My first hair transplant in Perth, DR Jennifer Martinick

[Rothki]

Hi,

 

Well i have been lurking on these forums for about a year reading about hair transplants, and to be honest it made me shit scared about getting a hair transplant.

 

I many times thought about going overseas for a hair transplant, and after many discussions with my family we decided to take a chance and get it done here in Perth.

 

I really felt safer getting it done here, and i know that there are doctors in other countries who im sure have good medical standards, but i though if it was going to go pear shaped and i was going to die, it would be better to happen close to home

 

So in october last year i went and saw the people at the New Hair Clinic in Perth.

i walked in, expecting it to cost me some $$. i was hoping for around 10k but after discussion i was told to be expecting more.

 

A few months passed and we came into a new year. after discussing with my family i decided to bring my Mum along for another appointment. I emailed through some pictures to Ray and he remembered who i was and we scheduled another appointment.

 

Bringing Mum at the end of the day cost me more money. Ray recommended that i was to have a minimum of 2000 graphs, i would have gone with that, but then Mum asked that question "what would you do if this was your son?"

 

Ray's reply, 2500 minimum.

 

I was there thinking ok, lets go this is going to cost too much and no sooner mum was putting down the deposit :eek:

 

i was terrified. I was given a date to come in and then waited, and was told not to cut my hair any shorter.

 

I then waited for my appointment

[Rothki]

The morning of my appointment my stomach was well full of nothing but nerves since i hadn't eaten since the evening before.

 

I then met up with the staff, including a very helpful nurse who although i cannot remember your name you really did a great job. She talked me through how the procedure will go and then took me into the operating theatre.

 

I then sat down in the chair, and Dr Martinick began to draw a hairline on my head, and revised it a few times, showing my mum as well and asking for her and my opinion. We then decided on a hair line and then the surgery began!

 

First, the heart monitor was hooked up, and then a needle for the IV was inserted into my arm. I always love watching this part, then i was talking about the anisthetic while the rear of my head was shaved. Then next thing i new i was awake and holes were being punched in my head.

 

I was asleep for the who part of cutting out and stitching up the rear of the head, which i am glad about.

 

We sat there from about 9am until 5.30 and ended up transplanting about 3000 follicles, most of which were 3 hair follicles. if i remember correctly there were about 800 1 and 2 hair follicles and the remainder were 3 hair, with very few 4 hair. i was told that this was a good thing, i thought there would have been more 1 and 2 hairs

 

Sometime in the middle of the day i had some food to eat but i really wanted to get back to the surgery asap as i wanted them to get as many done as they could, and they did.

 

i got roughly 500 extras done which was great.

[Rothki]

Now 5 days later i am still off work, just to make sure i give the hairs every chance possible and am feeling quite good, some swelling around my eyes started yesterday but otherwise i am quite happy with how it looks so far.

 

I am hoping i can look more like i did when i had hair, and looking at the hair line i think there is a good chance if they grow, it should look good :cool:

 

Hair Restoration Journal for rothki - Hair Loss for Tom

 

i will be posting up here as i progress. I am expecting all the hair to fall out which will be such a shame but hopefully it will be all good from there on.

 

Below i have attached some before and after pictures

[tinkz]

Hi Tom,

 

I hope you're happy with your recent procedure.

 

Thumbs up for posting your story, along with your photos.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Rothki,

 

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience and photos. I haven't seen any work or results from Dr. Martinick in a long time. Thus, I hope you'll keep us posted with your monthly progress with photos so that we can support you and see your final result in the next year.

 

All the best,

 

Bill

[Rothki]

Rothki,

 

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience and photos. I haven't seen any work or results from Dr. Martinick in a long time. Thus, I hope you'll keep us posted with your monthly progress with photos so that we can support you and see your final result in the next year.

 

All the best,

 

Bill

 

Hey bill,

 

Yep, I plan on posting updates as I go along. Not looking forward to having no hair again once the transplanted hair falls out but I can't wait to see the end results!

 

Cheers

 

Tom

[wadenwa]

Hi rothki.

Thanks for posting your HT. I'm also from Perth and I've heard of dr Jenn but never had the desire to meet her for my HT.

I'll love to follow your results, hope it turns out good.

Please keep us inform

 

Wade

[Rothki]

Hi rothki.

Thanks for posting your HT. I'm also from Perth and I've heard of dr Jenn but never had the desire to meet her for my HT.

I'll love to follow your results, hope it turns out good.

Please keep us inform

 

Wade

 

Hey Wade,

 

personally i was far too scared to leave the country, i believe that if something does go wrong that we have better medical procedures here, and also it was on recommendation of my mums hair dresser who is a very respected hair dresser in perth, who has at times viewed the work done by Dr Jennifer and recommended her.

 

if it all grows and looks as good as it does now i really will be happy but only time will tell!

[Rothki]

it has been 8 days since my transplant and i just thought i would post up an update. I gave my hair a good wash tonight in the bath, as i was starting to find scabs falling off my head during the day. i did notice that a few hairs fell out in the bath with the scabs, i think i lost about 5 hairs.

 

i was trying to be gentle with the scalp and 4 of the hairs that fell off came with the scab but 1 hair concerns me, as it fell off with what looked a scab, but also the hair was in the shape of a J on the end with a little black bulb. Is this a problem?

 

Cheers

 

Tom

[hairshopeing]

No problem at all! Most look like that!! Day 8 is fine, different drs say different timescales varying from a few days to 14 to remove the scabs completely!! Just follow your post op instructions all you'll be fine mate!! It's horrible watching them fall out, but I'm sure it's a great feeling watching them return within the next 12 months!!

[Rothki]

is it normal for them to have a little black dot at the bottom of them aswell? it is going to be so sad to see them go

[hairshopeing]

Yes mate, there are longer, thinner, black ended, white ended, its what's underneath that counts!! That's the bit that will grow!! Just think about on 12 months time how happy you'll be!!

[OtherSyde]

Just be gentle - as long as no follicles come out with those hairs, you're golden.

 

Her placement seems a bit conservative, but that could very well be a good thing; and if a respected hair dresser approves of your doc's work, that's a good sign because hair dressers are usually pretty adept at picking out HT work in my experience. Once it grows out I bet it will look great in combination with your existing hair!

[Rothki]

Just be gentle - as long as no follicles come out with those hairs, you're golden.

 

Her placement seems a bit conservative, but that could very well be a good thing; and if a respected hair dresser approves of your doc's work, that's a good sign because hair dressers are usually pretty adept at picking out HT work in my experience. Once it grows out I bet it will look great in combination with your existing hair!

 

What do you mean by conservative in regards to her placement?

 

Also how would I know if I knocked a follicle out apart from blood?

[OtherSyde]

The front actually looks like it will be dense enough with the aid of your existing hair; more towards the rear/crown the follicle grafts are a bit more spaced out and so it will be a bit thinner, but that's fine since it's in the rear and there's more native hair there anyway to thicken it up. Your hairline looks far enough forward though, and I think it's going to look good when it grows in!

 

A hair follicle would be a little, clearish-white bulb thing on the end of one of the hairs that got pulled out. Definitely big enough to notice, and easily distinguished from the simple light-colored root of the hair. Once you've shed all the implanted hairs (usually by day 8 to day 13 or so), you really can't pull them out anymore without any hairs attached to them, because they're under the skin and the skin almost immediately heals over them.

 

As long as you were very gentle, and avoided touching the new grafts for the most part during the first few days, you're probably safe. And once you hit the 10 or 12-day mark, the grafts have taken root enough that you'd really have to be rough with them to yank any actual follicles out; the hairs would probably simply detach from the follicles and come out alone at that point. How long ago was your procedure again? I don't remember seeing a date in your original post.

 

I seriously doubt you pulled any follicles out, though. I wouldn't stress.

[scar5]

Are you taking medications..particularly, are you taking Propecia?

 

It might help if you consider them, especially as you might lose some of the minaturizing hair due to the transplant.

 

Overall, I expect you'll be expecting a pretty dramatic improvement, if you let the new hair grow out a bit. In other words, this time next year.

 

Good luck. And check out medications, if you want to get stronger results.

[Rothki]

Are you taking medications..particularly, are you taking Propecia?

 

It might help if you consider them, especially as you might lose some of the minaturizing hair due to the transplant.

 

Overall, I expect you'll be expecting a pretty dramatic improvement, if you let the new hair grow out a bit. In other words, this time next year.

 

Good luck. And check out medications, if you want to get stronger results.

 

 

Hey mate,

 

Not taking any meds except minoxidil at the moment but I have been given a script for proscar I think, MIght be propecia, but I'm a little scared to take it because of the potential sides. I was going to wait untill my healing from the ht settles down and then maybe try taking it,

[OtherSyde]

Hey mate,

 

Not taking any meds except minoxidil at the moment but I have been given a script for proscar I think, MIght be propecia, but I'm a little scared to take it because of the potential sides. I was going to wait untill my healing from the ht settles down and then maybe try taking it,

 

Yes, I believe Proscar in Finasteride. VERY few guys have side-effects, and they stop almost as soon as you stop taking the pills; they're never permanent. Start taking the Fin, man! Your new grafts are in a delicate phase, and you don't want them getting poisoned or developmentally stunted by DHT (Dihydro-testosterone) in your system during their youth. And in the likely case that the Fin doesn't cause side effects, it will certainly help freeze your hair loss in its tracks for awhile (of course, it could have no side effects but also not help your hair any; that happens to some guys too). But if you've got the prescription, don't put that to waste! Get it filled and get on it! Trust me.

[KO]

Yeah, don't delay taking propecia/proscar, you want to start that as early as possible. If you have sides, you can always get off...

[OtherSyde]

Yeah, don't delay taking propecia/proscar, you want to start that as early as possible. If you have sides, you can always get off...

 

Yeah, man... There's no real risk involved, only gain - and you already have the prescription! That's more than half the battle! Just go fill the thing and start taking 1mg/day! Your hair will thank you.

[SamSpade]

Agreed. get on the Fin asap. If you have side effects right away then wait a few weeks and see if they're balanced out in your system, that's what happened to me. If they persist have your doctor lower your dosage. I promise your penis won't fall off, your hair will just stay in your head where it belongs.

 

Congrats on the new procedure, it's an excitin' time.

[Rothki]

Ok, went and got the prescription filled, and took 1/8 of a tablet last night, I'm thinking of weaning myself onto it, really it scares the f**c out of me after reading the sides

[OtherSyde]

Oh don't be worried, they only happen to an extremely small percentage of guys, and even they can simply stop taking the Fin and the sides vanish quickly. It's not a major risk. Don't get all paranoid and worried or you're going to create yourself a self-fulfilling prophecy! Relax, man. Great hair is coming.

[SamSpade]

Oh don't be worried, they only happen to an extremely small percentage of guys, and even they can simply stop taking the Fin and the sides vanish quickly. It's not a major risk. Don't get all paranoid and worried or you're going to create yourself a self-fulfilling prophecy! Relax, man. Great hair is coming.

 

well said.

 

It's a poison inhibitor, think about the poisonous DHT that it's keeping from your scalp that's shredding your hair away. That's it's most notable side effect.

[Rothki]

well said.

 

It's a poison inhibitor, think about the poisonous DHT that it's keeping from your scalp that's shredding your hair away. That's it's most notable side effect.

 

DHT is a pretty important thing, it is what makes us men well Men! but still im taking 1/8 of a 5mg tablet, so i am going to monitor things and see how i go. if i don't notice any change in morning erections etc then i will keep on it and if i do i think i will go off it and just continue with the minox.

 

I will post up some pictures again in the next few days, since it has been 2 weeks since my transplant! some shedding, everyday i notice a few hairs each time i rub my head, i think i counted about 30 today but there appears to be plenty there still!

 

My old hair is starting to grow through on the top of my head now so it is starting to look darker.