My HT journey with Dr Bhatti

[dds]

I had my HT with Dr Bhatti on Sep 1th 2014.

This was my first FUE (previous one was a FUT which was not very successful).

The surgery was done in a day and was for about 2400 grafts.

I have included the pictures at various stages.

 

Though I am satisfied with the progress, it appears to be very slow and

the density is not as much as I expected.

 

Any comments?

[HairNetworker00]

Congrats, how many grafts?

 

Can you share your experience about fut?

[TakingThePlunge]

dds,

 

Thank you for sharing your experience. First, it's quite difficult to adequately assess your hair growth at this stage due to the poor photo quality. However, my initial thoughts are that your current progress is what I would expect at about 6 months given 2400 grafts spread over such a larger area.

 

It appears that Dr. Bhatti concentrated on dense-packing the hairline and then planted with lower density moving backward to get more coverage.

 

If you don't mind, can you provide us with more details of your previous strip and also the plan that Dr. Bhatti discussed with you for this surgery and any potential future surgeries?

[dds]

The FUT was performed some 15 years back when the procedure was relatively new.

It was for 1500 grafts and he tried to spread this over the entire bald area.

Most of the grafts did grow but density was extremely low (refer to pre op pictures).

[dds]

Attached are my 7.5 month post opp pictures taken both in natural lighting and

artificial lighting.

 

Though there's a good progress, I am concerned about the low density, especially in direct lighting.

 

I think about 60% of grafts have grown so far. Is there a possibility of the remaining grafts to grow or have they all died?

 

How many grafts do you estimate I would need for my back and crown?

[sutureless]

6.5 months, you have more growth to come. Repair cases are often difficult and looks like you will be having mor egrowth uptill the end of 1 year. Good luck with that, looks like a job done well.

[dds]

Thanks. It's 7.5 months (not 6.5 months)

[WHTC-7706631290]

When was your first procedure? The latest depictions of 7-month results look acceptable as well as the regrowth percentage, about 40% of regrowth seems to be obvious. Thanks for sharing, Dds. You are looking much better so far.

[mikeey]

When was your first procedure? The latest depictions of 7-month results look acceptable as well as the regrowth percentage, about 40% of regrowth seems to be obvious. Thanks for sharing, Dds. You are looking much better so far.

 

Does that mean all the other grafts have died ? at 7.5 months you put the growth at just "40 % " ..... can he continue to experience more growth ?

 

I think after 8 months , new growth does not happen , ONLY the Hair Thickens and Matures !

 

Please elaborate on this , If I am wrong .

 

Considering that David is very well educated on this subject , as well his Doctor is the same "Dr. Bhatti " , it would be nice to hear the inputs from the Moderator himself !

[TakingThePlunge]

From what I can see, given the quality of the photos, this results looks spot on for 7.5 months.

 

We have to consider several factors when trying to assess this case. The first and most obvious is that you're only 7.5 months post-op. You will surely have more growth and thickening to come.

 

Here is an estimate for hair growth after transplant surgery.

 

3 months - 10%

4 months - 25%

5 months - 40%

6 months - 60%

7 months - 70%

8 months - 75%

9 months - 80%

10 months - 90%

11 months - 95%

12 months - 98%

18 months - 100%

 

Next we need to consider that you had extensive hair loss. It's unfortunate that your failed strip surgery depleted some of your available donor supply. Dr. Bhatti typically plants at about 55 grafts/cm^2. It's clear as I mentioned in my earlier post that he planted your hairline with greater density and then gradually decreased density moving backward in order to provide you with more coverage. I don't know if that was discussed and agreed upon but it certainly looks like the right course of action given the extensive balding area. Had you packed them all with greater density up front you would have had a much thinner band of transplanted hair and it would not have looked natural in my opinion.

 

Another thing to understand is that hair transplant surgery (especially on advanced Norwood patients) relies heavily on an illusion of density. Harsh overhead lighting is not a friend to the average hair transplant patient.

 

Though I know from experience how difficult it is to reserve judgement until one full year has passed, I strongly urger you to try and keep your mind off of the growth until 12 months have passed.

 

If you check out my hair loss blog (link in signature) you'll see that I had significant improvement in hair growth between 8 and 10 months with my first procedure. Some guys grow fast and others slowly.

Edited April 23, 2015 by David - Moderator

[dds]

Thanks, David for the detailed response.

Yes, due to limited donor supply, Dr Bhatti suggested to focus on front and mid scalp.

 

For the next surgery to cover the rest of the mid scalp and the crown, can you please

let me know approx how many grafts do I need? I guess I have to go for BHT since I

have only about 1500 grafts of donor area left on my scalp

[TakingThePlunge]

With only 1,500 donor grafts left you would surely need to tap into body hair in you plan to get more coverage. Did you have this discussion with Dr. Bhatti?

 

I prefer to leave graft estimates to the physicians. However, given the size of your existing bald area and limited donor, you're unlikely to get full coverage with adequate density even with the inclusion of body hair. I better plan may be to close up a significant area leaving a small bald patch on the crown.

[dds]

Dr Bhatti estimated around 3000 grafts to get reasonable coverage. So I guess 1500 from scalp and 1500 from BHT

[dds]

I am seeing good progress - not sure if this is normal for 8 month post op.

But most of the growth is in the front (near the hairline) and the area behind the hairline there's low/no growth. Is this expected?

I have included a post op (taken on the 2nd day) pic for comparison.

[harin]

Looks like from the other posts by expereinced members you still have some more growth to come. But the hairline may not be that robust, also some decent sized islands are left out without grafting or with less number of grafts.

 

Howevevr this may have been the doctor's strategy to prevent use of excessive grafts for frontal coverage, he may have opted to preserve some for crowsn and for later touch up. The picturs are not high definition so again difficult to opie.

[dds]

My 9th month update.Includes both with indoor and outdoor lighting.

Pictures taken after applying hair oil (Rosemary and Amla)

Seeing more growth, but still no new growth from the other receipent areas.

I don't think at this stage I can expect any new growth - existing grafts could thicken.

[Raj Jayukdht]

I would suggest, when having your 3rd HT, fill in from the front scalp with more density and make your way back towards the crown. 3000 grafts should give you good coverage.

 

Im 1 month behind you and I dont think I will get more density at the front, but hoping the grafts will get more thicker over months to come.

[dds]

Yes. I am planning for a 3rd HT later this year for around 2000 or so (based on Dr Bhatti's estimate) - 1000 from scalp and 1000 from chest

[BUSA]

that is not much growth at all and I wud not expect to see much more growth either. 2400 grafts isn't gonna do much for you but it hardly looks like u got 2400 grafts. you need closer to 7000 grafts imo. I wud chose a different surgeon to be honest. I just don't ever see those WOW results from Dr. Bhatti. in fact, I've yet to see even (1) case.

 

he places the grafts too far from each other and I just don't see any patients with much density. he just doesn't seem to have very good graft survivability rate or he hasn't mastered the technique of placing grafts very close together without shock loss. ur results are pretty common with him to be honest.

 

I honestly don't see much difference between ur before and current pics.

[Yonex]

You mentioned in post number 11 that Dr Bhatti said you have a limited donor supply, given your extensive baldness I believe you should have been turned down for a FUE procedure for this very reason.

[dds]

You mean the next one? We are planning to do BHT (chest hair) since the scalp hair is limited.

[dds]

My 10th month post op pictures and my picture just taken immediately after the surgery for comparison

Existing transplanted growth continues to thicken.

At this stage, can I expect any new growth or should I assume the

remaining grafts are done?

[Yonex]

as I posted before I really think you should never have been operated on in the first instance, too much baldness and not enough donor im afraid to give you an acceptable look, how do you feel so far? are you happy?

[Shera]

In my opinion the patient would have insisted on having the procedure carried out even though the coverage area was quite large and the doner area was poor. Dr Bhatti would have explained this in his initial consultation.

 

A strategy would have been put together in order for the patient to appear not bald, and appear to have a mature hairline and style to suit his 53 years of age, well that's what happened in my case anyway.

 

If you look at the first picture of the last set then it is very difficult to argue that this has not been achieved.

 

Personally if I could go from where the patient started to the photo in the previous set in 9 months I would not be best pleased if a surgeon would have turned me down.

 

dds, you have come a long way in a short time and the results will hopefully improve even further. Judging from your before and after photos there is a huge difference, I hope you feel the same way, enjoy!

 

__________________________________________________

Dr Bhatti FUE Oct 2014 3305 grafts

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/178931-my-fue-dr-tejinder-bhatti-oct-2014-a.html

Edited July 15, 2015 by Shera

[dds]

as I posted before I really think you should never have been operated on in the first instance, too much baldness and not enough donor im afraid to give you an acceptable look, how do you feel so far? are you happy?

 

I am happy with the result in the frontal scalp area - a huge transformation compared to where I was before.

However in the mid scalp region, I had no/very less growth of the transplanted area.

I am checking with my doctor to see if the next HT can increase the density of my mid scalp and have some density on my crown. The challenge is the availability of donor area for which we are planning to use my chest hair, which is available in plenty.

 

On the whole I would say I am satisfied with the results.