BackFromTheBrink

I can say that with manual extraction my recovery was far quicker than with motorized. However, they were with different surgeons so it's difficult to know which made the difference.

I'm not an expert on the Eugenix packages/ prices but there are many patients on here so they should be able to help provide the information.

I'd certainly avoid smile at all costs - there have been several cases I've seen where they've decimated the donor area. In your position, every graft counts so it's really important not to be tempted by the low price and guarantees of success they may provide.

I also wanted to talk to the cost you were quoted. Finding a satisfactory outcome will not be cheap given your situation.

However, the medication is very cost effective - certainly less than 100 dollars a month for those 6 months to assess how you tolerate them and hopefully respond.

PRP is a few hundred dollars a go, but i don’t think you’ll see any where near the value in doing that.

You didn’t mention which clinic you had spoken to.  The US has some excellent surgeons, but I wouldn’t personally choose them unless I had a very large budget. Even then, I think I would probably select outside the country.

The gold standard (in my view) is Dr Zarev. However, he only does in person consultations and has a very long waiting list. If anyone can get the grafts you need out of your scalp, it’s him. He’s expensive for Europe, but at €5/graft, probably cheaper than the clinic you spoke with locally. 

Eugenix have a variety of pricing options from as little as $2/graft but with your case, I’d opt for one of their founding surgeons and pay the premium. 

I'd agree that you should start on finesteride and oral minox to see how you respond to the medication.

I'm less convinced by prp and laser caps.

In terms of surgery, you need to prepare yourself for a long journey. I'd suggest you would need in the region of 7-8k grafts over multiple procedures. I doubt you have that amount of scalp donor capacity, so it'd mean considering body hair (which produces single hair grafts with a lower survival rate).

Consider clinics like Eugenix who specialise in high Norwood cases with limited donor capacity. 

Edited to add: it may be the photo/haircut but your hair looks thinner lower in your head, so I would also be aware of the possibility of retrograde alopecia.

56 minutes ago, HappyMan2021 said:

As long as you remain committed to this false belief that a 22 yr old NW5 should only need a 'one and done' surgery, I dont think you will ever be at peace with this process. Your expectations do not meet the reality of this journey. 

 

That's not how I read his posts. I read it as saying that he expected to need multiple procedures. However, what he also believed was that through those surgeries he would have the capacity in his donor to give the illusion of a full head of hair.

He believes his first procedure did not give the yield that was promised, expected or required to meet that end goal. 

I'd tend to agree with him.

14 minutes ago, toon_toon said:

 

If you or someone else can find some bad results from for example Laorwong, I would appreciate if you shared this info. 
Thank you 

Surely you would therefore be interested in results from all 4 of your prospective surgeons?

Do you have any pictures of your current situation that other members may be able to use to help you with your choice?

6 minutes ago, toon_toon said:

I just came with examples from real life patients.

Only thing I want is for other people to make their decisions based on facts.

By the way: It seems like you could be paid by Yaman. Praising every result/ thread like he’s a God.

Ive no idea if you have any kind of association with a specific doctor. However, it appears you promote one in particular in most of your posts. Have you had surgery with him?

I wondered this too. I’d read that scar tissue from the first transplant could delay hairs breaking through the scalp in the second (assuming they’re both in the same area).

in my case it’s hard to tell. I’d say anecdotally my second is slower than my first, but my second was also mainly in the crown which has a poorer blood supply. It’s also hard to tells since in the first I could see every hair that grew and now they’re hidden by the first.

11 hours ago, Rahal Hair Transplant said:

@BackFromTheBrink,

thanks for the compliment. I checked the video dozens of times and I didn’t see any place where his face is shown. Now, I know there can be hiccups from time to time especially when The result is fading out in the text is fading in. But just to be safe, I will make a small change that should solve this problem. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.

Best wishes,

Patient Advocate - Rahal Hair Transplant

No problem. It's still there. I've sent you a message with a screen grab from the latest video.

A great result - very effective use of grafts!

Quick suggestion at 1:21 the patients face is unblurred as the text is overlayed on the video. I'd suggest that be changed to maintain the patients anonymity.

9 minutes ago, austx said:

Im looking for crown specific. I'll keep searching. Thank you. 

@Gatsby have a crown procedure with them recently 

The search functional on this site should provide lots of patient results for Eugenix.

2 hours ago, IntoTheSea said:

I feel like at my point, even a solid aesthetic improvement will change a lot for me. But if 3000 grafts doesn't make a difference then I would probably just cancel the hair transplant because there's no point. I can always eat the deposit and reschedule in a year if things change, (oral minoxidil and micro needling I still need to try).

My first transplant was 3100 grafts as a Norwood 5. I was lucky in that I had a high hair to graft ratio and high survival rate. However, it made a very big difference to my appearance, so it is possible.

If I were you I'd look to frame your face, and work back on your scalp with decreasing density, leaving the crown.

You said you'd booked a surgery? Who have you selected? In your position, I feel it's important to choose a top tier surgeon to make best use of your available grafts, and someone highly proficient with body hair (assuming you have sufficient BH grafts to use).

You're Norwood 5, heading to 6.

Usually that'd take a minimum of 5-6k grafts to get full coverage. 

I'm not sure what your donor is capable of supplying, but i would guess that for most surgeons, it wouldn't be possible to extract what you need.

I'd consider whether you could use body hair to make up the numbers or a surgeon such as Zarev who maximises extractable grafts.

It'll certainly be a number or surgeries. Even with 3k grafts quoted, you'd want to focus on the front part of your scalp. It could well make a good aesthetic improvement, but it wouldn't get full coverage.

My case was similar to your but with a strong donor, and I'm 5.5k grafts into this without full coverage yet.

8 minutes ago, Ollie Goodwin said:

Just saw this reply thanks very much for confirming that. I’ll be travelling home ASAP did you have much swelling etc? One thing they haven’t talked about is washing etc the following day? Do they give you any pillow for plane or after care products etc? Thanks. 
 

is there much to see around the hotel or is it remote? 

I had a little swelling but nothing unsightly. You'll be given an antibiotic cream to mix up (with aloe vera) to apply to the donor area, bandages if you need them and shampoo to use for the few couple of weeks (starting day 4 I think).

The hotel is about a 20min walk into the city centre. There are restaurants within a stones throw though. 

The challenge is the heat - you want to keep your head out of the sun.

29 minutes ago, wprevil said:

Thanks for the advice. Just so you know, Couto is my doc. I'm scheduled for 3000 grafts spaced out on 3 separate days or 1000 grafts/ day for those 3 days.

I already told him that I cant take any meds and he's ok with that.

He suggested that after my procedure, I not read up on, discuss or do any researching regarding shock loss, issues with transplants, etc. He says that can pump stress hormones which can exacerbate the results of the surgery. Its hard not to do these things since theyre on the forefront of my mind.

I think that’s good advice. Choose a brilliant doctor, explain the situation so he can treat you appropriately, and then trust him and the process.

29 minutes ago, wprevil said:

Yeah youre right. Its just that I'm going by Perez's yt video. Plus I'm freaking out at the slightest issue which may be a reflection of what could happen to me. I'm just worried about outcome, thats all. Didnt mean to alarm folks.

Youre also right that it was just ONE case. Looks like thats enough to send me over the top.

I understand the anxiety, I really do.

However, it’s good to try to stand back and assess the entire pool of information/cases if you can. 

it’d be easy to talk yourself (and anybody else) out of a transplant. It’s really the last option and there’s no denying it does come with risks attached.

In that particular case, it’s probably down to extremely aggressive hair loss with no medical therapy to halt it. Transplanted hair is donor dominant so effectively takes the properties of the donor hairs. If those hairs were due to fall out anyway, then they’ll still do so. Similarly, if surrounding hairs native to the recipient area were due to fall out, they still will, and perhaps give the illusion of transplanted hair falling out.

9 hours ago, wprevil said:

Listen dude I dont mean to add more worry to you. But getting a transplant I think is a very bad idea. I recently found out that a known celeb had 3 transplants which caused his hair to thin.

This is highly worrisome cuz I'm thinking now of calling off my surgery.

 

To paraphrase - you saw one case in the public eye and despite knowing nothing about their situatio, concluded all hair transplants fall out, despite being on a hair transplant forum where that clearly is not the case.

When you spoke to the surgeon did he mention planning your transplant with the consideration that you will not have future procedures and cannot use finasteride?

If you plan for the worst (your existing hair will decrease significantly over time), then you’ll want your remaining hair to not look unnatural (such as a really strong hairline and weak midscalp).

You have chosen a good surgeon, so I’m sure this will have been anticipated, assuming he understands your situation fully.

The are also other herbal remedies you may want to try to lower DHT as well as topical solutions that are less likely to go systemic.

My recommendation would be to arrange another call with him, hopefully you’ll be able to agree a mutually acceptable compromise whether than be a specific surgical plan, or helping refund some of your deposit.

12 minutes ago, Melvin- Admin said:

Do you have a thread? 

I don’t. I keep promising I’ll post one, but my case is relatively unspectacular as it’s basically a procedure for density so it wouldn’t be the most exciting! Even the placement pictures are uninspiring since my existing hair largely covers them up.

I posted this on another thread but I do think it’s made a good early difference. I’m happy with the hairline, and am now waiting on my crown to grow in.

before 2nd surgery 

3 months after:

9 hours ago, ScottishGuy21 said:

Interesting thread. Never heard of this Dr before but his works looks very good from what I can find. His old Instagram account suggests he had some involvement in a clinic in Barcelona too.

Would be great to see more real time threads on here.

He used to be a director at a clinic in Cyprus then set up on his own. He occasionally flies his entire team out to Barcelona and operates out of there, but his main clinic is in Cyprus.

I think he’s a solid surgeon who offers a fairly unique approach (manual punch and partial shave).

Yes, it was really easy. It's a relatively small airport so collection is simple. The hotel is very comfortable (and includes breakfast) and the drivers to/from the airport, hotel and clinic were great. 

There's a Cypriot Uber eats equivalent so I used that for meals.

Everyone speaks English so there's no problem there.

Take a good book/iPad and you'll be just fine.

I had a 2 day procedure and stayed a couple of extra days before flying back.

13 hours ago, Slickster76 said:

Hi, all...I'm new to the forum and really in need of help. I had undiagnosed Chron's disease since I was a kid, and started losing hair at 17 years old. I had a transplant in my 20's and again in 30's...from Bosley (now I know that mistake). ...and now am in my 40's, with severe loss in my vertex...but looking to end this nightmare.

I don't have the most donor hair left ... though I DO have some, as well as beard, etc. I've only recently learned about the abilities of Dar. Zarev and how he gets a massive yield, even with damaged donors. I live in the US, so a little nervous about going to Bulgaria and that long of a trip for surgery like this.

I was wondering if anyone can point me in the direction of surgeons in the US that mirror the miracle work of Dr. Zarev. Or is he the best?

Again, I'm brand new to this network... I think I have one real chance at finally getting this right...I hope I do. I'd really, truly appreciate any guidance. Thank you in advance.

Zarev is without doubt brilliant, and is the best (IMHO) practicing surgeon for high Norwood cases with virgin donors.

Given his unique method, he prefers to use scalp grafts and also prefer to be the first to operate (since other doctors perform extractions differently to him).

That's not to say he doesn't do BHTs or repair cases as be does both. However, I couldn't say I had seen enough published cases to assess whether he's the best surgeon for body hair transplants or repairs.

If you don't want to travel there are elite surgeons in the US.

However, they're generally more expensive than in Europe.

In your position I would also consider Eugenix, though only if you can make peace with the need to travel.

55 minutes ago, Ake said:

1 week for light exercise (walking) and 2 weeks for normal exercise. Your body will let you know what you can and can’t do. 

Heavy bench press is probably the exercise you don’t want to do.

It’ll mean pressure on your grafts against the bench (which probably isn’t the most sterile of objects) and high blood pressure to your scalp. 

Your body will be recovering from several thousand small ‘injuries’ - I would give it the chance to do that rather than repairing muscle damage from training.

i would personally leave heavy weights until 4 weeks afterwards and resume light training (cardio or training with lighter weights / no heavy compound movements)  at 2 weeks. 

Your grafts are anchored in the 1 to 2 week period, but given that you won’t lose any significant muscle mass, is it worth it?

Stick with Couto, and save your 7k cancellation fee. You’ll get a better result from him anyway.