swiftwindwalker

It all depends upon your age and how aggressive is your baldness. Say if you are in the mid or early 20's and NW 2.5, then for sure after few years you would most likely need another HT compared to someone who is NW 2.5 in his mid 30's with less aggressive baldness. But if you are referring to just being happy after first HT, then its very rare. Since you are bound to compare yourself with your previous natural hair density which is an unrealistic target. Also there are other factors like how good is your donor area and the quality/thickness of your existing hair. Last but not the least, the skill of the doctor matters a lot. Do remember while browsing the internet, There are results that few doctors post can have patients with hair system in the post HT picture and not exactly the result of the HT, so It's very difficult to judge just by a before and after picture. Therefore do not have a very high expectation. I just got my first HT done 2 days back, so I will be happy if it is anything closer to my existing hair density.

You might want to read this thread. http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/152638-growth-number-sessions.html

I appreciate your view mate, but now that you have mentioned I do see few of them are apart and have spaces between them. My donor area has more than average thick hair so Im assuming it could be one of the reasons and also only 1000 grafts were needed for my huge forehead and reconstructing the hairline. Fingers crossed. Thanks mate, will keep the thread updated

Day 3: I got my donor area bandage removed after visiting the clinic in the morning. Attaching pictures of my donor area, crown and the front. I don't have any pain as such, except for a bit of stretchy feeling on the donor, but not something that is too uncomfortable. I do have swelling on my forehead (as I could not religiously follow the rule to not look down) and also being irritated by the itchiness on my scalp. Gotten used to sleeping on the couch, but the itch just killed my sleep last night. I'm still continuing with the prescribed medication along with 2hrs saline spray and shampooing twice a day with applying cream on the donor area, the booklet provided by Dr Bhatti is really helpful and I don't have to test my memory to remember what to do when. The hospital staff was really helpful, and demonstrated me how to shampoo my hair. Apparently I was doing it right, the shampoo provided is not supposed to lather, which is what confused me. Will update the thread in next few days.

I got my donor dressing removed, the itchiness is sort of unbearable now. Im using the saline solution to just cool it down, but its affecting my sleep hoping that it goes away soon.

Thanks Shera. I'm at the moment struggling on how to shampoo my transplanted area even though I was given a demo, will goto hospital tomorrow again to get a repeat demo I applied the saline water first to dampen the area and then took the sterilised gauze and added 2-3 drops of the pink shampoo on it and dabbed it on the transplanted area. Pour some saline water again to wash it off and used another clean sterilised gauze to dry it off by dabbing it. But I feel itchy (resisting to touch/scratch), not sure what did I do wrong. Will post new pictures once my dressing is removed tomorrow.

Thanks Razzy, Yes - doctor convinced me that it would look good on my face with a lower hairline, and now that I have shaved all my head, I kinda like this new look as well and I feel comfortable with it. Now Im not scared of going complete bald in future

Day 2: I slept around 4:00am on a La-Z Boy recliner with a pillow made of hand towel behind my neck (to avoid my transplanted crown to touch the couch),I was scared to sleep thinking I would knock off the transplanted grafts. I woke up at 8:00am and sprayed the saline water (need to do that every 2hr for another 2-3 days I think). Visited Dr Bhatti’s hospital for changing the donor dressing at 9:30am. After getting my dressing changed by the nurse, she along with Shalini explained and demonstrated me on how to take care of my hair (cleansing/washing) for the next 2 weeks and medications that I would need to take. I was given a bag full off saline solution, medicines, shampoo, aloe vera solution along with a small booklet that is sort of a readme manual. They also handed over a letter signed by Dr Bhatti that would allow me to carry these medicines on flight, airport authority at Chandigarh airport would not allow otherwise. I met Dr Bhatti for a little over a minute, while he examined my scalp and said I was good to go and shook his hand. He asked me I can always reach out to him over email or phone whenever needed. Before I left, I did manage to ask Shalini regarding my exact graft count. a. Singles - 343 b. Doubles - 1443 c. Triples - 421 Total Grafts - 2207 Midscalp - 1009 Crown - 1198 There is no change in the scalp today, except it looks a bit cleaner than yesterday. I will be visiting the hospital tomorrow to remove my dressing (although I could do it myself, but I rather let the experts do it)

I agree on getting new friends, problem with toppik/fiber is that for some reason it doesn't last a day for me. I did however think about getting a hair system just for the crown, but then it requires maintenance and good ones are bit pricy if I see myself using it for a long period. I did have my HT done yesterday. Will keep it updated. http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/189488-31yrs-male-nw-3v-5-rivers-fue-hair-transplant-experience-dr-bhatti.html

Background: I am 31 years old North Indian working in Pune, have been losing hair for the past 5 years. I have tried using both Minoxidil and Finpecia for about a year and then stopped about 6 months back, as I just couldn't see myself doing it any further for the rest of my life. I'm not sure if it did stop my hair loss or helped regrow some of them, as there was nothing noticeable to my eye. Researching: I’m glad I found this forum, the forum provided me a vast data of other patient's doctor reviews and their HT journeys.After extensive reading for about 2 years, I decided to get a HT done, so it finally came down between Dr Bhatti and Dr Lorenzo, cost wasn’t an important factor, I believe in quality but Chandigarh City, being my home town and its much easier to meet Dr Bhatti and rest post HT, I opted for Dr Bhatti. Special thanks to Shera for his work on this forum. Email communication: I dropped an email to Dr. Bhatti around a month ago after getting his details from his website. He responded asking for some pics of my head. After seeing them, he estimated that I’d need around 1500 grafts for the front, 1000 grafts to cover my crown for a natural look as per my age. My hair other than the balding spot is reasonably thick, I have attached the before pictures to give a fair idea. I bombarded him with lot of questions and he responded to every single one of them and then finally fixed my HT for 16th April after an advance payment to block the date. Dr. Bhatti sent me a pre-OP instruction manual for me to go through. Do note, I did not opt for any hotel/guest house, as I have my own house in Chandigarh. Consultation: I landed at Chandigarh few days before my HT, as I had 14th April (Saturday) as my consultation date to discuss in person with Dr Bhatti at his newly built 5 River Hospital, Mohali to agree on hairline and get other blood tests done as part of pre-op. I gave my blood sample at Amulya Labs, located on the ground floor of 5 Rivers Hospital itself. Dr Amulyajit - she is Dr Bhatti’s wife, Dr Sharin (I think I might have misspelt her name) and Alex at the reception were really kind and caring and walked me through all the tests that I needed. They mentioned the reports will be sent over by email the same day (but for some reason I did not receive it) After Dr Bhatti examined me in person at 10:45am, I was told I would need 1000 grafts for the front and 1200 grafts for my crown. He drew me a hairline which was much lower than I was expecting, but he said it would look better on my face. I consulted with my parents who were with me, we agreed on the hairline but he still asked me to think it over the weekend before HT day. I was given few tablets that I needed to take a night before the HT (they were anti Anxiety, anti acid and another one which I don’t remember what it was for) and was asked to have only milk or juice and be ready at 7.30 AM for the pickup from my home. HT - Day 1: I was picked up by clinic driver Mr. Chanchal (he drove well and was fun to talk with as well) at 7:30am today. On reaching the clinic, I was made to change into OT clothes and deposit my valuable items like phone, cards etc. I had to sign few papers and pay approx. 80% before the operation (they do accept cards). A guy (didn’t get his name) tested me by inserting sample dose of antibiotic via needle in my hand to check if Im not allergic. I then reviewed the new hairline with Dr Bhatti for the final time before he trimmed my hair (a moment of shock to see myself bald for the first time, but to be honest didn’t look to bad ). On asking Dr Bhatti that I did not receive the lab report, he did mention the lab reports were all okay and we are good to proceed. Procedure started around 9am after injecting anaesthesia to my donor area, Dr Bhatti proceeded to harvest my grafts from the donor area. The harvesting machine drilled into my semi-numb scalp and the doctor extracted the grafts – which was not completely painless unfortunately (In my case the anaesthesia did not work in some part of my scalp even after increasing the dosage, this has happened with me before in my only other operation (tonsillitis)- that’s just my sour relation with anaesthesia smh). During harvesting, Dr Bhatti tried to strike a conversation to help me divert my mine, but the drill was still sort of painful but I was strong enough to bear it. After Harvesting was completed around 11’ish, my donor area was bandaged, we took a break for breakfast. Ate sandwich with juice (yummy) along with a toilet break. After breakfast, Dr Bhatti resumed in punching holes in my upper forehead (not sure about the technical term for it) for my hairline, which took quite a while before Plantation of the grafts was done by his staff, a total of 4 nurses (from what I could make out) – Sonam, Ankush, Manpreet and the other did not have a visible name tally. But the nurse staff was really kind and caring and kept on checking with me in between If Im okay, we had punjabi radio station in the background. I was not chatty due to the pain. After the plantation for my hairline was completed, we took lunch break around 2:15pm. I was given a Pizza and coke. FYI, Pizza preference was noted before the surgery started. Post lunch around 2:45pm, Dr Bhatti came back, this time for punching holes in my crown area (which btw did hurt) and then once he was done with it, the nursing staff took over for planting the grafts on my crown. Arushi came to check on me between the procedure, stating that it shouldn’t take much longer and Im almost at the end of it. The procedure finally finished around 4:30pm After the surgery was completed, Sonam took me in-front of a mirror and a chair, where Dr Bhatti came and explained me on how to use the saline lotion, antiseptic spray before wearing the bandana etc. He then changed my dressing for the donor area. Was again handed couple of tablets including pain killer for the first day and was asked to visit the clinic the next day at 9:30am for changing my dressing. Dr Bhatti would then explain me on how to take care of myself thereafter. Before leaving Shalini then asked one of the guy to make me some tea, which I had. after which I changed into my normal clothes. Was handed over my personal belongings. I forgot to take note of the number of singles, doubles and triples, will remember to do that tomorrow. I now have to manage day one which is critical, so far so good just got a bit of swelling on my forehead and it hurts if I touch it. Will keep this post updated. Wish me luck guys

Thanks for your advice Shera, I have just got my HT done today by Dr Bhatti. I will be creating a new post with my experience and pics, will keep it updated as to help anyone in need. I will ask Dr Bhatti about Finasteride tomorrow

Thanks Shera for your reply, I have read your own wonderful hair transplant journey and lot of your posts on this forum which helped me on deciding to go with Dr. Bhatti. Its been almost 6 months since I have stopped Finasteride and I haven't seen any major shed, do you reckon I should go back to the pill? Chandigarh is my hometown, but I'm living in Pune for work - will only be able to catch him a day before the actual planned surgery Post surgery, can I wear one of these caps? the regular caps don't fit my head for some reason. I have to wear something to work :confused:

Totally Agree, but I wish I had a social life after work - but really difficult to socialise after work due to long working hours

I tried fincpecia which is sold under Cipla brand along with minoxidil 5% solution for almost a year, I could not find any success with new hair. So not sure if there is any point to continue in a hope of a miracle, It might have helped in reducing my hair loss further but that too I don't know for sure. I don't mind taking finpecia again post hair transplant if needed to keep my native hair but I don't think I have it in me to stick with Minoxidil 5% solution on long term.

Thanks mate, the bald spot on the crown convinced me to go for transplant, even though there is hair loss in the front along with gaps between hair, I can pretty much hide it by styling it. Luckily got good donor area which is why I don't want to waste it. I honestly don't mind going bald at 50+ (maybe my views will change later ) but I feel Im still young to go bald I was thinking about the use of chest/bear grafts but home1212 mentioned regarding the difference in texture, viability and growth rate being low for the non-scalp grafts. Maybe will check the doc on the day of consultation about his views. Since I got a bit of space/gap between the hairs at the front (a bit upper of hairline), it's not exactly a bald area, not sure if one can transplant hair between existing hairs without causing trauma to the existing hair. I couldn't find anything substantial in my research, are you aware by any chance?

Thank you so much for your advice and wishes, I'm glad I found this forum I was intending to stick with my current hairline as well, as it isn't that bad except for the hair loss at the front/middle and reinforcing it as you mentioned should work. My current plan is to get the crown done, but not waste too many grafts on it and then if required I can restart the Fin pills, but Minox is something I want to avoid as it is an everyday task. Thanks again.

Thanks home1212 for your reply and clarifying my doubt, I'll go with the scalp donor. What are your views on the hairline, do you think I should lower it a bit or stick to what it is now? and what density should I aim for both front and the crown (considering reserving grafts for future transplant if needed)?

Hi All, I am 31 years old and soon going to be 32 in the next few months, have been losing hair for the past 5 years. I have tried using both Minoxidil and Finpecia for about a year together and then stopped about 6 months back, as I just couldn't see myself doing it any further for the rest of my life. I'm not sure if it did stop my hair loss or helped regrow some, as there was nothing noticeable to my eye. I've been following this forum for about 2 years as a silent spectator while deciding if I really needed a hair transplant (Parents being against it) or should I wait further or look for an alternate solution (Hair System?). I've really been stressed for the past few years due to the hair loss and it did impact my self confidence, with some individuals (friends/colleagues) making jokes in public about the balding spot didn't help either. Being unmarried and balding is not making it easier for me. The forum helped me reading through all the patient's reviews and their journeys. I then decided I do need a HT, so it finally came down between Dr Bhatti and Dr Lorenzo, but considering the cost (wasn't that important factor) and Chandigarh also being my home town, I opted for Dr Bhatti and fixed my appointment with him over email for the next month. After discussing with Dr Bhatti over the email, he mentioned I'm Norwood 3V and that I would need 1500 grafts for the front, 1000 grafts to cover my crown. My hair other than the balding spot is reasonably thick, I have attached the pictures to give a fair idea. Need everyones honest view on the frontal hairline, should I lower it further or continue with the same? Do you think 1000 grafts will be enough for the crown? How much density should I be aiming for at the front and the crown while making sure I do not waste my donor area (as I may at some time in future need it again, I hope not - but still) Should I consider transplanting my chest hair instead for the crown, instead of wasting the donor area at the back? If yes, will it look unnatural considering the hair surrounding it is thick and original hair (instead of the chest hair)? I will of course be discussing this with Dr Bhatti in person (didn't feel like bombarding him with so many questions over email), but I will be in a better situation if I have everyones view and I got almost a month to ponder over it. Would love everyones view PS: I'm suffering from Hypothyroidism (under control via pills).