keratin_matters

Donor day 25: The sides are looking a bit patchy. I was a bit concerned about whether this is shock loss or transections given my curly hair or overharvesting. Can anyone help me out here?

Excellent write up. Happy growing from now on!

That's true... The reason they gave is that there could be reactions due to the alcohol in minoxidil. Wonder if oral minox in the meantime may be a good alternative.

The clinic has forbade me from using minox for 2 months after OP on the transplanted area. But I've so many existing hair in there that I'm concerned about getting a subpar result because all the minox dependent hair shed away till the point that I resume it. Need to get this sorted out.

Thanks! resuming it and dabbing it lightly on my midscalp and crown so that it doesn't trickle down on the hairline.

That's the plan.. let's hope that fin and min can hold what I have for decades to come.

Day 9 Update: After three head washes, almost all the scabs are gone now. And I can see all the little hair sprouting out. Feels good. Too sad all these are going to bid me goodbye for some months now. Donor is healing well, it looks okay for now. I'm sure it won't show when I grow them longer. But I do wonder about how many grafts are left for future procedures, which I would likely need. Overall superexcited though, hope everything works out.

Day 5 Update: Itching has stopped and donor Seems to be healing. The scabs have formed as well, can't wait for Day 7 to have my first head wash!

I believe it's 350 inr/graft

Thanks man! They gave me a density of 35-40 graft per sq centimetres on the hairline, the slits were made based on whether there are pre existing hair there or not.

There was one issue I wanted to ask over here. The clinic has asked me to stop using minoxidil for 2 months on the transplanted area to avoid reactions. But those existing hair in my mid frontal region are very minoxidil dependent since 5-6 years now. I fear that by the time I resume minoxidil most of them would go into shock due to being deprived of minox. I'm continuing finasteride but minoxidil dependence is real and I'm really concerned about it. Not only are those native hair going through the trauma of collateral damage but now they are not going to get minoxidil support. What could be a way out of this?

Day 2 update: Adding a donor pic and a pic of my transplanted area. The transplanted area is itching a bit despite keeping it hydrated, would be quite a task to not scratch it during the sleep. I'm thinking about tying up my hands 😅.

Well that's strange.. the highest package with Dr arika is 350 rs/graft which would be 4.37£/graft. But perhaps this is the one with Dr Sethi? He only takes up special cases these days and must be charging much more. This is my hunch, but it's best that you clarify this with the clinic.

I will certainly post a more detailed experience when I receive the HD photos. The advice that I can give is 1) Keep some notes of questions on your mobile notes app. And when Dr Arika comes in, just make sure you go through all of them. 2) Besides this I also asked them to introduce each technician to me with their years of experience to increase my trust. You can do this as well. 3) Communication and awareness is key, they will take care of everything but do make sure to communicate every small thing and expectation. I was constantly asking about the steps being performed, the number of grafts yielded from a particular area, punch size being used, density per sq cm being given,etc. 4) Also a funny thing I noticed is that there were some concerns that Dr Arika is streched between too many packages. But it seems that their Mumbai clinic has only 3 OTs in total so they literally cannot pack anyone more than that. On the other hand, the Delhi clinic has 7-10 OTs I guess, so if you're choosing anything less than the super premium package, the Mumbai clinic might not be a bad option.

That's a big relief, thank you!

No I asked for an all vegeterian indian lunch. It was pretty good though.

Thanks! Do the extractions look uniform? I can't really tell and was really stressed out about this part. Does the implantation look good?

Hey guys! Update on the transplant. 24th September: The day before the surgery. I arrived at the clinic with all of my luggage, did some pre-op over there. This included checking my blood pressure, and giving a small dose of anaesthesia to see if I react negativity. I also signed some forms regarding my consent about hair transplant. I was accompanied by a family member and after all the formalities, we went to the hotel. Now the hotel is Taj ends hotel in Band Stand, Mumbai and my room had the view of the entire mumbai skyline and the Bandra-Kurla sea link. I also went about the sea and saw some famous Bollywood's personalities' houses, and the saw the sunset on the beach. It was a good day overall and prepared me for the next day! My room: 25th September the D day: I was told to report to the clinic at 11 am, I went in early at 10:30 just to be safe from the Mumbai traffic. The process began with Dr Arika drawing a hairline for me, we went for the conservative approach. I also asked her what my total donor capacity might be, she said that a total of 6,000 grafts can be removed from my donor. I was then taken to shave off my hair and take some photos, soon afterwards they cleaned my scalp with the betadine medication. The slits were made by Dr Arika, I had a chat with her about hair transplant related things, the instruments they were using, etc. After the slits, Dr Arika did some initial extractions, 200 if I saw correctly on the board. My main reason for choosing her was that she'd determine the donor area size, punch size, etc. The punch size they used on me was between 0.9 to 1 mm because my hair diameter is quite thick. I told the technician to take a pic of my donor trimmed area to see how big it is. Adding that photo as well. Knowing the native language was a big advantage to me as I could communicate with the techs about the pain, steps being performed, for breaks now and then. The lady giving the anasthesia was also very kind and checking in every few minutes if there is any pain. I could see little about what was going on as I had a cloth on my eyes, but I could understand that one guy was extracting the grafts, one was implanting and was spraying the saline every now and then. Now I wouldn't say that the surgery was not uncomfortable, because it certainly was. I was sitting in odd postures and there was also some pain associated with the anasthesia, but it was bearable, and I was thinking about those amazing hair that would sprout out at the end 😂. They did arrange some nice indian food for me in the break, their hospitality and care was lovely. The surgery went right from 12 pm to 8 pm so it was quite exhausting. In the end, some hairline implantation was being done, after that the surgery was over, I asked the technician to take a photo of my donor at that point. After the procedure, some more photos were taken, I have asked the clinic to send those photos to me in high resolution so that I can upload them here. Here are some implanted hairline photos as well. I was explained the post OP care by the Eugenix team, sleeping was a challenge but managed it somehow. Now come the crucial 7-10 days and the long journey ahead. Thanks for reading and I'd keep you guys updated in this post!

Best of luck for your results too man!

Thank you.. Super excited for this!

One small update, my surgery with @Eugenix Hair Science @Eugenix Hair Scienceshas been moved from 24th September to 25th September due to a request from the surgeon. They were able to book an extra day for me at the hotel, their service and promptness regarding this was appreciatable. So now I'd leaving my hometown early morning on the 24th now, reach the clinic and sort out the formalities.. then explore Mumbai for a bit and then head to the hotel. Is there anything that I should be carrying with me which I wouldn't know about? (I'm not an international traveller, any indians here who can give me any inputs?)

Saw your thread, best of luck to you too!

Yup conservative it is! Maybe I'll request them to go slightly more conservative than the one they drew. I've no problem with a conservative hairline tbh, I've a problem no hairline. XD

Hi all, I have been visiting this forum for a long time now. I made a post an year ago requesting suggestions on my hair loss and how to tackle it. @Gatsby , @Melvin- Moderator, @Berba11, @Britalian had all suggested that I should stay on finasteride longer before considering a transplant as I was only 23. I was already on finasteride for almost an year back then, I waited one more year and I am 2 years on finasteride now. I know waiting for some more months until I actually turn 25 would still be the opinion of many people on this forum. However, I am not going to be able to do a procedure like this one for at least 4-5 years after that due to things that I have planned in my life. If somebody still has a recommendation that I should be delaying this further, please feel free to suggest so, I am always open to rethinking. Rest assured my compliance to medications is excellent, I have been taking minoxidil since I was 19 and have barely missed a day in 5 years, same for finasteride for 2 years. I had an in-person consultation with Dr Arika Bansal from @Eugenix Hair Sciences, my native place is not far away from Mumbai so I planned to do a one day trip to Mumbai to consult with her. I reached a little early for the consultation, so I had to roam around the area for a while and explore before returning to the clinic for the consultation. Everybody from the staff to Dr Arika were incredibly accommodating and their hospitality was indeed good. In the consultation, I discussed my family history with hair loss, the history of my hair loss and of the medications that I have been taking. I also had Dr Arika take a look at my donor, she said that the donor is pretty good but so is everyone else's at 24 and so medications are important. We spoke about the possible ways that my hair loss can progress despite being on medications and how to tackle it, etc. After the discussion, she drew two hairlines for me, one aggressive and one conservative. I am definitely going with the conservative one given my age. Inputs from other members regarding the hairline placement are also welcome.. Attaching the photos they took after the consultation. Cropping out my face for anonymity. P.S: I was quoted between 1500 to 1700 grafts. Soon afterwards, the big question before me was the packages. After much thinking, I decided to go with the premium package with the involvement of Dr Arika. She would be doing all the slits and the crucial extractions. Tbh I have read quite a bit in this forum regarding recent problems with donor management, but I don't have enough money to afford the Super Premium Package, so I will discuss this frankly with the clinic the day before the surgery and discuss how my donor management will be done before going forward with the transplant. One minor criticism I have is that I had a question for them, whether I should be stopping minoxidil in only the hairline where we are implanting or should I stop applying it throughout the scalp before the OP, I was redirected to another person and I reached out to him on Whatsapp, but got no reply for some hours so I followed up and asked if I should be asking someone else but no reply despite the message being seen. Such medical questions pre-op should be answered relatively quickly and a delay of an entire day isn't right. I hope they resolve this, it's a minor thing but small things add up. I have booked the date of 24th September for my transplant which is the coming Saturday. I have a combination of both nervousness and excitement, let's hope the best comes out of it. I will document the entire journey on this forum so that others can benefit from it as well.

Yeah I might go for premium or exclusive with Dr Priyadarshini. Will keep updated here.