2157 FUE grafts by Dr. Tejinder Bhatti

[NotOld]

I'm 39 years old from the USA who's been slowly losing hair for about 10 years. I finally took the plunge to get a HT and completed my FUE procedure yesterday with Dr. Bhatti in Chandigarh, India. I'll post my journey and update the results in the hope that it may help anyone who is considering the procedure (especially with Dr. Bhatti).

 

It took me about two years to finally convince myself to do the procedure until I was finally sure that the benefit would outweigh the risks and cost.

 

I chose Dr. Bhatti mainly due to his timely communication, his cost and more importantly his results. Based on his experience and seeing the videos on his website, he gave me the confidence that he knew what he was talking about. Reading many positive reviews about him on this forum (especially from the detail experience by midnightio75, here) convinced me that I chose the right doctor for my case. Midnightio75's detail report about the procedure gave me a very good picture of how the procedure would go through so I didn't have many surprises.

 

I'll post some details and pictures in the next days, weeks and months. Stay tuned.

Edited February 16, 2013 by NotOld

[Blake Bloxham]

Congratulations! Look forward to reviewing the results.

[NotOld]

I called Dr. Bhatti around mid-Jan 2013 but since he was busy, I spoke to his assistant. This was the first time I called any HT offices but I've pretty much decided to get the procedure done by Dr. Bhatti as long as his schedule permitted. I felt that I already knew him from the videos that I watched and the reviews from other people. I asked for the earliest available time and I got Feb 15th date.

 

I sent a deposit of $250 on 1/25 and then Dr. Bhatti sent me some links to videos and information so I can be more prepared for the procedure. During several weeks of waiting, I asked him questions almost daily through emails and he always replied very quickly (generally within 2-12 hours). This responsiveness made me feel better about my choice of HT doctor. If he was patient enough to answer all my questions in timely manner through emails, I feel that he would be patient enough with me in the operating room. I asked about travel, accommodation, consultation, etc and he answered my questions without sounding irritated, annoyed or rushed. Believe it or not, I didn't even call or talk to him once before I went on my trip to India.

 

I flew in and arrived one day before the procedure. I went in to Dr. Bhatti's office for an initial consultation that day to ask all my remaining questions and the detail of the procedure. During email exchanges, he indicated that I might need around 3000 grafts but after seeing me in person, he said that it would probably be about 2500. I ended up getting "only" 2157 grafts because I didn't want my hairline too "ideal"/ low.

 

The next day, I arrived at the office at 7:30am. To tell you the truth, I was a little surprised when I arrived and found out the location of the office building. Before I arrived, I had imagined that the location would be clean like US office buildings or dental offices but this location felt like in the middle of the market. Having said that, Dr. Bhatti's office and operating rooms are clean (except for a couple of bugs that I saw in the reception area). I didn't worry much about the cleanliness since Dr. Bhatti and staff always washed their hands with soap and made sure their hands and equipment were clean before handling any procedures. Despite its outside appearance, the inside facility was kept very clean. He also mentioned that he planned to move to Chandigarh downtown area (sector 17), which would be bigger, cleaner (location wise) and nicer.

 

Below are my pre-op photos.

Edited March 13, 2013 by NotOld

[NotOld]

Dr. Bhatti's staff were really friendly and knowledgeable. They were very polite and cheerful all throughout the procedure.

 

On my procedure, I asked Dr Bhatti several things:

 

1. I wanted to keep my hair long since I've never shaved my head since I was a baby. I would be back to the office within a week and a half and Dr Bhatti mentioned that I could cover the donor area with the long hair and also disguise the planted area momentarily from the side hair for several weeks. In any case, I planned to wear a hat to work for the next few week.

 

2. I didn't want my hairline to be too low and too defined. I wanted the outside hairline to have a slightly random pattern. I just thought that it was how my hair looked like before.

 

During the procedure, Dr. Bhatti cut a little bit of my front (forehead) hair because he wanted to plant some hair in that area to make it look denser.

 

1. 8am: The staff started to wash my hair with yellow (surgical?) soap.

2. 8:30am: Hair was cut, I was ready at the operating table and Dr. Bhatti started numb injections. I never like needles and hated this process. It lasted for about a minute but it felt like an hour to me.

3. 8:50am: Dr Bhatti started drilling holes for the grafts for about 45 minutes. He said my grafts were healthy with mostly 2-3 hairs per-graft and was 5mm deep instead of generally 4mm deep. This process wasn't that painfull but it was uncomfortable for me since my neck faced sideways and was slightly raised.

4. 9:45am: The staff plugged out the grafts that were drilled earlier. This was a painless process

5. 10:20am: Dr. Bhatti numbed my forehead and started punching needles on my forehead for graft opening/ placements.

6. 11:10am: Above process is done and we took a break for breakfast that the staff had prepared: a sandwich and a cub of milk tea.

7. 11:50am: graph placement by 2 staff members.

8. 2:30pm: graft placement done. Lunch break.

9. 3:15pm: Since ~250 more grafts were needed, Dr Bhatti removed ~250 more grafts

10. 3:30pm: Grafts placement by one staff member.

11. 4:00pm: Procedure was done.

 

Procedure photo below.

Edited February 17, 2013 by NotOld
Adding more pic

[Raj Jayukdht]

Notold many thanks for posting your HT experience with Dr Bhatti, Im sure this information will help me and other members of this forum who are thinking of having a HT with Dr Bhatti. At this stage I have one question, how come Dr Bhatti staff members placed your grafts (your point 7 and 10) I thought Dr Bhatti would have done this?

 

"Dr. Bhatti sent me some links to videos and information so I can be more prepared for the procedure"..would you be able to email these links if I give you my private email address

[GNX1]

wow! thats one of the tighest packed hairlines ive ever seen. and very natural lookn. impressive.

[Blake Bloxham]

Thanks for sharing!

[NotOld]

Jayukdht,

 

For me, I didn't care much about who placed the grafts. Dr Bhatti had punched the slits on my forehead and the staff members put the grafts on those slits according to the place and angles that Dr. Bhatti provided. In addition, I'm sure those staff members have been trained on how to place the grafts especially since they have been working with Dr. Bhatti for years (one of them has been 5+ years). In addition, Dr. Bhatti inspected the results every 30 minutes or so.

 

My guess for the reasons:

 

1. As long as the staff have been trained, they would be capable of doing this job. No (big) safety issue can result from this.

2. They are much younger compared to Dr. Bhatti so they may have better eyes and perhaps, hand stability.

3. This will enable the job of graft placement to be shorten by half because more staffs mean faster completion.

4. This also allows Dr. Bhatti to do a smaller job for another patience.

 

You should send Dr. Bhatti a private message for your question on graft placement if you are still interested to find the answer on why he didn't do it himself.

 

As for the informational videos, I know most of the information already before Dr. Bhatti sent them to me because I did a lot of researching and watched a lot of his videos before I chose him to do my FUE. He mainly reassures his future clients that they've made the right decision to choose him and letting us know what to expect during the procedure. You can PM me and I'll send you the info.

 

- NotOld

[NotOld]

Thanks for the encouragement, GNX1 and Future_HT_Doc. I'm satisfied and excited on how the hairline looks but still want to wait the end result in a few months.

 

Below are my pics three hours after the procedure. When I went back to the hotel, I noticed that blood was dripping from my donor area. I wasn't panic but was a little worried. I put more gauze on top of the affected area and put some pressure on it for a few minutes and the bleeding seemed to have stopped. The staff gave me some gauze and saline to take home to be applied every 20 minutes before I go to bed.

 

The only discomfort that I experienced after I came back to the hotel was that I couldn't wrinkle my forehead easily because it was still swollen. Notice my bulging forehead in my pics. Other than that, I mostly forgot that I just had a HT done on my head that night. I accidentally slightly touched the graft area twice since I had a habit of combing my hair with my fingers. Luckily, I realized them quickly enough when I touch the top of my head and felt the short hair poking my fingers.

Edited February 20, 2013 by NotOld

[NotOld]

I slept well the day after the surgery although due to jetlag, I couldn't sleep very long (~5 hours). I went to Dr. Bhatti's office at 9am and his staff taught me how to clean the planted area with saline and shampoo by tapping lightly on it. I have to do this twice a day for 1-2 weeks before I can completely wash my hair. This regular cleaning is to help take the crusts cleanly without negatively affecting hair grafts too much. The gauze on donor area was replaced.

 

My forehead was still swollen 24 hours after the procedure. In fact, I felt that the swelling got a little bigger. Hopefully, it'll go away in a couple of day.

 

Anyway, after cleaning, the staff gave me a run down on what to do for the next 2 weeks. They also provided me with an option to purchase 6 months supply of Finasteride (Propecia), Biotin and Minoxydil foam (Rogaine) to help grow the hair faster. I purchased them since they were relatively cheap. I'll see if I'll take consume the Finasteride tablets due to its warning of side effects.

 

Because I didn't have any further plan that day, Dr Bhatti arranged for a taxi for sightseeing and some shoppings, which I did. I planned to stay 3 days after the procedure although I could actually go back to the US that day. The 3 days rest would hopefully help heal my donor area faster so by the time I go back to the US, my donor area would be mostly healed.

 

Below are the pictures after 24 hours of operation.

[Raj Jayukdht]

Many thanks for keeping us posted on your HT. Enjoy the sightseeing, its a very nice city.

[LondonHTseeker]

Congrats, looks like you could be in for some impressive results. Thanks for the information, Dr Bhatti seems to be running a tight ship. I hope to book surgery with him soon.

[NotOld]

Jayukdht,

I PMed you the information.

 

LondonHTseeker,

You wouldn't go wrong with him. He and his staff are such nice people. They would make you comfortable during the procedure and the reported results from his procedures have all been positive.

[Raj Jayukdht]

Cheers got the stuff...can I ask how much you paid for the hotel?

[NotOld]

Jayukdht,

Depends on the room that you choose. I haven't checked out of the hotel yet but I think the quote was between Rs.3100 - $3800 per-night after hotel taxes, etc.

[NotOld]

Yesterday was the second day after my HT procedure. It was a good day for me since I got to rest the whole day and could catch up with work. Also, the gauze was taken out of my donor area. The only problem was that my hair was dirty/ sticky since it had not been washed for 3 days. Most people that do hair transplant shave their head so there's little need to wash the hair but I'm keeping it long.

 

My hair is the oily type and added with blood from the procedure, which hadn't been cleaned, I didn't feel comfortable. I asked Dr. Bhatti if I could wash my hair on the third day and he mentioned that it would be better if his staff washed my hair just to be safe.

 

Below is my picture after 2 days. Not much change from yesterday.

 

By the way, I asked Dr. Bhatti on jayukdht's question regarding graft placement by his staff. Below is his answer.

 

----------------

Hair transplant is such a tedious and long procedure that if the surgeon were to do the hair transplant himself, very little hair would grow!

Be aware that all hair taken out has to be in the recipient holes within 6 hours.

My assistants have been with me so long that I suspect they do the job of plantation now better than me.

The test of their excellence is good hair growth in all my clients.

As for my work, I do the following-

 

1. Counseling

2. Hairline design and photography

3. Trimming of hair

4. Counseling is repeated in the OR

5. Mixing of anesthesia drugs and loading syringes

6. Injection of anesthesia int he donor area

7. Chatting with the patient and cracking jokes all the time!

8. Test grafting

9. Harvesting of grafts

10. Redrawing the hairline and discussing with the patient one last time

11. Anesthetising the hairline

12. Slit making- slit holes are made in the proper direction that is natural

13. Briefing the planters about where 1s, 2s, and 3s will go.

13. Supervision of plantation process

14. Dressing of the donor area

15. Explaining to the patient the care for the evening, night and early morning

16. I am available all night to the patient on the helpline number which I give to the patient.

[Raj Jayukdht]

the price you have given, will you get discount on top of that as your Dr Bhatti patient.

 

Thanks for the other message aswell,

 

When do you plan to check out and go back home?

[NotOld]

Not much has changed on Day 3 except that Dr. Bhatti's staff washed my hair.

 

Jayukdht,

The discount (as well as the luxury and service tax) was already included in the price. I just looked at my bill and the charge is ~Rs.3100/ night. When I reserved the room, the quote was for ~Rs.3600 but it was for a bigger room.

[NotOld]

Arrived in the US today. Washed hair.

 

There was something that I didn't realize or read anywhere before: I thought the swelling from pain injection fluid would just go away but it didn't. It now goes down around the eyes and to the cheeks. I now have puffy eyes and cheeks.

[Raj Jayukdht]

The hotel price wasnt to bad. Welcome back to the US.

[NotOld]

Jayukdht,

It was a good price because it's a pretty nice hotel. The hotel staff were extremely friendly. The price also includes free breakfast and wifi. Are you planning to get HT from Dr. Bhatti also? When?

[Raj Jayukdht]

I have spoken to Dr Bhatti many times via email, emailed him my photo etc etc. He has advised me that I will need about 2000 grafts to build my hair line and add density to the frontal core BUT all this cant be confirmed until we meet face to face. The question Im asking myself is when shall I go for my ht???

 

Im happy to email you my photos, just pm your email address

 

Did you lower your hairline?

[pradeepkr]

Pls keep us posted once your planted hair start falling ....which I feel takes 20 days post op.

 

I saw mine... and the falling hair-roots looked like J hook i.e. the papilla/bulb was bent in a U shape.

 

I am afraid if such an upsidedown root would result in hair growth INWARD (deeper into the skin) or will the hair come out straightened (outside the skin).

[BelikeMike]

How much was the procedure and how much for the flight?

Did they give you room/board? How long did you have to stay?

How do you follow up, do you fly back?

 

Not too many of us can afford those trips, much less the procedure.

What am I looking at total for the procedure and the logistics?:eek:

 

Thanks!

[NotOld]

It's been more than 2 weeks since I've updated my progress so I'll post more updates probably tomorrow.

 

Jayukdht,

I lowered my hairline about 2 - 3cm.

 

Pradeepkr,

It's been almost 4 weeks since I got my procedure done. A lot of the hair has fallen out. As you mentioned, most of it has a J hook at the end of the hair. I'm not too worried about it since I expected it. I thought it would start around 4-6 weeks period but it started about 3 weeks period for me. I've actually seen some tiny new fine hair comes out to replace the fallen hair. I'm hoping that more and more will come out soon so I'll wait patiently.

 

Dr. Bhatti mentioned that the falling hair is actually the original hair that was planted and is being pushed out by the new hair. I haven't seen a case where I got an in-grown hair yet but I've read that in some cases, it might occur here-and-there.

 

BelikeMike,

The cost depends on many things. You can probably research your own travel cost since the cost depends on the travel date (high or low season) and your original location. The other cost would be how many grafts you need for your case (multiply that by 70 rupees). You can also get an idea of the cost of the hotel, which for my case is about 3500 rupee/ night. Food and transportation are not much compared to those 3 things. Oh, and the other cost factor is currency exchange rate.

 

If you know how many grafts you are planning to plant, you can PM me your location and I can probably give you an idea of how much you'll probably spend with Dr. Bhatti.

Edited March 13, 2013 by NotOld