PT#31

In the meantime, @Rolandas has already answered you. Just wanted to add that the scars that you most see right in the middle of the donor area, are from Dr. Pekiner (don’t remember right now but I guess he used a 0.9mm-1mm punch). I think that Dr. BF’s scars are very small. Nevertheless, he told me that it depends a lot on the patient and I’m one of the cases which the scars remained more visible. But I’m totally fine with that as I use long hair.

Most of the time he used 0.8mm; sometimes 0.85mm.

Please see below. Right after the second day of surgery. Super clean, in my opinion. Dr. BF told me that I should have a buffer of more c. 2000 grafts in case I would like to reinforce a specific zone, in the future (that’s not my intention).

Indeed. The evolution is crazy since month 2. My hair is darker than my “original” color which also helps to have a better coverage. Very happy so far! Will see how it goes in the next 6 months.

Hi guys, I haven't done updates for so long... sorry for that. I had my second surgery on the 7th and 8th of January - mid-scalp and crown. In this second surgery I've done 2980 grafts with a ratio of 2.61 hairs/graft. The surgery went again very well and I loved Dr. Bruno Ferreira's performance as well as his team of nurses. In the first 2 months, almost the entire implanted hair fell (please see the photos) but afterwards the evolution has been very positive. I did 6 months on the 8th of July (please see the photos) and I think the results are amazing so far (considering my case and my expectations). I already have very interesting coverage and love how natural it's looking - this was something very very important for me. I remain super happy with the choice I made with Dr. Bruno Ferreira. I'll keep you posted and will give you feedback in the next months.

Just did 4 months now, after the second surgery and everything is going well. I have to update you guys with some photos. Will try to do it next weekend. Sorry!

Thanks! Yours look pretty good also. Super natural! And when I watch to your videos, I agree with absolutely everything you say about the Dr. Bruno and the staff. They were amazing!

Hi everyone! I haven't said anything for a few months but I'm sharing now the photos from the 7th month (29/12/2020). I'm very happy with the result so far as it is super natural! The hair is darker than my original tone but I think it is normal and should lighten with the sun over the years. Two days ago I did the second phase of the surgery (mid-scalp and crown): 2980 grafts (after this 2nd surgery, Dr. Bruno Ferreira believes that I still have over 2000 grafts that could be used in a possible third surgery for potential touch-ups). Dr. Bruno Ferreira did not touch anything in the front line (1st surgery) as he believes that (a) the survival rate was 100% or very close to it (I was afraid of the slight fungus I had) and (b) I'm only with 7 months (regarding the 1st surgery) and thus the hair will grow even more. Once again, it was a painless surgery (I fell asleep in 3 of the 4 sessions); I swallowed nothing in the front line and practically nothing in the mid-scalp and crown areas; nurses Ricardo, Liliana and Catarina were super helpful and I am very happy with the choice I made in this team! I will keep you informed and will share some photos of the second surgery as soon as i have them from the Doctor.

Will do my second surgery on January (mid-scalp and crown). The plan is to do another one of c. 7000 grafts, lets see!

Yes, I’m having finasteride again. This was agreed with Dr. Bruno, before decided to proceed with the surgery.

Hi guys, sorry I haven't posted before. Let me share with you some updated photos. With 3 months, I realized that a fungus appeared right on the border of the mid-scalp (in the photo below it is not very clear). As the skin has been fallen, I've been losing some grafts - I hope I'll be able to recover all the grafts or most of them. I took an antifungal for 15 days and washed my hair with a proper shampoo during a month. Apparently, I no longer have the fungus. Right now I'm with 4 months and started to see some transplanted hair. I'm happy with the results for now! Will keep you posted!

I saw your post before going to Dr. BF and at the time I thought “for the first time I see a case similar to mine, with very thin hair” eheh

Hi everyone, I'm going to tell you a little bit of my story, because I believe it can help some of you guys! Started to feel more baldness in September 2014 and so, started taking finasteride (1gr / day), but since then I have had two interruptions (3 months in 2015 and 15 months in 2018/2019, because I wanted to cleanse my body before trying being a father - this last time, I felt shock loss and probably looked just like I never took finasteride). For that reason - and since I had some friends who made hair transplants and encouraged me to do it -, in the beginning of 2019, I seriously began to think “hair transplant… why not??”. I did my research, read and saw several feedbacks in forums - mainly here at HRN -, exchanged many opinions with my friends who had already done the transplant and selected my short list of surgeons. I further reduced the short-list and chose a doctor: Dr. Khan Pekiner (Turkey). I liked his work that I saw on the forums and one of the things that weighed most on my decision was the fact that Dr. Khan does all the surgery, from the extraction to incision and implantation. Speaking English was also positive. The constant interactions with his assistant (Alex), sending several videos and photographs were essential for me to get confidence in the surgery as well as the doctor I had chosen. Alex was incredible, always answering my questions, at any time of the day. Then, I scheduled my surgery for December 2019. We drew the front line, shaved my hair and started the extraction. After 267 grafts extracted, Dr. Khan decided to stop the surgery in order to talk and share his concerns. He told me that the grafts he was extracting did not have the quality that he was expecting and he could not guarantee me that, when implanting those grafts, the result will be the one we both expected, claiming that I had miniaturized grafts. For me, it was like a punch in the stomach! Not even in the worst scenario I thought that could happen! We talked a bit, pondered and decided not to proceed with the surgery (I noticed that there are some people in this forum with whom something similar happened too). We ended up by implanting those 267 grafts that had already been extracted, right in the middle of the scalp. I was very grateful and impressed by Dr. Khan Pekiner's ethics, professionalism, friendship and human side. Many would have gone ahead with the surgery without even saying anything to me, running the risk of years later not seeing any results. However, I didn't want to give up without looking for a second opinion. And so, after four weeks, I decided to contact a doctor who was already on my short list: Dr. Bruno Ferreira. The main reason I ended up not deciding for Dr. Bruno, was the absence of cases on the forums/internet and that left me uncomfortable. We had the consultation on January 2020, we saw the donor zone under a microscope and the Dr. Bruno readily concluded that I was a candidate for a transplant. The doctor explained to me that I only have few miniaturized grafts but for him there was no problem at all because I had a lot of “non-miniaturized” grafts and the main challenge will be the fact that I had very thin hair, with a tendency to be light and that I would never have a perfect case but, given my characteristics, I would look very well, and quite better than I was. I loved the conversation with Dr. Bruno - he was very transparent and clear to me; I was very happy and decided to move on to the transplant. The plan is to do two surgeries: the first one for the front line; the second one will be for the mid-scalp and crown. Finally, had my first surgery at the end of May 2020 and I confess that I was extremely impressed with Dr. Bruno's technical ability, for several reasons: . The anesthesia… I felt practically nothing - only the first needlesticks - and, Dr. Bruno said to me, he used to use little anesthesia. The truth is that I did the whole front line and didn't swell up too much, which was incredible. . He handles the manual as well as the motorized component: most of the surgery is motorized but whenever necessary, he operates manually . His technique is very smooth, and he was always concerned about the surgery in order to be totally painless. It is very easy to fall asleep during his surgery! . Most of the time he used a punch of 0.8 mm; sometimes of 0.85 mm I had this first surgery (front line) in two days, totaling 3.219 grafts, with a 2.54 ratio between hairs/grafts. I always told Dr. Bruno that I preferred to keep the line, including my temples, in order to have more coverage and to look as natural as possible. I didn’t want to go down the line too much as it might seem unnatural. We ended up by keeping the top of the line, but slightly reduced the temples. I’m very happy with my line!! Everything went very well in the post-surgery, I swelled almost nothing - considering that I implanted 3.219 grafts in the front - and I believe it was related with Dr. Bruno’s technique. I was treated very well from the beginning. They provide me a room just for me, so I could get dressed and undressed, eat, relax etc. The two assistants/nurses Ricardo and Neuza were amazing! Very friendly, with constant concern for my well-being, competent, relaxed and with interesting conversation. I am very happy with the decision I made, and I thank Dr. Bruno Ferreira for all his performance! In the first month, after surgery, I only had few grafts falling (I believe I washed my hair too soft!). Throughout the second month, I washed my hair "normally" and the grafts were falling out. Let’s see the results!