DeVito

Dear all, I hope you are well. A bit about myself - I am 37 from the UK, I have been suffering from hair loss since my early 20’s. It was devastating for my confidence and did everything I could to hide it. In 2013, at the age of 27, I underwent an unshaven FUT transplant under Dr Madhu (Hyderabad) - at the time his results on various platforms were positive and I took the plunge. I had some good results at the time I was keen to have a good head of hair while I was getting married etc and it really did do the job. I had one sticking point from my experience at Dr Madhu’s - my scar was high and long (ear to ear). Impossible to have any short hair cut and it always needed to be covered with the hair above. Every time I sleep on the back of my head, the hair above will stick up for all to see, the questions and anxiety about the scar itself really shot my confidence, maybe similar/worse that the actual hair loss itself. I must again note, that Dr Madhu was a gentleman and I felt comfortable at the time - some of these decisions partially occurred due to my naivety (and FUT was a lot more common in 2013 that it is now), but I did not expect to have this much of an impact on me. Unfortunately, I fell into the trap of NOT taking medications. I just was not educated enough about it to consider it in the front of my mind, so I stopped once the provided supply ended. The years flew by, without medications, of course my native hair receded back coming close to my FUT scar. For years, daily - dry shampoo, loreal concealer and eventually Toppik fibres had saved me and had given some illusion. Summer 2023, the Toppik fibres started not to hold and I needed to figure out what to do (my crown at this point was becoming very noticeable). At this point, I jumped on some Oral Finasteride 1mg/day - for the few months I have been taking it - it has made a considerable difference in the crown and mid-scalp region. I had been watching a lot of Dr Bhatti’s videos at the time - it had come up randomly on my Youtube shorts (it’s like it can hear you). It seemed like this was the way forward. I had a consultation with him - expressed my issues especially with my scar and much further hair loss. He offered me a dense transplant with a Z-plasty repair of my scar. I was convinced and locked in a date. I had some personal issues, which caused me to postpone the date, but I then started to deep dive this goldmine of a network and the rest is history. It is a fantastic resource and many thanks to the founders, mods and the posters here - who have done so much for so many - I hope to pay it forward in a small way. I am ecstatic to day that I am Day 1 following my 3 day Surgery at Eugenix, my experience here has been fantastic so far. The team are just incredible, truly a well oiled machine. I have nothing but positive things to say about this place. I will always remember their “Cleanliness is Godliness” mantra. I chose the package with Dr Das, (with Dr Arika doing the planning/hairline design and frontal slits). Dr Arika was away from the clinic during my first operation day - so no other than Dr Sethi stepped in! What a fantastic soul he is - all of them are! I have had just under 5000 grafts, from scalp and beard. I will post in truthful detail (with some photos in the next day or so) - when I get them. I am due to see Dr Das tommorrow and have a few questions I would like to clarify while I still have a few days in Delhi, the team have been kind enough to arrange a follow up session with my second donor clean. On reflection I would like to get my scar filled more, given the anxiety it has caused me - maybe with some beard/chest hair. (I have seen some fantastic examples and result on this forum and I also am aware the risk is high - but overall I feel it’s a risk I am willing to take). During this procedure, there has been some filling, but I would like to be a distant memory for me, it would be great if this could be tackled more aggressively. I would like the team to have a further look in a few smaller areas to see if the density could be improved - would be great if this could be a one and done trip. A question to the members - I am considering starting Oral Minoxidil (I have been recommended 2.5mg initially and the increase to 5mg by Dr Somesh) - how soon can I start this and does it have any shedding affect following a transplant? Hope to update in the upcoming day or so. (This feels like a therapy session).