Tomislav

After taking the time to properly read the article, I correct myself: the placebo solution was only injected over half of the head of each patient. No-one only received placebo.

Pictures at day 14. As you can see I have some shock loss behind my right ear, which is a bummer. Based on others' reports, I expect this to completely disappear in about 4-5 months. Before that I hope the area will stay limited, so that the surrounding hairs can cover it. As for the rest, everything is going according to plan. I hope that the pre-existing hairs in the recipient zone will not fall. Sensitivity in the recipient zone is slowly coming back to normal. Redness seems to be minimal compared to what others experienced. This may have something to do with the PRP treatment.

I read with interest your post Dr Cooley and feel that this is a key point to evaluate the effectiveness (and safety) of PRP. In the last few hours I did a Google Scholar search for "Platelet-Rich Plasma alopecia", and saw that lot of papers have been published on the subject in the last 3-4 years. Although I do not have the time nor the expertise to evaluate all the papers out there, I gave a good look at some of them and I noticed a few interesting ones, all reporting positive results: - This one was one of the first moderate-scale serious studies. - This one does some sort of controlling, although by only applying PRP to half the head :eek: - And especially this one, which does include real controls, who only received a saline solution as 'treatment' (poor guys...). Moreover the evaluation was not done visually but by digital image analysis, AND the patients were re-evaluated after 12 months (some did need to be re-treated). Although I know that studies showing negative results rarely get published, I feel that these papers are very encouraging. It seems that the scientific research about PRP treatments is finally reaching maturity. If anyone has the expertise to comment on this research, I feel this would be really useful for everyone. I also feel that the general scepticism I observed in this forum about PRP needs to be matched by an equal amount of optimism. PS. For the moderators: Perhaps this and other threads on PRP should be moved to a new category of its own in the "Non Surgical Treatments for Baldness" section of the forum.

Hi Stinger, I myself had a procedure with Dr Bisanga just 4 days ago. Threads like this one are a source of invaluable information, so I'd really like to thank you. Any updates? You should be almost at the 2 months mark, if I'm not mistaken. How's the redness this time?

Here are some pictures I took today, at day 4. I also have some immediately post-operative pictures, but I'll wait until I get the ones that were taken at the BHR clinic, as they will definitely be of better quality. Some notes follow. Please feel free to comment in any way (critical comments included). - Donor area. Scars are healing fast. I'm applying a cream provided by BHR twice daily, and it seems to be really working well. Making them invisible as soon as possible is very important to me, as I'm going back to work in a bit more than a week. Strangely, the donor area is more painful now than immediately after the procedure. I guess this is a sign of the healing that is going on deeper down around the nerves. - Recipient area. As normal, the speed is less impressive but it is also healing well. It has gone from the purple immediately post-op to the current light red. Scabs are small and few. I apply saline water generously every 2 hours and delicately wash the whole head once a day with a shampoo containing Iso-betadine, also provided by the clinic. From what I see in forums and was told at the clinic, redness can stay there for long. Not really sure how much control over this I will have. As for pain, I don't feel any. In fact the whole area is totally numb - The transplant itself. I am happy with the conservative approach agreed with Dr Bisanga. Density at the top was my primary goal, but I realise that the area to cover was fairly large (my estimate is about 90-100cm2), and with 3000 grafts, that gives about 30 grafts per cm2. I really hope the native hair in the recipient area, although mostly miniaturised, will manage to hang there for a few more years - it would definitely add to the density... Also worth noting is the slightly asymmetric design at the front: while on the left (my right) the grafts have been transplanted behind the existing hairline, on the right (my left) the transplant starts right together with the hairline. Not sure why the doctor did this, but I don't really mind it, as in any case I do not comb my hair symmetrically. In fact it will be interesting to see which of the two approaches gives the better result, in case of a future touch up. :rolleyes:

A quick update: after 2 days of surgery, I am now going back home. It was a very good experience, everyone at the BHR Clinic is very nice and eager to help. After reading the very detailed account by JohnnyDrama in this forum, I asked Dr. Bisanga if we could perform PRP therapy, with the hope that it would speed up and improve the recovery. It really worked well for JohnnyDrama… do read his story if you haven’t already done so, as it’s really well written and instructive. Dr Bisanga immediately agreed, but advised me to go through other PRP sessions in a few months, something I will look into. As for the surgery itself, currently all looks in place and fits closely with my demands. I will post some pictures when back home, but here is the breakdown of my grafts: 1 UF: 430 2 UF: 1570 3 UF: 620 4 UF: 370 Hope this helps! PS. Hi Khop, no I do not plan going back. I really hope this one surgery will be enough. I had minimal contact with Belgium, basically just hotel-clinic-hotel-clinic. Good luck with your surgery

And here are pictures with longer hair. The first three are from 2012. The next three were taken six months ago, before my consultations. The scruffy look is to better show my hairloss... I don't usually wear my hair like that

Hi all, This is my first post on this forum. I am a 40-years-old guy with a diffuse hairloss behind a relatively low hairline. Some call it a Ludwig-type hairloss. I'll let you judge from the pre-op pictures I will post. In a few hours I am due to undergo a hair transplant at the BHR clinic in Brussels with renowned Dr. Bisanga. I plan to post here a detailed account of my future progress. A little history: I remember first noticing a loss of density at the age of 18. After then, the loss has progressed very very gradually. In 2006, when I was 30, I started taking minoxidil 5% and continued this treatment until 2011. I think the minoxidil had completely stopped my hairloss and even caused some regrowth. However I hadn't realised how effective that had been until I quit... a decision I now very much regret. In a few months I lost a lot of hair, and in 2012 I considered a transplant for the first time, but it took me five years before I decided to go through with this decision. I took a few pictures back in 2012 and I must say not much has changed since then, which makes me optimistic about the speed of future hairloss. My goal is to significantly increase hair density between my hairline and the vertex of my head. I don't care very much about filling my temples... in fact I'd quite like ending up with a Norwood-2 pattern, as I like the mature look it gives. I opted for a FUE transplant because I don't mind shaving my head, and I would like to keep this option open. I chose Dr. Bisanga precisely because of his conservative approach and his expertise with the FUE technique. I had a consultation with him last September and was found to have a density of 70 UF/cm3. He recommended me with 3000 grafts, which is what we are aiming for. Below a couple of pictures taken yesterday. Wish me good luck!