Seadog86

Almost 5 months post-transplant, the transplanted hair continues to thicken. See attached photos of my hair on May 28th (I had the transplant on January 9th). I have cut my hair with clippers several times during the past two months, otherwise it would be a lot longer. The transplanted hair is now as thick as the hair on the middle-top of my head, and it is still getting thicker. I have a real hairline and temples now! Remember that I only had hair transplanted to the front-top of my head, not the vertex. I plan to have a vertex transplant next year.

I forgot to say this in the initial review, but I should probably make it clear: I received no financial consideration or discount, etc... for this review. Just wanted to share what, for me at least, was a really affordable option for a transplant. I don't want to come across like a shill.

Four weeks after the procedure, the donor site and graft site are healing well. Most of the stitches at the donor site have been absorbed/fallen out. I have had some shedding in the graft site, as expected. Most of the redness is gone from the donor site. In the donor site picture, my hair is cut to about 1/4", as this is normally how I cut my hair in the back. The hair is growing through the trichophytic closure and it looks good so far. I am using minoxidil 5% liquid on the graft and donor sites, as I have heard that it may speed the regrowth process. I'll update again in about a month. Thanks for looking!

Two weeks later, the graft area is healing nicely. I am being gentle with the newly transplanted hairs, only washing them with diluted baby shampoo in a spray bottle. A few hairs have fallen out, but I have not seen any damage to follicles. The donor area no longer feels "tight", and the scar is less visible than it was initially. I'll update again in a couple of weeks.

Greetings all, I will periodically update this review as time progresses. I'm a healthy 38 year old man with about Norwood 3A and Vertex male pattern baldness. I've always had a widow's peak, but have lost substantially more frontal and crown hair in the past 5-6 years. The entire top of my head is thinning, but most prominently in the front and at the crown. Please scroll to the bottom of the post for "Before" and "Immediately After" photos. I've tried Nizoral shampoo, Rogaine, and a homemade laser diode device made after a design that I found on one of the hair loss forums (I forget which one, but it was one of the 50+ diode arrays). I got no noticeable results from Nizoral or Rogaine. The laser device made my head really hot, but I did not notice any activity that would indicate hair growth. I ultimately decided on a transplant, and I will probably have at least one more. I decided to use Clinica Neopel because of other good reviews, affordable pricing, and the location of the clinic. 1/10/2016: I just returned home from my first cosmetic procedure, a hair transplant by Doctora Hernandez of Clinica Neopel, Tijuana, Mexico. I had heard of Dra. Hernandez on this forum, another hair loss forum, and Yelp. The reviews sounded good, and the price sounded fantastic. I was visiting San Diego in December, and visited Clinica Neopel for an initial consultation, as I had never had a cosmetic procedure and didn't know what to expect (please note that this initial visit was because I wanted to, not because it was required). During the consultation Dra. Hernandez explained how everything worked, what aftercare was like, and the price, which is inclusive of all treatment ($2,700 surgical fee plus a $20 fee for the post-surgical medication, bringing the total fee to $2,720). Dra. Hernandez (and her husband, Dr. Hernandez, who assisted with the procedure) and her staff were very pleasant and professional. Mauricio schedules the procedures and handles the web presence/email; he is a great guy and very reassuring (I needed reassurance, as I was pretty nervous). The nursing and support team, lead by Claudia, are very professional, gentle and accommodating. The procedure is done with local anesthesia. Other than the anesthesia injections, the procedure was completely painless. You are given Xanax before the procedure, and antibiotics and "Lite I.V." sedation during the procedure (both intravenously). I asked for additional sedation during the procedure, as I was getting bored. Time passes very quickly with the sedation! My "strip" was 21 centimeters long and 1.3 centimeters wide (I think). From this I received 3,800 hairs in 1,500 grafts. I asked Dra. Hernandez to place all of the grafts in the front 1/3 of the top of my head, as this is by far my thinnest area and the most visible to others (I am fairly tall, so my thinning on top can be difficult for others to see). She did so, creating a hairline and filling in the top of my head from approximately the front of my ears forward. The density in the after-surgery photos is dramatic! I intend to return next year to have a second procedure for my crown. Dra. Hernandez uses trichophytic closure to close the strip incision. She had previously done a hair transplant on her husband, Dr. Hernandez, who showed me the back of his head; he had no visible scar when he ruffled his fingers through his hair, and no area of uneven hair density. It looked great. As a man, it can be uncomfortable to consider cosmetic surgery. It's hard to shake the feeling that cosmetic surgery is just for women, and men who are overly vain. The hair transplant places I had looked at in California (my home state) seemed like "spas for beautiful people," with prices to match, which turned me off to them. I am just a regular guy, I don't want cucumber water, and I don't want to be the only male patient in a waiting room full of female patients who look like fashion models. My experience with Clinica Neopel was just like going to a regular doctor's office. It is unpretentious and down-to-earth. I was very comfortable with that environment. Clinica Neopel is in Tijuana, so there are some transportation logistics to consider. The clinic recommends staying at the Hyatt Place, which is a nice hotel and adjacent to some great restaurants. The staff at Hyatt Place are accustomed to taking care of surgical patients and nobody treats you like a freak when you show up with a post-surgery dressing on your head. The clinic provides transportation to and from your appointment, and can also provide transportation to and from the border (maybe to and from San Diego; I didn't ask, as I had other things to do in Tijuana while I was there and didn't head back to the States right away). If this is your first time in Tijuana, you may prefer to have clinic personnel drive you from the border to the hotel. Tijuana is maturing as a city, but it isn't as safe as San Diego. The area around the Hyatt Place is very safe. I am extremely pleased with the results so far (one day after the procedure). I will update as time passes. "Before" and "Immediately After" photos (please note that after the "Before" photo was taken, my hair was trimmed to allow for placement of the grafts. That is why it appears shorter in the "Immediately After" photo):