Anon99

I have not but also would love to see some results. I’ve seen a lot of FUT scars being “fixed” by SMP but unsure on the results on FUE 

4 hours ago, VM1994 said:

Sorry to hear you had an unsatisfactory outcome. It's single biggest concern people of have about having any kind of surgery. The general consensus by most/all reputable doctors is 22 is too young to consider going under the knife. Many of us on this site to carry out our due diligence to minimise the risk.

• How many doctor's did you consult before making your choice? 
• Were you rejected as a suitable candidate by any of the doctors you consulted?
• When did you get the procedure done?
• Legal action should be considered a last resort. Have you spoken to the clinic? what is their view? and what have they offered to remedy the situation?

So I did the classic of messaging places in Turkey which all said yes but then thought I’m not even risking that as had heard the risk of having young and everything else involved with those sorts of clinics. The resources I saw online all warned against overseas clinics and said go to a hair restoration specialist who can physically look at your hair and advise accordingly, if you’re worried about it. 

I was about to reach out to book a consultation with Dr Reddy to come up with a long term plan (how I wish I did). However, I saw that there was a clinic closer to me with a Dr who seemed to say all the right things (importance of age appropriate natural feathered hairline etc) and offered free initial consultation - which as it was a UK Dr I stupidly didn’t see as a red flag! 

After the initial consultation with the patient advisor/clinic owner I even sent an email containing the following as he was very pro HT:

”As I said in the initial consultation my only worry is about further hair loss. An in person consultation with the surgeon would definitely answer my questions about this as he can physically judge how strong my hair is in other areas and advise on further preventative measures
etc.” 

In the consultation with the surgeon I literally raised the risks that he should have and was told I was an exception, was just panicking and reassured that my existing hair going shouldn’t be a worry for years - especially in the crown area which has since started thinning! 

I got the procedure done in November 2021.

The surgeon has apologised and offered to fix for free but I don’t want them to touch it again. The other issue is what he’s caused cannot really be “fixed” in a one off session as had I been advised properly I wouldn’t have gone ahead at all due to the reality of having to constantly chase further hair loss and even running out of donor hair. The alternative is just lasering it off if recipient area scars heal and then embracing further hairloss - which would mean I’d have to try and cover up fue scars with smp should my aggressive hair loss continue!

In short, I’m likely going to be left with permanent visible scars (which may or may not be adequately covered by smp) or facing 2-3 further surgeries. 
 

What I think is even more unethical than operating on a 22 year old is having a 22 year old tell you that they could “just about” live with their hair now (due to the way I styled it) and was just terrified about losing any more, reassuring them that you’d heavily reinforce to safeguard against further frontal loss, saying their crown won’t thin for years and then not reinforcing at all! Now it’s thinning further after 6 months it’s mental torture - its like he’s taken my biggest insecurity and fear and made the consequences of that (further hair loss) 1000000x worse! 

2 hours ago, NARMAK said:

OP, there's a possibility like others have said you might be able to get something like a refund etc. if you pressured and so on, but like mentioned above, the people who have had these elective procedures and go wrong, often end up having to repair the work with a more reputable clinic. 

It's not ideal, and tbh, i didn't quite understand what you meant by "Take Dutasteride on top of Finasteride and PRP" but if you were already taking Finasteride 1mg everyday for example, it's not recommended to take Dutasteride as well. The way people do it is to take Finasteride like say 5 days a week and Dutasteride 2 days and slowly increase till the switch over sometimes completely. Finasteride blocks about 41% scalp DHT and 70% body DHT, whilst Dutasteride is stronger but still around 51% scalp DHT for 90% body DHT blocking and because it cause a much bigger drop in your body DHT, people can experience more side affects. 

With the nature of hair loss, being told you are on Finasteride even say everyday and probably won't thin on your crown is an educated guess some could make and end up wrong very easily because hair loss is sometimes unpredictable. 

You were only 22 and tbh this is why people do say to be on medication till around 25 to see how your hair loss shakes out firstly and if you can prove stability then they consider you a more suitable candidate. 

Finding this forum after the fact is probably becoming more common, but don't despair. You are probably still in a position where something can be done in the right hands, but i won't sugar coat it. The journey is going to probably be a bit longer, expensive and you will need to really start educating yourself on what may or may not be possible as repair cases are more limited. 

Thanks for the reply. So I’m now on moxoxidil, finasteride 1mg per day and 0.5 dutasteride once per week which was recommended as an additional option when I went to see a top doctor about fixing the situation. I went there wanting to explore all my options and was told it not to even try them. 
 

The issue with the “educated guess” part would be fair had I not said I *thought it was thinning* and that it felt thinner. He looked at it and literally said it wasn’t and I was just panicking and over focussing on it. Of course, that was music to my ears and I, stupidly, blindly trusted him. 

4 hours ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

Not explaining the risks isn’t negligence. Unethical, maybe, but not medically negligent. Medical negligence pertains to your personal health and great bodily harm. Thousands of men were left disfigured in the 80s and 90s, many on here like @BeHappyand @Gatsby if winning lawsuits was easy, everyone would’ve sued. 

Ok, perhaps “negligence” and not gaining “informed consent” are different things but regardless, informed consent is required by UK law. 

It might be a long shot but someone has f*cked up my life by actively mis-informing me and I can write reviews as much as I like (which I will), but in my mind the best way to protect others is through the courts.

In terms of 80s/90s cases I do feel there are some key differences. A lot of the informed consent case law in the UK is relatively recent* and, additional to the botched results, courts are more understanding of psychological trauma these days.

*See: Thefaut v Johnston [2017] EWHC 497 (QB)

8 minutes ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

This isn’t the board to give legal counsel or refer to legal counsel. Generally, winning lawsuits on elective surgery is difficult. Most clinics make you sign a contract that stipulates that results aren’t guaranteed and you may develop scarring, etc. Basically hair restoration is a risk you agree to do knowing the risks involved. Unless you can prove medical negligence, it will be difficult.

Ah ok - apologies. I was just hoping that someone who’d been through a similar bad experience might be able to help. 
 

The main part of my case would be negligence as had the risks been explained to me properly I would *never* have gone ahead. In fact, I did raise a number of the risks but was made to feel like I was catastrophising and stupidly I blindly trusted the surgeon as they were a UK doctor and telling me “good news” about something I was insecure about! 
 

It’s so wrong that a forum of “normal” citizens offers far better and more ethical advice than a doctor! I think a lot of the other HT resources could learn a lot from this forum - rather than just warning against “overseas clinics”, which gives a false sense of security, they should warn against all clinics/surgeons other than a select few E.g. Reddy/Ball/Farjo etc in UK who are trustworthy!

34 minutes ago, NARMAK said:

OP, i think there needs to be some context to your situation but generally speaking, suing against elective procedures like a hair transplant where there's so many subjective factors even in the UK will prove tough and likely not many options. 

Also, i don't think people could steer you towards legal options but the naming and shaming of clinics on here can maybe help somebody else avoid the same fate if you provide context. 

Will definitely do full review in time just want to see legal options fully first. 
 

From the research I have done I understand the following can be part of establishing negligence:

> Single/short preoperative consultation:

     One 10-20min consultation months before the procedure. A week prior I called the clinic to ask for another one to plan exactly what we were going to do but was reassured saying “there will be LOADS of time to go over everything on the day of the procedure with the surgeon”

> Excessive pre operative reassurance

     Went to the clinic - aged 22 - just concerned with preserving my existing hair (have an email to the clinic patient advisor that proves this was my mindset). I was overly reassured that my existing hair in crown region was ok and that my concerns about it thinning were me catastophising. 6 months on and my crown has since thinned. I was also discouraged from other methods such as durasteride instead/on top of finasteride and PRP. I now know it is impossible to judge the speed of hair loss without monitoring over a period of time! 

> Consent as a moment

     The consent form was done on the morning of the procedure, about 10 mins before we started, AFTER I had paid and had my head shaved. I remember joking to a technician “it’s too late now” as I worked my way through the huge checklist of risks. 
 

The majority of people on this forum (which I WISH I’d found beforehand) know the immense risk of a HT at 22 and this surely cannot be conveyed by a tick box form 10 mins before a procedure AFTER being prepped for surgery and parting with a substantial amount of money! 

> Reckless surgery

     In the initial consultation the surgeon drew on a line with a laser that I was unhappy with as it was too high (I have a natural widows peak and it formed a sort of weird triangle in the middle of the hairline) so then drew on one which was lower saying it was too low as it was below the facial muscle - I agreed. He then scrapped the laser and followed the facial muscle, which we both agreed was conservative, natural and would look good both now and when I age. Additionally, it would’ve been the tiniest “improvement” to my the area that had thinned but mostly reinforcing the existing hair and therefore safeguarding against further hair loss - hence I agreed to go ahead on the principle that I’d been told my crown wouldn’t thin for decades and my frontal area would be heavily reinforced. However, on the morning of surgery this exact process was repeated (I presumed he would have remembered or made notes from initial consultation), except everything seemed rushed and rather than drawing on the facial muscle line after saying the lower one was too low he said “ah I remember, I can see the facial muscle line so we can follow that and I’ll just use this (lower) line as a guide”. 

Subsequently, I have been left with an unnaturally low hairline!  

Hi all, would really appreciate anyone steering me in the right direction for legal advice in the UK. Useful resources or even better a solicitor that understands the specifics of a hair transplant and crucially how a “reasonable body” of competent hair transplant surgeons would act, would be incredible. 

I have tried some no win no fee but they seem to cream off the cases that they know will settle for a large amount outside court and don’t really seem to grasp the specifics of how a hair transplant surgeon can be reckless. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated! 
 

16 hours ago, Gatsby said:

This is what a world renowned SMP artist can do when it comes to scars. You definitely have excellent options. But just as I have been butchered and you have been I would never want one single person more having to go through this. When you're ready you will be preventing lives from being destroyed. Think about it and wishing you all the best!

Wow thank you so much that has certainly helped me a lot psychologically! And don’t worry I will definitely do a full review - including any repair and/or removal work. May I ask, who is the SMP artist that did such amazing work? 

16 hours ago, Gatsby said:

You might be better off just shaving and having SMP. Sorry this happened to you because it shouldn't have! I understand how you feel but if you name the surgeon/clinic you will be saving other 22 year old guys from having to go through the same mistakes. All the best!

Will definitely do a full review with pictures etc in time - currently exploring options legally as in UK and even have an email stating my only concern is further hair loss so will refrain for now (sorry).
 

Current short term plan is once my existing hair grows out I can at least have it long and hide the recipient area for now so I can try and live my life. Long term I do think you’re right I’ll have to embrace and go for shave and SMP over the scars - hopefully I can get rid of transplanted hairs with no recipient area scarring in long run and just SMP over the scars and go natural bald guy look. In your experience how effective is SMP at covering ~2000 fue scars if I then shaved hair to grade 1/no guard with clippers? 

15 hours ago, BurnieBurns said:

It is possible to get fue extracted from the the hairline with virtually no recognisable scarring if you go to an elite surgeon. I've also been a victim of a hairline planted way too low and am booked to get it fixed.

Any suggestions for UK or Europe for total removal? I have seen Dr Cooley offers electrolysis in US but that might be a bit far for me!

Hi I stupidly underwent a hair transplant 6 months ago aged 22 with a UK surgeon (who I’m not prepared to name yet). I originally wanted to discuss with a hair loss doctor about stronger preventative measures (dutasteride/PRP etc) however - as this was a UK surgeon  - I foolishly completely trusted them when they said I didn’t need to worry about further hair loss for a long time due to strong existing hair and was a good candidate for HT. As I’d been worried about my hair this was music to my ears and foolishly went ahead with a HT in November. However, I instantly smelt a rat post surgery, approx zero reinforcement (which I had stressed was important to me to safeguard against future hair loss and had thus shaved my hair to allow), asymmetrical hairline, hairline too low (below facial muscle) and temporal points mis-angled! Anyway, as I actually liked my previous hair and have since thinned slightly on my crown (meaning another HT now - aged 23 - would be reckless) I was wondering if anyone has advice/experience on hair removal with laser/electrolysis and then covering fue scars with smp (which hopefully I won’t have to worry about until I’m in my 40s). NB: I have been on fin & minox ~1.5 year and dutasteride once per week for last 2 months following consultation leading Dr 

On 3/16/2022 at 9:12 AM, Charlie said:

hi my name is Charlie and im 24, I’d say my hair loss started when I was 18/19. I’d consider myself a nw2.5/3, been thinking about a transplant to fix my hairline for the past couple years and looking to book one in for Jan 2023. I’d appreciate any advice for drs and clinics in the UK as I don’t want to travel abroad for the procedure.

I’ve been on finasteride for 10 months and in the that time I think my hair loss has stabilised as I don’t have much hair fall. Recently started oral minoxidil and currently 2 months in with no regrowth as of yet.

one clinic I have come across is HQ transplant in Cardiff with dr Milin, they seem to be a fairly new clinic with some good results on their Instagram page. The clinic is run by a former all black rugby player (Xavier rush). 

Family history - 

my dad is 55 with a receding hairline (nw3) with some slight thinning on the crown, but overall a decent head of hair for his age.

my maternal grandfather was a nw3/3a? At 60ish (pic included). He was a high Norwood in his late years (80+) with just his forelock remaining.

 

Don’t go to HQ. Charge very similarly to Dr Ball but won’t offer you alternative course of action that could regrow hair first and negate the need for ever having a transplant! If you’re really concerned you could go for 1mg fin daily, 0.5 dutasteride once per week, monoxidil, derma rolling & PRP - all still significantly cheaper than HT. Whilst some of the aforementioned may not work, chances are you will get some regrowth if diligent. Additionally, have you ever thought about a change in hairstyle? Yours looks great as it is, but if you are keeping it like that to hide your tiny receding areas it can be tiring and play on your mind (wind blowing etc) there are plenty of great hairstyles out there rocked by gents with far more hair loss than you - E.g. Henry Cavill.