Just back from HT with Dr Devroye

[LondonTraveller]

Hello everyone

 

It seems this time in January is quite a popular one to have a HT...

 

Just following on the foot steps of VirginScalp who just had his own HT on the other side of the Atlantic, I just had mine in Brussels yesterday under the expert knife of Dr Jean Devroye. I have just created a blog for it and will try to contribute as I can as well as add pictures- please bear with me, I have technical issues with the digital cam at the moment. One idea would be to take monthly pictures for the next 12 months and see how things develop.

 

But first things first, and a big thank you to Pat Hennessy for creating this website which is a great resource. In this era of marketing, patients need as many informational and objective tools as possible to guide them, beyond the hype, through the shark-infested field of hair restoration. As usual, knowledge is key. And for this you can't rely solely on individual surgeons glossy websites. Research, research...

 

So here I was at 38 with significant loss at the temples (NW3) and decided to do something about it.

 

I am originally from France but have been living in London for the past 10 years. As you could expect, I started to look around where I lived and narrowed my choice to start with to a certain clinic in London. Being lured by the fact that the surgeon there held a prestigious position in a professional association in the field I went in for a consultation which turned out to be a disaster. A grand total of five minutes of superficial examination and discussion quickly convinced me that I needed to look elsewhere. My internet research on this clinic soon confirmed my initial impression : Avoid!

 

I then turned my sights to France. After all, this is my home country- home to a world class healthcare system.

 

Unfortunately my hopes were soon dashed and having researched all the forums you could think of, I couldnt find any trustworthy/recommended surgeon : they were either mediocre or plain incompetent or unethical or all of these at the same time! Many of them were overpromoting FUE, others were using outdated techniques like mini/micrografts.

 

What shall I do ? Go to the States? The exchange rates (??/$) could give me a good deal. But wait a second, had I not read that a certain EU country, Belgium, was a hotbed of quality hair transplant surgeons? And couldnt a new high speed Eurostar line whizz you from central London to central Brussels in less than 2 hours?

 

I narrowed my choice down to Dr Devroye's clinic in central Brussels, based on the positive feedback found on this very website (Dr devroye is a member of the elite Coalition), and also some francophone ones. Dr Devroye decided in 1999 to dedicate himself to the exclusive practice of hair transplant surgery after training in the United States under top docs : Cole, Shapiro, Wolf, Bernstein.

 

I was undecided as to whether I should go for FUE or FUT, but based on the numbers required and other factors (1500 FU) I settled for FUT. I knew that I would not want to buzz my hair down and that anyway state of the art closure techniques have been developed in recent years giving you a pencil-thin scar easily hidden even under short hair. Two other deciding factors were : the quality of the grafts/ growth yield (always a big question with FUE- no matter what its proponents argue) and price (FUE is twice as expensive). Please also remember : FUE is not a scar free technique! It is the shape of the scar that changes ( multitude of small circular scars for FUE and a linear scar for FUT). Dr Devroye offers both FUT and FUE ( and even body hair transplant) but believes that FUT offers best value for money in terms of density/yield.

 

I definitely wanted to see the hair surgeon themselves at the initial consultation and certainly not a consultant/salesperson. As I live aboroad, there was quite a bit of logistics involved and I was alwasy impressed by the professionalism and friendliness of his Clinic's staff on the phone and by emails.

 

I had a free hourlong consultation with Dr Devroye in December 2007 at his clinic in central Brussels when he also examined my hair using a special video camera to determine the density of both donor and receiving zones. We agreed on strategy, hairline design, numbers and surgery date! I think it is very commendable in this day and age to see a well known surgeon willing to spend so much time, free of charge, with a prospective patient not even knowing if "business" will follow.

 

OK, fast forward to D Day- 23 January 2007 at 8:00 am- After a bit of paperwork, off I went to the operating table, face down for the strip excision. The injections were barely felt and I found them less painful that the ones at the dentist! Yes there was a bit of noise when the strip was excised but who cares as long as you do not feel a thing at all. The wound was sutured using the trichophytic closure (for those who do not know , it is a way of closing together the two borders of the wound so that hair grows through the scar, thus making it less visible)

 

Then came the important bit : the creation of the incisions with super fine blades- At the same time, 6 very skilled technicians were busy in another room cutting the 1cmX14cm long strip into slivers first and then into grafts of 1,2,3,4 or even 5 hairs.

 

They were doing this under binocular microscope only as the quality of the cutting is crucial for grafts growth and only by using microscopes can you achieve this ( the naked eye or loops are insufficient). I was fortunate enough to have good density so I ended up with 288 free extra grafts! I found this very generous and professional ( please note that in some clinics, not paid-for grafts end up in the bin). I was allowed to have a look under the microscope and it is facinating to see these cute little things so nicely and thinly cut...

 

A nice light lunch was provided and then placement started in the afternoon. Two highly trained techs and at times Dr Devroye himself placed the grafts into the tiny incisions. My grafts had the unwelcome tendency to sometimes pop out of the incisions- God knows why- but thanks to this very experienced team things turned out all right in the end.

 

Dr Devroye drove me back to the 5 star hotel where I would stay for the night (at the Clinic's expense) and then the "fun " bit started. It is very important to keep the grafts hydrated- this helps with their survival and it also prevents the formation of scabs. I therefore dutifully sprayed the grafted area every 20 minutes with the spray given to me thoughout the night. It is well worth the effort in my opinion.

 

Yes there was a bit of discomfort at the back of the head in the scar area but easily put under control with the medication included in the "goodies" bag given to me at the end of the day.

 

I had a post procedure check up the following morning where things were OK. Then off to Eurostar and back to England in the afternoon! ( I had taken time to visit Brussels at the time of the initial consultation).

 

I will post pictures when I can since words without evidence are not enough.

 

Overall a very professional experience and I thank Dr Devroye and his team.

 

In conclusion I would encourage european patients and in particular English patients to consider travelling to Brussels to the "Clinique du Grand Roi" where Dr Devroye carries out surgery. It is not necessary for Europeans to fly to the States to get quality work.

 

Now in my case as in the case of all HT patients, patience is the order of the day (for growth).

 

Cheers

 

1788 FUT- 23 January 2008- Dr Jean Devroye

Trichophytic closure

#1- 360

#2- 744

#3- 492

#4- 150

#5- 42

 

Current regimen : Finasteride : 1.25mg /day

[balody]

good informative post lt.look forward to the pics.wow the dr actually drove you back to the hotel?dr farjo recommended a good italian resturant but he didnt offer me a lift there

good growing

[Guest josh - b]

What a very detailed, glowing and gushing first post.

Do u have any pre and immediate post op pics to share? (i'm afraid some people here are a little sceptical by nature)

[LondonTraveller]

Hi

 

No i do not have pics at this very moment.

 

I have asked Dr Devroye to send me by email the ones he took on the day of the op , plus I will fix my own camera so that I can take my own pics.

[LondonTraveller]

I have just noticed a slight error in my first post : the procedure took place 2 days ago on 23 January 2008 ( not 2007)

[chucky]

Hi londonTraveller

Thanks for posting your experience.i have been reading up a bit on your doctor and his work looks great.

I am looking forward to seeing your pictures.

[LondonTraveller]

hi again

 

Here are some pics as promised

cheers

[LondonTraveller]

and another one...

[LondonTraveller]

and finally one post op pic

 

More pictures as and when I take them will be posted in the blog.

[LondonTraveller]

I have added this pic to show that it is possible to hide the procedure virtually completely from the first day, by using the existing hair (in this case a "comb forward").

 

Cheers

[Bill - Seemiller]

London,

 

Wow, what a great read!

 

Thanks for sharing your detailed experience and your photos.

 

You know, I have to admit; when I saw your preoperative photos I wondered why you were even undergoing hair transplant surgery. But it is often easy to conceal thinning hair in the front when the hair is combed forward.

 

Nice ultra refined work from Dr. Devroye!

 

Keep us posted on your progress.

 

Bill

[LondonTraveller]

Hello Bill

 

Thanks for the comments. The thing is that I have been relying very heavily on a "comb forward" in the past few years, which has recently become far less effective in hiding the loss and results in a quite unnatural hairstyle.

 

I do not want to look like a certain US property developer magnate in terms of "comb forward" if you see what I mean.

 

Cheers