juanjs84

8 hours ago, JohnAC71 said:

+1 agreed we are definitely due a update on this 🙏

Sure, this is me last week after a haircut. Thanks for asking!

13 hours ago, SLA said:

@juanjs84When I read your write up of your experience, it seemed that most of the extractions and implantations were done by the technicians.

Did you find that they were well trained and experts at extraction and implantation? Was Dr. Arika checking in periodically to make sure everything was going well?

Thanks!

There were always many technicians around but only the senior ones were working on me (the rest were there to help them). It felt like they knew exactly what to do all the time so I would say that they were properly trained. 

Dr. Arika and Dr. Shishir were checking periodically and they will always be there at the beginning and end of the session. I would say that they participated on 40% of the extractions and the rest were done by the technicians.

After first haircut, 2 months and a half after transplant 

1 hour ago, InTheSix said:

do you mind sharing a link to your video bud ?

Here they are, listening to myself is so embarrassing... I have to improve my English...

On 1/6/2021 at 12:53 AM, Mjain said:

Great description, thanks @juanjs84. Quick question please - did you experience any side effects with Finasteride in the past and are you continuing to use it? Did you discuss this with Dr. Arika and what was her take on this? Are there any alternatives? Thanks in advance! 

I am still taking 1 mg of finasteride everyday with no side effects because it was what the clinic recommended me and it looks like the best option. In the spanish forum that I follow I have read about dutasteride, saw palmetto and RU58841, but I have not commented any of these options with the clinic because I am fine with finasteride. In the past I tried minoxidil, I believe it made the hairfall more slow but It did not stop completly so I do not use it anymore.

11 hours ago, SLA said:

I hear you @juanjs84. I would have mixed feelings as well. The video came out great.

Are you traveling all the way from Spain to India just to get checked out in person?

No advice around haircuts. I would assume if you trim the donor area, it will make the top look fuller, however, I am not experienced and would check with the clinic. Since you are experiencing very early growth, I think in another couple of months, the top will most certainly catch up!

 

My in-laws live in India so I am traveling to meet them. As we will land in Delhi we will stay one night there and visit the clinic. We could not go there before coming back to Spain and even if I am not worried about the trasplant I would like to get their opinion.

On 1/3/2021 at 8:10 PM, SLA said:

@juanjs84I saw your video you made with Eugenix as I am subscribed to their YouTube channel.

Great job and thank you for doing this as videos like these are very helpful!

 

Thanks @SLA I was not comfortable with the idea initially, but the people in Eugenix were very supportive and it turned to be a good experience. I am still in touch with them and I hope to meet them by the end of the month so the doctors check my progress in person.

I am thinking about getting a haircut, any advice?

On 12/24/2020 at 9:22 PM, Seniormido said:

Why they make slits if they are using DHT ?

The slits are done by the doctor previously so the technicias know where they have to implant the hair. They are not required as you say, but like that you are sure that the way the hair is implanted is decided by the doctor. 

On 12/17/2020 at 2:49 PM, HCH said:

Hey Bro,

Hope everything is going well. how's your progress now?

Hi,

This is how I look now.

Every case is different as well as the expectations of the patient. In my case it is too soon to know how it will look but all I can say is that I am fine if my crown is covered with few grafts because I know that anyways it will be better than before.

5 minutes ago, SLA said:

That is a good point and you are lucky to have dense donor.

Did Dr. Bansal give you an estimate for how many total lifetime grafts they could extract from your scalp donor?

 

I didn't ask about it, but I think I have already reached my limit.

23 hours ago, SLA said:

So true,...lots of positive vaccine results in the past week here in the US with Moderna and Pfizer so I am optimistic!

As a NW6, did you have concerns about using FUE over FUT in maximizing your lifetime donor supply? I know there is heated debate around this in the HT community with most (although not all) reputable doctors advocating for FUT 1st for higher norwoods.

 

I thought about it, some people gets FUT first and then FUE to improve density. My hair in the donor area is thick and curly, and the density is good, so 4000 graft shouldn't be problem. The final result depends of a FUE procedure depens of the expertice of the clinic and Eugenix has a lot of experience so it should be fine. Likewise the scar of a FUT procedure will be more small if the doctor is good

8 hours ago, BaldingEagle1 said:

I’m so jealous of those that have went durin covid.. is India even opened? I live in US lol

It is impossible to get a tourist visa to go to India in many countries, I could travel because my wife is Indian. I hope that the covid situation get better soon so we can travel again as before

6 hours ago, Gatsby said:

That's an excellent write up @juanjs84. You chose an excellent clinic and one of the best for a Norwood6/7. Several people on this forum have been to Eugenix and had beard grafts used also. Zoomster is one and his results are stellar. Thanks for sharing your story and I look forward to your results. All the best!

You are right, there are few clinics that are able to fix a NW6/7 case, that's why I decided to go to Eugenix

1 hour ago, JohnAC71 said:

Very nice and detailed write up. Thanks for posting, the work looks super refined. Eugenix have created a very nice hairline. 

Thanks John, I have read that your are thinking about geting a new transplant using your beard, do you know anybody who has done it? Eugenix is well known for it, and in Spain some doctors have started to use it, but I haven't met anybody in real person and my case is too recent to give a personal opinion. I just can say that I don't have any scars but I don't know how the hair will grow.

I was norwood 6, initially we were planning for 3500 grafts but I did not want to keep my crown empty so we decided to increase the number of grafts up to 5000

I have been reading this forum for a while and this is my first post. I got my operation done on 4th november and I thought it would be good to share my experience because one of the thighs that helped me to learn were the real cases that I could find in the forum.

About me

I currently live in Madrid and my age is 36 years. I started with minoxidil when I was 18 when I saw that I was starting to lose hair and because my grandparents, uncles and father are bald. That didn't stop the hair loss so I tried finasteride, but my GP told me that it could have side effects and unless baldness was a big problem for me he recommended me to quit, so in recent years I have not used anything to stop baldness. During this year I have been seriously thinking about having a hair transplant animated by the information found on the internet, I have started to take finasteride  and have made visits to several clinics in Madrid, making the final decision to do the transplant in October.

About the clinic

Among the many options available, I evaluated the best Spanish clinics and looked at those available in India because my wife is from that country and we planned to go in November this year. After researching with a little more depth about top Spanish clinics and top clinics in India I saw that the best clinics in  India offer good  results but at a much lower cost than in Spain. But as is happening in many countries there is a lot of research to be done as there has been a large increase in clinics in recent years which has made it harder to find good doctors. In my case I decided to go to Eugenix clinic as it has shown very good results with many patients, they are very transparent with what can be achieved and with what can not be achieved (they do not sell miracles), they transmit great confidence, I have known real cases of their patients and they had availability in the month of November (something that in Spanish clinics was practically impossible).

The technique they use is Motorized FUE DHT in which grafts stay off the scalp for less than 30 minutes. The first step is to prepare the receiving area by making slits with a needle that will serve to implant the hair later. In the second step, the hairs are removed and implanted simultaneously to put them in the slits made in the previous step. For the extraction, motorized cole punches  are used that releases the follicle, tweezers to remove it and  sava implanters  to put the follicle in the previously made slits.

Eugenix  has several clinics in India, we decided to go to the one located in Delhi to avoid extra trips and because in it we could count on Dr.  Arika who has had a very good training and experience, and along with Dr.  Pradeep is the owner of the clinic. Another advantage of doing so in Delhi is that this clinic has a floor with rooms where you can stay so during the days of operation you do not have to worry about getting up very early and if any problems arise the doctors are also in the same building to be able to see what problem there is.

About the personal experience

Due to COVID-19 the simple fact  of traveling already worried us as we had to take many precautions and fill out a few forms in order to travel. Due to travel restrictions we made a PCR in Madrid two days before traveling. In addition, on the second flight (we went from Madrid to London and London to Delhi) we were made to wear protective  screens. Despite everything, the flight was like any other I had already done and in my case I was able to sleep half the trip. On arrival, as promised, a driver was waiting for us at the airport who took us directly to the clinic. There they extracted blood from me for some tests and I had another PCR done again. In the afternoon we spoke to Dr.  Pradeep  and Dr.  Arika, who did a preliminary analysis and introduced me to a couple of former patients so I could see that after several years their results were maintained.

The next day it all started. Together with Dr.  Arika we performed the design of the implant and decided the grafts to extract, because of their experience we chose to be conservative, without lowing too much the hairline and covering the crown diffusely. The plan was to divide the transplant into three days and implement 5000 grafts. On the first day most of the work was done by Dr.  Arika, she made the slits to mark where the first 3000 grafts had to be implanted and extracted about 1200 grafts, the implantation was made by the most senior technicians of the clinic. As the operation of the first day was 8 hours, we had a break to eat and a couple more since at some times it became uncomfortable to stay in the same position for a long time. On the second day, the doctor made 2000 more incisions and technicians performed the extraction and implantation of 2800 UF. This day was 10 hours of operation so we did more breaks. On the third day, technicians extracted 1150 grafts from my beard, implanted 1000 in the incisions made the previous day. The remaining ones were decided by Dr.  Arika to give a little more density to the crown.

During these four days, breakfast, lunch and dinner were provided by the clinic. As they do not have a kitchen, they ask you for your preference and request food from nearby restaurants, which in my experience were all good. Also, I was able to talk to Dr.  Pradeep and other clinic patients, that made me feel like I was at home all the time since the whole team cares about answering any questions and even during the night you can call them in case you think something isn't right (in my case nothing happened).

The postoperative

The last day of the operation the doctor gave me some recommendations and medications for the first 7 days after the operation, and a series of guidelines for the first 30 days. I have already spent the first 7 days and have not had any difficulty (except problems sleeping comfortably with the neck pillow) so for now I am quite happy.