BOW32

I had a hairline restoration procedure with Dr Bisanga coming up 3 years ago, and I’m scheduled to have a small procedure with Dr Konior mid next year. I have a thread with pics.

I don’t use either - it’s arguably not the most responsible approach to take in terms of hair loss, but it’s a decision I’m happy with. I’ve consulted with 3x top level doctors on here who have expressed no concern with my plan to continually restore throughout my lifetime, which is fortunately due to my donor and BHT capacity, but it can certainly be done with the right patient attributes and expectations.

It’s the BHR way 😉 Great results dude.

Great watch, thanks Melvin!

How is everyone getting on out of the guys who have started it on this thread this year? I have my order arriving soon, and plan to start with 1.25mg daily.

Baby shampoo (mild shampoo) for the first 4 weeks from the point at which you are able to start washing it again. I think from memory i could start washing again from 2 weeks after surgery?

Hi Chaps, First of all, apologies for missing the 2 year update, and apologies for only just seeing a few of your PM's this morning - I do still like to login from time to time to keep on top of any new research and to see which docs are currently producing the best results, however rarely get a chance to take pics and dedicate a bit of time to uploading and making an actual post, so today with a bit of downtime on this sunny sunday morning, I have taken a range of photo's which will mark 2 years, 1 month and a week or so, roughly. -1, Jan 2019 2 months prior to the surgery. -1, back combed out of the shower in bathroom lighting. -4, wet and forward facing into the window of natural daylight. -3, dry and forward facing into the window of natural daylight. -1 of beard potential Seeing as though its passed a bit of a landmark of 24 months, I thought I'd summarise a few points of where things are at. -NOT EVERY DAY IS A GOOD HAIR DAY!! You have to just accept this. There are limitations 'a one hit' transplant can get you. Some days it looks good, some days in the wrong light and with the wrong length, you will ask yourself whether you have even had anything done?! I have found it is a combination of acceptance, learning what styles work best, what length looks best, and what lighting it will look strong, and what lighting will make it look weak. This particular length I have it at just now, is where I feel most confident, and can make it look pretty good all the time. -My hair was at it's best between 6-18 months post surgery. This was the perfect balance of when the transplant grew in, and still retaining a few more native hairs than what I have just now. I have naturally lost small amounts of ground in this time, as to be expected in my case, however aesthetically I still feel in a good place. -It still amazes me to see what a difference it has made, and is far, far better than where I was at beforehand. My original plan I set out with was all about damage limitation, and trying to keep on top of ever looking like 'a balding person', with planned out multiple surgeries between the ages of 30->50+. I feel like I'm fortunate enough to (unfortunately) be a balding person who has an ok donor and beard/chest relative to combatting my projected balding pattern, and I'm at peace with the idea of undergoing more surgeries down the line as and when required - as well as being at peace with the limitations of what sort of density transplants can achieve with my hair type. -My initial target was to not have to have another (small) procedure before March '22, and so far fingers crossed, I'm confident this will be the case. I have had signs of mid-scalp thinning since 2018, which you can see in one of the photos below, head tilted forwards. When wet, and in bright light, to people in the know, it is noticeable. When dry, and layered, not even 2 hair transplant surgeons could tell whilst I was speaking with them, until I pointed it out for them to look at more closely, so I'm not too beat up about that at the moment, and take encouragement that it hasn't changed much at all, in the 2 years since surgery. -I still don't take any medication such as finasteride/dutasteride/minoxidil. I understand, and fully aware that with finasteride in particular, I would likely be able to strengthen my midscalp area, and be set for a good 5-10 years without having to think about another surgery, however for me and my current state of play and lifestyle as a whole, they are just not something that I would consider taking at all. That's not to say that in 10 years from now, I may have a completely different perspective, and potentially be more open into looking at starting on them. As you grow older you understand things change, so depending on what my circumstances are in future life, what I prioritise, where my career is at, relationships, family etc. it may well be a consideration then. I have respect for everyone who chooses to go down the medical route, so would hope that people could equally respect my decision on this. -I feel that the only ever 'bone to pick' with my results, was a small area of lesser density, between my centre point and right temple. On reflection, I believe the most likely explanation was that there were some native miniaturised hairs to have been in the area, which was why it was left alone. The reason I say this is because it has weakened more as time has gone on, therefore it would make sense for those hairs to have now gone or be close to fully gone - whereas when it was less apparent, they would likely still have been there, just thinner and weaker than the transplanted hairs next to them. Either way, it's nit picking, and not something that keeps me awake at night or that I would call a concern. When I eventually go for my second procedure, 5 healthy doubles just behind the softer single grafts in the hairline will do the trick -I want to be aggressive, and aim to be able to extract a further 8,000 grafts from my scalp. This, combined with hopefully 1500 -2000 BHT grafts from under my chin. I haven't ever spoke to anybody regarding BHT, so from the photo I have added today, would be interested in knowing what people who have an idea about this roughly estimate could be possible. My neckline is freshly shaved from 30 mins previous to taking the photo, and I always leave upwards from my adams apple at the same length as the growth on my cheeks, however shaped up. Anyway, sorry for the long winded post today - I do feel compelled to give back to this forum when I can, because I will be forever grateful for the amount of content and information that is available on here. It has educated me on hair restoration as a whole second to none, and ultimately led to me choosing Dr Bisanga, where he and his team have been able to amazingly turn my hairline around, and set me up for what has been a really great last 2 years on both a personal and professional level (aside from a global pandemic doing its best to ruin a large portion of that!). All the best, and will pop in when anything of note crops up!

Just the pre op ones at the start of this thread mate. Motorised

Happy New Year Everyone! Fast approaching 2 years, 22 months post OP to be exact Took advantage of some wet hair and harsh bathroom lighting conditions this evening,

Just to chime in as my heads cropped up as the topic of discussion - My donor area feels and looks exactly the same as it did prior to surgery, and I don't have any concerns that any of the non extracted grafts were damaged. I think I mentioned it on my thread, but when it came to things like size of punches, and extraction method etc. - I felt comfortable with my choice in surgeon, therefore I felt more than comfortable with his decisions regarding the whole strategy on the day in terms of using the appropriate tools for my hair type, where extractions would be taken from, and what surface area would be covered. Dr Bisanga explained to me that due to my requirement for future procedures, combined with a decent donor and not a huge amount of grafts being extracted - it was more beneficial to leave one side completely untouched, and it wouldn't have any impact visually - which indeed it doesn't. Ian has gone into a lot more detail already about this above. The only thing I wasn't aware of was that I had average hair groupings . . I thought I had groupings on the higher end 😆😪

Some of mine grew up until 2-3 months and then shed, it really is pretty unpredictable. I wouldn't assume the hairs in your hairline have been transected though just because they are doing different things to what others are - each follicle has a brain of its own.

19 months I always intended on finishing off the thread at around about 18 months, however things got in the way and before I knew it I'm at around 19 months as of today - coinciding with my 3rd and final PRP treatment with the Maitland Clinic. I quickly snapped these earlier before I left the house - they are dry with no product, and in front of the window in natural daylight. I probably won't update the thread now unless anything of note crops up - I'm actually leaving Europe at the end of the month, and will be living in an area where ACELL is licensed, therefore I've been contemplating starting some PRP ACELL treatments if I can find a decent clinic. As far as the surgery is concerned, I am very happy with my results - they've made such a difference to how I am able to style and wear my hair, its greatly restored confidence, and I've been fortunate enough up until now not to lose too much more ground since March '19 for the results to continue looking good. If I was to be super critical, there is, and always has been, a weaker area between the centre of the hairline and the right temple, where the density isn't quite as a high as the rest of the restored frontal area, however if I comb backwards, this is completely undetectable, and even styled upwards, it probably wouldn't stand out to anyone apart from myself and others who were specifically looking out for it. I would hazard a guess that 10-20 grafts in this area, would make a considerable difference, so nothing major at all. I'm budgeting/predicting to probably undergo a further small FUE operation between 12-18 months from now, (unless I respond really well to the PRP treatments), which is in line with what my original strategy was when I set out, tbh it actually exceeds past the time frame of when I was expecting to go for a little top up again, which is a bonus. Anyway, I hope the thread has helped people out in various ways, and I will answer any questions when I get a chance.

Love the hairline design! This is going to look so good when its grown in 👌

Thanks guys ! Thrilled with it all!

Medium wavy hair type, Pre HT donor densitiy 80cm2 - with not many singles. I didn’t get exact quotes but he was confident I could get decent enough coverage all over with FUE combined with BHT (I’ve got a pretty strong beard) - however I wouldn’t be opposed to FUT if it meant I would gain extra grafts, but I’d prefer to stick to small FUE procedures as and when needed. From what I’ve seen this approach tends to be a safer bet in terms of ensuring a good yield, and also helps with donor management, something which is extremely important in cases like mine! I posted a picture of my donor post op around 4 months earlier in the thread if you are interested!

Thanks! And no, neither.

Just shy of 17 months, I'm updating less frequently now as differences are very slight month by month, however I can fully relate to those before me who have had previous HT's and say they continue to mature up until 18 months. I've noticed a few stray crinkled hairs I still had lingering in the hairline at the start of the year really smooth and straighten out, helping with styling options greatly. My PRP treatment started last month, however this month travel to Belgium has been disrupted due to quarantine restrictions that have been imposed, so I have arranged this months session to be carried out at the Maitland Clinic, UK. Just by chance I came across some pics from my initial consultation with BHR Spain, (I had met with Dr Meyer prior to booking with Dr Bisanga, to measure donor densities etc, plan a rough hairline design) so have included those to provide a comparison of where I started. Hairs dry and left natural in all pictures.

Mesotherapy with Dutasteride. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post links or not, but you can search on google to find a few studies. Theres a study that showed good efficacy without any systemic absorption, as serum DHT levels were measured to remain the same. Treatment protocol one treatment every 3 months, however it was a very small sample size. Another study with a larger sample size took a more aggressive approach with their treatment protocol, with weekly treatments, followed by every 2 weeks, and then 4 weeks, over a 12 a week period, and demonstrated huge efficacy, however systemic absorption was observed. Apparently its a very popular treatment in Spain, and I've been recently recommended it so if anyone has any info, would like to know your thoughts!

For me, given that you have had two in person consultations (at what I would presume to be pretty decent clinics considering H&W were on your shortlist), and no concerns were seemingly raised by each of the surgeons, I would take comfort in the fact that you can't compare the accuracy of an in person consultation using dermascopes etc. to that of just a few photos submitted online. I must admit, your donor area when shaved down in that picture does look like there is evidence of a NW7 pattern emerging, however it could just be unfortunate lighting - I have a colleague at work who has the thickest NW1 hair you could imagine, and during lock down he has buzzed it down, and even he looks to have areas of balding under certain angles and lights, so the lighting can make a big difference! For now I would continue reviewing your options whilst remaining in contact with clinics and surgeons whose work you admire, and wait until you are able to re-visit for further in person consultations. Have a read up on treatments that are available other than finasteride, and see whether they appeal to you/are viable, and perhaps look to start a routine combining a few. Your skin/hair contrast isn't high, which is advantageous, and maybe with a combination of SMP and use of BHT, you may ultimately be able to achieve a result you will be happy with. All the best mate!

Cheers Paddy. I'm going ahead with the PRP because I have liked what I have read and seen from some recent studies and results, and believe that I may be one of the types of candidates who benefit from it, having an area of minaturising hairs in their early stages just behind my hairline. Im particularly encouraged by the reports that it has a strong synergistic affect with laser, which I currently do, so it'l be interesting to see whether it has any effect or not! BHR are charging €175 per session, but I think that is a discounted price because I have booked 3x sessions. On a side note, congratulations on your own results - I have been following your thread and your progress has been nothing short of outstanding! Very much deserved mate,

15 months, Hi Everyone - heres some wet and dry pics at 15 months, still very Happy with how my results have grown in and matured. Over the last month I've added pumpkin seed oil 1000mg into my daily routine, Watermans Grow Me shampoo and conditioner 3x per week, and will be starting a course of 3x prp treatments at BHR this summer, spread out roughly 30 days between each one! Still consistent with laser every other day, Biotin 10,000ug, Gingko Biloba 60mg, Vit D 3,000IU, MSM 1500mg, and Zinc 25mg. No Finasteride, or Minoxidil.

Fantastic result! Testimony to what a great clinic can achieve with a solid donor! Enjoy

Looking really good paddy, still a few more months of growth and maturation Aswell! Hard to believe so little grafts have had this much impact already!

I came across Dr Zarev after seeing a few fellow surgeons talk about his work at conferences and workshops online, and his FUE transformations are with out a doubt unbelievable. He has apparently developed his own harvesting method that allows such high number depletion - I admittedly didn’t look too hard, but I didn’t come across any patient posted results or testimonies - would love to see some though!

Sorry I skim read and only took notice of the MSM, 10,000mg of Biotin daily, which is in a singular tablet form that I buy from amazon, and the latest brand of MSM I have changed to come in 700mg tablets, in which I take two daily.