jleysh

Great, thanks! I hadn’t thought of hairspray, I may give that a try too, thanks again

Thanks Melvin! I’m actually a huge fan of the styling powder haha, maybe it’s just my type of hair but it works perfectly for me. Do you think it’d be safe to use on a transplanted zone?

Hi all, Around four weeks ago I had an unshaven HT, and I'm finally feeling ready to head into the office again after working from home. I know the general consensus is that hair fibres are safe to use by now, but what about styling powders, such as https://www.amazon.co.uk/Schwarzkopf-got2b-Powderful-Style-Powder/dp/B004S9WHUU ? The powder granules are of a similar size to hair fibres so I'd assume it's ok, and I'm going to be using it mostly on my native hair areas (although I can't guarantee some won't fall onto my remaining non-shedded transplanted hairs), but can anyone foresee an issue? If it helps, the ingredients are: Aqua, Silica Silylate, Sodium Benzoate, Citric Acid, Octylacrylamide/Acrylates/Butylaminoethyl Methacrylate Copolymer (NB: I'd prefer to use a clay etc, however I broke my wrist 6 weeks ago and my arm is still in a cast so it's difficult to rub my hands together and apply the clay, whereas with this powder you can simply sprinkle it straight into into your hair. It's also BY FAR the best thickening product I've ever used, in case anyone needs a tip for volumisation!) Thank you so much for your help with this (pretty dumb!) question!

Thank you! It was €3 per graft plus 21% VAT, plus fees for the consultation and medication

Thanks man! Yeah it was still €3 fortunately

Thank you! Yeah, I think I was initially booked for a fully-shaven procedure, but during my consultation on the day I asked if it could just be part-shaven (as I couldn't face walking around bald just yet) and Mwamba said that was totally fine, which was awesome! I booked the surgery in early Feb, so around 6 months.

Thanks for the tips man! Haha I'd LOVE to be able to grow decent facial hair, still lagging far behind on that front! I think we actually exchanged a few PMs earlier in the year when I was considering Mwamba, so really glad to hear you're looking great already On the hairline front, to be fair I specifically requested that shape, so I wouldn't want to put any blame on Mwamba - he nailed it! I just think I'm already getting greedy haha, you're definitely right - hopefully it'll look perfect when I'm older. Thanks again!

Thanks mate, I hope so! Loving your YT videos btw, keep them up!

Hi all, just thought I’d write a quick overview of my surgery with Dr Mwamba last week, particularly since this forum has been so useful over the past couple of years. Thanks to everyone who’s asked questions and posted results here, I couldn’t have done it without you! Background: I first noticed my hairline receding when I was 20 but didn’t start taking finasteride or minoxidil until I was 21/22, partly due to a fear of side effects and probably partly down to a subconscious denial that I was balding so young. Most of the males in my bald so I should’ve been ready, but I’m not sure anything really prepares you, especially as I’d only stopped growing a few years before. Luckily, once I started fin/min, I didn’t suffer any sides and everything seemed to stabilise. Since then, it’s been a combination of medication, on/off microneedling, and short, cropped haircuts that hid my recession relatively well. However, even if no one else could really tell, I could - and at the end of the day, our own opinions (should!) matter more than anything else, right? I didn’t want to spend the remainder of my youth stuck to one hairstyle and checking my hair in the mirror every 5 mins, so I knew a transplant was the only way to go. After a couple of years of stalking the Hair Restoration Network and the Hair Loss Conquerors FB page, I settled on Dr Mwamba as he had great results and seemed really good value for an elite doctor. (Turkey crossed my mind early on in my research, but being pretty young and with my family history I wanted to go to a clinic where I knew the doctor/s that’d be performing the surgery, and could near-guarantee good results and donor management. Totally respect people who do go to Turkey, though! Just wasn’t for me.) The surgery: I took the Eurostar from London the day before, and then stayed at a hotel 10 mins away for 6 days, would definitely recommend both as you’ll want everything to be as easy and comfortable as possible afterwards. On the day of the procedure, I arrived at 9am, filled out a few forms, and had my pictures taken before Dr Mwamba arrived to start my consultation at 11am. We went through my hair loss history before he analysed my hair and then drew on a hairline. I wanted to go conservative due to my age and potential for further loss, and his first suggestion was bang on (looking back now, perhaps I could’ve gone slightly lower in the corners, but I think once everything grows in it’ll look nice, and I guess I can always go back for a touch-up. Side note: does anyone have any tips on how to stop analysing everything in the mirror every 5 mins, and just get on with your life?!) After shaving my donor, Dr Mwamba’s assistant doctor Dr Ali began the extractions. My surgery was split over two days, between 9am-11:30pm on the first day and 7am-4pm on the second. I’d roughly split the involvement of the doctors and technicians down to the following (however I’m sure this differs for every patient): Extractions: 70% Dr Ali, 30% Dr Mwamba Recipient sites: 100% Dr Mwamba Implantation: 30% Dr Ali, 70% technicians It seems like they operate on 1.5 patients per day if that makes sense - i.e. they have one new patient, and another who’s finishing off from the day before. The day was pretty simple, and once you’re numb it kind of feels like you’re just getting a (very very) lengthy haircut - you’re aware of stuff going on behind you, but you can’t really feel it. The anaesthesia needles were fine (nothing that a clenched first couldn’t get me through), I watched the Commonwealth Games on the BBC throughout the two days which was ideal, and they ordered pizza/pasta for me for my lunches. Afterwards, I returned each day (for four days post-op) for an initial wash and then to use the laser/lights treatment that is supposed to speed up healing. Overall: It's very early days, but so far I’m really happy. Everyone was really nice, I was given the opportunity to shave only my donor rather than my whole head, and hopefully I’ll be lucky enough to get a good result. The only thing I was surprised by was that the grafts were taken only from the back of my head, rather than the back and sides. I didn’t get a chance to why, but I guess maybe it was to leave the sides untouched for a future surgery? I think I’ve seen Dr Bisanga only extract from one side of the donor for this reason, but let me know if any of you have any thoughts. I just hope I can wear my hair fairly short without it being too obvious. Anyway, this is getting a bit rambly so I’ll leave it here - just let me know if you have any questions. Good luck, and thanks again! (P.S. For speed and ease I’m gonna copy & paste this post into the Hair Loss Conquerors FB page too, so apologies if you see this twice!) Pictures so far: (Apologies for the lack of quality/professionalism!) Hairline design Directly post-op Left temple post-op Donor area post-op Donor 7 days post-op Hairline 7 days post-op (scabs removed that evening)

@JC71 @Fabulous thank you so much for your thoughts! ☺️ @SadMan2021 will PM you 👍

Hi all, just wondering who you guys would choose - Dr Lupanzula or Dr Mwamba? I've whittled it down to those two as they seem to be top-tier surgeons at fair prices, and have availability at the time I'm looking to have my procedure. I'm currently leaning slightly towards Lupanzula, as he seems to have more case results posted online, but it's also really persuasive to see that Mwamba is recommended here (Hair Restoration Network) and by Spex, whereas Lupanzula isn't One final point - I'm a norwood 3 and have been quoted 2200 grafts by Lupanzula and only 1500 by Mwamba. Obviously I'd rather go with the lower option for both cost and donor retention, but I'm puzzled at the disparity between the two estimates - most other consultations have placed me at the 2000ish mark. Could this be a case of Mwamba underestimating or is he known for getting results with minimal grafts? Thank you so much for any input!

Hi mate, would love to see a 12-month update if you’re happy to post one - thanks!