Mediocre experience and results at Dr. Bhatti, Chandigargh, India

[marcopolo]

On Dec 27th, 2014 I had a small procedure at Dr. Bhatti in Chandihargh, India to restore my temple points. The pictures I am attaching are exactly the same ones I sent to Dr Bhatti 3-4 months before the procedure. It is now mid-August 2015 and I have seen minimal growth. Not only that, the current stated of my hair I feel is worse than it was before I received the procedure.

 

Now Dr. Bhatti is recommended on this forum but I had quite a different experience from what others have written about. First, upon reaching the clinic a day before the procedure for the consultation, I found the consultation time that was given to me was not double but triple booked. This was despite making the booking months in advance and exchanging many emails. First red flag. Dr. Bhatti was already with someone and after I arrived and waited in the lounge area, one potential patient came from the UK as well as a patient who probably underwent the procedure the day before and they mentioned the same appointment time as me to the front desk. After they sat in the lounge, I mentioned to the lady/manager at the front desk how it was that all three of us were booked for the same time and she replied a little sharply that the gentleman had come from the UK as if one was expected to yield to others based on their travelling distance! I mentioned that I had come from Japan and she immediately switched tunes asking me to be patient saying that the appointment times were not fixed.

 

Entering Dr. Bhatti’s office, I greeted him and started to explain my situation. He cut me off saying that he first wanted to draw the hairline he thought I wanted and proceeded to draw a completely new hairline all across my fore hard. Surprised, I protested and asked him if he remembered our correspondence at all since I wanted to restore only my temple points. He obliged and redrew the hairlines at the temple points. Dr. Bhatti mentioned that he had my file with him and pointed to one in front of him. It had the name of the gentlemen from the UK waiting outside and I told Dr. Bhatti it was not me. Second red flag. After we had talked for a few minutes regarding the procedure, the door opened and the transplant patient of the previous day waiting outside just entered the office without being invited. He came and sat down and Dr. Bhatti switched talking to him about his post op procedures. From time to time he switched talking between him and me. Then he did something that surprised me. Without any regard for my privacy for confidentiality, he introduced me to that gentleman telling him where I was from! I was extremely surprised that my private information would be divulged just like that and had my deposit not been already paid, I would have just walked out. But having paid the deposit and the airfare all the way from Japan to India, all I wanted was good results. I had imagined that that a patient’s right to privacy would be universally known across the medical world in any country yet here I was being introduced to a stranger at a time when I was supposed to have a private consultation. Third red flag. Finishing our discussion, I was issued some medicine asked to come early the next morning.

 

Arriving early in the morning the next day (8am? ) I waited in the lounge. It was almost 10:45am that I was called for my procedure since. From here, it was totally obvious that Dr. Bhatti was doing everything very quickly. Since I’m half Indian, I understand basic Hindi and I heard the technicians saying “Jaldi karo” (Hurry Up). I mentioned to Dr. Bhatti that I felt everything was being rushed but he denied it. I had the shave, initial prep like getting some injections and having my blood extracted. I was then taken to the operating room, seated on the bed, with Dr. Bhatti and all the technicians fully dressed and ready for the donor extraction when I faced another red flag. I was then and there shown the dotted lines on the consent document to sign without so much having been given the chance to read the 2 or 3 pages. Talk about informed consent. I had arrived early in the morning and waited in the lounge to be called for one and a half hours. I could have been given the document to read in that time and understand but instead I was just shown where to sign just when everyone was about to begin the donor extraction process. It was all too obvious that the entire purpose of the document was not so that the patient could read and be well-informed but instead it was only for the clinic to seek protection from litigation by having the patient’s signature. I complained again to Dr. Bhatti saying I should have been given the document while I was waiting so that I could read it. He did not say anything. I skimmed over the document, mentioned that I would not consent to the use of my photographs anywhere, crossed that item out and signed.

 

I had the procedure. Since it was a small one and Dr. Bhatti was well-recommended, I tried to forgot about all the issues above and just hope for good results. The procedure finished. I waited for the necessary length of time for the regular saline spraying, received medication and left. The smartest thing I did was to mention all the above points on the feedback form which I was given by the manager.

 

The next day I returned for the initial post op procedure and briefing…and the final red flag. When I was issued the post op-care kit and briefed about everything, I asked Dr. Bhatti if finasteride had any side effects. He replied a little exasperatedly that I could look it up on the Internet myself. This is the last straw that broke the camel’s/my back albeit not then and there but now, eight months later. I would have thought that it is the responsibility of every doctor to ensure that his patient can make an informed decision but I was not warned about the shedding process of finasteride. This is the biggest source of my misery. Although it is said to be temporary, I feel it is not. After following the post op procedure, my temple points have shown minimal growth. Meanwhile I experienced shedding on the top of my head and it is worst where the intersection of a previous procedure (I did not use any medicine then) with the native hear was. Around this area, the shedding was the worst and hair has not regrown. So while I did not see any benefits of the finasteride on the temple points, I have experienced the full side effects. I went for such a small procedure and now my entire scalp is affected. Had I known about the shedding, I would have been in a position to do at least something about it e.g to stop finasteride. I went for such a small procedure but now it is so clear that I may need another one or even two to repair the localized shedding and to do the temple points again. Comparing the before and after pics, one see can see how little work the right temple warranted and how my left temple was before and how it is now. Its almost eight months and I don’t think that growth will be so radical in the next four months that I will have full growth. I emailed to Dr. Bhatti at the end of 6 months and he advised me to continue finasteride but I am having such a dilemma with the shedding. Will things improve? Will they get worse? On this link: (Link removed by moderator - See Terms of Service)

some doctors state that finasteride does not affect the transplant and is not mandatory so I don’t understand why it is so important especially when it causes shedding. Also, in my case I had the procedure on the temple points and there are a number of references to finasteride being ineffective on temple points. One example is here on the homepage of Dr. Amiya Prasad, New York:

 

(Link removed by moderator - See Terms of Service)

 

Then, assuming if finasteride was completely effective on temple points, I would not have had taken the transplant in the first place!! That’s why I fail to understand that if I inspect my results after 1 year, will it be the results of the transplant or the finasteride on the old native hear?

 

Has anyone experienced anything similar to me with Dr. Bhatti ? I feel that I could have just been unlucky but then when I read some other review of Dr. Bhatti, I find it hard to gauge the attention they received based on what I experienced. Or it may have been that since I went for such a small procedure my case was trivialized.

 

A separate comment, the other staff (technicians) are indeed very kind and helpful.

Edited August 14, 2015 by David - Moderator

[lileli]

Maybe I am being dense but I am not sure what I am looking at in the photos. Being on propecia is about preserving native hairs so that your baldness doesn't continue in a aggressive fashion.

[Mick50]

Hi marcopolo sorry to hear you had a bad experience with Dr Bhatti , most posters on here seem to praise his general personality and after -care, but obviously not good enough if this was your experience.

 

Regarding the pics not the best quality why people insist on showing pics that are so dark I don't understand, anyway, if the area to be transplanted was the temple points you have high-lighted in the pre-op pics and no work was done on the rest of the head I can't see how the transplant would have impacted in anyway good, bad or indifferent on the rest of the head,

can only assume this is just natural hair -loss progression .

 

Again sorry to hear about your bad experience, I'm sure Dr Bhatti will somehow address your concerns.

 

I apologise I didn't read your post correctly I though you said the transplant affected your native hair, regarding the fin all i know

a lot of guys have a shedding period but this can be a good sign as it is just a prelude to it actually working

Edited August 13, 2015 by Mick50

[Torip]

I am sorry to hear about your bad experience with Dr. Bhatti. On the other hand you seem to be having a plenty of donor to cover your bald spots. The red flags you have seen with Dr. Bhatti are probably typical with many Indian doctors like, not honoring consultation times, not remembering your case well etc. They seem to be not having so much concern and respect for patients compared to their counter parts in developed countries. Of all the red flags probably some could be forgiven but others like inviting a second patient while he was with you rushing the procedure cannot be ignored. It is not a secret that Dr. Bhatti is highly commercial and probably performs multiple procures a day and thus rushes himself and his technicians. Regarding temple restoration from what I have seen so far Dr. Bhatti is not so good. Raj_Jayukdht and dragonfly2014 both had unnatural temple restoration results from Dr. Bhatti.

 

I do not think your further frontal hair loss is due to finasteride but progression of the natural balding process. Fin does a little to keep frontal hair compared to the crown hair.

[lileli]

Contact the doctor but do take better photos since I can't tell anything from those you posted.

[fortune11]

Marcopolo - My sympathies , and hope for the best. You have detailed in your experience a way that leaves no room for misinterpretation and no excuses need be made for what simply is a poor professional conduct . As to poor result, I will concede that maybe too early to pass final judgement although it does seem to be not going in the right direction.

 

When I compare your experience to the high level of professionalism and care I got at the hands of Dr Shapiro (and Dr Ziering) , it is like day and night . Being anointed by one of these popular forums may get you more patient referrals but it is not a free pass. They should continue to be held to the highest of standards.

[TakingThePlunge]

marcopolo,

 

First, let me say that I'm sorry to hear that you did not have a pleasant experience with Dr. Bhatti. What you have described is quite different from my own experience and of those patients I was fortunate enough to meet and speak with over the three days I was there.

 

As others have said, better photos would assist us in providing better feedback. But, as you pointed out, you're only about 8 months post-op and there is still time for significant improvement.

 

As for finasteride, Dr. Bhatti, like a number of other surgeons, recommends finasteride for 6 months after surgery because he believes that it assists the struggling grafts during the healing and recovery stages. Ideally, most hair transplant patients should continue to use the drug in order to maintain any natural hair they still have as long as they are note experiencing side effects.

 

While shedding is a common occurrence with finasteride, it is said that only the weakest and most miniaturized hairs may be lost permanently. These are the hairs that were on their way out anyway. The rest should regrow and become more robust than they were before. We always recommend that anyone trying finasteride stick with it for at least 6 months and up to one full year before assessing their results.

 

You may have noticed that I removed two links from your original post. Our Terms of Service prohibit linking to such third-party sites.

 

I have notified Dr. Bhatti and his rep California and requested that they post a reply to your concerns. Dr. Bhatti has an outstanding reputation and I know that he is highly concerned about the well being of his patients. In the event that your results are truly subpar I"m certain he'll stand behind the work.

 

Whatever the outcome, I hope that you eventually obtain the results you want and deserve.

[TakingThePlunge]

...It is not a secret that Dr. Bhatti is highly commercial and probably performs multiple procures a day and thus rushes himself and his technicians....

 

Torip,

 

Dr. Bhatti performs only two surgeries per day. One large and one small.

[TakingThePlunge]

...When I compare your experience to the high level of professionalism and care I got at the hands of Dr Shapiro (and Dr Ziering) , it is like day and night . Being anointed by one of these popular forums may get you more patient referrals but it is not a free pass. They should continue to be held to the highest of standards...

 

I had hair transplant surgery in the US with Dr. Alexander and with Dr. Bhatti in India and the level of professionalism and care I received in both places was equally high. In addition, during the three days I spent at the clinic I had the opportunity to meet with a number of pre and post-op patients and all of them praised the attention and care they received.

 

I agree that some of what marcopolo has related would not be acceptable by anyone's standards. However, let's hear what the clinic has to say before jumping to conclusions.

 

Regarding your final statement about being "anointed" by "one of these popular forums", I can't speak for any other popular forums but we take our recommendation process seriously and the physicians who meet our high standards are held to those standards and that includes patient care as well as surgical results.

 

The bottom line is that any clinic and physician can have an off day. It's not fun when it happens to you and I get that, believe me. But take any hair transplant surgeon you want and you'll find an unhappy patient somewhere in their portfolio. What makes them stand out from the crowd is how they address those concerns and ensure that those patients ultimately get the outcome they deserve.

[Rawkerboi]

@Torip is spot on!!

 

Marcopolo really sorry to hear about your sad experience! Many users keep praising him but it seems the scenario is quite different!

Even though the procedure is small, it should be treated with respect and all the concerns need to be answered properly..

I can understand some time even top doctor can have an off day, but what about the poor experience during personal consultation? Some red-flags are probably not acceptable!

I would advise you to continue Finasteride and wait for atleast 12 months or maximum 18months before jumping into conclusion.

Next time please try to post picture with better quality and from better angle!

[marcopolo]

Thanks to all who replied for taking out your time to read my post. Apologies for the pics. I live alone and taking a selfie in the mirror with a camera phone does not give the best results.

 

A note to user "Torip" for brevity. The gentleman who walked in during my consultation was not invited by Dr. Bhatti. He walked in himself. Whether he was instructed by the front desk to do so, I don't know. But yes the gentleman had an appointment scheduled at the same time as mine.

 

I will continue taking the medication and wait. Will post progress here.

[voxman]

Dr. Bhatti is aware of this thread and the voiced concerns and has requested that I reach out to marcopolo to discuss this. We have started this process via p.m.