Icicle

On 2/16/2023 at 4:13 AM, sekiro109 said:

did you end up getting a repair with Dr Mwamba? 

Not yet brother. I’m following his recommendation in regards to medical therapy for a few more months and then hopefully I’ll be ready to do it.

On 2/14/2023 at 2:06 AM, Jerome said:

ive heard of people getting good results from them.

And I’ve heard people haven’t died from playing Russian Roulette.
 

In all honesty you’ve probably heard from people who don’t know what a good hair transplant is and are just fed up of being bald.

Thanks guys, 

some great feedback on this one.

If one is on Finasteride and Minoxidil does it mean you would be able to harvest grafts outside of the ‘’safe zone’’ to use in your FUE procedure since the medication should be working to preserve all of your native hair?

Hello everyone, quick update on my case…

I’ve just been to see Dr Mwamba for a consultation regarding a repair and upon inspection he reckons of the 5000 grafts that Asli Tarcan extracted and implanted only 1000 grew. 
 

It looks like even though they damaged 4 out of every 5 grafts they took, they implanted them anyway knowing they wouldn’t grow but I would look like I had a lot of grafts immediately post surgery plus I would be halfway across the world before I ever found out and it would probably be a year later if I ever noticed.

So it’s worse than I previously imagined.

Thank you for all your answers

Guys how long in your opinion or based on studies do you think you can hang onto your hair post transplant without taking finasteride or and other DHT blockers?

Thanks 

Thanks for the info. Are you not worried about the future of your hair? I’m o my asking because I myself am worried about taking meds.

1 minute ago, gimpoli said:

No meds at all. Mwamba didn't even recommend I do. That includes applying any creams or sprays. No minoxidil, nothing. I think my hair thinning on top has pretty much stopped. Think I had aggravated hair loss from stress/gym nutrition and doing a better job these days to stop taking dodgy pills and manage stress. The donor area still isn't great I know but why I have a 0 low fade, and really short hair on the back and sides. This was taken before I just went for a chop. Less obvious the thin donor the shorter it is I think. That said, look at the front sides of my donor area. That was never touched. I just have a natural thin hair type.

Did he mention why no meds? Because I am in talks with one of his consultants regarding donor restocking and he said they will prescribe me meds to ensure my body hair grows richly on my head.

@gimpoliAre you on medication, does the dr recommend you take it or was that your own choice if so and how many body hair grafts did you add to your donor?

2 hours ago, Dr. Suhail Khokhar said:

Unfortunately, no

Thanks.

4 minutes ago, Hayden87 said:

I'm currently 34. I had a receded hairline by the time I was 20 and was a Norwood 5A by my mid-twenties. Just after I turned 29 in 2016 I had approx 2,900 grafts transplanted into my frontal scalp and started using 5% Minoxidil twice daily. I've never used Finasteride, didn't want to risk the side effects.

For a while the Minoxidil seemed to beef up my existing native hairs on the top of my head quite well, to the point that I started taking my hair for granted and not always using it as religiously as I should have. After a while my hair started thinning but I didn't pay too much attention to it, as I still had a decent hairline in the mirror.

Then when Covid hit, I had quite a bit going on with work changes and relocating back to my home country and my hair-care just ended. Within a year I became a full blown NW6, with just my transplanted grafts hanging on at the front.

I'm currently booked in for a second HT later this year.

To answer your last question, I have never tried natural remedies, nor do I know anyone who has.

Thanks. I’m 38 and thinking of how to make sure I can give my hair the best chance post HT. I also am planning on having another in a year’s time.

1 hour ago, Hayden87 said:

 

27 minutes ago, Hayden87 said:

If your hair loss has not stabilised and you are actively losing hair and do not start Finasteride or any other treatment, you will continue to lose the hair that is susceptible to male pattern baldness.

Your transplanted hairs should be safe, as they are taken from the area of your scalp that is not susceptible. However, if you still have native hair on the top of your head, you could continue to lose that hair, which would result in decreased density.

I'm speaking from personal experience here!

 

Thanks for that input my man. How much hair did you lose and how old are you? Have you started using it and are you happy with your choice? Also did you or do you know anyone that tried any natural remedies that worked?

1 hour ago, Hayden87 said:

No.

Minoxidil can improve the health and therefore, the calibre, of hair that hasn't advanced too far on the process of miniaturisation. However, your grafts should have been taken from your safe donor area, where hair has not been affected by miniaturisation, therefore adding minoxidil to it will yield no effect.

 

Thanks. If you are not sure about using finasteride post transplant and decide later down the line for instance in a year will there be any loss?

Hi guys,

I was wondering if applying minoxidil to your overharvested donor area post transplant can make the hair thicker and not so uneven looking.

Thanks.

@Mr Nilsenis there any reason why you’ve chosen to not use any medication? Are you not worried about losing more hair or the thinning out of your transplanted hair?

4 minutes ago, Mr Nilsen said:

Hi @NARMAK 

I don’t use any medication 

I had a FUT transplant at the Wimpole clinic in London back in 2008 lead by Michael May (1600 grafts)

I also had SMP done in 2015, and it’s worked well (apart from the visible scar at the back of my head)

I’ve started to look around for a trustable clinic (with the help of you guys!)

I’ve looked into the Fuecapilar clinic in Istanbul ( Drs Turan and Gur) and I like it so far, they look like the real deal and not too expensive.

I’ve sent them a message so let’s see.. 

 

@Mr NilsenDid all your transplanted hair stay without the use of medication and did you lose any native hair ?

10 minutes ago, JC71 said:

It’s results being posted that helps prevent someone else going through the same experience. In this case @Mr Nilsenhas arrived on the forum in plenty of time to cancel and see real results such as yours, paying it forward like you have, well its priceless 🙏

Thank you @JC71 

@Eff Brown Have you been in contact with the clinic and if so what was their response?

40 minutes ago, Mr Nilsen said:

Thank you so much for sharing your story @Icicle! I have been booked in for a transplant surgery in July with Asli-Tarcan, but I will definitely not go now after reading this! I am so sorry that you had to go through that! 

As long as I can save someone else from going through the horrendous experience I went through. It means a lot to me that I was able to reach someone. 
 

If you could pay it forward to the next person I’d really appreciate that.

Glad to hear about your success story. It must’ve been a lot to go through in order to finally get to this stage. Wishing you all the best and thanks for your input into this community.

11 minutes ago, mustang said:

He charges separately for it, it's a delicate procedure and requires time and great care to avoid scaring. You are also limited to the amount of grafts that can be extracted. I think the clinic has a fixed fee for plug extraction now but best to contact them cause I am not sure right now.

Thanks mustang.

On 5/21/2021 at 9:18 AM, mustang said:

Yes, no scaring. He has removed over 75 grafts on both temples. No scaring on my beard either were he removed all of the neck and no scaring on my temples.

Small punches, delicate work but overall I think I am lucky as my entire donor doesn't have the white dot classic appearance.

Having BHT added to my donor brought the pigmentation back to the skin and this is quite noticeable. 

Does Dr Mwamba charge you for the removal of grafts as well? Or do you just pay for your surgery and if he needs to remove some grafts from your hairline in order to give you a better result he just does that anyway?

On 6/28/2021 at 7:39 AM, gimpoli said:

Nope, from what Mwamba says, it's the reverse. Grafts transplanted take on the characteristics of where they're going to, not their origins. Blood flow, etc.

Hi, I know this is an old thread but I’m looking into BHT restocking of the donor after a similar situation to yours being overharvested. 
 

Do you have to take any special medications to ensure the chest hair can survive on the scalp and reach a decent length and if so do you have to take it for life?

Thanks.