Regular Member wjc1979 Posted July 14, 2018 Regular Member Share Posted July 14, 2018 I've been considering a hair transplant since a few years ago, and after many hours of research I finally decided to go with Dr Bhatti. Of course price was a factor on deciding the right surgeon and I was originally looking at surgeons in Turkey, but I was put off by some of the horror stories. It just seemed like too much of a risk. So when I looked into Dr Bhatti 's work, read reviews of his results and watched his videos, I decided he was the right doctor for me. I've already traveled to India several times, so the prospect of coming here for the procedure wasn't as daunting as it might be for some. I took the train this morning from Delhi to Chandigarh. Its a pleasant three hour trip, and the first class carriage is very comfortable and cheap. Dr Bhatti's driver was waiting and took me straight to the clinic for my consultation. Dr Bhatti and his staff are very welcoming and helpful. My consultation was quite short, but everything was explained to me thoroughly and all my questions were answered satisfactorily. Dr Bhatti estimated I would need 2200 grafts, confirming the estimate he made by email based on the photos I sent him. Dr Bhatti drew a hairline which I thought was a little too low and straight, and then asked me to draw the hairline I preferred. (In the first picture, the lower hairline is Dr Bhatti's and the higher one is mine). He asked me to take a photo and think about it during the time I have before my procedure. He insisted that the final decision should be mine alone. I think at this stage I will go with the higher hairline. I was then sent to the lab for a blood test (the lab is on site) and given some medication to take the night before the procedure and driven to my hotel. My procedure is in Monday so I have a whole day tomorrow to explore the city. I will post updates as I progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member wjc1979 Posted July 16, 2018 Author Regular Member Share Posted July 16, 2018 (edited) I just completed my surgery with Dr Bhatti. It was a very good experience, and although I was nervous at the start, I was reassured by the professionalism of the whole operation. I don't need to go into too many details because there was nothing out of the ordinary. Dr Bhatti performed all the extractions and incisions himself, and his technicians did the implantation. I was particularly impressed with his tech team. They were a thoroughly well oiled machine, and I could tell they were very experienced by the way they worked as a team. I ended up getting a little over 2100 grafts, about 1900 in the front and the rest to fill in the crown. Overall I'm very happy. Edited July 16, 2018 by wjc1979 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member OzzyBoy Posted July 18, 2018 Regular Member Share Posted July 18, 2018 Hi there, best of luck with the growth! A few questions if you don't mind. I'm currently researching too and have been tossing up between Dr Erdogan in Turkey and Dr Bhatti. What made you choose Bhatti over him?...do you have to travel to Chandigarh for the procedure or can they do it in Delhi too? Also, do you mind sharing how much you paid for the total surgery? I assume you had to pay for your own accommodation etc? I have a weak donor area so keen to see what Dr Bhatti recommends. Has he put you on Finasteride at all? Finally, were there any other Indian doctors that you were really close to choosing? I'm looking at Dr Kapil Dua too... Sorry for all the questions man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member wjc1979 Posted July 18, 2018 Author Regular Member Share Posted July 18, 2018 (edited) 7 hours ago, OzzyBoy said: Hi there, best of luck with the growth! A few questions if you don't mind. I'm currently researching too and have been tossing up between Dr Erdogan in Turkey and Dr Bhatti. What made you choose Bhatti over him?...do you have to travel to Chandigarh for the procedure or can they do it in Delhi too? Also, do you mind sharing how much you paid for the total surgery? I assume you had to pay for your own accommodation etc? I have a weak donor area so keen to see what Dr Bhatti recommends. Has he put you on Finasteride at all? Finally, were there any other Indian doctors that you were really close to choosing? I'm looking at Dr Kapil Dua too... Sorry for all the questions man! Don't be sorry for all the questions. I'm happy to help! I had a few surgeons on my list. The final decision came down to a few things. I found his online results to be consistently excellent. I was impressed by his experience and online presence, not just his promotional activity but also his professional contributions to the field of hair restoration. It was also important to me that the surgeon performed all the important work - in his case he did all the extraction and incisions, while the tech team implants the follicles under his supervision. Of course price was a factor, and it was obvious I would be getting world class treatment at a much more affordable rate than I would in the West. Also I heard him mentioned on "The bald truth" podcast and he was spoken of favourably by the hosts, and I consider that to be a credible endorsement. Lastly, it came down to my gut instinct - after many hours of research Dr Bhatti just felt right for me and I always felt assured I would be in good hands. Yes you need to travel to Chandigarh as that is where the clinic is located. It's a very pleasant little town, completely different to other places I've visited in India, and the perfect place to relax while you recover post op. It's only a short flight or train ride away from Delhi. I booked the hotel myself, but I've read elsewhere that his patients were able to get a discount rate at a hotel as Dr Bhatti's patient. The prices per graft are listed on Dr Bhatti's website. My advice would be to give him an email with some pictures - he personally answered all my emails within a day and was able to give me an accurate graft and cost estimate. My procedure which ended up being 2100 grafts was approx US$2.5K including taxes, but I was lucky to take advantage of a discount promotion which I don't believe is valid any longer. I was not on finasteride prior to the procedure, but Dr Bhatti prescribes six months of finasteride and minoxidil post op. Edited July 18, 2018 by wjc1979 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member OzzyBoy Posted July 18, 2018 Regular Member Share Posted July 18, 2018 Thanks mate, really appreciate it. I'm a little nervous about Finasteride, as my wife and I are looking to start a family over the next 12 - 18 months. I have emailed Dr Bhatti my pics and hope to hear back soon! I will follow your progress too, best of luck with it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member wjc1979 Posted July 18, 2018 Author Regular Member Share Posted July 18, 2018 13 minutes ago, OzzyBoy said: Thanks mate, really appreciate it. I'm a little nervous about Finasteride, as my wife and I are looking to start a family over the next 12 - 18 months. I have emailed Dr Bhatti my pics and hope to hear back soon! I will follow your progress too, best of luck with it! I wouldn't worry too much about finasteride. From what I've researched the side effects are exaggerated and rare. In the unlikely case you can't get a boner, you'll know soon enough to stop taking it! ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member OzzyBoy Posted July 18, 2018 Regular Member Share Posted July 18, 2018 (edited) 27 minutes ago, wjc1979 said: I wouldn't worry too much about finasteride. From what I've researched the side effects are exaggerated and rare. In the unlikely case you can't get a boner, you'll know soon enough to stop taking it! ? Haha yeah, I imagine you will call it out here if anything weird happens for you (hopefully not though!), so I will keep a lookout...thanks again Edited July 18, 2018 by OzzyBoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classygraftsindia Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 hi, thanks for sharing your experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member wjc1979 Posted July 23, 2018 Author Regular Member Share Posted July 23, 2018 (edited) Here is what things look like after one week - front, crown and donor area. The scabs have already mostly fallen off on the crown and are beginning to fall off in the front. I was slightly swollen for two days but that went away quickly. I haven't experienced any pain, although the donor area is annoyingly itchy. Edited July 23, 2018 by wjc1979 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member wjc1979 Posted July 25, 2018 Author Regular Member Share Posted July 25, 2018 (edited) It's day 9 and the scabs are almost all off. Only a couple of small stubborn ones remain. I think it's looking great so far. Dr Bhatti's aftercare routine involves applying shaving foam for five minutes to the recipient area and rinsing it off after day three. This softens up the scabs and they just slide right off. It's quite gratifying! One downside of this whole thing is that I don't like how vain I've become. I can't walk past a mirror without checking myself out and admiring how much better I look with a hairline! This is exactly the problem I was hoping for! I know it will all fall out very soon, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts! Edited July 25, 2018 by wjc1979 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member OzzyBoy Posted July 26, 2018 Regular Member Share Posted July 26, 2018 11 hours ago, wjc1979 said: It's day 9 and the scabs are almost all off. Only a couple of small stubborn ones remain. I think it's looking great so far. Dr Bhatti's aftercare routine involves applying shaving foam for five minutes to the recipient area and rinsing it off after day three. This softens up the scabs and they just slide right off. It's quite gratifying! One downside of this whole thing is that I don't like how vain I've become. I can't walk past a mirror without checking myself out and admiring how much better I look with a hairline! This is exactly the problem I was hoping for! I know it will all fall out very soon, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts! Great, looking forward to seeing the progress over the next few months! Are you on minoxidil too, or just fin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member wjc1979 Posted July 26, 2018 Author Regular Member Share Posted July 26, 2018 Yes I'm using both finasteride and minoxidil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member wjc1979 Posted July 30, 2018 Author Regular Member Share Posted July 30, 2018 This is what it looks like after two weeks, front area and donor area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member OzzyBoy Posted July 30, 2018 Regular Member Share Posted July 30, 2018 46 minutes ago, wjc1979 said: This is what it looks like after two weeks, front area and donor area. Seems to be coming along really well mate - doesn't look too red and not noticeable that you've just had a procedure..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notbald Posted July 30, 2018 Share Posted July 30, 2018 Looks excellent, no redness as I have seen with a lot of other photos on the Web, how come? I am in the process of researching myself and have been thinking of Turkey or Thailand, but now there is another option. Looking forward to seeing more of your progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Panamera13 Posted July 30, 2018 Senior Member Share Posted July 30, 2018 On 7/18/2018 at 12:41 AM, OzzyBoy said: Thanks mate, really appreciate it. I'm a little nervous about Finasteride, as my wife and I are looking to start a family over the next 12 - 18 months. I have emailed Dr Bhatti my pics and hope to hear back soon! I will follow your progress too, best of luck with it! Personal exp when I was on Fin 3 years ago...I had to get off of it ( I guess just 2-4 weeks) to have the second child (and it worked). So for me personally yes it seemed a factor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member wjc1979 Posted July 30, 2018 Author Regular Member Share Posted July 30, 2018 3 hours ago, OzzyBoy said: Seems to be coming along really well mate - doesn't look too red and not noticeable that you've just had a procedure..... Yes I've been pleasantly surprised about the lack of redness. There's still a little bit of redness but it's very faint. I've seen reviews where the patient had a red scalp up to a few months afterwards, and that's what I was expecting due to my fair skin. I don't know if I'm one of the lucky ones or if it's because of Dr Bhatti's skills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Seftest Posted July 31, 2018 Regular Member Share Posted July 31, 2018 On 7/30/2018 at 7:31 AM, wjc1979 said: Yes I've been pleasantly surprised about the lack of redness. There's still a little bit of redness but it's very faint. I've seen reviews where the patient had a red scalp up to a few months afterwards, and that's what I was expecting due to my fair skin. I don't know if I'm one of the lucky ones or if it's because of Dr Bhatti's skills. I had mine done by Dr. Bhatti 2 months ago, and yet to see any redness, besides occasional one after workouts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member California Posted August 1, 2018 Senior Member Share Posted August 1, 2018 Hi wjc1979, Thank you for documenting and sharing your HT journey so well. I am sure that your experiences and feedback will benefit other HT Patients. Please do keep the updates coming. All the best, Sincerely, California North America Representative and Patient Advisor for: Dr. Tejinder Bhatti, Darling Buds Hair Transplant Center, Chandigarh, India. Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional and my words should not be taken as medical advice. All opinions and views shared are my own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member wjc1979 Posted August 6, 2018 Author Regular Member Share Posted August 6, 2018 Three weeks in and believe the shed is happening. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted. Now it's time to practice the least glamorous of virtues, patience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Friedman Posted August 6, 2018 Regular Member Share Posted August 6, 2018 Whoah, no scabs after two weeks. How did you accomplish that? I had surgery a week after you, but I still have basically all the scabs on the top of my head. I'm afraid of removing them for fear they'll take the newly implanted hairs with them... Although, it seems others look more like you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member wjc1979 Posted August 17, 2018 Author Regular Member Share Posted August 17, 2018 One month post op. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member wjc1979 Posted August 22, 2018 Author Regular Member Share Posted August 22, 2018 (edited) 5 weeks. I thought it would be undetectable by now, but I guess I just need to be patient. Edited August 22, 2018 by wjc1979 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Hairs1 Posted August 22, 2018 Regular Member Share Posted August 22, 2018 the way Bhatti places the grafts on the scalp dont look right to me. There is Too much gaps in between the grafts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member wjc1979 Posted August 23, 2018 Author Regular Member Share Posted August 23, 2018 20 hours ago, Hairs1 said: the way Bhatti places the grafts on the scalp dont look right to me. There is Too much gaps in between the grafts I believe that a lot of it has shredded. Hopefully it will grow to the desired thickness beginning in a few months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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