~2000 FUE with Dr. Scott Alexander

nstambou · November 8, 2017

Background:

I started noticing receding hairline when I was ~20 years old. It did not start bothering me too much until my late 20s, which is when I started using Nioxin because I noticed more thinning in the front area. It seems to me like Nioxin made it worse, including thinning and some hair loss in the crown area. That is when I started using more natural shampoos (pura d'or) and using natural essential oils to try to help maintain my hair thickness and possibly regrow some, these treatments seem to have helped (I have not noticed much loss since I started these, and the hair seems thicker already). I am 30 years old now, and decided to get a hair restoration surgery a few months ago. After some very thorough research (reviews, videos, articles, forums, post op results, consultations, etc.), I decided to get my hair transplant surgery with Dr. Scott Alexander at the Biltmore Surgical Hair Restoration in Phoenix, AZ, which is the city I live in. The time Dr. Alexander took during my consultation to go over the procedure details and to answer all my questions, was another main reason to choose him as my surgeon. I also called the office a few times with more questions and they were very helpful and provided the answers I needed.

Hair Transplant Procedure:

The surgery went very well, it took longer than I expected (~11-12 hours total), but I think this was mainly because of the way my hair grows at very different angles everywhere. I was very relaxed the morning of the surgery (I had already met the doctor and some of his crew before when I went in for a consultation and they made me feel very at ease), which is why I decided not to take the optional sedative in the morning. I think this was a mistake, I would recommend to take it, and I know next time, I will. In fact, I was very aware of every part of the surgery throughout the day and even though it wasn't very painful, it wasn't comfortable (being in the same position for long periods of time and feeling the numbness in the scalp) and it felt very long, I wish I would've taken the sedatives and slept through most of it like others. My other mistake was that I waited too long to ask for more anesthesia shots when I should have asked for them as soon as I started feeling something on my scalp (this made the anesthesia shots feel very painful, but they would not have been if I had asked for the shots earlier and more frequently while my scalp was still 90% numb). The reason I was waiting too long is because I kept thinking that it was almost over and could wait a little longer without the anesthesia (I am not a big fan of needles and the numbness feeling). Those would be 2 main things I would do differently next time, and would recommend for others considering getting the same type of surgery. Other than that, everything went very well, the staff was very professional and friendly. After the procedure was done, Dr. Alexander took some time to go over the post-op instructions, and to answer some of my questions. I tried my best to follow these by heart, and arranged to work from home the next 2 weeks which was very helpful to be able to focus on the recovery part (crucial part of the procedure), but I would say I would recommend to take at least one week off work. I am now 9 days post-op and things are looking very good, most of the scabs have fallen off, and it is not very noticeable that I had a hair restoration procedure done. I am attaching the pre-op, same day post-op, and 7-day post op pictures. I will upload more photos after my 6-month follow up. Please let me know if you have any questions.