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2500 iFUE @ Dr. Eberson - July 2016 - Amsterdam, The Netherlands


California83

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Hi everyone,

 

want to share my experience regarding a 2500 graft iFUE at Dr. Harald Eberson which i did last summer (July 21/22 2016) in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

 

Quick intro:

Currently 33, was 32 last summer and the first signs of baldness started showing slowly around age 20 when my hairline was receding and around age 27 the crown started getting thinner and so did the entire scalp on top.

 

I did read on possible remedies but was never attracted to finasteride for example due to the potential negative side effects. I'd rather be bald than having even a minor chance of suffering from those.

 

The thinning and receding hairline did not impact me heavily but I did always promise myself when the time (and $ in the bank) is right, I would do a hair restoration regardless, at least to ensure a nice frame for the face.

 

On my dad's side most guys are pretty much Norwood 4-5, and my mom's side less to none, but the idea of doing an FUE was to restore the look/appearance.

 

Getting balder, about 2 years ago I started using fibers, which made a huge difference. It impacted my confidence more than I thought it would and everything looked good.

 

However, with the process continuing, I started to lack hairs in the front to actually make the use if fibers nice and natural.

 

That's the moment I knew:

It's time for more fire power: an FUE.

 

A few pics of the BEFORE situations WITHOUT any fibers.

zSz58l.jpg

8fv1hS.jpg

 

 

Selecting the right clinic:

There were basically 3 criteria which had to be good:

 

  1. 1. Quality
  2. 2. Cost
  3. 3. Trust/confidence/good feeling

 

 

I went to several doctors in and around San Francisco, e.g. Joel Beck and Sara Wasserbauer.

 

From both I got a feeling they could get me the desired result, though Beck was not a specialist but a more common plastic surgeon, he would bring in Neograft, and Wasserbauer's results did not look that appealing.

 

And both were tremendously expensive in my opinion compared to Western-European docs.

 

So how did I randomly end in in Amsterdam, The Netherlands then?

I work at a tech company here in San Francisco (did that shock you?:D) and have to travel to the UK and The Netherlands often for many years now. So I slowly, but surely also considered that as an option.

 

I reached out to several clinics and selected the one where I could get good value for money and got the sense that the patients interest was on the top of the list.

TransHair was one I reached out to but they were very unfriendly from the get go.

 

Two other good clinics I heard about while in The Netherlands were:

ProHairClinic in Antwerp

Eberson Hair Clinic in Amsterdam

 

ProHair did not have any bandwidth for the dates I was considering, so I connected with Eberson.

 

The journey begins - Dr. Eberson

From the start this seemed like the right guy. Calm, experienced, realistic and professional.

 

It took two (long) calls were we discussed preferences, managed expectations, cost and assessed the situation. We decided to go for 2500 grafts, using the iFUE technique. the "i" stands for intermittent where the grafts are extracted and implanted again in a shorter time than some regular FUE. Instead of 1 extraction session and 1 implantation, it's done in several smaller batches to reduce time the hairs are outside of the body significantly, increasing chance of regrowth and survival.

 

The paperwork was done fast digitally and we decided to do the operation on July 21st and 22nd in Amsterdam.

 

The surgery

Already in Amsterdam for two weeks in a business trip, I arrived well rested at the clinic, right next to Vondelpark, Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh museum, not a bad place:cool:.

 

We would do 1300 grafts on day 1, 1200 on day 2.

 

I was welcomed by Dr. Eberson and his assistant and after some breakfast and chit chat we quickly started. Head was shaved, and the anaestetic injections done in the scalp.

 

A very nice feeling to be honest, I enjoy that at the dentist too. Perhaps that indicates a different problem:D

 

As I started feeling totally numb in my scalp, i lied down and Dr Eberson started extraction the grafts, kind of like a plucking feel but not uncomfortable at all. I even fell asleep during the session.

 

Waking up, we did the incisions. A meticulous task (as is the entire surgery anyway, a true art) but i was simply enjoying the music and the good felling I got from the fact that this was a work in progress.

 

Got some lunch in the clinic before Eberson put the grafts in the right spot and right position.

 

Time flew by and before we knew it, it was 530. Time to call it a day.

 

Day 2 went in a similar fashion.

 

Honestly I though the surgery was 10/10. I felt completely at ease and relaxed, enjoyed my time with the doc and assistant and was never in one moment of pain, except for 2 times 1 second for 2 injections.

 

Between day 1 and day 2, I spent the night in a nice hotel just around the corner. Of course I'd rather sleep in my natural position but for that night and the 2 nights to come, I had to sleep with my back/head a bit up so that the newly implanted grafts would remain untouched as much as possible.

 

I had no discomfort or pain during the surgeries, and found the experience to be way more relaxing than I thought it would.

 

It honestly made me consider doing a second FUE down the road somewhere already.

Edited by California83
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Week 1:

 

The first few days were ok, but a bit boring.

 

I took it slow and stayed in most of the time and catched up on Netflix and sports. I did go out for 30-60 minutes walks around sunset.

 

Here's a pic of me at day 3:

n4fEry.jpg

 

Started working from home on Monday without any problem and had my long awaited first dark ale as per the doctor advice to get rid off some swelling in the forehead (which was very minor). More than that it was a nice "carrot" to look forward to.

 

Day 5, scabbing intensifies, donor area already far along the healing process

plF1s2wMj

pnaliY2Wj

 

Day 7, crust are coming off very easily, grafts are starting (continuing to grow) for now :)

pnncPmRBj

pnh6gEIYj

 

During day 4,5,6,7...I actually did go out to restaurants to enjoy the great summer weather. I did wear a cap and as it got darker took it off.

 

Day 8, back on the plane to San Francisco!

Edited by California83
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Week 2: Most grafts are still there and having a bald head is great with the hot summer weather and very convenient, perhaps I should have just stayed bald :D

pnpi4hLgj

 

By week 6 most hairs in the end did fall out. I guess around 75 (?) grafts survived and continued to grow. I could easily tell because there was some hair in spots it had been gone for years, and I could notice the new hairline.

 

This was the time of waiting, waiting, waiting.

 

Part of the deal but slightly annoying. Not bald enough to be evenly bald, not enough hair to even consider fibers (not that I want to).

 

Here's a pic from early October, about 10-12 weeks in. "It's darkest before the dawn" Soon after it was like the US Airborne division dropping hairs on my head and I could notice growth on a daily basis.

 

Again: 10-12 weeks after:

pm88KiPRj

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All,

 

here's a pic from last week. 19 weeks now, 4.5 months after the surgery.

Growth has been fantastic ever since the 3+ month mark.

 

With the outlook of another 3-6 months of solid growth and thickening hair, I'm already very pleased.

 

People don;t notice immediately yet, but I do get a lot "dude you look good man, going to the gym?" Actually have my exact same weight, so I guess people notice (especially the ones I see once in a while) but can;t figure out what it is.:D:D

 

This pic is without any fibers, I don;t use them that often, but sometimes though to cover the crown a bit.

CXBSt6.jpg

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In case people are wondering:

- I do not use finasteride nor have I ever been using it, nor planning to

- I started using Rogain foam without any side effects April 2016 on Dr. Eberson's advice to strengthen the hairs

- I take GNC Men Energy Multivitamin daily, together with a Biotin supplement

- Exercise 3-4 times a week, cycle/run 30 min a day

- Don't smoke except for a few here and there at a wedding.

- Do drink on weekends (you gotta live a bit)

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December 13th update:

 

Can also feel and see the hair getting thicker now, and it's kind of funny that the last few days I kinda past the inflexion point of where I can model the hair again.

 

According to the chart below, still have a nice way ahead of me.

 

Should I already consider doing a second FUE in a year from now for the top and extended crown zones?

 

Or lower the hairline (prob not)? I have at least another 2000 grafts left, but will also lose more.

 

J4cmzI.jpg

 

growth-chart.jpg

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8.5 month update. Hair is getting thicker and darker now. Even stopped using Toppik.

 

I want to show you guys a true story, hence pictures are always from the same spot/angle, with decent lighting.

 

In real life pictures the results look even better. Will post an update in a month or so again.

 

In the long run am strongly considering a second FUE for the crown area, probably early 2018.

 

b4xq42.png

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Excellent result! I looked at Eberson but his posted examples were few as he started his career with another clinic and couldn't take his earlier works with him, I wasn't ready to leap on the newer name but I found him to be very knowledgeable, ethical in his approach, timely to respond and personable. In seeing this result, im happy to see his results match how he acted outside surgery. He is going to be one to watch going forward, thank you for sharing.

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Excellent result! I looked at Eberson but his posted examples were few as he started his career with another clinic and couldn't take his earlier works with him, I wasn't ready to leap on the newer name but I found him to be very knowledgeable, ethical in his approach, timely to respond and personable. In seeing this result, im happy to see his results match how he acted outside surgery. He is going to be one to watch going forward, thank you for sharing.

 

Thanks Mikey! Although already very pleased, still hoping to get even more out of it.

 

Have you interacted with him or done a surgery over there?

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  • 2 months later...

Hi

 

Very informative post. Have been looking into this Dr a few questions

 

- Does he use a motor or manuel punch? As his prices are slightly lower than the big brussels suggesting he could be using motor which may yeild lesser results

- How skilled is he to avoid a moth patchy donor area?

- How is the aftercare?

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Weird how it looks so sparse and lacking in density even after 7 days when I assume nothing would have fallen out, but ended up looking great.

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  • 2 months later...
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Hi

 

Very informative post. Have been looking into this Dr a few questions

 

- Does he use a motor or manuel punch? As his prices are slightly lower than the big brussels suggesting he could be using motor which may yeild lesser results

- How skilled is he to avoid a moth patchy donor area?

- How is the aftercare?

 

Apologies for the late reply Wagwan!

 

It's all manuel. "Big Brussels" meaning? Eberson is claiming (and I think it makes sense) that his iFUE technique yields higher results as compared to FUE.

 

Sounds more fancy than it is, simply more of an Agile than a Waterfall methodology (can you tell I work in tech ;)?)

 

How skilled is he to avoid a moth patchy area?

I think he did a great job at that. Check the pictures below of the current donor and a picture of that area 2 years ago,1 years before the surgery.

 

Considering 2500 grafts were taken out and I'm showing it in lightning, I think this is a solid job

ltDeAD.png

URTyyc.jpg

 

How is aftercare?

The way it should be. Eberson was very clear on setting the expectations for the following days and weeks, how to manage the treated areas, I got a special shampoo, spray, etc.

 

And whenever I had a question, I could simply reach out to him through Whatsapp or Mail (most convenient given the time zone differences) and he would get back to me in a few hours.

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Hi guys,

 

it's been 12 months now since I had 2500 grafts transplanted.

 

Could not be happier the results! Can't believe how much "new" hair I have compared to what it was.

 

Few pics below. I applied Rogain Foam an hour before so the tips look a bit like gel/wax is applied.

 

Some comments:

-Still only using Rogaine or CVS Minox (foam), and multivitamines+biotin.

-Did not get the transplanted hairs cut or trimmed yet, might do so this month.

-I'm styling it with some wax and Toppik.

 

keWDFC.jpg

7ntYQh.jpg

g24qGP.jpg

 

With wax/Toppik:

Ax3S1x.jpg

 

Best compliment I got was on a business trip to London recently:

"It's getting a bit thin on the top mate!"

 

If he only knew :D

 

A picture from 1 ago:

8fv1hS.jpg

 

Next step:

Enjoying the result of these 2500 grafts :cool:

 

Next year:

Going down the rabbit hole and going for seconds. Eberson thinks there are between 1250-2000 grafts left. We discussed several option but the most logical one would be to:

- Increase density in the front

- Reduce the bald crown a bit

 

I think this result already looks great, but want to get the most out of it without compromising a natural look. And I'm fine using Toppik and perhaps going for some micro pigmentation but might not even need it after the second surgery.

 

Thoughts guys?

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