jg23

15 minutes ago, pkipling said:

Was this FUE or FUT? Either way, at 4 months, it's my understanding that you can perform any of your regular activities. The grafts are definitely secure at this point. However, given this is an intense contact sport, it wouldn't be a bad idea to run it by your surgeon just in case. 

It was FUE, I'll run it by my Doc to be sure.  Thanks for your advice!

I'm 4 months post op and I'm an avid hockey player.  Haven't played due to the HT and wondering if it would be okay for me to put on a helmet now?  I usually play once a week for about an hour with a helmet on.

22 minutes ago, jj51702 said:

What shampoo does Dr. Bhatti give you post surgery?

Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo is what was given to me

Quick update at the three month mark.  Native hair has grown back and looking like I'm starting to get out of the ugly duckling phase. Hoping for more hairs to sprout and thicken in the midscalp plus hairline in the next 3 months to come.

45 days post op.  Def in the ugly duckling stage and have shed a lot of hair. Gonna buzz the hair down tom to even things out.  Continuing on min and fin daily.

7 hours ago, OzzyBoy said:

Hi mate, did you end up using Toppik? Was it ok on top of the transplanted hair?

I did end up using it with no issues.  I just made sure to wash it out at the end of the day.

Hi Guys,

I want to thank you all for you feedback on this. I did end up getting this one side fixed before I left to go back home.  The doc was very understanding when I approached him again and did the minor adjustment right away.  See the pic below for before and the after pu the adjustment done.    

For those who are interested, you can follow my journey here:  

Hi all, 

I'm 25 days post op and I'm wondering when it would be safe to get a haircut?  Right now my sides and back are thicker and longer than the transplanted area giving an uneven appearance.

Is it okay to at least trim down the back and sides to even everything out? Should I not touch the transplanted area?  Pics below.

Some 3 week post op photos.  All of the scabs came off on the 14th day.  A fair number of hairs were also attached to the scabs. Dr. Bhatti assured me this was normal and that the hairs will regrow as they are still planted beneath the skin.  

I'm heading back to work soon and I'm thinking about using some toppik on the transplanted area to blend in with the rest of the scalp. Anybody think this is a bad idea?

On 7/28/2018 at 10:05 AM, wjc1979 said:

I had my procedure with Dr Bhatti the day before you, and it looks like you're progressing about the same as I am. Good luck and I'll be interested to see your updates. 

Likewise! 

5 hours ago, Gasthoerer said:

Seems that you did not have much shock loss as the native hair is already growing. That is good news.  You had quite some hair left in the treated area, that makes it hard to judge how many grafts you need(ed). What was the future plan dicussed with the clinic?

Side question: Why did you chose Bhatti over the Canadien clinics? Did you visit them before? This is just out of my curiosity, I am not in anyway try to sugest that Bhatti was a wrong choice. I just know many guys flying from europe to canada and you fly form canada to india ?

Keep us updated and grow well.

Hi Gasthoerer,

The plan is to preserve and maintain the crown area as well as the conservative hairline constructed with regular use of fin/min.  I purposely did not go too aggressive with the hairline and did not get any temple points done because I don't want to play catch up in the future.  I didnt want to have to deal with potential patches in case the temples went back more or if the native hair on top completely thins.  I feel I can maintain the crown/new hairline with meds and worst case i can go for another ht for added density on top to maintain this look.

I did consult with a lot of Canadian and American clinics, but I couldn't justify spending 18-20k on a ht.  It didnt make sense to me to spend that much money while knowing that a equally qualified Dr. Bhatti could do the same procedure for a more reasonable price.  Secondly, my family is originally from India so I felt comfortable going there to have this procedure done.  It didnt feel intimidating to go to India as it's a familiar place for me.  

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to share my experience and give back to the community as the forums have helped me greatly over the years.

I am 27 years old and have been gradually losing my hair since I was 20.  Mainly the frontal area is where the loss has been the most.  I have been on/off fin and min.

I recently flew out from Vancouver, Canada to Chandigarh, India to have Dr.  Bhatti address my frontal area with 1985 grafts.  Everything was professional and went smoothly.  I won't go into extreme detail and will let my progress/results do the talking. That being said, I am happy to answer any questions and will answer with as much detail as possible!

I have attached pre, post, and 10 day post op photos.

27 minutes ago, Legend007 said:

Once ur hair grows u wont notice it as much ..

but dude u overseas , it’s a lot cheaper there .. u can afford the extra cost tell the doctor u want to spend more money n u want it done .. when u not satisfied u not going to be happy with the transplant .. in ur eyes it’s not how u want it .. n since u still there , might as well get it done .. yeah it sux to have to go through another surgery no matter how small .. but hey this is ur moment , u paid good money n u traveled really far for this .. n yes it is a bit higher .. on one side n u will probably notice it if u comb ur back or cut it short .. n u will always regret not doing it now, because everytime u look in the mirror u will notice it .. others won’t, but u will .. 

 

I agree with you.  I'm going to push the doc on this when I go for my washing in a few hours.  

I'm not worried about the procedure for the extra 150ish grafts or so, I'm more worried about it being closer to my flight, post op care etc.  But how much swelling/care will be needed for a small 150 grafts?  I'm not a doctor but I would imagine 150 grafts shouldn't cause me too much pain or inconvenience with anything or my flight.

Thank you all for you insight, advice and guidance.  I do feel more at ease with the feedback received.

I definately can see how a little asymmetry can give a more natural appearance/result. No one has a perfectly straight hairline and we all have seen the unnatural looking results of those. But mine feels too asymmetrical to me.

Right now with the head shaved the asymmetry is quite pronounced and noticeable, do you guys think that when the hair starts growing in 6 to 8 months it will just look more natural and not as pronounced?  When the hair gets long on the on the right side will it give the illusion of being slightly lower?

I'm on day 2 post OP now and flying back home in exactly two days. I'm a little uneasy about having more work done if its gonna be a huge ordeal as pkipling mentioned. I figure if I do decide to add the grafts it shouldn't take the doc too long and I probably don't need to go through everything that we did for the whole large procedure.  Will adding 150 grafts to that small region be a big deal?

I'll be flying a long haul flight  back home of 14 hours and am gonna get this sorted before I leave.

Thank you for the response.  I really want to push for the doc to do this but at the same time don't want make things worse.  Any other suggestions?

Hi all,

I have flew overseas and completed my procedure yesterday but when i came back to the hotel after the procedure, I noticed that the right side of my hairline is noticeably higher.  I brought this up with the doc this morning and he advised that it is higher due to swelling and also that nothing can be at this point because more hairline work will increase the chances of swelling and bleeding. 

I am here for two more days until I fly back home, do you think I should push the doc to even out the right side?  I don't want to run too much risk to the work thats already been done, but I would be thrilled to have this fixed and complete my journey for now.  I figure it shouldn't be more than 100 to 150 grafts to the right side.  I have attached pics, all advice is greatly appreciated!

Hi All,

After many years of research I am finally having my procedure next week in India.  I understand that my surgeon will play a large part in the success of my procedure, however I was wondering if there is anything I can do on my end to ensure the best result.  Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated!

How long have you been losing hair for? Of course it's never a bad idea to wait, but if you're keen to go ahead with a procedure then I'd say around 2500 grafts would do it. That would reconstruct your hairline and beef up the front. I don't think a surgeon would want to go too far back as your hair, although visibly thinning, is still quite dense at the midscalp area.

I've been losing hair since I was 20 years old starting at the temple points. I got on fin and min at 23 and stopped at 25 because I felt it wasn't working anymore. Big mistake! I recently got back on in October 2017.

This is all good info. I've been quoted between 1,000 and 2,000 from different doctors. I was figuring I would be in the 1,500 range. Any other opinions would be appreciated.

I'd say probably about 2500 grafts depending on how dense you want it. How old are you? Your hair loss isn't too bad.

I would want it to be as dense as what I currently have up top. Ideally to blend in to the thicker parts of what I have already. I don't think I would want to go super dense to a point where the hair is extremely thick in the front as that wouldn't be a good look for future loss.

Also I'll be turning 27 next week.

Hi All,

I have gone back and forth a few times in my hair loss journey on deciding to get an ht or not. 4 months ago I was really eager to get an ht and get on with life but I decided to hop back on fin and min and wait it out a few more months.

I feel now i'm at a point where I truly need to get an ht done and move on for now. That being said I have attached some pictures of my current state (wet & dry hair). Based on these pictures how many fue grafts would you think i need? I do understand this doesn't replace the need for an in person consultation, but a range or idea would be helpful. All feedback is greatly appreciated!

Currrently, I have taken for fin for 3 months (proscar 1.25 Mon/Wed/Fri) and have seen some growth and no sides.

Would there be any advantages to increasing the dosage to 1.25/daily for a 6 month cycle to increase growth?

After the 6 months I would go back to the 1.25 Mon/Wed/Fri schedule.

What are your thoughts guys?

Thanks for your help MayiraP0chu ! I am going to pick up my prescription this evening and get on fin asap. I am going to take a few days to make my decision on whether I should wait or get it done in mid December. An HT is something I have thought about for 5 years and I have been able to rationalize against it during those years. Through trying different medications and different hair styles I was able to argue against a hair transplant and say "its not so bad, I can live with this". Now its at a point where it is difficult to say that lol.

That does make sense and it is definitely something to think about. I am just not sure if want to wait another year. Ideally I was planning on getting the procedure done in mid December and using the Christmas holidays as recovery time before going back to work in the new year.

I have used both fin and minoxidil before for a couple of years but stopped due to feeling it just wasn't working anymore. Boy was I wrong! Do you think it is worth going forward with a December procedure if I hop on fin immediately. Thank you for understanding that I am at a point in my life where I just prefer not to wait any longer to take control of this situation.

Hi JG23,

 

If you are considering going to India and Dr Bhatti in particular then please take the following into consideration.

 

Travel

 

Look into flights and aim to get to India a day before your surgery, preferable in the morning so you can catch one of the many connecting flights to Chandigarh either from Delhi (approx. 1 hour) or Mumbai (approx. 2 hours). If you have time on your side then you could actually do a multi-trip and stay in one of these cities for a day or so to take in the sites and the experience. I could even do you an itinerary if you wish. The actual journey from Canada can be long and tiring with a stop or 2 thrown in, so be prepared.

 

Airport pickup from Delhi airport can be arranged with one of Dr Bhatti's drivers if your flight arrives later in the day.

 

Long haul carriers that have been used recently by patients from Canada include KLM, Air Canada, China Eastern, Air India, Cathy Pacific amongst others. You can connect on the same journey otherwise you will have to check out and check back in if you book a separate connecting flight and you will be limited to standard baggage of 20kg hold and 7kg luggage, ample for your short journey, but maybe not enough if you go on a mad shopping spree. If you are booking a separate connecting flight you will need to allow approximately 3 hours for your connection to account for checking out/in, possible transfer to another terminal and any other delays. You also may want to avoid school holidays to avoid paying hiked up prices for your journey.

 

You will be able to arrange the connecting flight online. (see http://www.makemytrip.com for a host of carriers with flight times, the prices here are generally the same as booking direct with the airline online).

 

Once in Chandigarh you will be collected from the airport and all logistical arrangements including hotel stay will have been made for you. You can solely concentrate on your hair procedure without having to worry about anything else.

 

Visa

 

Another thing you will need is a visa, the Indian eVisa system is solely completed online and a visa can be obtained within 48 hours. It is however unnecessarily fiddly which sometimes makes me think they actually do this intentionally to make clients screw up applications hence making them pay more than once :mad: . The link to the application site is below.

 

https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/tvoa.html

 

I generally get applicants to fill in their details and I then do the fiddly bits and finalise and submit the forms to avoid any errors and additional costs.

 

Length of stay

 

I would personally advise international patients to stay in Chandigarh for 3 - 6 days post op to relax, recover and explore. You are free to leave the day after the procedure once you have been checked out by Dr Bhatti and your dressings have been removed, but I would advise against this if you have a long journey back. You have just gone through a surgery which has probably cost you a small fortune, has taken you months or even years to build yourself up to so why take a risk in flying back so soon.

 

Following removal/swapping of the dressings the day after the procedure you will receive detailed post op care advice from Dr Bhatti and clinic staff. You will be shown how to wash your hair and Dr Bhatti will personally provide you with aftercare advice. You will be free to visit the clinic everyday for a hair wash, any other advice or even just for a coffee during your stay in Chandigarh. You will always be made to feel most welcome by all. There is no extra charge for this, it is all part of the aftercare service the clinic provides. So I think it's wise to stay for a few more days and not rush back.

 

Resuming Work

 

This really depends on the environment in which you work.

 

Generally you will be fit to go back to work as soon as you get back to Canada.

 

However the scabs that would have formed on your implanted area will take about 10-14 days to fall out and you may have some redness in the implanted area for a few weeks. In rare cases this redness can even last months, there is a case documented on this site but I have yet to come across this with any of Dr Bhatti's patients.

 

Also in your case, it may just be possible for you to grow your hair longer especially on the frontal third and the back and change your style so that it covers your forehead.This way you will get away with the no-shave technique and will be able to hide the implanted area with your existing hair.

 

If you can get away with wearing a hat then there's no problem with going back to work on your arrival.

 

If you have been open with your work colleagues, then there's no problem unless you are customer facing in which case you may want to wait the 10-14 days until you are scab free.

 

If your transplant is top secret, then again give it 10-14 days. Any temporary visible redness you can pass off as a rash or similar.

 

I hope that clarifies a few things for you, feel free to contact me if you need me to be more specific.

Thank you for all of the advice Shera! It has been one month since I have started minoxidil and I am planning to add oral or topical fin to my hair restoration regimine. In your opinion would it be okay to proceed with an ht while starting these medications or would you recommend waiting till these medications have yielded some results?

Personally I do not want to wait for results from these medications as it will just add more time and stress in achieving a desired result. I would rather just get the ball rolling and have everything going simultaneously to achieve a desirable result within a decent time frame.