Hi,
just wanted to share my experience with Dr. Saifi.
Short about me:
I'm a 33 year old (soon 34) man from Norway. I started to lose my hair at an early age, at about 18. Because i had very thick hair (see picture below) it really was not noticeable before i was perhaps 20.
I lost hair rapidly from the age of 18 - 21 and was NW3 by the time i was 21. At the time i was really expecting to be bald before i was 25. When i was 21, however, it seemed like my hair loss began slowing down a lot. And at the age of 22 i began using finasteride, which i have been using ever since (without side effects). My hair situation has been pretty much stable for the last 10 -11 years with no significant change.
The two pictures below are from about 9-10 years ago. Probably even used some toppik on the picture to the left.
The pictures below are from 2022.
Even though there is notable temple recession, my forelock is pretty strong, which makes my hair look OK when i style it.
As you can see, i have deep temple recession and i also have some diffuse thinning on mid scalp (especially on left side). My temple recession has been pretty much unchanged since i was 22. I have also had diffuse thinning on my left mid scalp since i was about 22. I may have had some hair loss on my mid scalp for the last 10 years, but if so, it's going slowly.
I have thought about having a hair transplant since i was in my 20's. I did, however, not want to have a transplant too young, but rather wait until my 30's to see my hair loss was somewhat stabilized. This year i have a study leave from work and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to go through with it.
I have been consulted by multiple hair surgeons/clinics and decided in the end to have my surgery with Dr. Saifi in Poland.
Why i choose Dr. Saifi:
All the experiences i have read from him on this forum from patients have been positive. When i sent him my pictures, he responded me directly, and told me what his suggestions were. I liked his approach and he seemed like an honest guy, he also told me about the risks of having FUE and FUT. He really seemed to think long-term and wanting to preserve the donor area for the future. They also only take one patient a day, which i find reassuring. Dr. Saifi suggested a somewhat conservative hairline and doing some work on the mid scalp. This was in line with my wishes. Some of the other clinics i had been consulting with suggested much more aggressive hair lines. That may have been nice, but i really do not want to risk it if i need more transplants in the future.
I then shecduled my appointment with Dr. Saifi for 22nd february 2022.
When i arrived in Wroclaw (Poland) the service was great. The clinic arranged and paid for two nights at a hotel and transport. When i arrived at the clinic i met with Dr. Saifi and his team at about 0830 in the morning. We first discussed my situation and expectations from the procedure. He studied my hair and they did an analysis of my scalp etc. After that he drew a suggested hair line, and areas of my mid scalp where they would work on. It was a long day, i arrived at 0830 and left at about 1915 in the evening. My experience was all good. Dr. Saifi and his team was very professional and they talked me through every step of the procedure. The procedure itself was painless and i did not have any pain later that night of day after.
An interesting note is that my forelock has a natural cowlick, which angles to the left. Dr. Saifi had to mimick the angles of the cowlick in this area. An other interesting thing, as you can see on the right, is that he left a strip on my donor area. I discussed with him the possibility of maybe having an FUT procedure in the future, and he suggested leaving a strip on the donor area, which i thought was brilliant.
The two pictures below are 8 days after the procedure. Almost all scabbing is gone now, and have not noticed any shedded hairs yet.
So far i think it looks good. Now both excited to see the progress, and also dreading the coming shredding phase. Will be updating my progress regularly.
