My hair had progressively got worse over the years and whilst seeking out some of the top surgeons in the U.K. I wasn’t instilled with confidence.
I embarked on my hair loss journey like many from my mid 20’s and noticed my frontal 1/3 had become extremely thin and was looking a lot older in appearance.
I was referred to Dr Mani by a 3rd party to his clinic in London. I had a face to face consultation and spoke at length about what was achievable. It’s funny he actually promised the least out of all the clinics I went to see, and was extremely conservative with his approach, not quoting me 3000 or 3500 grafts like other places had said I needed.
one of the interesting things we talked about was quite often people interchange hair graft and hairs making it sound like you are getting a higher number when infact you are getting the same number of grafts.
I went to see A few other surgeons and also had some remote consultations across parts of Europe.
and although I thought some of the prices were very intiscing I opted to stay in the U.K. I felt there was a higher level of accountability.
Anyway fast forward and I have a confirmed surgery booked in for April 2021.
A bunch of pre-op instructions of what to do what not do we’re sent over but 4 things stick out for me:
1. no alcohol 7 days before procedure
2. no multivitamins 3 days before procedure
3. A button up shirt and umbrella.
4. Ideally arrange a lift for after the surgery.
I arrived at 8:45, and started filling the forms in. After which I met Dr Mani and we went through the paper work, he drew a hair line and then some pictures were taken.
He could see I was nervous but this quickly settled as within minutes he has this ability to make you feel extremely comfortable, almost as if you’ve known him forever but an immensely down to earth, yet provocative sense of humour.
Some routine meds were given and he asked if I’d like some diazepam to help calm any last minute nerves to which I gladly agreed.
the hair was shaven and I was on the bed face down, again some jokes thrown about position both from myself and the dr but just eased any tension I was feeling.
He used his signature method of anesthetic and noticed minimum pain. He described the use of a cannula which apparently causes less trauma and lower resistance which all apparently helps. It was about a 2/10 for me personally.
the numbing took around 7-10 minutes.
dr Mani then proceeded to make the holes into the back of head, harvesting 2200 grafts with the help of his assistants sorting and separating and pulling the grafts out after he had punched a hole into the back of my head.
this took 3 hours in total
I was turners around face up for the rest of the procedure. Some more anaesthetic round the front again for me a 2/10 pain.
he made the incisions using a Saphire blade. And this took another 1hr or so after which we broke for lunch.
id forgotten to bring some food so he ordered a pizza for me and the team.
after a short lunch break I was brought back in to start the final stage which was implanting.
this took another 2-3 hours.
we finished at 5pm, went through the aftercare some final pictures and I was home.
after the surgery there is some minor discomfort and you have to follow a set of instructions the doctor lays out for you.
scabs remained for 11 days after which they fell out,
I started to see some early growth by around month 4 and now it’s remarkable what it’s done for my life.
dr Mittal truely is a testament to his profession a consummate professional and clearly has a sound grasp of hair transplant surgery people skills and knows how to run his team efficiently. The girls working on my head a big shout out for them too, very engaging conversations, although one was obsessed with nursery programmes on Netflix. This made me chuckle.
I have attached some pictures for the surgery. And updated results.
Some of the things I wish I knew before a transplant:
1. It is very much an emotional rollercoaster
2. Make sure you can develop a strong bond with your doctor, I was lucky with dr Mani but it could have gone a different way
3. being face down for 3 hours is uncomfortable on the back neck and sometimes nose. But dr Mani did allow me to adjust as and when needed so don’t be frightened hell tell you from the beginning that he is on your time so to be relaxed and comfortable is important
I still garner advice from Dr Mani and his team and look forward to seeing him soon for my final check up i. December.
oh common question I get asked which is how much I paid £3 a graft.
hope that’s helpful
