Hair2019

7 weeks update: 

Everything is back to Normal, I feel great about the procedure and I am happy with the results so far. I didn't shed all the way but on the daily basis I m shedding anywhere from 5-10 hairs. I have switched from my regular shampoo to Aveda Invati men kit for hair loss, it is a bit expensive but so far it has thickened my native hair and I feel like my hair is stronger than before. Typically I would shampoo my hair daily but ever since I got this new kit I have been shampooing twice a week and using the scalp revitalizes daily, if you can afford it I would recommend using it. 

Donor area looks untouchable and all of my hair is growing uniformly, no shock loss or patches yet.

Third week Update: Shedding is in full effect. For some reason my left side looks a lot thinner than the right, hopefully it will get better with time when my hair regrows. 

I have been using aloe vera gel to soothe the redness in the recipient, on the side note it helped me a lot with the existing dandruff build up.

Donor area looks absolutely normal, no complaints there.

1 hour ago, paddyirishman said:

Great contribution well done.

Can you tell any difference in your hair where the grafts were harvested from in the doner area after a HT? Does your hair feel thinned out at all ?

.......Thanks and all the best.....

.................Paddy........

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it's still early to speculate as my hair is really short in the donor area. I will update you around two month mark

On 5/29/2019 at 1:28 PM, Londoner7 said:

Work looks good and donor looks untouched. Any chance you can give an overview of you experience of the surgery day as I am currently thinking about booking with this clinic too and it would help.

Thanks

Surgery day was very straight forward and well explained. Upon arriving at the clinic at 0730, Dr. Bisanga himself opened the door for me and welcomed me to his clinic. While filling out some paperwork we both got to exchange a few words about our personal lives and came to find out that Dr. Bisanga used to live in DC metro area where I am currently residing. Dr. Bisanga was great, he made me feel very comfortable about the entire procedure, he asked me for my opinion on my hairline design and gave me a few pointers and his professional opinion.

He then carefully observed my donor area and prescribed 2500 grafts to fill up my temporal areas. I agreed to the first hairline design and then he took some pre-op pictures before we moved the party to the operating room upstairs. 

The first step of the procedure started with shaving the donor area followed by taking antibiotic tablets and one valium. He then injected me with anesthesia around the donor, for some reason I required a lot more anesthesia as I was coming out of it during the harvesting phase. I didn't experience any pain except the needle penetrating the skin. 

For the the rest of the procedure I was completely knocked out and the nurse had to wake me up for lunch. After eating lunch I went back to sleep and woke up to two technicians working on the recipient area, 30 mins later they were done and my donor was wrapped with bandages and I was on my way back to the hotel, which was around 1800 or 6pm

Two weeks update: pictures are taken in normal light with the flash on. 

No more scabs nor irritation in recepient and donor area. This morning I lost a few hairs so it's safe to say that shedding phase is creeping up.

15 hours ago, Curious said:

Your work looks very good, but the transplanted hairline looks very low, especially for someone having a transplant in their 20's.  How did you go about deciding where to place the hairline?

Hello Curious,

Thank you for the compliment. You've asked a very important question. I know i am a little young to be going through with this kind of a procedure. However after a careful review of all the available options including prp w/ Acell, propecia, minoxidil etc nothing was going to bring back my hair in the temporal region. It bothered me significantly because I couldn't keep my regular hairstyle. With that being said I am currently on 1mg finesteride and 1mg minoxidil tablet, no sides yet and I pray to God I don't get any down the road.

To answer your question, my hairline has been lowered by 1CM from its original mark. I decided to lower it just a little because it perfectly aligns with my temples and accents my facial structure. It may seems like I have lowered it by an inch or so but keep in my mind some of my native hair was shaven in the front prior to the procedure so not all of that hair is transplanted hair.

Now upon arriving at the clinic the doctor asked me about my goal and expectations. I clearly expressed my concerns to him. Mainly I wanted to fill up my temporal areas and keep somewhat of a medium tight hairline. I say medium tight because i am hoping to achieve a uniform hairline, which will help me with my hairstyles. I tend to keep short hair throughout the year i-e tight fades, military cuts etc and having the right hairline is vital for short hair styles.

Below is a picture of my hairline from last year just to give you an idea of my hairline prior to the procedure, you can't see the bald temporal in there because I am good at disguising it with my existing hair.

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Day 7 Update:

swelling in the recipient area is completely gone and scabs are visible now. According to the instructions from Dr. Bisanga I can start using the mild shampoo starting tomorrow with gentle rubbing which will allow me to remove the scabs and the dead skin around the grafts.

Donor area looks magnificent and you can't even tell that I had over 2400 grafts removed. However I'm still experiencing sharp pinching pain from time to time in the donor area, In order to manage the pain I am currently taking Advil and tylenol. 

I'm very happy with the hairline and the graft coverage I got in my temporal regions. I just hope it is dense enough to blend in with the rest of the hair. I am a little nervous about the shedding phase, Is there anything I could do to minimize shedding? 

On 5/24/2019 at 11:59 PM, Curious said:

The doctor should have turned you down.  You're too young for a transplant with such minimal hair loss, especially when you haven't given finasteride a chance to work. 

I know 28 seems very young but I have been thinking about this procedure for past 5 years and i just wanted to get it over with at this point. My Donor area is pretty good so if need be I can utilize it for future procedures. 

I started finesteride about a week ago and also got a 6 month supply of pill form of Minoxidil while I was in Brussels, it's still too early to speculate about any side effects.

DAY 2 FIRST WASH OF DONOR AND RECEPIENT. HEALING PRETTY GOOD SO FAR

Day 1 donor area 

2402 grafts extracted

1=517

2=1328

3=475

4=82

On 5/12/2019 at 11:23 PM, Rawkerboi said:

Frankly speaking, you should be on Finasteride for atleast one year before opting HT surgery! A combo of Finasteride and Minoxidil may do great wonder!

At present your hair loss is very minimal. A surgery may give you desired Hairline but it can be delayed now if you wish.

Anyways Dr.Basinga is very good doctor and you are definitely in  great hands!

Good luck with your procedure and do keep us photographically updated.

Cheers!

Just got my KEEPS shipment for Finasteride. Three month supply for $30, $75 after that for every three months. Should I start using it right away before the HT? any suggestions on using minoxidil on my native hair right after the HT? or should I wait a few months before introducing any topical treatments 

5 hours ago, hairlineman said:

I agree that your hair loss is minimal and you are going into a HT at a young age, but I know you've made up your mind and I totally get it. Been there. I think Bisanga is excellent and I'm about to request for a online consultation. Are you planning on doing a FUT or FUE with Bisanga? Will you be traveling far for your HT with Bisanga? Best of luck man!

I am going with FUE and I will be traveling from Washington DC to Brussels

Hello everyone,

I have a HT scheduled on the 20th of this month with the one and only Dr. Bisanga in Brussels, Belgium. My case is very small and based on the information provided to me from Dr. Bisanga's rep i will be only needing around 2000-2500 grafts.

I choose Bisanga because of his outstanding reputation on this forum and his recognition around the Hair transplant surgeon community in general. I hope i made the right decision by picking Dr. Bisanga for this procedure.

I also looked into Dr. Lupanzula, Dr. Erdogan,  Dr. Keser,  Dr. Lorenzo and Dr. Vogel. Dr. lorenzo and Dr. vogel advised me to take Finasteride for now and to postpone the hair transplant because i am too young. Dr. Lupanzula said 2000 grafts and i am  still waiting to hear back from Dr. Erdogan and Dr. keser

My goals for this procedure are to restore my frontal hairline and add some grafts to cover up my balding temporal area. 

I am 28 years old, currently not taking any medication but i have ordered my first batch of Finasteride just for trial purposes to see how my body reacts to it. 

I am adding a few pictures that i took today, hopefully i can get some encouraging and educational information from you guys. Let me know who is the best suitable surgeon for my scenario.

Thanks i will keep y'all posted