I wanted to post here to give back to the community. If it wasn't for you guys and gals I would never have found about the procedure and made up my mind to finally do it. Long story short - I am 34 and had thin, receding hairline for over 10 years now. I started taking 1mg Finasteride about 5 years ago, and I think it slowed the shedding, but the old hair line was nowhere in reach. I still feel very young (in 20's ), but the receding temples made me look much older than I was I was really struggling with this, my self-esteem was really low recently and It took extra burden in already troubling COVID times.
I have chosen dr Nader based on great reviews in this forum - have not heard about his clinic from any other source. I booked a date two months in advance right next to Labor Day, so I could drive with no rush (I live in Central Texas) and spend some time at the beach before and chill in the shade after the procedure too
First of all - why the title says "Reynosa/McAllen"? Because it is not a "typical clinic in Mexico/Turkey". You don't feel you are in Mexico, you just drive through some (shady, but safe) suburbs for 20 minutes with a hired driver and you are basically in the US again when you enter dr Nader's office. It is modern, very clean, everyone speaks English. Dr Nader and your driver all have US phone numbers. Better yet - Dr Nader is US born and even lives in McAllen. It's just that the clinic is based in Mexico.
I was a bit anxious the day before the procedure, but all stress went away when I was in the office - I always felt very safe, and well cared. I was the only patient that day, so nothing is getting done in rush, there are 0 distractions along the way. First we had an hour-and-a-half consultation. It was great - we got to talk about the procedure, ask questions, set expectations about new hairline etc. Next we started the extraction process - you just lie on a bed similar to massage beds, and the hair is being removed. Painless, except the initial anesthetic (dr Nader is using some vibration device to ease the pain but it's not comfortable regardless). It took a bit over an hour, and about 1400 hair follicles were extracted - a surprising number of 3 hair ones were there too (hoping for a nice regrowth :)). You are then served lunch (great tacos) and move to a "dentist" chair. You have a great view of the monitor with US Netflix and the transplantation begins. Again - painless, except the anesthetic. One thing that is weird is that every incision is made you can't fee it but you can hear it - like you were cutting cabbage . All hair was done replacing in about 3 hours. I felt really good at this point and we talked a lot when we waited for the driver. We crossed the border really fast (we took a different entrance - longer drive, but almost no line) and I was back in ~40 min at my hotel in McAllen.
I immediately loved my new hair line. I was not shocked by the redness, scars or anything, I was just enjoying it from the first time I saw it. I then knew that the only mistake I did was not doing the transplant way earlier - at least a few years!
First night was rough - I couldn't sleep (except a few naps) because I was paranoid that I will turn and my precious new hair would fall off ;/ Next day I was surprisingly ok - I took the medicine, did not feel any pain, and chilled in shade and a loose cap on the beach in South Padre Island. Second night was much better since I got some sleep, but still, no pain or swelling, so I was really happy about the outcome. Third day I started washing my hair, very gently but actually touching it. That day is when the donor area started hurting. The pain is very strange since it's not swollen or it's not skin pain - it's about a missing nerve tip, so it resonates to other parts of your head. The medicine helps, but I will always feel the donor area soreness/needle like pain much more than the transplant area.
Now the pictures - before, during and right after the procedure. I am absolutely shocked that I was missing about 5cm/2" of hairline...