hairum-scareum

Hello gk,my hair transplant is doing just fine.Remember these few points: 1.Hair taken for transplantation from an area X has hair of a certain density.If you have a large area of baldness to be covered,the transplanted hair has to now cover a far greater area Y.This means that the density of hair in the transplanted area is lesser.Simply put-your hair transplant will be an improvement over complete bald patches but don't expect magical results.A famous example-look at commentator Harsha Bhogle's transplant.You can see it's not a complete high density growth;but it's an improvement over his old image! 2.You'll see growth after the procedure in about 2-3 months and by 8 months it's fairly good. 3.I scored a 2 on the Hamilton Norwood scale of baldness which can be regarded as mild baldness so my results are fairly better.Anyone scoring more than 4 on that scale should be realistic and not expect to look like Rudolph Valentino.

Hello gk,my hair transplant is doing just fine.Remember these few points: 1.Hair taken for transplantation from an area X has hair of a certain density.If you have a large area of baldness to be covered,the transplanted hair has to now cover a far greater area Y.This means that the density of hair in the transplanted area is lesser.Simply put-your hair transplant will be an improvement over complete bald patches but don't expect magical results.A famous example-look at commentator Harsha Bhogle's transplant.You can see it's not a complete high density growth;but it's an improvement over his old image! 2.You'll see growth after the procedure in about 2-3 months and by 8 months it's fairly good. 3.I scored a 2 on the Hamilton Norwood scale of baldness which can be regarded as mild baldness so my results are fairly better.Anyone scoring more than 4 on that scale should be realistic and not expect to look like Rudolph Valentino. 4.Bangalore Venkatraman's clinic comes recommended.

This is for people who want to get procedures done at Bangalore,India I had my hair transplant done at Dr Venkatram's clinic at Vijayanagar,Bangalore. I have a level 2 recession in the frontal area of the scalp.After searching on the net I got personally in touch with a Dr Sridhar Reddy Pothula at VIMS Hospital,Marathahalli,Bangalore and fixed up an appointment with him.This was during the peak of the swine flu scare and upon entering the lobby of the hospital found everyone wearing surgical masks and looking nervously at each other.I was asked to deposit Rs 300 towards consultation charges(250-consultation and 50-registration)at the desk and to meet Dr Reddy on the first floor and would I take the stairs please.The place has a very strange layout.You actually have to get out of the building,onto the main road and into an adjacent building stairway onto the first floor of the hospital where Dr Sreedhar Reddy Pothula undertakes the surgery and consultations.They have these aluminium partitions and doors with opaque glass,I knocked and went inside.I was expecting a kind of Doctor's consultation room straight away but the main door opens out into a passage which faces rows of hospital beds some of them occupied.One bedraggled figure came out from behind a curtain clutching his head and moaning.At that point I was thinking to myself"Do I really want to do this?"Before I could dwell further on the subject I was approached by a short man in a surgeon's smock and with a french goatee who admonished me with a "leave your footwear at the entrance ".The entrance was right next to the beds.It seemed a bit strange to have footwear so close to the area where they have the surgeries but I did as I was told.I was ushered into a side room where without preamble Dr Reddy took a cursory look at my hair and said that I needed about 1000 grafts.Just like that.No introductions.No Hellos.No what can I do for you's.No what is your problems.He just looked at my receding hairline and decided that I needed 1000 grafts.I politely asked him how he could tell and how much it would cost.He looked at my hairline again and then revised the figure to 1500 grafts.Having done my research I knew that the cost was roughly in the Rs 30-35 per graft for a FUT procedure.To my surprise the doctor said that I was a borderline candidate for surgery and that the cost of implanting less than 1000 grafts and the cost of implanting 1500 grafts would be the same as it involved the same set of anaesthetologists,nurses,stitching,bandage,labour etc and that it would cost Rs 50000 .The argument made sense but the figure did not.I did a bit of math and figured that for Rs 50000 I should have 1666 grafts implanted .The doctor wrote 1500 grafts in my file (which should have cost 45000)and also said that I would have to trim my frontal hair down to a few millimeter because the hair there was thinning as well and that he needed to implant there as well.I asked the doctor whether it would be possible to get the surgery done for less.He gave me his number and said that such matters could be discussed outside the Hospital and he gave me a time to call him.I found it a bit strange that the price could not be fixed immediately and that the good doctor was open to how shall I put it...."negotiations". I almost took up Dr Reddy's offer but something at the back of my mind told me I had to take a second opinion.Having come across Dr Venkatram's hair transplant clinic website, I took down the contact numbers and I fixed up an appointment at Dr Venkatram's branch office at Cunningham Road,Bangalore.I was informed by his secretary that the consulation would be Rs 350-.At the appointed hour I arrived at the office .The lobby had some chairs and some charts and pictures on the wall along with some posters which were beginning to show their age but they were all about hair and were informative nonetheless.I was ushered into Dr Venkatram's examination room measuring about 12 x 5, wherein a rather stern looking man in a fading but cleanly pressed two piece suit with greying hair exchanged pleasantries,asked me my name,my age,my occupation,and what he could do for me.He also asked me about family history,smoking and drinking habits and whether I was allergic to any drugs.In other words he asked questions that a proper Doctor would and should ask of any new patient.I explained to him my problem .He took out a calibrated measuring scale on which the density of hairs were indicated in numericals,held them up against my hair,compared them and said that i needed only about 1200 grafts.I asked him how much it would cost and it was about Rs 35 per graft.I did the math and figured that this would come to about Rs 42000 for the procedure.I repeated my previous question about the price that I posed to Dr Reddy and the man seemed a bit annoyed that I was in the mood for bargaining.He quietly repeated that the procedure would cost Rs 42000 in a manner that suggested that I could take it or leave it.It was just a gut feeling that I decided to go with it and so I paid up the advance by cheque and was asked to undergo blood tests and ECG at any diagnostic center and to submit the results before the procedure.I decided that a in-house test was more in order and underwent the tests at Dr Venkatram's clinic.A funny thing happened there.The nurse took some of my blood in a syringe,held it up against the light and then asked if I was paying for my tests by card or cash.I asked what the difference was.She replied that there was an extra service charge of 2% for a card transaction.I jokingly remarked.."Madam .....you've extracted my blood...now you want to take 2% on top of that?".We had a good laugh about it. Well I passed the tests.My mother was always complaining that I was short tempered and that my blood pressure must be very high but that was normal to...haha.!I was asked to be present at 12.30 pm but the procedure didn't start until 14.45 .Before that I had to change clothes,be given my tetanus shots and have my blood pressure checked again.I didn't bring a movie to watch even though it was recommended because I'm not a movie buff and I thought it would be distracting for the surgical team.I was handed a yellow squeezy ball by a nurse who gave me a wicked smile.She said that if the prick of the anaesthetic needle hurt I could squeeze on the ball to mitigate the pain as and when necessary.The local aneasthetic pricked a bit when it was injected and the skin did feel it was being stretched a bit.But it soon felt numb soon and I didn't feel a thing a short while later.A female voice jutted in about an hour into the operation and asked what I was doing(I later found out that it was Dr .I replied that I was squeezing the ball given to me as hard as I could.She laughed and said no...no...what did I do for a living and everybody in the operation theatre laughed.Needles to say everything went off well.My head was wrapped up in bandage,I was given some medication including painkillers,an antacid and an anti biotic along with a vitamin and sent home.The following day I returned to have my bandage removed.The discharge summary mentioned that I recived 1400 grafts (single hair unit-400, 2 hair unit-600,3 hair unit-400).12 days later the stitches were removed as well. Total cost of procedure: Consultation-350/- Pre operative tests-1100/- Surgical procedure-42000/- Taxi expenses-2000/- Medication for the 1st month-1500/- Ointment for scar after stitches were removed -430/- Total cost =Rs47380/- If I had gone to Dr Reddy it would have been Consultation-300/- Pre operative tests-1100/- Surgical procedure-50000/- Taxi expenses-2000/- Medication for the 1st month-1500/- Ointment for scar after stitches were removed -430/- Total cost =Rs55330/- So not only did Dr Venkatram insert 1400 grafts ie 200 grafts more than what was estimated,He only charged me for 1200 grafts because he honoured his word.I saved Rs 7950/- I also got a much more professional service.I write this also because I notice someone else here has written that Dr Reddy charged Rs 75000 for an earlier patient,Rs 90000 for his relative and then whittled down the price to Rs 80000 after the anomaly was brought to his notice.In other words Dr Reddy even though nominally lower at Rs 30 per graft than Dr Venkatram Mysore at Rs 35 per graft charges more as a lumpsum for his procedure. Hair Transplant as a procedure is by no means cheap.The rampant commercialization of the medical profession has meant that one should take extra care in selecting the procedure and doctor.Otherwise the only thing "hair-raising " about the whole thing would be the cost! Its been two years since I underwent the procedure.Let me make one thing clear.You'll get positive results but don't expect phenomenal before and after changes especially if you are six or seven on the Hamilton scale. http://www.regrowhair.com/general-hair-loss-topics/the-hamiltonnorwood-scale/ Remember....You are NOT curing baldness .You are only MANAGING it.