2000 Graft FUE by Dr De Reys in Belgium

[VegetasWidowsPeak]

Hello!

I recently underwent a 2000 graft FUE procedure with Dr Rudi De Reys in Belgium.

I am from the UK, and traveled via Eurostar on Sunday 4th October, and underwent the operation on the 5th & 6th. I will be posting my results here, as well as using this post as a detailed rundown of my experience at his clinic and Dr De Reys.

 

Arrival

 

It took 2 hours from London on the Eurostar to get to Brussels South. The doctor had arranged beforehand to meet me here, but I was still anxious when I left the train because i could not see him yet. However once I traveled deeper into the station I noticed him stood waiting with his wife. I traveled with a good friend, and the moment we shook hands he made a joke which instantly relieved my anxiety, and instantly made me feel welcome.

We arrived at his clinic 50 minutes later. It is a very discreet, tucked away building hidden behind a security gate. He lives in his apartment next to a large clinic/ward building.

 

Clinic/Ward

 

The clinic/ward facility has a patient room, a kitchen, a sitting area with a TV and two FUE procedure rooms. The place was very comfortable, well heated, and the beds were comfortable to sleep in. The fridge was also stocked with drinks/snacks etc.

Dr De Reys and his definitely went out of there way to ensure I was happy in terms of everything, comfort, food etc.

 

Procedure

 

We started at 8 AM after shaving my head. I was originally quoted 2500 grafts, but when the doctor saw my head, I imagine it was smaller in reality than in my images so I required less area to cover (which i was happy about because I save donor grafts as well as money, and I believe it showed some good ethical practice on the doctors side. He could have easily still taken an extra 500 unnecessary grafts and charged me for it)

The extraction procedure on day 1 took about 4 hours. The anesthetic shots were an 7/10 for pain, but quickly took effect, the following shots were probably 3/10.

Extraction of grafts from behind ears were 2/10 pain, back of head 0/10.

Dr De Reys did 100% of the extraction punches himself.

I could feel him dabbing my head constantly, so I asked if many people bleed a lot. He said it ranges from person to person, and I was definitely a "bleeder". (which he said is great for me because it indicates I am very healthy/fit and have great scalp circulation, but a bit of a pain for him because it's so messy!)

During the process he had an assistant separating grafts into 1/2/3's.

 

The implantation is followed after "slits" are made, the slits were a 2/10 for the most, but certain small areas, it shot up to a 7/10. I bled a lot here and I began to feel a bit shaky from the loss, but this didn't last for too long.

Dr De Reys was not 100% involved with the implantation, he did about 60% himself but then his wife took over and continued.

I felt very well looked after and in good hands at every point, I was well fed/checked up on, and I got a choice of TV/DVD's to watch (Shawshank Redemption got me through day 2!)

 

Quality of post op care

 

I was provided with a bottle of aloe spray, a tube of aloe rub and a printed instruction sheet for the day post op, 1 week post op, and there after. The instructions are pretty comprehensive and include the doctors personal email and direct line phone number in case I need to contact him for advice.

 

If you would like to contact me directly asking anything about the time I spent with this surgeon or if you are a prospective patient, then feel free to email me via myhtinbox@gmail.com. I will happily answer any questions.

 

Below are my pre op pictures, as well as my post OP pictures (sorry about the lower quality post op images, my decent camera isnt about at the mo) Also, my head/face is very swollen at the moment. Started at my forehead, moved to my eyebrows yesterday and is now around my nose and eyes.

[Wwiizzkkiidd24]

congrats on the hair transplant looks like clean work. now the fun begins aye haha.

 

how was your trip back? did your wear a hat and did you get asked to take it off?

[VegetasWidowsPeak]

congrats on the hair transplant looks like clean work. now the fun begins aye haha.

 

how was your trip back? did your wear a hat and did you get asked to take it off?

 

Yo wizz. The trip back was fine, apart from it took from 9AM to 11 PM. I didn't bother wearing a cap, despite being very out in public. I was on a packed train/walked around the stations and checked out Antwerp/Brussels with it exposed. People looked but looked away pretty quickly and I got used to it! I just said to myself "well I doubt ill ever see these people again so I don't really care".

[Wwiizzkkiidd24]

how comes it took you so long to get back?

 

yeah fair enough you got balls my friend haha glad you had a good experience and I look forward to seeing your progress.

[VegetasWidowsPeak]

how comes it took you so long to get back?

 

yeah fair enough you got balls my friend haha glad you had a good experience and I look forward to seeing your progress.

 

I live far away from London and opted to take a coach which was an 8 hour journey!

[Wwiizzkkiidd24]

fair enough. so did he extract 2000 all in one day? it was my understanding he does 1500 max in one day. That's what he told me anyway.

[VegetasWidowsPeak]

fair enough. so did he extract 2000 all in one day? it was my understanding he does 1500 max in one day. That's what he told me anyway.

 

He did 1200 on day1, and implanted all 1200 of those on that day. The following day was 800. You are correct, he never does more than 1500 in one day

[Wwiizzkkiidd24]

yeah i thought so. I've always been a fan of that approach. he's got a lot going for him that being one and he uses manual punch. just a shame there's not many of hes patients on this site.

[VegetasWidowsPeak]

any input on when I can wash the recipient area?

my post op instructions say after 7 days but a lot of people online say they washed with baby shampoo soon after an FUE.

I washed my donor using sterile water and a cotton pad, just to remove some of the blood.

[Wwiizzkkiidd24]

I'd stick with the instructions he gave you. God forbid you start early and something you don't want happens and then u go to your doctor and say I thought I'd start washing early and he's sys I gave you instructions you should of followed them. it's your fault not mine. there's nothing I can do for you.

[Rawkerboi]

Works looks great and clean! I would advise you to follow your doctor Post op care instructions but you can also watch Dr.Bhatti video regarding Post op care, here is the link

[VegetasWidowsPeak]

Works looks great and clean! I would advise you to follow your doctor Post op care instructions but you can also watch Dr.Bhatti video regarding Post op care, here is the link

 

Thanks for that Rawkerboi, a lot of surgeons are suggesting that you can wash the recipient area pretty soon after treatment however I have been told I must wait until day 7! I plan on following my doctors instructions, just a bit curious really.

My head is healing very well despite not washing it, all looks very clean and the scabs are very small! Cheers for the advice

[VegetasWidowsPeak]

Just washed my hair for the first time using baby shampoo. Spent 5-10 minutes gently massaging off the scabs. A lot of scabs came off, and a lot of the hairs too! But I understand this is perfectly normal.

1 Week post op

[VegetasWidowsPeak]

Hello, it has been one month since my FUE.

Here are some pics! Not much to see really, I lost almost all of my hairs by day 25. I am already starting to see growth in all areas, small thick stubble like hairs appearing at the hairline.

[Beestig22]

Do you have an update please.

 

Also, if you don't mind sharing what you paid for the treatment.

 

The reason I am asking is because it seems that De Reys gives huge discounts if you ask for !

He has a french patient that wrote he got a 15 %discount when booking without the middlemen.

 

Hope you got a good result!

[VegetasWidowsPeak]

Do you have an update please.

 

Also, if you don't mind sharing what you paid for the treatment.

 

The reason I am asking is because it seems that De Reys gives huge discounts if you ask for !

He has a french patient that wrote he got a 15 %discount when booking without the middlemen.

 

Hope you got a good result!

 

 

Hi bud.

I honestly cannot remember the exact amount I paid. I think it was around 5000 euros (about ?4000).

 

I am not sure about the discount, I dealt with Nick (his middleman) in the first instance.

 

I planned on putting my 5 month pictures up considering it is coming around soon (4months 2 weeks).

 

I have had a fair amount of growth, although I have not seen any new "sprouts" for a good 3-4 weeks, just the hair that grew early continuing to grow (which worries me slightly?). has anyone else experienced this in the past?

[Bill - Seemiller]

Vegetas,

 

Thanks for coming back to the topic to give us an update. I hope you also provide some new photos for us to look at even though you said you haven't seen any new growth for 3 to 4 weeks, I'm sure it looks different than it did the last time you provided us photos back in October. You are still early on in your process so I expect you to have continued growth for sometime.

 

I look forward to seeing your progress.

 

Bill

[VegetasWidowsPeak]

Thanks for the vote of confidence Bill.

 

Do you think adding a small amount of topical minoxidil to the temples will help speed it up at all? Or will that do more harm than good?

[Bill - Seemiller]

Vegetas,

 

Unless the area is inflamed or irritated in someway, I see no harm in trying the use of minoxidil to the area. Some people swear that it speeds up or jump starts transplanted hair growth however, I'm not convinced that it does. But, I don't see a problem with trying it, it certainly can't hurt.

 

All the best,

 

Bill

[VegetasWidowsPeak]

Hi all. I am just about 5 months. Like I said in my recent post, I haven't seen any "new" sprouts in a while! Is it possible that you can just have a lot of no show hairs that suddenly start showing? The hairs that have come through are still slowly growing which is good. Can I have peoples opinions/advice on whether or not im where I should be for 5 months? Things feel slow. How do you think it'll turn out? Thanks :-)

[VegetasWidowsPeak]

Sorry guys - bump.

Any comments/advice at all regarding my last post? Cheers :-)

[Spidey]

Hi all. I am just about 5 months. Like I said in my recent post, I haven't seen any "new" sprouts in a while! Is it possible that you can just have a lot of no show hairs that suddenly start showing? The hairs that have come through are still slowly growing which is good. Can I have peoples opinions/advice on whether or not im where I should be for 5 months? Things feel slow. How do you think it'll turn out? Thanks :-)

 

The hairs just don't appear out of no where... they will be very fine at first and as they grow longer, the base gets thicker. Some people think the hairs just grow out thick, and some think they grow fine, then fall out and grow thicker as each hair cycle, which isn't true. Initially, they grow fine, and as they grow longer the base gets a bit thicker and thicker... If you look at some of the new hairs, you will see the top is thinner than the base. Usually the thin part breaks off. If the hair actually shed each time the hair gets thicker, it would take forever for the hair to grow.

[VegetasWidowsPeak]

Hello guys.

I am about 8 months post op now and I am still a little pessimistic about my result. It is noticably thicker than before, but it looks thin under light and when wet, especially the temples where I had the most work. I have the rest of my hair long so I can style it to make it look okay, although I feel like only about 1000 of the 2000 grafts have shown. Does anyone have any advice or opinions? I heard it is very unlikely to see any drastic improvement after the 9 month mark which is a little upsetting (and for some reason the pics are all upside down after uploading lol, sorry)

[Transhair]

If possible, you could ask for the surface area of the recipient to figure out the density transplanted?

You had 2000 grafts over quite a large are, with my first surgery I had slightly more than 2000 in an area that was probably half of the size, so I'd imagine that you may have just not received a very high density and would need a second pass to achieve thick hair if you wanted it.

[ontop]

Looking very good for 5months buddy, this is where the hairs start to mature so take pics once a month, put them next to each other & see the differnce, you be very surprised when you compare.

Happy for you.