My first op next week

[someusername82]

Hi Guys,

 

I've known about this forum for some time, and finally got around to registering.

 

After some research, about 8 months ago I decided to book an operation in Spain with Dr Vila from Dr Jose Lorenzo's surgery Injerto Capilar. I myself am from the UK, and did visit London Harley street clinics, however most said they couldn't really do much to help me and price was quoted around 5-10k more. This op is going to cost about 9k for the front 2200 grafts, not sure if that is a reasonable price or normal. I mainly decided to go with this spanish surgery as the results/pictures on the site and reviews seemed good.

 

I am going to be getting 2200 grafts (hopefully!) to try and cover the front area of my rather bald head. Then if enough donors are left, come back in 6 months or so and try and do the crown.

 

Does anyone have any advice for me things I should do/not do to improve my chances of success?

 

They put me on finasteride pills 6 months ago and now told me to take hair/nail pills so i'm doing all that.

 

I've got gentle head and shoulders shampoo which they said should be fine, but any advice you can give me would be really appreciated.

 

I've suffered with an Advanced Hair Studio hair piece for 5 years, so for me this is a huge relief to try and get this op done.

 

I will post before and after pictures soon.

 

All the best

 

Rob

Edited February 9, 2017 by David - Moderator

[Dolph1969]

9K, presumbably GBP sounds quite expensive for 2200. I would have thought that would have been the standard for most Harley Street clinics.:confused:

 

Good luck with the op. Heard great reports on Lorenzo.

[someusername82]

The first thousand (1000) is 6 euros/ graft (21% taxes included)

The second thousand (1001-2000) is 4 euros / graft (21% taxes included)

The rest (2001 onwards) is 2.5 euros / graft (21% taxes included)

 

So my second op should be a lot less expensive.

[KO]

Good luck. If I'm not mistaken Dr Vila actually did Dr Lorenzo's own HT. They are definitely far more respected than any of the Harley Street clinics. You are in great hands.

 

What did they advise you on when to stop wearing the hairpiece?

[someusername82]

Hi KO,

 

A bit of background info on my case:

 

I'd been tricked by the sales guys at AHS to what the fake hair actually was, the way they sell it is very clever so went with it and was stuck with it for over 5 years. It did the job, but the admin and expense of maintaining it and keeping your hair style looking realistic is hard. To this day I managed to not tell anyone other than my GF about it, even after having to swap to new hairpieces about 8 times, this was only possible because I am self employed and more flexible to maintain the thing properly. Either way you can be spending 2k a year on it.

 

Prior to getting it, I actually went to harley street hair clinic to get an assessment by the owner directly and it was a lot cheaper back then! Whole thing was going to cost 2k about 7 years ago as it was the new thing, and I put down ?500 deposit. Unfortunately the situation never arose where I could do it and get away with it (back then it was not the normal thing to get done). So I lost the ?500 and went to AHS and 6 years later i've now got the chance to sort my hair out properly, so very exciting.

 

I knew the hair piece was no good, so here is a summary below of the CONS. I didn't really need them to tell me this, after wearing one for 5+ years you just know this is all kinds of wrong But they also confirmed it. After moving to another area of the country, I can remove the hair piece, let my hair grow naturally as much as it can. I went to a skin expert in London and he advised me to keep taking hair and nail pills. Also Lorenzo's clinic got me on finasteride, and said I need to be on this 6 months prior to any op. 6 months is now over and my op is on Monday.

 

CONS of Hairpiece:

 

- They use glue.... it's disgusting. Even the tapes are bad, and rip out the real hair when you have to take it off to clean.

 

- if you do any sport you are screwed, sweat will make it loose and itch/uncomfortable

 

- no sunlight gets through, bad for skin, especially in my case

 

- expense (10k or so i've spent on it)

 

- Living a lie? Not really able to show your true self

 

- Having to worry if it has been noticed/looking correct

 

- Having to tell people about it

 

- trying to sleep with this thing on your head feeling weird.

 

- Not being able to find clinics locally to help, it's a strange business, which I think is suffering now due to transplants.

 

The list goes on, it's just cr*p, but that is my honest opinion, perhaps not everybody thinks the same.

 

Hope that helps.

 

As I mentioned before, been on and off, scouting this forum for answers/best surgeons for years now since i've been suffering with the hair piece and before, and made the decision to go to Lorenzo's place.

 

I just can't wait to get this done now.

 

Cheers

Rob

[someusername82]

Here with an update:

 

Just back from my first op with Dra. Ximena Vila in Dr. Lorenzo's clinic Medilor in Madrid, Spain.

 

I will do a walk through of my whole visit to help assist others in making a decision when it comes to getting a FUE transplant.

 

My first operation objective is to do the front hair line and get half way back on the head (donor permitting). Then in 5 months, return and assess the donor area and attempt to do back half/crown area (donor permitting).

 

Monday 13th

 

Flew out to Spain from London Heathrow, the flight does not take long, and then had the hotel shuttle pick me up. It took 15 minutes to arrive at the hotel. The hotel (Hotel Amura), was arranged and recommended by Medilor / Injerto Capilar's team. Hotel was fantastic and room service excellent/quick, with free 5 minute shuttles to the clinic included.

 

Tuesday 14th

 

First day op, arrived at 7:30am. Nurses/Dra. Villa used some high tech cameras/equipment to assess the donor area for the types of hairs I have (single/2/3 hairs etc). Then the drawing began, marking my head up with numbers and areas. Head was then shaved, and hair coloured darker to assist in extraction (I have very light and fine hair).

 

Extraction began shortly after by one of the nurses. This bit was relatively painless, the most painful part being the injections to numb the extraction areas, but it was just a bit of scratching, so nothing too bad.

 

This went on for a couple of hours, moving into different positions to allow for extraction. The nurse (maybe doctor) performing this operation was excellent, and we had some music on which helped relax/distract me.

 

Extraction completed for the right side of my donor area by half way through the day.

 

1301 donor hairs extracted.

 

Lunch break came, lunch was provided by the clinic, and it was good! More pain killers given, which helped. There was a good food menu provided, and lots of snacks/water/juice available at all times.

 

I now had the implant phase with Dra. Villa. More injections (worst ones being just above the eyes!), but again, it's nothing you can't get through and the rest are just scratches to numb the area. Donor hairs where all successfully implanted in 1.5 hours or so. It seemed quite a fast process compared to the extraction phase, and Dra. Vila had two nurses loading up the punching equipment.

 

I went back to the hotel after being given some post op instructions, mainly consisting of spraying my hair every hour, and pain killers.

 

The pain was minimal on the first day for me.

 

Wednesday 15th

 

Second day of operation, similar procedure in the morning, extracting my other left side, this went without a hitch.

 

1300 donor hairs extracted.

 

Implants also all went well, but I was in a lot more pain this time (due to swelling and I expect yesterdays op catching up with me) so took another painkiller which calmed the pain down.

 

Everything complete went back to hotel.

 

Thursday 16th

 

First wash day, got to the clinic at 10am for first wash of the donor area only. This was fine and I was also still taking painkillers as my head was swollen/painful. The pain varies in each patient, and seemed to come and go for me. More hourly spraying using saline fluid required post op on the recipient area.

 

In the evening my eye began to swell, which I was told is ok, and just happens with some people, and nothing to worry about. The swelling did leave me with a black eye, but I think this is just my body type, and i'm a little sensitive (swelling got better next couple of days).

 

My plan was always to stay Thursday night and just relax during this day. I am happy I did.

 

Friday 17th

 

One more visit to the clinic for second day of washing donor area only. Still spraying recipient area every hour. Lots of post-op instructions given which I am currently following. At the end I was debriefed by Dra. Vila and made sure I understood all the instructions, and given a pack to take with me, which included pillow covers, pain killers, special shampoo, sprays and post op instructions.

 

Overall thoughts:

 

Dra. Vila and her team are very respectable people, they clearly know what they are doing and some of the technology and computer gadgets they use to master their craft are most impressive! Just this moment I have received a detailed extraction report (Graft Tools), so you can see they analyse everything in great detail.

 

All of the team were very pleasant and friendly, making the whole experience all that bit easier to manage. From the initial consultation and booking, down to the operation, everything you can think of, they have organised for you. The clinic was very high tech/clean and modern, and I felt in safe hands with Dra, Vila as she clearly knew her stuff, even with some more testing questions I gave her

 

For the last 8 years I have been trying to get this operation done but have been unable due to different circumstances, and now I finally have and am very happy. I can't thank the Medilor team enough for helping to make this dream come true for me.

 

I would highly advise anyone thinking of getting a FUE transplant done to consider Dra. Vila and the team at Medilor, and after spending so long doing my research into who to have the surgery with, I do not regret choosing them.

 

Now the waiting begins!

[someusername82]

Update, picture attached, day 12 post operation.

[Slush]

Your graft growth looks equal to the rest of your hair. It looks great!

 

What was your total grafts count? Did you get an estimate on remaining donor hair available?

Edited February 28, 2017 by Slush

[someusername82]

Apparently it will fall out now within day 15 and 1 month, 90% of hair will come out, which is normal, then start to grow.

 

If I get to the end of 1 month perhaps it won't fall out

[someusername82]

Apparently I have enough to cover the crown, I had 2601 grafts for that area. My hair has always been very thin, so I didnt expect a dense covering, which is fine for me. So far happy with how things are going.

[Slush]

I'm six days behind you. I'm hoping I don't get the shed as well.

 

Good point on density. I have more hair than you, and I am concerned about having enough for future coverage in crown and mid-head.

 

I'll follow your progress closely.

[someusername82]

Shedding has begun.

 

You can see if you look closely the hairs break off, however you can see a little bit at the start of the hair remains in and hopefully attached to the living follicle to grow again in a few months.

 

1 month post op, I would say i've lost 70% of the new hairs. This is to be expected and is on the post op instructions that you will lose 90% or so.

 

Will take a picture in 3 months to see how it is.

[someusername82]

Hello all,

 

5th month post op update pictures attached.

 

Fairly happy but you can see some patchy growth and it seems thicker on the sides than middle, is that normal?

 

You can see the back area is shaved, this is because I had my second crown area done 1 month ago.

 

Thank you.

 

Rob

[pkipling]

Looking good so far. I see what you're talking about it seeming thicker on the sides than the middle, but I think that's just the camera angle. You're shooting directly down on the top/middle, so you're able to see straight through the hairs, whereas we're seeing a different angle on the sides. I don't think you have anything to worry about and this is really good progress for 5 months out. It'll just keep getting better from here.

 

Lucky that you were able to tackle the crown so soon after so that you're essentially getting both of the ugly duckling phases out of the way at roughly the same time and minimizing the length of the waiting game.

[someusername82]

Thank for your feedback!

 

I wish it was just the angle of the photo, but I am 100% sure the middle area is thinner.

 

Hopefully patchy growth happens sometimes and can be considered 'ok' in the first 5-8 months.

 

i'll update again in another couple months!

 

Your hair looks great btw I could only dream of such volume

[mikeyhwk]

You're on track, month 6 and on is where the bigger changes happen, more growth added thickness so congrats on making it thru the hellish part. Look forward to seeing this grow out! I'm 1 month post op with Dr Lorenzo at the moment, and id say 95% + of my grafts are gone now and got some shock loss so im neck deep in the ugly duckling phase.

[someusername82]

Thanks mikey.

 

Dra. Vila did mine at the same medilor clinic.

 

It's a busy but professional place is this your first op there?

 

Hoping things fill out more soon. Do you have any pictures of your op/progress?

 

Cheers

[newbie33]

Hey Rob, where in the UK are you based? I've basically decided to get an op with Dr Lorenzo, but trying to find the time off means I can't for quite a while. I'd love to see your results for real if you'd be up for it, in a few months time when it's grown out properly?

 

Also, how long was the wait for an op with Dr Villa?

Cheers.

[someusername82]

Hey,

 

I will post some pictures in a few more months, most people say it's really from months 6-9 that most growth happens, so we will see.

 

You can see from the first page my 12 day post op picture showing all the hairs, now just hoping they all come back out again

 

I am based near Maidenhead/Slough/Heathrow area.

 

Cheers

[someusername82]

Sorry forgot to answer your question, they made me start finasteride 6 months prior to op as I wasn't on any meds. I expect waiting times are a few months, but i'd email Dr Lorzeno/Dra. Vila and check.

[newbie33]

Great man. I'm sure you'll be all right in a few months... and the the hair greed might kick in!

[BaldingtimetoLdar]

looks to be growing in nicely mate, do you have any pre op pics please?

[someusername82]

Yes here is before front and crown.

 

Cheers,

[someusername82]

Will post an update at month 8 in October for the front.

[BaldingtimetoLdar]

any updates please? thanks