Regular Member Sooty202 Posted November 26, 2013 Regular Member Share Posted November 26, 2013 Hello I have been reading this forum for around a year but only got round to joining to document my recent ( November 19th 2013) hair transplant with Doctor Radha at the Hair Clinic in visakhapatnam, India I was informed that i was a norwood 6 going on norwood 7. I was going to go for a round 4 to 5 thousand grafts but thought i would just go for around 3000 grafts this time with the knowledge i could always get more in the future. I am 45 years old and have probably been losing my hair for around 10 years. Medication: I did try Regaine i think for around a year but was not happy with the results particularly ; this is in terms of trying to regrow hair. I have not tried propecia. I was put off with the horror stories although i do not rule out trying in the future and will go back onto regaine to prevent further hair loss I am caucasian and from the United Kingdom. I will be providing pictures. The Doctor took pictures before and will be sending them to me. I asked permission to document my hair transplant on here and she was happy that i do so. I will post pics periodically . I will take some pics tomorrow so you can see the results one week after the transplant too I am now back in the united kingdom and was back to work today. Something else i should mention is that i decided not to have my head shaved before the hair transplant which i think is quite unusual. I am happy i decided not to as i was pretty much after one week able to go back to work today without ( i think) anyone noticing. That is anyone who didn't know i was having a hair transplant. I did tell some people If anyone has any questions, please feel free to contact me and i will be happy to answer them as that is , after all, what this site is about Thursday November 14th London Heathrow to Bangkok I decided to treat this hair transplant as a part holiday so flew to bangkok to have the weekend there before travelling to india on the Sunday evening Sunday 17th November Bangkok to Chennai ( Asia Airways) I think it cost about ?80 return Monday 18th November Chennia to Visak. Flew with indigo airways. Again i think about ?30 to ?40 return Got picked up from the airport by the clinics driver. Taken to the hotel. I stayed at the Fortune Inn. Decent enough hotel. I paid about ?63 for two nights My first impressions of visakhapatnam were, and i must be honest here, i was wondering if i had done the right thing. It was a bit of a culture shock as i have not been to india before and when you come from a modern city the shock could have made me change my mind. The traffic and lack of any road etiquette, the old buildings, the smells and the heat almost overwhelmed me. I think at this point if i had been offered a ticket back to bangkok that afternoon i would have taken it. Let me say now, I'm glad no one offered me a ticket back! More to follow tomorrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member builtforspeed Posted November 26, 2013 Regular Member Share Posted November 26, 2013 Looking forward to it. Im from the US and am scheduled to meet Dr. Radha for a HT in March. I was hoping to make it a vacation as well. Looking forward to the pictures. I have fine blonde hair and I have only seen pictures of dark course hair work done by Dr. Radha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Sooty202 Posted November 26, 2013 Author Regular Member Share Posted November 26, 2013 (edited) Yes i have light brown/blond hair too so should be interesting for you Edited November 26, 2013 by Sooty202 spelling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member TakingThePlunge Posted November 27, 2013 Senior Member Share Posted November 27, 2013 Sooty202, Welcome and thanks for taking the time to share your experience! I'm looking forward to the next installment. David - Former Forum Co-Moderator and Editorial Assistant I am not a medical professional. All opinions are my own and my advice should not constitute as medical advice. View my Hair Loss Website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Sooty202 Posted November 27, 2013 Author Regular Member Share Posted November 27, 2013 Hello I'm still waiting for the photos from the Doctor. I have a good photo of what my hair looked like pre hair transplant to start the ball rolling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Sooty202 Posted November 27, 2013 Author Regular Member Share Posted November 27, 2013 This is a photo i've just taken now with my webcam. I have been wearing my hair messy to cover the normal redness and scabbyness of the receipient area post HT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Sooty202 Posted November 27, 2013 Author Regular Member Share Posted November 27, 2013 Monday 18th November 2013 continued On the monday afternoon i got picked up by the clinics driver again from the hotel and taken to the clinic. I was still apprehensive at this time.. The clinic was about a 10 min ride from the hotel only. I wasn't expecting any brand spanking state of the art building to suddenly appear in visak . The clinic is in the main part of town and blends in with the surrounding shops and outlets. It occupies a space in a block of units. The driver took me in . Its up one set of stairs. I was shown into the clinic and met with one of Doctor Radha's friendly team and invited to take off my shoes and put on slippers. I was then shown into a room to await the Doctor. The room itself was quite bare . Maybe i might have expected some posters on the walls, literature on coffee tables regarding the clinic and hair transplants. This is what you would expect to see in a european clinic. This is not Europe and its not America The doctor duly came in and immediately put me at east. Dr Radha is very friendly and very warm. I should say Dr Radha had immediately phoned her driver when he picked me up from the airport in the morning and spoken to me so it wasn't the first time we had spoken. I had appreciated that effort We discussed the hair transplant and she explained what would happen and invited any questions. We discussed expectations too. She advised me i was a norwood 6 going on 7 and we had discussed this before via email just after the online consultation. She had told me i was probably looking at around 4500 to 5500 grafts to give me good overall coverage. I had decided two things before travelling to India. One was that i was only going to get around 3000 this time with the option of getting more in the future and also that i was going to keep my hair in the receipient area. I was told this could be done. I was told it might taken slightly longer to do but it wasn't a problem for her team. I was also told i had good leverage. I must admit i was not good at doing my scalp exercises prior to the HT and had admitted that. I had also emailed before leaving from the UK after reading that alcohol should not be consumed for up to 7 days before a hair transplant. I was told 48 hours was sufficient by the Doctor. This was good news as i wanted to go out and relax in bangkok before travelling down and wanted to have a couple of beersn It was only after the consultation that i finally relaxed and knew that i would definitely be going ahead with it. I left the clinic so much more positively than i had arrived and got back to the hotel looking forward to the next day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member builtforspeed Posted November 28, 2013 Regular Member Share Posted November 28, 2013 Looks good man, and you got to keep your hair. Bonus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member tinkz Posted November 29, 2013 Regular Member Share Posted November 29, 2013 Hi Sooty202, What day did Dr Radha operate on you? Dr Radha did my procedure on the Monday 18/11. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Sooty202 Posted December 9, 2013 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 9, 2013 Tuesday 19th November I got picked up by the Driver early on the Tuesday morning. I had been told to have a big breakfast. I think i eat omelette and sausage but i can't remember. I was absolutely fine about the procedure. I did not have any apprehension and was looking forward to getting it done and getting back to Bangkok I got to the clinic and spoke to the Doctor briefly. I'm struggling to remember the exact details now . The doctor told me about the procedure and what to expect. I was introduced to the team that would be working on me. There must have been about 6 in the team. I was given a local anasthetic The first stage i was to lie face down and this is where the hair was extracted. My head was iced and the doctor began. I can't really remember much about it. It was certainly not painful and i think i dozed through it. Before i knew it it was over. The Doctor then showed me the team working on the harvested hair and let me look through the microscopes. I then had a subway for dinner which was really tasty Before i knew it it was time for the second stage. During this stage you are lying on your back and they transplanted the hair. I'm really not sure how long this stage lasted. I was very relaxed and again dozed. It really didn't feel like i was there for anything more than a couple of hours at most. Again no pain. I was then shown my head. Was pleased i kept my hair. I was happy. That was it. It was all over. It honestly felt like i had been there just a short time. I think i was given another subway at some stage but i can't remember now what stage I was given anti - biotics by the doctor and painkillers There was pain during the night but nothing extreme at all. I slept fine Next morning it was back to the clinic. They washed my hair for me and told me how to wash it. The first 10 days i think are the critical days. I think after 10 days the follicles are fully planted. I was to wash my hair twice a day with baby shampoo. No drink for 48 hours ( alcohol i mean) i think different doctors give different advise when it comes to abstaining from Alcohol. I have read on Spex's website that you should not drink 10 days before a hair transplant. Obviously no exercise for at least a couple of weeks and weights about 1 month That was that. That afternoon i was on a plane back to Bangkok. Easy peasy It is 3 weeks tomorrow since i had my hair transplant. So far no hairs have fallen out as far as i know. Apparently, 3 weeks starts the resting phase for the hair so my transplanted hair might start to fall out this week. I'm aware of this and prepared for it if it happens So my conclusions after 3 weeks and obviously i've no idea how i will feel this time next year but i am confident - my conclusions so far are that i made a good choice in Doctor Radha. it was scary at first but once i actually met the doctor and the team i felt reassured. Obviously it is a cheaper option but if i had thought that i was taking a risk for the sake of saving some money i would not have done that. I read all the reviews on this website and just thought that i would be getting a bargain. So far nothing has happened to make me think otherwise Doctor Radha has sent me some more pics she took before the procedure so i will post these now + pics taken today with my webcam I will try to post once a month..Thanks for reading and if you are thinking of going to India and Doctor Radha for your hair transplant i think you will be making a very prudent choice indeed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Sooty202 Posted December 9, 2013 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 9, 2013 Hello Here are the Pre Hair transplant pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member CAMPBELL Posted December 9, 2013 Senior Member Share Posted December 9, 2013 Good luck ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Sooty202 Posted December 9, 2013 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 9, 2013 Appreciate that, Campbell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Sooty202 Posted December 9, 2013 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 9, 2013 3 weeks post op pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member CAMPBELL Posted January 5, 2014 Senior Member Share Posted January 5, 2014 Early days really to comment, but brilliant that you've been so proactive to go & have the surgery (that alone 'I think' takes 'a lot' of bottle and conviction!) and with everyone here who has gone through surgery, it shows people who are prepared to go out there and take control & make changes. Looking forward to hearing a full report on the journey and the service you received and an idea of cost too. Again good luck over the coming year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Sooty202 Posted January 16, 2014 Author Regular Member Share Posted January 16, 2014 Hello Sorry for the late reply. The full story of my trip to india is on page 1. The cost for 3400 grafts was less than ?2000. I only got charged for 3200 I'm two months now. I experienced no shock loss. I think i've kept most of the transplanted hairs. I am currently going through the pimple stage but nothing i was not expecting. Happy i got it done at this stage and will keep this blog going throughout the year with pics. Nothing to really show at the moment unless you have interest in seeing pimples which i assume you don't. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member builtforspeed Posted January 17, 2014 Regular Member Share Posted January 17, 2014 Thats awesome bro. Less than two months until my trip. All ready to go and now the nerves/excitement are starting to kick in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Sooty202 Posted January 20, 2014 Author Regular Member Share Posted January 20, 2014 That's good. You have nothing to worry about with Doctor Radha. The culture shock was the only thing with me. I can see you plan to make a vacation out of it. Good idea. If i was you if you do do that i would plan to have some days before the transplant as after it you might not feel like it so much. You have to wear a head band for 4 days after the HT and also i wore a kind of chef's hat ; is the only way i can describe it....I went to thailand before travelling to India. Cost of travel from thailand to india is very cheap. The hotel i stayed in was also fine and cheap. Good luck! its an exciting time for you so enjoy it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Sooty202 Posted April 2, 2014 Author Regular Member Share Posted April 2, 2014 4 months and 2 weeks post op Picture update Would like some feedback if possible. Decent growth at the front but very little on top. Was a little concerned . Doctor has quite rightly reset my expectations but would like some feedback from forum members please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member TakingThePlunge Posted April 3, 2014 Senior Member Share Posted April 3, 2014 Sooty202, You're still very early in the process. At just over 4 months post-op, you really shouldn't expect to see much hair growth. Your transplanted hair will start to fill in slowly. Give it time. In another couple of months you should begin to see significant changes. David - Former Forum Co-Moderator and Editorial Assistant I am not a medical professional. All opinions are my own and my advice should not constitute as medical advice. View my Hair Loss Website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Sooty202 Posted April 3, 2014 Author Regular Member Share Posted April 3, 2014 Thank you for your feedback, David. its nice to be reassured Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member builtforspeed Posted June 26, 2014 Regular Member Share Posted June 26, 2014 Hows it coming along sooty? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Sooty202 Posted January 7, 2015 Author Regular Member Share Posted January 7, 2015 Updated Its now 14 months nearly. Very happy with the results. Pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Sooty202 Posted January 7, 2015 Author Regular Member Share Posted January 7, 2015 Pics updated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Xephis Posted January 9, 2015 Regular Member Share Posted January 9, 2015 What just happened? The pre-op pic you're almost bald....and now this ! Dafuq ! That sure is one hell of a HT job by Dr. Radha. Congrats ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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