NW6 with Dr Bisanga - Apr 2011-Jul 2013

[hlosspat]

Hi,

 

I would like to share my experience with Dr Bisanga. I was a NW6 and have had 3 surgeries to date. My experience with the clinic to date has been fantastic, both support from staff, the client rep (Stephen) and Dr Bisanga's work. I have had 2 strip surgeries and recently my first beard BH FUE. I was surprised how quickly my beard healed. Anyway, the figures are below. I have added a few images on my profile and will update this soon with more images.

 

Hair Characteristics: 15 % miniaturisation in donor. Medium coarse.

Donor Density: Measured in 3 areas as 70/70/90 Follicular units per cm2

Laxity:1.2 Slightly tight

Recommendations: Had good groupings of hairs per graft, fairly large surface area to cover 326 cm2.

Recommend hairline at 7.5 cm from eyebrows, already has an established peak, so need to work with that and have slight temple closure.

 

April 2011: 1520 grafts by FUE + 3809 grafts by Strip = 5329 grafts total.

July 2012: 1073 grafts by FUE + 3343 grafts by Strip = 4416 grafts total

July 2013: 1784 grafts by FUE + 1053 grafts by BH FUE = 2837 grafts total

 

TOTAL: 12,582 grafts.

 

I have another appointment to schedule next year where I am hoping to use another 1,500 beard hairs over 3 days for any touch-ups required. Hopefully after that I should be fully restored and to a level I feel is acceptable to me.

 

I am happy to answer any general questions you may have about my experiences to date. However, if you have any specific questions about the clinic itself, I recommend you contact the clinic directly.

Edited August 18, 2013 by hlosspat

[stinger99]

wow 12582 grafts, thats alot of grafts, can you share some pics. thx

[chrisdav]

Love to see some pictures also.

[BrianR]

How can you even post this without posting picture? 12,852 grafts, that's amazing!!!!!

We need to see some pics PLEASE....

[sl]

Many thanks for posting hlosspat, look forward to the photos and updates.

[hlosspat]

Hi, I have added some initial pictures on my profile and will keep this updated. I will post on this forum when I add any new pics.

 

I have now added some new pics

[Cant decide]

How can your donor density be measured as approximate 80 on average with a virgin tight scalp and yet you ended up with 11000 scalp hairs? Usually to get over 10k, you would need to have good laxity and donor density of over 100 on a virgin scalp.

[sl]

Hi Cant decide.

 

With this patient we did 2 x combination surgeries as said of Strip and FUE to get the numbers. The first Strip was under 4k as said so not initially massive as far as Strips go as i've seen several hit 5k plus.

 

Density is measured in 3 areas by us as a rough guide and can change throughout the scalp, some may measure in one area only and some in 5 or so and it gives us an idea of densities and not exhaustive as such and especially when taking a long Strip. Laxity was tight initially but surgery was many months after the initial consultation and often patients will do stretches to increase this and it will change throughout the scalp, so in some areas the doc can take more as he feels is save to do so and less in others and will slightly change as it is being taken.

 

The Strip was fairly long also and needs to be if laxity is on the tight side and would have been over 30 cm in length. The patient won't mind me saying he had a fairly large scalp also measured as can be seen even by the recipient area size at that point and far larger than mine for example even though I too was a NW6, and then we did FUE also as the numbers would not have been possible with Strip or one technique alone.

[delancey]

Beautiful result. Just wow.

[Baldietwo]

Woow. Stunning results. 12k grafts!!

 

Can I ask what your average hair per grafts was?

 

I'm also a NW6 and I had my HT with Bisanga in August. My scalp is VERY similar to yours! Same average grafts/cm2, same coarseness.

 

In fact, almost identical, you just had a little bit more hair on the front than me and my scalp was very lax so he got the full 2 cm, 4.7k grafts with 2.5 hair per grafts on average. I had the front and some of the midscalp covered with a dusting in the crown..

 

Some people say NW6s aren't ideal for HTs. Well you are living proof they are wrong. Of, course we'll never have that teenage density back, but we can still get full coverage with some careful use of the available grafts! And it's a multiyear plan. YOu can't expect full coverage in one session.

 

Congratulations

[sl]

Thank you for the comments.

 

Please note the photos do not show the result of the last surgery but were pre-surgery so the growth from July will still be yet to come and near to 3,000 grafts including beard count.

 

The patient has the graft breakdowns and I am sure will be happy to share them.

 

Scalp hair will give better hair to graft breakdowns than beard so it will not average yours to be honest with that factored in, your breakdown is very high and more than average so should really give a nice result.

 

As you say for a NW6 it is about coverage at a reasonable density and not native or one would put well over 20k grafts and a lot more considering the patient's actual surface area to cover that was considerably larger than my own surgery for example and I was also a NW6.

 

NW6 is a loose term and a way of grouping a patient into a loss category but there are many variables that means some will be candidates and other not as at the end of the day the donor needs to be able to give enough and often through a variety of techniques for advances loss sufferers and as the patient here we used Strip/FUE and body hair.

 

I am certainly looking forward to seeing the difference the last surgery made but it will like any surgery take time to come in but the patient will update.

[Jessop]

I cam't see the photos.

[sl]

Hi Jessop

 

The patient put them in his profile and not live on the thread as such.

[hlosspat]

Hi there, just a quick note that after 3 months I am finally noticing some crown closure. For the first time in 10 years! It has taken me a while to get here. As I understand crowns take much longer to grow in so I am expecting more progress in the months to come.

 

I will post an updated crown pic on my profile in the coming weeks and update when it's done.

Edited October 28, 2013 by hlosspat

[hlosspat]

Hi all, as promised I have uploaded 5 new photos (please see my profile - not this thread) showing right side (2), left side (2) and crown. The crown pic isn't the greatest, I will upload a better quality crown pic soon. I am very pleased with how it looks at a cut 5 (5/8"). It is becoming much cleaner and uniform with the back and sides. For me it's not about creating an illusion at all costs, I actually want the best look and for me I think that's a shorter haircut. I think I can almost pull it off having medium/coarse hair. It's only 4.5 months after the 3rd (crown) op so I will wait a full 12-15 months before I decide to have further work done in the crown area. As clinic has mentioned the crown takes much longer to grow in so I am hopeful for more significant changes in the coming months. So far so good! If I do return for a 4th visit, I will be aiming to get another 1,500 beard hair grafts. I also notice a few wiry hairs that are probably beard hairs in my crown. I will keep an eye on this are to look for further growth as well as the how the hair characteristic changes in the coming months. Any thoughts/questions please let me know.

[hlosspat]

Hi all,

 

(I have added some recent photos of me with a 4" cut and am very pleased with how it looks. Apologies in advance the quality of the pics could be better).

 

Well it's been two years since my 3rd op and i must say I had almost forgotten about my hair and this blog. Comparing the initial photos to now I am blown away at how different my crown looks today. It is still thin, although not shiny like the beginning.

 

I am planning a 4th visit sometime in the future although am in no rush for this and I am hoping to use another 1500 beard hair grafts and possibly scalp hair if the doctor feels it is safe to do so.

 

Any questions about my hair journey please ask.

[KO]

This looks great, dude this is a landmark case with that many grafts, you should post photos on this thread, otherwise they can get lost in the blogs.