JobSmith

I just got a haircut that now fully shows my new hair. The barber said there were parts he didn't touch, because they still need to grow a bit longer. I'm trying to attach a photo. Compare to my pre-op pics (page 2, post #13).

Hey, xdcs, old friend. It's been five months. How are the recipient areas doing? Mine have been fun to watch the last two months (see my thread). I've got a ways to go (3 more months?), but it seems to be on track.

Vainism, see post #11 earlier in this thread.

At 3 months, my receded temples still looked bald and shiny, except that the 5-10% of hairs that hadn't fallen out by now had grown at least an inch. This looked a bit funny, but I mostly covered it up, and no one said anything. Shortly afterwards, a fuzz started to grow in the receded areas, giving them a "four-o'clock shadow" - a darkened appearance similar to people who need to shave twice daily. This also looked a bit funny, almost as if I had dyed my skin, but it was nice to clearly see where the new hairline would be. Now at just over 4.5 months, I've got close to an inch of new hair. It's starting to look good. The face in the mirror looks a lot more youthful. It's still a bit weird in that the old good hair, 3 inch in length, sits on top of the new hair. It doesn't yet feel like a "nice thick head of hair" but the solid hairline looks so much better than the fading no-man's-land of yesterday. Projection: as the 2000 new hairs grow out to 2-3 inches (2-4 months), I should be able to style in ways long out of reach.

Kam, no I decided to play it safe and go with the well regarded Dr Path in Bangkok. See my thread on that. It probably cost me double, though still half of a well regarded surgeon in the US.

It's been four weeks. I haven't had any problems. No pain. No shock loss that I can see. Curiously, many of the transplanted hairs haven't fallen out yet, which I expected by now (Dr Path said 2-4 weeks). Nor have they grown. Does this delay the new fresh hairs to start to grow? Scalp sensations are interesting. No itch, no pain. But the FUT donor area feels tight when I bow my head forward. When I apply pressure to the donor scar, and especially its ends, they have a tender feel. Recipient areas sometimes feel like I'm wearing a headband, or like sunglasses pushed up to rest toward my crown. When I press on the recipient areas they have that numb feel as when getting surgery under analgesia.

Xdcs, it was fun to meet up in person! Lunch and drinks. Talk hair, life, love and music -- all that is important. Today, Day 8, I saw Dr Path for the last time. I went in to have the stitches removed. (The main ones -- others are biodegrable and dissolve in 3-6 weeks.) All looked good. I was told to soak my scabs in olive oil for a few hours (or overnight) and then shampoo and rub gently. So I did. Boy it was nice to finally rub and comb (gently) again, instead of patting! I'm not sure how many scabs actually came off. Dr Path said it sometimes takes two or three rounds. The skin should look almost normal after the scabs are gone. The risk of shock loss appears to be about 25%, either in the donor area (especially at the ends of the FUT scar) or in the recipient area, just next to the grafts, or where blended with thinning hair. It'd grow back though. Then, Dr Path said, it'll be fun to see the hair grow. No kidding! Tomorrow, Day 9, is a holiday here, so the clinic is closed. I leave very early the morning of Day 10. Long flight. Back to normalcy.

Xdcs, that's great! And you're probably the reason I was bumped from 9am to 1pm. Apparently Dr Path typically does either one or two patients per day. I miswrote about the widow's peak. I actually got some grafts in the center to give the illusion of an even lower hairline, as you also point out. What I meant to write was that for me it's important to really fill in the temples, not leave a sharp corner. So we rounded off the corners, as you can see in my triptych photo above. Yesterday, I skipped the hairband for half day, but at night I slept with it on, as there it still a hint of swelling, but this morning I took it off. Should the swelling seem to increase, I'll put on the hairband again. Yesterday I also took the skytrain to the megamallopolis at Siam station. A bunch of malls, mostly airconditioned, are connected via walkways. So cool. I'm not much of a shopper, but I'm getting cabin fever in my hotel room. I booked to stay here until post-op day 8, so that Dr Path will be the one to remove my stitches, and just in case there are complications. None so far. Below is a photo of Dr Path holding the Golden Follicle award.

Rawkerboi, I take 400 mg ibuprofen before going to sleep, and then it doesn't bother me at all. I sleep with my head on a pillow, either on my back or sideways with pressure on my jaw and cheek, not temples. April 29: post-op day 3. I went in for a check-up. Dr Path said I was healing well, and that I have below-average swelling in the recipient area, though I should expect to wear the headband for another day or two -- it keeps the swelling from propagating down the forehead, which would look unsightly (even if temporary). I have my own pseudoscientific theory on why I'm doing well. For several years I have been eating an "anti-inflammatory" diet: no sugar (including no cookies, buns, ice cream, soda...) and no processed food. Instead lots of fruits and veggies and some meat. I think this makes my body less reactive to trauma or physical irritation. I got another shampoo by a nurse who blow dries my hair with cool air. It felt good. Dr Path asked me to chat with another patient, already in his surgery smock, who was quite nervous about pain -- I seem to have calmed him down. Here's a triptych of me where Dr Path has drawn my new hairline before surgery.

Thanks for all the well-wishes. Harebrained, Dr Path did the cutting of the FUT strip from the donor area. He also did the hole punching of the recipient area. As for the actual planting of the grafts, I don't know, because I had fallen asleep by then. The removal of follicles from the strip I believe is done by a team of technicians. April 27: day after surgery. It was a relaxed day. I keep spraying the grafts with ATP solutions every two hours, day and night. I visited Dr Path's clinic to get shampooed by a nurse, and also to learn how to do it myself -- buy baby shampoo, create lather between my two hands, then apply by gently patting (not rubbing), using cooler-than-lukewarm water. I'll be wearing a headband for a few more days to avoid any swelling to spread. When showering, I need to remove it very gently: no pulling sideways, but lift straight out from where it touches grafts (the sideburn area near ears). I feel a slight burning pain from the donor scar, nothing from the recipient area. Before sleep, I take the "stronger" pain killer (400 mg ibuprofen), while after breakfast I take the "weaker" pain killer (2x250 or 2x500 mg tylenol).

(I will post pre-op pictures in a bit.) April 26: the operation. I arrived a little before 13:00 to relax and cool down. Superfriendly staff. Puie at the front desk is a sweetheart. I paid the excess. Because it had been less than 24 hours, there wasn't time to wire (cheapest), so I had to use a credit card. Dr Path charges 3% for card use, and my card charges another 3%. On the other hand, the excess number of grafts were about 5% lower on the bill, so nothing to fret about. I got another antiseptic shampoo by a nurse, because I had walked 1 km in the heat and sweated. Then Dr Path (they pronounce it as the American name "Pat") redrew the hairline from yesterday. It seemed slightly off so I asked for Dr Oravan to double check the widow's peak, and we made a minor adjustment until I felt happy. This is not like trying on a new dress shirt! It's my hairline for the next 40 years we're deciding on! I was given antibiotics (to keep taking for 3 days) and valium, so that I'd doze off during the procedure. I felt very relaxed. The strip extraction was pain free. In the recipient area they had to inject anesthetic in multiple locations -- apparently there are many more nerves to numb than for example in the jaw when you get dental work. One spot hadn't been numbed and it stung a lot when they poked holes for the grafts. I complained, got a little more anesthetic, and then I was fine. Every 5-10 minutes I asked some question, until Dr Path asked if I was not sleeping. Um. No. So he gave me something "similar but stronger than valium" and then I finally dozed off. I was sent home with a care bag. The pain from the strip scar was not super-intense, but enough to keep me from sleeping. My slow brain finally realized that I could take a pain killer from the care bag. I chose the "strong" one: 400 mg ibuprofen, which is what I usually take for the occasional back ache. I also set my alarm to wake up every 2 hours and spray some fridge-cold ATP onto my forehead -- I believe this is to minimize the swelling to spread. Now it's the morning after -- 12 hours since surgery ended. I feel okay. Some tightness at the strip scar. I get to drink coffee! Whether I'm happy with the results will take 6-12 months, possibly 18. I'll add more updates here.

April 25: consultation in person. The initial estimate from photos was 1200 grafts to fill in receding temples, another 800 to lower the hairline. In person, Dr Oravan (Dr Path's sister) noted that there was some more thinning than the photos showed, and she drew various options. I have a triangular head (wide top, pointy chin) and so leaving "widow's peaks" is less attractive. I greedily opted for 2675 grafts. This now gets expensive for FUE at $10300, while FUT is $7300 and both doctors recommended FUT for the savings. I have a loose scalp. I will have a scar, but I never plan to get a crew cut. There will be some more pain for a few days. Surgery is in a few hours. I hope I'm thinking straight here.

I arrived five days early to acclimatize and feel really relaxed. I'm hanging out at a hotel pool on the top floor. Tomorrow I'll have the consultation. The day after I'll have the hair transplant. Meanwhile, I got instruction from the clinic. No blood thinners, like aspirin, for a week before. No alcohol or tobacco for 24 hours before. No coffee or tea on surgery day. No T-shirt on surgery day, nor for a few days afterwards (so as not to rub against the fresh grafts when taking it on and off). Do shampoo with "antiseptic shampoo or scrub" night before and morning of surgery (they can supply the shampoo). Bring loose hat to wear post-op. No hair dye for a month afterwards.

Scheduled date for operation: 4/26, 2016. Estimate from photos: 1200 FUE grafts. Cost: 130 THB (today $3.70) per graft. (Required deposit: $1000.) I'm Norwood 2 or 3, where the temples receded in my late 20s. I'm now 53. There's also some thinning in the middle front, the "widow's peak" between the receding temples. At first I considered surgery in Medellin, Colombia, a city that I like, and a country known for plastic surgery. However, there are next to zero reviews. Thanks to commenters here on HRN, I decided to not be too cheap, and go with a well-reviewed doctor. I picked Dr Path, as the price is still decent, I like how you visit the clinic post-op for daily schampoo and inspection, and I'd like to convalesce in Thailand. So instead of paying $2000 in Colombia, It'll now be about $4300 in Thailand, and a longer flight. I wired the full amount to keep things simple. My bank, Schwab, required me to visit a branch office, since this is my first wire transfer. Future wires I can do with a phone call. The fee is $25. The amount goes out in USD. Dr Path's bank (bangkokbank.com) then converts to THB, and their website shows that the conversion spread is +/- 1%, which is pretty low.

Haha, spot on, Lorenzo and Esrec. Thanks for helping me see my inner Uncle Scrooge. Getting a hair transplant is more than fact and numbers. There's a strong psychological component, and you don't always see yourself clearly.

HTsoon, thanks for clarifying a process for recommendation. And yes, one thing I'd like is for the doctor to know he's got visibility. And I get that's not the main point of the community, but it could be an auxiliary benefit. I suppose I could simply tell him myself that I'll blog about it here, but HRN could add a little oomph. As for verifiable information... apparently there is a "prescreening" (I searched a bunch more here on HRN) that somehow does verify, but it costs time and money and interested doctors pay a sponsorship fee.

HTsoon, maybe you missed my reply to Bill a few minutes before yours? I'm partway through research, and will share. Esrec, a larger supply of doctors, and in more countries, is always a good thing, no? Also, it could be useful to have a formal checklist of common questions, whoever does the asking. The questions may all be here in the forum, but with 180,000 posts, it could be more efficient to develop such a checklist. I'll be happy to work on that.

Bill, thank you so much for replying. I've done some of this research (and had a consultation) and I don't mean for y'all to it for me. I was thinking more along the the "prescreening" that you mention in your second paragraph. I'm a bit paranoid that any doctor could fudge numbers, and that a third party such as HRN could inspire him to be honest and do his best, knowing that he will be reviewed. This particular doctor, Londono in Medellin, Colombia, claims to perform about 100 transplants per year, for more than 5 years, and to mostly do FUE at his own clinic. He showed me photos of some clients of his. I'm not sure how to verify this, though, and don't find reviews online. (I only found one HRN review for another Colombia doctor, a paucity that I found surprising, given that Colombia has a reputation for all sorts of cosmetic surgery.) I will ask about his equipment/technique and also punch size. Then I'd be very interested in working with one of you who is willing to "reach out and attempt to learn more about them and see about prescreening" as you write. I'm very grateful for any help, and will in return share my experience here. Let me know how to proceed.

Here’s what I mean. I may use a doctor not reviewed here, thus “taking one for the team” when I blog here. But could HRN be a team and help out beforehand? For example, an HRN administrator could email the doctor, describe the forum, and explain that a forum member plans to use his services and will blog about it at HRN. HRN could also ask the doctor to fill out information about the number of FUE or FUT performed, equipment used, punch size, and more (what?) Does this make sense? If so, how would we go about it? I'd be a willing guinea pig if an HRN administrator is interested in working on this with me.

It would be a good habit to include price info, when people start their results threads. Many already list FU counts, Norwood type, and more, so why not price? (To contribute: I elsewhere reported that an otherwise unreviewed doctor in Colombia last year quoted me $1700 during a $30 consultation -- I'm Norwood II -- though I have yet to schedule an appointment.)

Hi Cachaco. I'd love to hear how you like your hair now, more than 2 years later. Also, how much did Dr Rodriguez charge? (I was quoted 5200kCOP by Dr Londo?o in Medellin.)

Hi Kev. I know: Colombia is supposed to be cosmetic-surgery heaven, so why almost zero posts? Last fall, I consulted with Juan David Londo?o in Medellin (100kCOP or about US$30) after having read an interview with him. He speaks good enough English. He claims to have performed about 100 hair transplants a year, for at least five years (over 500 total). Not sure how to check up on the claims. He fumbled around a bit with my hair (Norwood II) and quoted me 5200kCOP (or about $1700), requiring that I first take a blood test (forget for what). I love Medellin for its warm weather and friendly people, so I'd love to have the work done there, then convalesce. I'm just nervous having no reviews on Dr Londo?o. Do we have some way of ingressing new doctors here on HRN? It would be nice if they got an official email that a patient is interested in being the first to post his experience.