3,553 FUE with Dr. Jose Lorenzo

[Gotime]

About 7 years ago I started considering a hair transplant, I had started losing my hair in my early thirties but didn’t get on meds (wish I had). Finally, in my early forties I got on Propecia and my loss stabilized to where I probably had a Norwood 4 pattern but slightly more filled in thanks to the meds. At the beginning of my search for a transplant surgeon I came very close to going to H&W for strip surgery but the idea of a giant scar just scarred me off even as I looked at their impressive results. Fast forward 5 years later and spending time using the excellent research of guys like Mickey85 (as well as my own) and watching the cases of guys like JohnnyDramma I became comfortable enough to decide FUE was the route for me.

 

So what’s a guy from LA looking for FUE to do next…my advice if you’re in North America and considering FUE is look to Europe. There is just much better work being done in Belgium and Turkey (and now the UK), I would suggest you do online consultations with the top docs and make your choices accordingly. There have been many threads on the top docs recommended here but I was looking at Bisanga, Feriduni in Beligum and curious about Erdogan & Hakan in Turkey but always in the back of my mind was Dr. Lorenzo at Injerto Capilar in Madrid, Spain. I felt he was the best of the best from all of the research I had done and videos/pics I had looked at. Getting in to see him as an American, however, was really difficult he was booked up so far out and not really taking foreign patients so I decided to go to one of the others and was in the middle of online consultations with them when a great opportunity opened up.

 

Reading the board I saw that Dr. Lorenzo was entering into a partnership with Dr. Farjo and their clinic in Manchester, UK. I quickly decided this was my perfect opportunity to get the best FUE work possible and I contacted Mick at Farjo. He was extremely responsive and after sending pictures and giving him some history we set up a couple of skype sessions and I booked the first available dates with Dr. Lorenzo in early November 2013. Thanks also to ReadyToDoIt who around this time posted his experience with Dr. Lorenzo which was very helpful.

 

Mick helped me get a hotel in Manchester and off I flew to the UK. The following day I had a quick in office consultation with Dr. Lorenzo where we sketched out a hairline and I skyped in my girlfriend for final approval on the hairline. Dr. Lorenzo mentioned that if we got 3,000 hairs I would have the hairline we had just discussed and then if we got more he could be more aggressive and sketched in another one.

 

On the first operating day I arrived at Farjo’s nice and modern office space in Manchester at 7:45am, I met Sara who took my blood pressure, gave me a valium and some anti-inflammatory pills and took me in where Dr. Lorenzo shaved my head personally – no turning back now. I then lied face down in the operating chair with my head turned to one side and the anesthetic was applied. That part is not fun but certainly tolerable when you keep the end goal in mind, it was also difficult trying to find a comfortable position when lying on your stomach with your head turned to the side. In addition, the anesthesia makes you have to go to the bathroom which was really frustrating as I didn’t want to interrupt the flow of the extractions, but Dr. Lorenzo had no problem with me getting up and going when necessary. In the end, Dr. Lorenzo was able to get 1,801 grafts from half my head on day 1 which was a great result and he said we’d be able to do whatever we want with the hairline.

 

At that point I had a quick ten minute break where they brought me a sandwich, some tea and a movie selection sheet. During that time the clinic set up for the implant process. Right on time they came to get me and Dr. Lorenzo drew in the hairline and temple points and away he went with his implanter. For this part you are in a much more comfortable normal reclining position watching the movie. Important here to say Dr. Lorenzo is with you every step of the way, there was not one part of the process he was not doing himself (except loading the implanter, and he even was watching that). In an early post I made after the first day some people commented about price. Not going to rehash all of that but I felt I got the value I wanted by having the Dr. do all the extractions and implants himself. I understand he is not cheap and everyone can do their own cost/benefit analysis. Also, wanted to point out that the techs trained at Injerto Capilar so they are very proficient at working with Dr. Lorenzo.

 

Day 2 started in the same manner but I was really struggling with lying with my forehead down as it was pretty sore from the anesthesia the previous day so Dr. Lorenzo found a way to move me with my head to the side and still get to all the grafts he needed. I will say by the end of day 2 I was dreading every time I heard Dr. Lorenzo say “anesthesia” because that meant another shot was coming. We finished Day 2 with 1,752 hairs for a total of 3,553 grafts. We then repeated the process of a quick lunch break, movie selection and sitting in reclining position for implants.

 

At this point I want to thank Mick for making everything so smooth from the moment we first connected through to the finish. You could not find a nicer more knowledgeable guide for the entire process. Sara and Grace were fantastic as techs throughout and of course Dr. Lorenzo is just spectacular. He makes you feel completely safe and in the hands of a master.

 

I came back the following morning for a donor area wash, was given more anti-inflammatory meds and a thorough post-operative discussion with Dr. Lorenzo going over my care for the next month. My forehead was a bit swollen from anesthesia and sore, but otherwise I felt pretty good. I did not need to take pain medication and my donor area was not difficult to sleep on. First couple nights they give you surgical pads to cover your pillows which you will need them as you bleed a bit. Did the saline spray for first two days, swelling in forehead was gone by day 3. Starting washing all hair, including recepient on day 3. I’m just returned from my final check up from Dr. Lorenzo on Day 4 and will be flying back to LA tomorrow morning.

 

Pics are taken by Dr. Lorenzo day before, first and second day of surgery. Will post some taken day after surgery as well.

 

Here were the statistics from the surgery:

Statistics:

grafts: 3553

Hairs. 7851

Hairs/graft: 2.21

Singles: 505

Doubles: 2418

3 HFU: 998

4HFU: 129

Hair Thickness: 55 microns (aprox)

Punch: 0.8 mm.

[Gotime]

And here are some pictures taken the morning after surgery was completed. Will also do my best to answer any questions or address anything I may have missed.

[stinger99]

great write up, work looks amazingly clean as usual from dr lorenzo, thx for posting u should have a great resullt

[HARIRI]

Gotime, sit back and relax. You just had a HT with the best FUE surgeon in the world :-)

[whispy]

Congratulations GoTime I am sure you will have great results,it looks very tidy work as expected from Dr Lorenzo. Well done!

Edited November 14, 2013 by whispy

[Gotime]

Here are morning of the 4th day post surgery updates from Dr. Lorenzo's office

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[irishsailor]

Dr Lorenzo is definately the master of fue. I love his work and the result he gets. Everything looks great, just need to wait now, which unfortunately is the hard part . Hope you keep us updated on yr progress .

[moudar]

congrats .... how much you paid for graft ? how can i contact Dr Lorenzo ??

[whispy]

He states he paid for 3000 with 600 grafts free which would have cost

14,000 pounds .

 

normally would have cost 16400 pounds = (19759 euros or $26,427)

[Gotime]

Hi Moudar,

 

Dr. Lorenzo is 6 GBP for the first 1,000 grafts and 4 GBP for all grafts thereafter. I would get in touch with Mick at Farjo if you are interested in seeing Dr. Lorenzo. His email is mick@farjo.com. Good luck!

[Gotime]

Thought I would post some photos at day 10 and give a quick update on my status. Getting to day 10 is a big milestone because I feel safe that the grafts are not going anywhere now, was a bit stressful at times worrying that your doing something wrong when you shampoo your hair twice a day or trying to survive the itchiness (which was the worst part for me). Most of the scabs are gone here by day 10, the rest were gone by Day 11. Anyway I've made it thru the first 10 days!

 

Went to the gym on Day 11 bright and early and again on Day 12 doing full workout and feel fine. I was back at work on Day 11 and other than people who knew I was having the surgery people just thought I'd had a short haircut. Got a couple, "you aren't sick and going thru chemo are you?" People say some surprising things but for the most part no one thinks I did anything but get a short haircut. There is definitely some pinkness in the recipient area but it doesn't bother me. I thought I'd be wearing a hat all the time for sure but I haven't so far other than to protect my head when out in the sun. Of course, I haven't gotten to the shed yet so the hat may come out more as that kicks in, dreading that part but hopefully time flies and I get through the holidays and on to growing. If the grafts all come back where they are now I will be really happy with the final result.

 

Pictures aren't perfect but hopefully give you an idea of what to expect with Dr. Lorenzo at Day 10.

[Readytodoit]

Looking great. Really glad you haven't felt the need to wear a hat, that will help your confidence when you go through the shed and you might feel strong enough to continue without the hat.

 

You suit the shaved look, bet you never thought you would. ;-)

[hairshopeing]

Looks really good as expected!! You chose well!! Looking forward to watching your change over the Nxt 12 months!!

[Koot]

That's looking really great and is a real Lorenzo classic - filling the temples as well for the complete look! Wishing you good growth and apologies for the weather. My folks only live half an hour away in Cheshire but the rain only seems to land on Manchester for some reason!

 

One question- how did you cope with sleeping at the hotel, since you had work done on the crown, the hairline and temples?

 

Great write up too!

[Gotime]

Thanks Chris, was definitely surprised I didn't need the hat, nothing has fallen out yet at day 18 so still having no issues there. I am amazed how easy and time saving it is to have really short hair! We'll see how brave I am when the shed starts...

 

Thanks hairshopeing will keep you updated, probably wait to post pics until the 1 month point, everything still looks good to me at this point.

 

Thanks Koot, good to know I got the Lorenzo classic . Actually enjoyed Manchester and thought the people were really great - a little rain is not so bad. Sleeping at the hotel was not a problem, Dr. Lorenzo's tech's give you covers for your pillow and you bleed into them from the donor area the first night for both days of surgery, There was maybe a little bit more on 2nd day and then nothing. You just sleep on your back, I was worried that I would dislodge a graft in the crown or temple area (because I also had to lie on my side during surgery after one set of temple points were implanted you are lying on them the next day as the second set is implanted) but Dr. Lorenzo said after an hour and the blood clots form it was fine to lie on my back (or side). He was right as nothing came out and there was no bleeding in recipient area, but it definitely makes you nervous that something will come out so I understand the concern. I think as long as you put your head down gently on the pillow (which you will do anyways because the donor is sore) you should be fine.

[MAGNUMpi]

Any updates? Very interested.

[Gotime]

Hey Magnum I'm at day 25 today, been losing a fair amount of hair and will post some pics at the 1 month mark which is coming up fast should have them up this weekend.

[Gotime]

I'm at one month today, so I thought it would be a good time to provide a quick update. I started shedding hair at day 20 and it's been pretty consistently falling out the past 10 days, I'm guessing it will continue to get worse over the next month. Lots of redness in the recipient areas still. Looking forward to a couple weeks off work over the holidays. All in all the timing of my procedure I think will work out well, hopefully I'll start growing in spring and look better for summer. Not really wearing any hats, I've gotten used to the short hair and don't think about it too much. In any event, here are some pics (no hair cuts or trims since the procedure), definitely looks like I've lost a lot of hair to me. In general feels like I'm getting back to wear I was before surgery.

[Mickey85]

Just saw this thread! Looks amazing and clean. You went to the best FUE surgeon in the world! Keep us updated please!

[Gotime]

Today marks the two month point so I am posting up some pics, I have not cut my hair since surgery and it's looking a little rough...but all in all I think I look like I'm back to where I was pre-surgery. As expected, though the "ugly duckling" phase is no fun. Hopefully I look much better in a few months. It's funny you spend so much time and effort researching surgery and surgeons and preparing and then the slow death march of waiting for growth is brutal.

 

Still a some pinkness in hairline and temple points. I think my donor area looks the same as before to me, I really can't tell anything was taken out and I agree with Dr. Lorenzo it appears I have a fair amount left in the bank. Not much else to report really, just playing the waiting game and hoping for the best.

[scooter]

looking good and from what I've learned you're right on where you should be.The next few months for you should be exciting with some good growing.Thanks for the updates

[NEWHAIRPLEASE]

Gotme

Had you had any previous FUE work done?

[Koot]

Thanks for updating your donor looks great after 3000+ fue, hope the next couple of months will see an early sprouting of new shoots!

[Gotime]

Newhair - this is the first surgery of any type I have had, so no previous FUE or strip.

 

Thanks Koot, yeah I'm very happy with donor area.

 

Appreciate the kind words Scooter

[NEWHAIRPLEASE]

Newhair - this is the first surgery of any type I have had, so no previous FUE or strip.

 

Thanks Koot, yeah I'm very happy with donor area.

 

Appreciate the kind words Scooter

 

Cool! Looks Great!