kirkland

I think this work by Dr. Pittella should also make the short list:

I was thinking the same thing. Melvin, you can pull off both looks.

Also, that farmhouse property looks fantastic. I grew up in a farming community and no farm I knew of looked like that. I think farm resort?

Looks great, Melvin! It's a win-win for Eugenix and you. Great exposure for Eugenix and really looking forward to the outcome for you. I can't say this enough - it's amazing how far FUE has come with this clinic.

Good to hear.

Definitely a good idea. I believe you also have to upload those documents to the Air Suvidha Portal so you should also hard print a copy of the portal document itself. To access wifi in the Indira Gandhi airport, you need a One-Time Password (OTP) that is sent via SMS to your phone. I wasn't able to receive a text message so couldn't get the OTP. I had to wait until I cleared customs and was able to go to a tourist kiosk just near the exit in order to get a OTP. Weird system. A quick Google search shows that other international visitors also have a similar problem of not receiving a text to their number with the OTP. The hard copies of your documents help you to get through customs without needing access to wifi but since my flight was almost 2 hours late, I couldn't connect to Maudit through WhatsApp after disembarking and was concerned that my pickup at the airport might have left. Of course, my driver did wait as they were watching the flight board showing the delay. One workaround is to ask someone from India if they could request the OTP using their number.

Is it possible? Perhaps but not suggested. Oral minox and an anti-androgen are approaching the situation differently. More and more the consensus is that stacking treatments has a better chance of success (stopping further progression) rather than relying on one treatment alone. Also, oral minox is not sides-free for some, just like fin.

And the support staff, like Anil, are working at odd hours all the time because they are dealing with lots of international patients. But they are not surgical staff so I was not concerned about meeting Anil at the clinic at 8 pm on a Sunday night.

Absolutely. If your surgical staff is overworked, mistakes will be made. Eugenix seems to have a lot of staff so they may have the luxury of rotating out staff at the right times. There's no reason to believe that a surgical team working late into the night, over even overnight, is doing back-to-back-to-back surgeries.

My suggestion is to pick up an at-home blood pressure cuff and monitor your systolic and diastolic pressures. I found one on Amazon (Canada) that works really well and was not pricey: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B08B5XB6TR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Minox is a hypertensive medication and so you should monitor your blood pressure as a precaution, particularly if you are experiencing symptoms in the chest or extremities.

Thanks! The recent pics don't really do justice to amount of growth I see in the mirror. It's incredible that it has thickened so much in the last couple of weeks alone.

Given that I recently had a transplant as a NW6, the only area that I would notice improvement is in the crown area where it is thinning and received no transplants. If there was improvement, it is not dramatic but subtle. I've been debating bumping the dosage to 5 mg per day and testing that dosage for six months. At 2.5 mg per day, I've had no sides.

Yes - I' m frankly surprised that more clinics don't offer that combination of FUT and FUE.

This is a really good result. I know Eugenix has been getting much of the attention as of late for clinics in India but Dr. Soni is also doing some great work, too.

First off, congratulations and best of luck in the upcoming surgery! 9 day countdown - you must be getting excited! I went to the clinic at around 8 pm the night before surgery for additional blood work so you are not arriving late at all. Eugenix operates all times of the day and are used to accommodating international patients and their odd flight schedules. Dr. Sethi told me about an international patient who flew into New Delhi in the middle of the night, had his operation and then flew right back out again.

I'd be reluctant to add minox, vit c serum or dermarolling until you have gone through the shedding phase and are starting to see regrowth. Both topicals and microneedling have the potential of irritating the skin and the recipient site is still going through a healing process (as evidence by any lasting redness) so you want to avoid them during the first few months. It's not likely that they would cause failure in regrowth, at least not after the first couple of weeks, but allowing the recipient site the full opportunity to recover is the most sensible approach.

Have you considered adding fin or dut to your regime to slow the hair loss even more? If you have tried either and experience sides, there seems to be more companies offering a topical version of fin at least. As for the donor, also consider SMP to camouflage the pattern of extraction so that you can cut your hair short and it will not be noticeable.

I suggest staying near the clinic a minimum of three days after surgery for a few reasons: first, the vascularization process (reconnecting of the blood supply) of the new grafts takes about that long so if you bump, scratch or otherwise compromise the recipient area, it can be addressed during this crucial period of healing; second, the clinic can properly clean and dress the donor area and make sure the healing process is well underway; third, swelling is to be expected but it goes down about day 3 or 4 and travelling long distances is more comfortable when your head isn't the size of a watermelon. If you are travelling by air long distances to and from the clinic, that added time post-surgery is more comfortable spent in a hotel rather than on a plane or in an airport.

I think you have covered most of it. Eugenix provides a large refill bottle of saline solution that you will have to put in your checked luggage but a small empty spray bottle (100 ml) for having on the return flight for the saline solution is helpful.

It's hard to let go of the short hair style - I have had it for so long. Suits my features and lifestyle. But if you've been gifted a Ferrari, you might as well take it out for a spin once in a while.

Thanks. I was really happy that I could cut my hair short and, while the region of extraction is obvious, the pattern of extraction is not. I plan to have SMP work done in the donor region and it should blend quite nicely.

Intro In October, 2021, I had surgery with Eugenix Hair Sciences in New Delhi, India with Dr. Arika Bansal and her team. She designed the hairline, pre-made the recipient slits and performed the initial extractions, plus monitored the rest of the procedure. I had just over 3500 grafts implanted across the hairline and mid-scalp. You can see the first few days and weeks of progress here: https://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/topic/61276-my-upcoming-surgery-with-eugenix-of-india-and-dr-arika-bansal/ Background 54 years, Caucasian, NW 6. Hair loss started at age 20 and progressed steadily. Here I am at age 40. Past and current Interventions Up until 7 years ago, I did nothing to stop or reverse the hair loss. In 2014, I started microneedling along with daily applications of minoxidil. In 2015, I went for scalp micropigmentation. Second photo is just after 2 passes. In 2018, I started finasteride (2.5 mg per day) to stabilize any further loss. Switched to dutasteride (0.5 mg every other day) in 2019. In February, 2022, added oral minoxidil (2.5 mg per day). RU was recently added as a topical for crown area only (0.25 ml every day). Here is my final SMP treatment in the summer of 2015. It did not look natural and so I had it removed by laser in 2018. Why Eugenix? I almost pulled the trigger on local Canadian HT docs a few times before contacting Eugenix. I had consultations with the following clinics: Hasson & Wong (Vancouver), Rahal (Ottawa), Huber (Toronto). For various reasons, it did not work out with any of them. I had seen the Eugenix clinic pop-up numerous times in my research on this site but did not seriously consider them because they were only doing FUE. With my severity of hair loss, I thought FUT would be my only option. That was certainly still the majority opinion just a few years ago. However, as I did more research, I was finding that large FUE mega sessions were possible with minimal aesthetic impact on the donor area. I explored Eugenix more since they were doing large FUE sessions with great outcomes and I really loved what I was seeing! Finally, a clinic doing FUE mega sessions without leaving the donor area looking completely depleted. In late 2019, I contacted Eugenix and submitted my photos. 3500 grafts were suggested. I booked surgery for early 2020 and then... COVID. I had to change my surgery dates multiple times given ongoing travel restrictions. The staff at Eugenix were really wonderful in helping with all of these changes. Finally, was able to settle on October 11 and 12 of 2021. Here is a pic the day prior to leaving for surgery at Eugenix: The surgery I arrived in New Delhi on October 10 - one day prior to surgery. I met with Anil and Maudit at the clinic that evening to get additional blood work completed. I was really impressed that at 8 pm on a Sunday night, the clinic was in full swing with one operation in progress. The morning of my first day of surgery, after doing some preliminary videos for promotional materials, I met with Dr. Bansal who designed my hairline. She’s very professional and I was immediately comfortable with her as my surgeon. Dr. Bansal performed all of the premade slits and then made some initial extractions from my donor area in order to assess the quality of my grafts. Then the rest of the surgery that day was performed by other doctors and technicians. Over 2000 grafts were harvested and placed in the frontal third. Surgery time for that first day was over 9 hours. There was some discomfort in having to stay in one position for long periods of time but that is to be expected. The staff were very accommodating throughout the process, always asking how I was feeling. At the end of Day 1: The second day of surgery was not as long (about 7 hours). The remaining grafts were placed in the mid-scalp for a grand total of just over 3500 grafts. Dr. Bansal came in periodically throughout both days to check in on the surgery. At the end of the second day, she gave a final inspection. At the end of Day 2: First 3 days post-op As those first few days post-op are critical for the vascularization of the grafts, I made sure to stay in India for checkups each day of postop surgery. Eugenix arranged my hotel accommodations and travel back and forth to the clinic. There was some swelling around the forehead and back of head which was mostly gone by day 4. As to be expected, there was some discomfort in the donor area from all the extractions. I slept on my back with my travel pillow to keep the back of my head from making contact with any surface. I made visits to the clinic each day for a check-up and cleaning of the donor area. Month 1 post-op My scabs all separated from the scalp by day 9. By the end of month 1, my grafts were starting to fall out. The only discomfort I experienced during this time was a lot of itchiness around the donor area. The recipient area was still very numb and I did not have any sensation on the top of my scalp for weeks. Week 1: Week 2: Week 3: Week 4: Month 2 post-op Psychologically, this was the hardest month as most of the grafts shed and all that is left is a red and bare scalp. Sensation was returning in the mid scalp but there was still no sensation in the frontal third. Month 3 post-op Rolling through month 3, more of the transplants were starting to reappear. I was surprised to see how much growth was appearing already. As soon as I got back to Canada 4 days after surgery, I applied Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) with red and infrared wavelengths for 30 minutes per session (one session per day). I can’t objectively state that the light therapy has been beneficial for my growth but I am seeing a lot of growth earlier than expected. Most of the sensation in my scalp has returned. The redness in my recipient area is still pronounced but, as I discovered with my SMP treatment, my skin is prone to redness so I don’t anticipate that it will fade any time soon. In the following pics, taken yesterday, I have clipped my hair short so that the donor area really shows how homogeneously the grafts were extracted across the entire region and the recipient area really shows growth to date. 3 month Review Although 3 months into a hair transplant is still too early to review the final outcome, it is a reasonable time to reflect on the experience to date. In my case, my experience with Eugenix has been absolutely wonderful and has exceeded my expectations. From the disruption of COVID and the constant changing of surgery dates, to the surgery itself and then onto post-op care, Eugenix has really been a top-notch clinic in how they have conducted their business. Need to change my surgery dates? Not a problem. Need help with medical visa documents? Absolutely accommodating. Airport pick-up and drop-off, COVID testing, hotel booking, clear and constant communications - Eugenix has a big team that helps with all of those details necessary to ensure a good experience. And it is a wonderful team, all of them committed to their jobs. Throughout the surgery, they ensured that I was comfortable and relaxed and well taken care of. The clinic and surgical rooms are state-of-the-art, everything is properly sterilized, proper grafts counts are posted on a white board in the surgical room and daily post-op checkups are arranged meticulously. Everyone is on top of each detail and you never feel like it is anything but a well-run operation. And when one of the founding doctors, in my case Dr. Sethi, takes you and other patients out for dinner, you really feel that they go the extra distance to make sure you feel special in their care. They perform hair restoration surgeries for some of the biggest sports and media stars in India but every patient is treated with the same level of care regardless of status. I have been fortunate to still stay in touch with Dr. Sethi and I am touched by his enthusiasm and generosity of time. He demonstrates the epitome of quality patient care and really wants you to have the best outcome possible. Let me be clear: Eugenix is not a hair mill. Far from it. They have years of experience working with high Norwoods and have pushed the boundaries as to what is possible with FUE, including the supplemental use of body grafts for really challenging cases. When I was there, they were doing a 3-day surgery for a Norwood 7 case. The patient was also staying in my hotel. I was amazed that this level of hair loss can now be effectively treated with FUE. I am thankful that Eugenix has really pioneered FUE hair restoration for higher Norwoods like myself. If you are considering Eugenix, I give them my full endorsement. They provide a high-quality hair restoration experience at exceptional value. I'm really excited about my 6-month and 1-year updates, given that my month 3 results are very positive.

@Gatsbyyou get the first taste of 2022. All the best for you, @Melvin- Moderator and all HRN forum members. Here's to a new opportunity to get healthier and hairier!

I would agree.

That will definitely be a challenge for Eugenix or for any clinic that is fast-growing. The first step would be to acknowledge that consistency of results is what, in part, led to their success. In my conversations with Dr. Sethi, he comes across as truly caring for his patients. And Dr. Bansal reflects the epitome of professionalism. I am confident that they will choose quality over larger profit margins and that they will consciously try to avoid becoming a hair mill.