GabreilleN

On 10/28/2018 at 2:00 PM, GabreilleN said:

Hello everyone!

   So I have been reading a lot of material on this forum. I have definitely received a tremendous amount of information from here. It has helped me a lot during my immediate post transplant phase. 

   I believe that my own experience with hair transplantation could help others who are seeking the same too. Therefore, I have decided to post the entire documented journey of my transplantation procedure here on this amazing forum.

   Here it goes:

I started to lose hair by the age of 23. The loss was very gradual and it was difficult for me to have noticed the decline in my density. Eventually, when the hairline stared to recede drastically and my look started to change for the worse, I started to panic. I never knew anything about hair. I was scared that it might be a disease or some form of disorder. But even that was not enough to compel me to visit a doctor and understand the situation. I started with different home remedies and self imagined cures in the forms of advertised shampoos or oils. 

However, the hair loss did not stop. I started to notice more and more hair come off every time I combed my hair or even if I wet it. The worst part was that I was losing all confidence because of my hair situation. I started using hair products and other styling products to help hide my baldness. But as most of you might know, that doesn't really work.

However, to come to the point of all of the above, it was only after I met Dr. Arika Bansal and Dr. Pradeep Sethi that they actually told me the honest truth about hair loss intervention. They made me understand the why and the how. And also what should be done to address the issue.

For the already bald area, it was too late. But for my pre existing hair, I was recommended Finastride at a dosage of 0.5 to 1 mg. I swear by this medication because i have 0 hair loss since I have started taking that medication.

For the bald area, the doctors gave me a transplantation of 2815 grafts. 

I knew about hair transplantation prior to this too. But I was not sure whether i would be able to go through with it. I was definitely scared of the pain. I couldn't quite bring myself to go for the procedure.

However, the procedure was painless, contrary to my belief. It was simple. But it was lengthy (oh well!). And you gotta do what you gotta do.

So now through the pictures, I shall show you the progress of my results. 

 

   

 

It has been 19 months since my transplantation procedure. And I wanted to update my thread with the results and my experience throughout this journey of hair transplantation.

I was lucky enough to have patience throughout my research and authentic people to guide me. 

The surgery itself was rather simple and hassle free. the post operative precautions were easy to follow and moulded according to my comfort. However, discipline was most important with regards to keeping my recipient area clean and taking the medicines at regular intervals for 7 days after the procedure. The 8th day was such a relief as it brought along my first headwash after the procedure. Can't say that I didn't feel yucky for 7 days without shampooing.

So, yes, they hair shed off and I looked like a disaster for a couple of months that followed with my bald head and alien like skull shape. But gradually i begun to see hair sprouting from my head. People say that it wasn't much and that it was only the frontal zone. However, it was important for me and thus, excruciating to have to wait.

Finax was a constant companion through this ordeal. I had been taking Finax from prior to the procedure. I am still on this medicine. Its a choice I consciously made. No Doctor is going to force you to take medicines. To create a fuss about it is stupid. You either take the medicine and save your pre existing hair or you don't and lose your pre existing hair eventually. There is no magical potion to stop Androgenetic Alopecia from spreading on your scalp. 

My diet is good and so is my appetite. Therefore, it did not matter if I skipped on multivitamins. Minoxidil is something that I did not want to use. It becomes irritating to follow it's schedule of application everyday. So like I said, it was my choice. Would my hair have been denser if I used Minoxidil? Maybe. But then again, I chose not to!

My hair is better than ever. I have had 0 PRP sessions. I hardly pay attention to my hair, except for the regular Finax intake. And Finax is rather pocket friendly. I don't necessarily have to take up expensive procedures or grill the Doctor for my hair issues. Because I have none anymore.

The density however, came after 12 months. It kept increasing until the 18th month. So I have no idea where experts get the confidence to say 12 months is the maximum time for the density to be gained. 

There is the occasional hairfall. But baldness? Nope!

The hair texture has improved. It was frizzy when it started to grow but now has blended well with my other hair. 

I even got my hair coloured. And then coloured it back to black again. Side effects? Nope!!!

I have got 40 to 50 hair per sqcm. It looks dense, voluminous and grows long and healthy. Could I have gotten a denser plantation? Yes, I could have. But would it have been really necessary? No. It would have been useless. 

Nobody who I haven't already told that I have had transplantation can ever make out that my hair are transplanted. I don't know the angles that the doctors have created, I don't know the design and the calculations etc. And I simply don't have the luxury to waste my time on such details. Like i said I'm not a fussy individual.

I just trusted the Doctors who worked on my head. If they are genuine and if they know what they are doing then there is no reason why anybody should have to experience bad results. Most times, we force the Doctors to be commercial and resort to advertisements and marketing techniques due to our own inability to trust them. I hate doing that to the professionals. Its true, there are hell lotta quacks in the world trying to con people. But that shouldn't be the reason why Doctors should have to prove their ingenuity to skeptics.

Also, our own price concerns do encourage quacks to seduce us with unbelievable packages. We want the quality but do not want to pay the price. We bid the Doctors against each other. Which I find completely sick.

No genuine Doctor will purposely ruin his results. His life depends on his results. 

Anyway, I am posting my results though updated pictures along with this post. My pictures might seem narcissistic but they are all i have to show my results. I am also attaching a before picture to show the difference in appearance.

Before

In the OT for the procedure\\\

Dr. Arika Bansal

Plantation going on

4 days after. Completely functional.

Almost 6 months

8 months

10 months

13th month

Heres to wishing every bald person a good transplant and the hands of a proper surgeon. 

Namaste

On 1/13/2019 at 11:27 AM, Corbinite said:

Sure, here are my photos. In one of the pics I'm shaved fully.

 

On the other ones, you can see a depleted donor area under bright light...which was caused by a poor surgeon who I mis-chose. He's actually recommended here...I may want to write a negative review on him later and hopefully help others.

 

 

God knows thats not how the donor should look like after a procedure. That looks awful. 

Plus body hair has a very low rate of success. Also, body hair remain dormant for a longer period of time after their shedding. 

If you want an honest opinion then you shouldn't go for the procedure to fill your donor area with the donor grafts from your thighs. You should opt for SMP. It would prove to be more helpful. It would require maintenance but you will be satisfied with the results. 

Also, risking scars on your thighs is also not worth it considering the high probability of failure in the donor grafts extracted from your thighs.

Usually scars in the donor area are a result of the bigger sized punches. If fine (small sized) and sharp punches are used + expertise in extraction; the donor should be fine. 

According to my experience and what I have seen so far.

3 hours ago, jdimmick said:

Imagine you saved up thousands of dollars, took a couple weeks off work, orchestrated various fictional stories to friends/family about why you weren't going to be around for quite a while (nor answering your phone - you're in a foreign country 8000 miles away from home after all), all because you’re insecure about your hair...

Then imagine you finally get your procedure done, and on the first night you somehow, unbeknownst to you, creep the crown of your head down onto your pillow while you're sleeping, effectively dislodging 800+ grafts from the crown (when the crown, of course is the receding part of your hair that is most embarrassing to you). 

Well, that's what happened to me last night. 

Word of advice that may save someone a lot of money, but most importantly, save some mental anguish: SLEEP IN AN OFFICE CHAIR the first couple of nights after your procedure – NOT A BED. 

It's too risky, especially if you're like me and have a tendency to move around in your sleep. Plain and simple: I should've known better. I fucked up. 

When I showed up for post-op today the doctor said there's nothing we can do for another six months. I don't recall ever crying in front of anyone in my adult life, but I completely broke down and lost it. The army of cute technicians consoling me like a baby. Embarrassing beyond embarrassing. 

Throwing money into a trash can is never fun, but 99% of my grief is the ordeal getting here... and oh how I DREAD the recovery time / hiding from everyone… to think I need to do this again in 6 months is absolutely crushing.

Just wanted to vent and hopefully save at least one poor soul who might think “it’ll be okay” when trying to sleep up-right in a bed. Use my story as a lesson: it’s not worth the risk.

On a positive note: The doctor is going to do my corrective procedure in six months for FREE. A very generous offer considering I’m at fault. I don’t think many other doctors would do that. 

Thank you for sharing your ordeal.

That is very unfortunate. But until you have got enough donor left to redo the procedure, then it is some consolation. However, you must go through the entire hassle again - minus the finances for the procedure itself. Travelling itself is pretty expensive.

Did you not get a brief on the post operative care? 

9 hours ago, bruce90 said:

I honestly don't know why its so difficult to find a good hair transplant surgeon. If I knew for certain I could pay a reasonable price and get a good job done then I would probably have done this already but even most of the recommended surgeons on here seem to have a lot of bad cases.

I was very close to booking with Dr. Bhatti and ended up sending him an email to clear up some last minute concerns about the procedure and pretty much got no response from him so I've essentially crossed him of my list now.

I am still considering Eugenix but they are a little on the expensive side for an Indian clinic (which I don't mind if I knew the results would be certain but I still have a few doubts about them).They have a lot of good cases recently but I feel like they just don't have as much history here as other hair transplant doctors. As of now I haven't found any cases where the results were negative but I feel for me to know for sure I would have to wait a couple years and see how consistent they are.

The two biggest concerns I have are:

1) Over-harvesting of donor area (having a damaged look from doctors extracting the grafts improperly leading to a patchy looking donor area).

 2) Having unnatural looking hairline - I would want transplant to match density of existing hair (I've seen too many sparse and wiry looking hairlines done by doctors recently).   

1. Donor sparsening of the scalp can be minimised by limiting the number of grafts  to be extracted
1st sitting: not more than 2500 to 3000
2nd sitting: not more than 1500 to 2000

2. Hairline asthetics: is important but the main factor that ensures aesthetics is putting exclusively single haired grafts in the hairline.

3. Poor density in hairline is never a major issue with good hair transplant centres

20 hours ago, Yake said:

Haven't you got any sides? Let's be honest here, your results are awesome and I have been following you for quite a while but finasteride Is playing a major role on giving you such  a good result because if you stop taking fin you will start losing your native hair and yet again you'll go bald as you are a diffused thinner. So you are bound to go nw 7 with time. 

That is 100% correct. If I stop taking Finax then I will definitely reach Grade 7 with time. However, I have had 0 side effects with Finax and I am taking it at a dosage of 1 mg alternate days. I plan to take it for as long as my baldness would stabilise, i.e., until I am 50 to 60 years old. 

I know what side effects feel like. I have used anti anxiety pills in the past (Sertraline). The side effects include loss in libido, etc. It was real with Sertraline.

However with Finax I took a trial first. I have not experienced the slightest side effects with this drug.

Anyway, the Doctors do prescribe them but they have nothing to gain commercially with the medicine. Only a Doctor who would be ready to accept the responsibility of the prescribed medication and it's effects on the patient would prescribe the medicine. 

I have been to many Doctors in the past as well who kept me only on multivitamins and minoxidil. Frankly speaking, I found them useless without Finax. There has been no development of any new bald area since I have taken Finax. 

I don't want to promote Finax since it is an individual's discretion to either take the medicine or not. But for myself, this medicine has been a blessing. 

On 1/26/2019 at 9:20 PM, Yake said:

 

 

Are you still on finestaride?

Yes. I am taking Finax. I have been on Finax since 3 & 1/2 years now... It has really helped me tremendously...

Secondly, my hair has been planted at a density of 40 to 50 hair per sqcm. I feel that it has come up to be quite dense. If all of the transplanted hair grow, the extracted donor grafts are transplanted intelligently and if the design is most naturally done, then density would be a by product. 

It shouldn't be a difficult task to restore just the frontal zone, i.e., in the hands of a good doctor.

On 1/26/2019 at 9:20 PM, Yake said:

 

 

Are you still on finestaride?

I think I forgot to post my results along with the pre and immediate pictures... Please do have a look...

Hello,

I have had 2815 grafts done with Eugenix Hair Sciences. I have uploaded some pictures for your viewing. For me, the results have been extremely satisfying. 

On 11/5/2018 at 1:38 AM, jj51702 said:

Why exactly is the recipient red for so long after a transplant and what does it signify? I’ve heard it can be anything from increased blood vessel growth to inflammation after the trauma of the procedure.

 

is it a good sign?

I experienced that too. I was so frustrated when the redness took time to go. It took about a month for my skin to be completely rid of the redness...

Hello everyone!

   So I have been reading a lot of material on this forum. I have definitely received a tremendous amount of information from here. It has helped me a lot during my immediate post transplant phase. 

   I believe that my own experience with hair transplantation could help others who are seeking the same too. Therefore, I have decided to post the entire documented journey of my transplantation procedure here on this amazing forum.

   Here it goes:

I started to lose hair by the age of 23. The loss was very gradual and it was difficult for me to have noticed the decline in my density. Eventually, when the hairline stared to recede drastically and my look started to change for the worse, I started to panic. I never knew anything about hair. I was scared that it might be a disease or some form of disorder. But even that was not enough to compel me to visit a doctor and understand the situation. I started with different home remedies and self imagined cures in the forms of advertised shampoos or oils. 

However, the hair loss did not stop. I started to notice more and more hair come off every time I combed my hair or even if I wet it. The worst part was that I was losing all confidence because of my hair situation. I started using hair products and other styling products to help hide my baldness. But as most of you might know, that doesn't really work.

However, to come to the point of all of the above, it was only after I met Dr. Arika Bansal and Dr. Pradeep Sethi that they actually told me the honest truth about hair loss intervention. They made me understand the why and the how. And also what should be done to address the issue.

For the already bald area, it was too late. But for my pre existing hair, I was recommended Finastride at a dosage of 0.5 to 1 mg. I swear by this medication because i have 0 hair loss since I have started taking that medication.

For the bald area, the doctors gave me a transplantation of 2815 grafts. 

I knew about hair transplantation prior to this too. But I was not sure whether i would be able to go through with it. I was definitely scared of the pain. I couldn't quite bring myself to go for the procedure.

However, the procedure was painless, contrary to my belief. It was simple. But it was lengthy (oh well!). And you gotta do what you gotta do.

So now through the pictures, I shall show you the progress of my results.