Indian_Canadian

@MazAB I think it was NW4 before the surgery. I don't have photos from immediately before the surgery (they are with the clinic) but photos taken by me about 2 years before surgery are shown in the link below.

Hi Folks, uploading photos after 1 month of HT below. Please share your comments. Thanks!

Hi Folks, uploading photos after 3 weeks of HT below. Please share your comments. Thanks!

@George Clooney I don't have pics from before the day of the surgery. They are with the clinic. But if you click on my profile and look at my previous thread, you will see my initial hair loss photos there. 

Thanks @Melvin- Moderator. Eagerly looking forward to your post and photos. @Eugenix Hair Science @Eugenix Hair Sciences

Hi Folks,

Attaching photos from Day 5 (2 Dec) after my 3000 grafts HT with Eugenix. There was unbearable itching on Day 2 and 3 in the recipient area, but has subsided considerably now. The oozing from donor area stopped on the 3rd night completely. 

Thanks a lot @Ronaldo18 ! Good luck to you as well.

Dec 30 update (48 hours after surgery)

Hi Folks, 

So I had a good time at the clinic on the 28th. I had provided the full payment for 3000 grafts, negative RT-PCR report, and blood test results beforehand and was asked to be at the clinic at 7AM. I was greeted by Imraan and taken to the photo studio where pre-surgery photos were taken and then provided a change of clothes for the surgery. A technician checked my BP and thereafter, I met Dr. Bansal and she was very open about taking my input on how I wanted the hair line to look so I showed her some previous photos of mine to provide her with visual details of how my hairline used to be and then surrendered the rest to her expertise and did not meddle with her design. After another round of photos with a shaved head and proposed hairline markings, I was taken to the surgery room. It was a calm and relaxing atmosphere there with some music playing on the TV.  I was asked to lie down and was injected with local anesthetics in the recipient area first. That was probably the only painful part of the entire surgery (and also later when the donor was injected). Apart from these 15-20 minutes, the remaining surgery was relatively painless. 

Dr. Bansal made the hairline slits in the first 15 minutes or so and then Dr. Priyadarshini took over to complete the remaining majority of the surgery with assistance of Eugenix trained technicians. There was a team of technicians local to Mumbai but I believe some technicians had flown in from Delhi as well. There were multiple surgeries that day. People kept moving in and out of the surgery room while I just lay there as they extracted from the donor area and implanted in the recipient. At about 3 PM, I was asked about what I wanted to eat and they ordered an egg rice bowl for me which I only ate after the surgery was completed at 4.30 PM. I had requested the technicians to have lunch but I guess everyone wanted to complete the surgery first. Just before the surgery completion, Dr. Priyadarshini informed me that they had been able to extract and implant 3000 grafts and that the grafts were of great quality. I asked her and the technicians if they thought that the surgery went well and they seemed very satisfied and happy with their work and the outcome. I was taken to the studio for some post-surgery photos and then to a private area where I had my lunch.

After my lunch, I was given a Eugenix bag with medical prescription (7 day course), saline water spray and refill, bandages for cleaning the donor, surgeon caps for outdoor wear, an absorbent pad to protect the pillow from donor area blood, and medicines for 1 day. Imraan briefed me about how to use everything and said that I will receive daily follow up messages with further instructions and videos, which I have been receiving from Kaushal on whatsapp (and are very helpful and specific). I had some questions for Kaushal which were promptly answered on whatsapp. I was asked by Imraan to visit the clinic again on Jan 4 for a headwash, which I will and post a 7 day update on this forum after that. Meanwhile, I have posted some photos from Day 0 (Dec 28) and Day 1 (Dec 29).

Hello Folks, 

Reviving this thread. My initially booked date of June 18, 2020 had to be postponed multiple times due to COVID and that's why I never updated this thread, but now I am scheduled for the surgery on Dec 28 in Mumbai. During the course of this duration, I have been in contact with Nelson, Sahil, Kaushal, and Rishabh from Team Eugenix and they have all been fantastic and very cooperative. I will post my next update with photos after the surgery and a description of the experience.

@Melvin- Moderator @Eugenix Hair Science @Eugenix Hair Sciences

Hello Folks, 

Reviving this thread. My initially booked date of June 18, 2020 had to be postponed multiple times due to COVID and that's why I never updated this thread, but now I am scheduled for the surgery on Dec 28 in Mumbai. During the course of this duration, I have been in contact with Nelson, Sahil, Kaushal, and Rishabh from Team Eugenix and they have all been fantastic and very cooperative. I will post my next update with photos after the surgery on the SECOND THREAD that I have created just for documenting my experience and results. Please refer to that henceforth. @Melvin- Moderator @Eugenix Hair Science @Eugenix Hair Sciences @deadman 

Hello Folks!

This is my second thread on this Forum. My previous thread intended to seek suggestions and gain insight about best FUE surgeons in India. I am very grateful to this forum for all the help. If you want to look at my initial photos please refer to that thread. In this thread I will only record my surgery experience and the journey post-surgery. 

Ultimately one has to make a decision and I have booked my HT with Eugenix at their Gurgaon location on June 18, 2020. I have selected their most affordable pkg. More excited than me are my friends and relations who have tried everything to save their hair, but never had the courage to opt for a HT. I think a lot of them would follow suit if I get good results.

I made this booking about 1 month ago or so when COVID-19 was still not a pandemic and I was hoping that things would calm down by the end of May at most and the self Isolation rules for international passengers arriving in India would be relaxed. Lets see how things unfold. Lot of uncertainty for now. Looking forward to meet @GabreilleN @Abhinay Singh and team Eugenix in June!!

Also hoping that the clinic staff and their families stay safe, healthy, and sustain financially in this tough time!

UPDATE ON MY HT JOURNEY

Hello Folks! 

Ultimately one has to make a decision and I have booked my HT with Eugenix at their Gurgaon location on June 18, 2020. I have selected their most affordable pkg. More excited than me are my friends and relations who have tried everything to save their hair, but never had the courage to opt for a HT. I think a lot of them would follow suit if I get good results.

I made this booking about 1 month ago or so when COVID-19 was still not a pandemic and I was hoping that things would calm down by the end of May at most and the self Isolation rules for international passengers arriving in India would be relaxed. Lets see how things unfold. Lot of uncertainty for now. Looking forward to meet @GabreilleN @Abhinay Singh and team Eugenix in June!!

Also hoping that the clinic staff and their families stay safe, healthy, and sustain financially in this tough time!

Happy to see your results @Annijoy31 . In your initial photos with short hair, there is a bald patch in your donor area. What happened?

@Alphabeta - The other surgeons at Eugenix are @Dr Abhinav Kumar , Dr. Priyadarshini Das, and Dr. Alok Sahoo. I understand that Dr. Kumar doesn't like being represented as a surgeon of Eugenix on this forum. His role on this forum is more of an FUE expert, dermat, and a hair loss patient who has undergone FUE surgeries. I had a bunch of questions that I sent to Nelson and Abhinay last week, about the new 'Complete Pkg.' My budget also calls for the same pkg. as you. I can share those questions and answers with you over PM when they reply back. I also had a call with Dr. Bansal and she cleared some doubts that I had at that time.

You could also look into the discounted summer (April to June) HT rate that Dr. Bhatti offers.

Hi @Rogers09  Did you finally select a surgeon?

Hello @Abhinay Singh

Great to see your HT photos. Can you please tell who led/performed your surgery? It appeared to be Dr. Sethi in one of the photos. Is that right?

Good Luck!

@paddyirishman and @nordicwarrior -Thank you for your time, suggestions, guidance, and answering my questions. I am very grateful. Wish you both the very best with your HT. Cheers!

Thank you @California for sharing the skype option. Shera is also in touch with me over PM and I think between the two of you and the skype option with Dr. Bhatti, I will have all my doubts answered in time. 

I am kind of in a fix between selecting Dr. Bhatti's FUE or Dr. Bansal's DHT. There are no other criteria's left to compare. I think I will look at the results from Darling Buds and Eugenix again next weekend and hopefully be able to decide this month.

I think I just need to clear my head a little bit before I take up more time of others.

1 hour ago, skallig said:

Yes, I too don't have a problem if the surgery goes wrong, or if I don't get the expected results. But I also don't want to be over harvested, with no more grafts for future HTs. That's why I was considering FUT first, then another FUT or FUEs in the future. I do feel I'll need many more transplants in the future - referring to how I inherited from my dad. Most of the "bad transplants" here are addressed differently by clinics. Some don't respond, some gets a response after a moderator intervenes. In this case I think Eugenix will be much reliable as they are quite active all the time in this forum. I cannot be very sure about Medispa because they mostly respond on good results

No doubt about that. Over the phone call, Dr. Bansal gave a lot of emphasis to patient care after the operation and said that they are in the process of developing an app which will monitor results for all of their patients after the surgery. You can look at their NW6 and 7 cases. They used beard grafts to compensate for the graft requirement. Eugenix and Darling Buds don't perform FUT anymore (in rare cases they might). So you only have a limited options for that in India. Did you check Dr. Arvind (Dr. A's clinic)? He is IAHRS member and highly reputed. I have seen his name come up in my conversations with other doctors for excellent FUT results. I think his rate for FUT is $1 per graft (as per his website). If you are apprehensive about Medispa, this seems like a good option.

52 minutes ago, skallig said:

I never really got a proper response from Darling Buds. There's one thing about their "suceessfull cases". Every doctor will have good results and bad results. I was so convinced with Dr. Suneet, but then I found a really unfortunate rsults by @thappa. Do share your feedback on your experience with Darling Buds @Indian_Canadian

Dr. Bhatti answered all of my questions (though in one word or one liners), but I wasn't expecting much more from email consultation. When I sent my new photos after haircut to him, he assessed them and increased the grafts from 2500 to range of 2800-3000. He has a discounted price in the summer months of April to June which in my opinion is unbeatable in India for a surgeon of his caliber. Personally, I don't judge the doctor if 2-3 bad cases pop up. What I will judge is how the doctor handled the case that went bad. Was he understanding and cooperative? Did he offer a free repair or refund? How did he communicate and how seriously did he take it? When you chose a HT technique, you as a patient also assume a certain risk. If you want to go the FUT route, there is no better value for money than Dr. Soni I would think.

2 hours ago, skallig said:

Response to @skallig

Thank you @skallig for your response. I completely agree with you. Why not show the photos of the scars an how thin they are over time by actually focusing on them in addition to the combing video. That scar is the biggest thing standing between prospective patients and FUT, so why not clear it out if its no big deal. Its probably because the combing video is good enough for most patients who are desperate for hair. It's almost magical the first time you see those videos. 

Please tell me this - after Eugenix revised their pricing last night, how does AKClinics compare in cost? I have not approached them yet and was not intending to, but Dr. Dua is indeed a big name in the industry. I checked their website, but there are no prices. It seems like Eugenix is the way to go. 

Regarding Medispa, Dr. Soni indeed appears to be on a vacation or very busy. He hasn't responded to my recent messages either (he did initially respond in early 2019). 

I am not taking any medicines except occasional vitamins. I read on Darling Buds FAQ to not use any medicines before HT or at least stop them 4 months before HT if you are already taking. Dr. Arika Bansal also confirmed this. I use a derma roller followed by coconut oil twice a week. Leave it overnight and wash in morning using a sulfate and paraben free shampoo. I eat nutritious food (nuts, greens, fruits, etc.), exercise daily, and perform sirsasana and halasana yoga everyday for 5 min. Also I drink lots of water and meditate twice a day.

Update:

a. Shera from Darling Buds got in touch with me after reading the post so that I can share any queries and concerns with him, and offered to connect with existing patients from Canada.

b. Had a consultation with Dr. Bansal from Eugenix over phone. She looked at the new photos and mentioned that the grafts may vary between 2000-3000. She answered all questions in detail and was very welcoming. Came across as a very genuine and honest doctor. Fun fact - Prices at Eugenix took a jump last night and the package descriptions have changed. They have eliminated any confusion and liability regarding the partial involvement of Dr. Bansal and Dr. Sethi. Now its either them entirely or the surgeons trained by them entirely who will lead the process. Regardless, over phone, Dr. Bansal noted that she and Dr. Sethi are always involved and present to a certain degree and responsible for the procedure irrespective of which doctor is leading it and which package is selected. 

Here are the reasons for choosing FUE over FUT. This list is more for reminding myself because every now and then I get carried away by the thought of an initial FUT with subsequent FUEs. When there is no clarity in mind, decisions become complicated.

a. Less pain, easier sleep, and faster recovery.

b. No possibility of scar stretching and requiring subsequent repair with FUE or pigmentation.

c. No possibility of bleeding or damaging stitches after surgery due to any reason whatsoever.

d. How to commit to FUT when the doctor has not checked the flexibility of my scalp.

e. All other topics are debatable and non-conclusive OR depend on the skill of the surgeon - like expanding of crown area due to FUT, benefit of illusion of similar density in front and back after FUE,  harvesting outside safe donor in FUE, higher availability of donor grafts through FUT, lack of continuity in hair thickness in donor after FUT, etc.

5 hours ago, watterot said:

Hi,

 

I recently got my HT done with Dr. Bhatti after personally visiting both Darling Buds and Eugenix. Both are good options. Eugenix is a bit expensive if you go for the package with Dr. Bansal and / or Dr. Sethi. With Dr. Bhatti there is only one option with him doing the extractions and slits; technicians doing the rest. I am however quite impressed with the recent results Eugenix can come up with. 

Approx 3000 seems like a good estimate for you and your donor area seems strong. You seem to be great candidate for a HT.

 

Thank you @watterot for the insight. I look forward to your post documenting the results of your HT with Dr. Bhatti. Good Luck! Cheers!  

6 hours ago, tesla007 said:

Bhaaji option b seems to be the most credible of all.

Offtopic- Many of my friends have also immigrated to your country. Sometimes I wonder that if healthcare and other stuff is so expensive then why do people leave their country for a country like yours currently?

Thanks you for your suggestion @tesla007 . I can answer your questions about immigration on Private Message. Some immigrants are temporary and some permanent. BTW, healthcare is free in Canada, but cosmetic surgery does not qualify (and should not) under free healthcare, because it is not fair to the tax payers. Regardless, lets reserve this thread for my HT. Cheers!