situation and helps you design a suitable hairline for your age and shape of your face. Before the procedure begins there are some documents to sign and questions answered after the staff conduct a HIV and blood pressure test. You are given some valium to help you relax and then you are changed into a surgical gown and it’s off to the operating room upstairs where the donor area is prepared by marking out the area and cutting the hair in preparation for the donor strip to be removed. I was told to lay face down on a bed similar to a massage bed with a hole for my face to fit before the injections of local anesthetic begun. To be honest they were mostly completely pain free and felt a lot like someone pulling a single strand of hair out and then the anesthetic kicked in. The removal of the strip is what worried me the most and I could hear my heart beat on the heart monitor going so fast but within a few minutes it calmed down and the beeps slowed to a resting rate. Before I knew it Dr Pong had removed the strip and it was time to have a break for lunch where I was given another valium and some anti-inflammatory pills. Back in the chair this time sitting up with my head tilted back it was time for the implanting to begin which was done by Dr Pongs staff under his instructions. There was once again minimal to no pain during this part of the operation and considering they were making over 2700 incisions it was basically a pleasurable experience. I have heard stories of people falling asleep while having this done and wondered how they could be so relaxed at a time like this but I found myself falling asleep and was occasionally woken by the staff repositioning my head as it must have tilted to one side from time to time. The whole process took a few hours 8:30am – 3:30pm and when I left I was given a post-op treatment plan with a choice of a hat or bandanna to wear and half a pharmacy of medication which included antibiotics, mild pain killers, strong pain killers, anti-inflamatories and valium to help me sleep if needed also a souvenir CD with pictures of my process and after care instructions. All in all it was a pleasant experience and I will definitely return to Dr Pong for future treatment if needed. The ultimate test will be time so I will see where I am in a year from now but so far it has been a great start.

Hi rusty63, I am in a similar situation as you. I am also from Australia and considering HT with Dr Pong. I contacted him this week and booked an appointment mid August after researching him and others. Numerous people seem to be happy with his work and have a lot of nice things to say about him and his staff. It is hard to know weather I'm making the right decision but any surgery comes with risk. If I were you I would get the dental work done first as the recovery time will be much less than HT surgery so you'll be in better shape rather than doing it the other way around. Hope it all works out for you.