Dr Lorenzo 2101 grafts done April 2018

[davehhh1]

Hi there,

Haven't posted in a long time but because I took the plunge and had a transplant in April of this year I thought I would let you all in on my experience. I will add right now I am delighted with my results thus far

Background

So I am 41 years old (40 when I had the procedure). I first noticed hair loss at 16 with the familiar recession in the temples. I took it really badly. You see, losing hair was just something that would not happen to me. I believed I was immune and i wasn't until I started losing my hair that I realised how common hair loss is. I was in denial. I grew my my hair long and sported a pony tail from the age of 19 to 29. No one in this time ever commented that I was losing my hair. You see it was not really noticeable, it looked like a mature hairline. But the matured hairline was thing where it had receded. I took vitamins every day even to now and I believe this halted the loss to some extent.

When I hit 30 I cut my hair off for a short choppy style, and still you could not really notice the hair loss. But, as I approached forty I think the forlock of my hair started to thin. It was around this time I started looking into transplants. If I had mentioned to anyone what I was thinking they would have thought I was mad. I tried Minoxidil it did nothing, made it worse actually. At teh age of 36 I got on finasteride 1mg. Did it do anything? I don't know.

Transplant research

I consider myself quite clued up regarding health, diet and hair in particular. Studying everyone's hairline I didn't quite understand how under any light my hair looked so bad. It was because the front had thinned so much it was becoming harder to style. I was a bit depressed and shared this with no one. I told me wife who was my girlfriend at the time my concerns. She says she never noticed. My mum, who is my hairdresser for years always said what great hair and hairstyles I had but approaching my 40th she conceeded I had thinned.

I looked into UK Dr's. I know a lot of people have had good results but I felt terrible speaking to them. They did not take my hair loss seriously and I felt I would make a grave mistake if they did my procedure. I liked Dr Diep from San Jose, his hairline work amazed me all over youtube. On this forum, I heard people talking about Dr Lorenzo, an FUE specialist and this was around the time he partnered with Farjo. I looked into this work and was very impressed. I did have a concern that his hairlines tend to sweep back, more on this later.

I narrowed my choice down to 2 Dr's

Dr Diep 

Dr Lorenzo

There were pros and cons with either and I don't just mean the skill. I could not face going to san francisco. I live in London but Spain was doable. I very nearly pulled the trigger on Diep 4 years back and was communicating with him and Dr Lorenzo at this time. For some reason I tried to forget my hairloss and save some cash.

The Final Straw

I was approaching 40. I was married and had a baby on the way. I took a picture with my wife in August at her birthday dinner and my hair looked awful. under the harsh lights I looked terrible. This picture alone made me realise a few things. This hair didn't belong on me, it was wrong and I could not understand it. I was going to be a dad and I wanted to have pictures with my son. I don't want to look at them and notice my hair instead of my boy's smile. The final thing I realised that was every day since 16 I was obsessing over my hair. I'd had enough.

The Choice

I was anxious about contacting Dr Diep and Dr Lorenzo again seeing as I felt I wasted their time 4 years ago. It wasn't a problem. Dr Diep skyped me again and estimated 1800 - 2000 grafts.

Dr Lorenzo does things over email but went into a bit more detail saying that I had a lot of native hair that he would have to transplant in and around and could give me good result with 2000 grafts but impossible to say without looking in person.

I ummed and ahhed but was steering towards Dr Lorenzo. What clinched it was when I got the letter from Dr Diep, it stated I was a norwood 2. This isn't true I was a norwood 3 4 years ago. Could have been a typo? But I guess what really clinched it was the location. If you're choosing between, in my opinion, 2 of the best in the world location will come into it. Price I won't discuss but either Dr was not an issue from my side.

I called Dr Lorenzo's clinic and spoke to Pilar and booked in for April 2018. This was November 2017.

A huge weight was lifted off my shoulders.

Getting there

I flew to Madrid a day before my procedure to see Dr Lorenzo. Could you imagine if it turned out that I wasn't a suitable candidate in person? It was ok. I really liked him and he examined my scalp and said I needed at this time no crown work but his estimate of 2000 was correct. We did not discuss hairline pattern and he said he would explain why tomorrow. They put me up in a nice hotel with a shuttle service to and from the clinic. I went to the hotel, ate and slept ready for 7am the next day.

The Op

I'd like to say I was nervous. I wasn't. I was pleased to put this 20 plus years of misery out of my life. I went in signed some waivers and had some pics taken and had my head shaved. I looked ok with a skinhead, Good head shape when I thought I would look bad. Dr Lorenzo left some of my front that was thinning longer to illustrate the severity of my hair loss. I was depressed. it showed clearly how less dense than the rest of my hair it was. This was why my hair looked so bad it had lost a lot of density in the front and without that density there's not much you can do with hairstyles. He shaved the rest off  we took some more before pics.

Before pics

You can see the attached before pics on how bad my hair was. I can't believe looking at them now. front, partshaved and side attached.

Extraction Procedure

Dr Lorenzo's techs did all the extracting I did not see him in the extraction process at all he just drew on my head prior to going in where to get the grafts from. The techs did an amazing job and we got 2101 grafts out. Does it hurt? No but the injections are unpleasant. 

Lunch

i then had lunch and something strange happened. I felt down and a bit lonely. I got myself together and spoke a bit with Grace who is a tech and she is from the UK. A really nice person and made me feel at ease the whole day actually. I ate my lunch and waited for Dr Lorenzo.

The implants

Dr Lorenzo comes in to some heavy metal music! Now, the music he listens to is the exact same music that I listed to as a 16-18 year old angsting over my hair. No joke! 

So he draws on a hairline... I don't like it. It sweeps back. I mention this but he told me I was wrong. At the time I thought he was wrong. Today, he was right. He explained we needed to cover the diffuse areas on my scalp. I reluctantly agreed. My hairline was pretty much the same as before but temples closed off and the the corners lowered slightly. Pics attached including the next day pic.

My head was swollen.

Trip Home

The next day I went for a wash and got aftercare advice and went to the airport wearing a hat which I had to remove at security in madrid and heathrow.

Aftermath

I could write forever about what happens but we have all heard similar before. I had a great hairline after 2 weeks. I'm not wolverine in healing but after 2 weeks I was shocked how healed I was and ready for work. See attached. I thought I was the lucky one whose grafts won't fall i was wrong. After 3 weeks they had gone.

And this was the horrible phase. I was convinced it had failed. I just roughed it out.

A surprise

The surprise came at 5 months when I had a haircut of the back and sides and my mum said "Your hair's thicker!" I had to send pics to Dr Lorenzo at 5 months and sure enough it had thickened. At 2 months I was back to where I started so I was shocked at 5.

 

We are now 8 months out take a look at the pic from 8 months. To me I love it. Dr Lorenzo was right to focus on the thinning areas rather than lowering my hairline. He said he could do that in the future but he had to get the gaps filled. Let me tell you what a master he is and the angle he injects. I can't tell I have had something done and I feel great.

I feel he has closed a horrible chapter in my life.

I could not recommend him enough.

If there's enough interest on this thread I can elaborate but I hope the pics speak for themselves.

 

 

 

 

 

[yesplease]

Wow, the result looks great, congrats. At eight months you probably still have a few more months for things to thicken up and improve further.

would be great to see some more photos of your current state - side angles, top-down, exposed/close-up hairline. 

My hairloss is very similar to what yours was, both in terms of current appearance (pre-HT:) and chronology. We are also similar in age, so I’m very interested in seeing more. 

Are there any weak areas? Do you feel like you lost any of your native forelock as a result of grafts being implanted into the same area (frontal 1/3) as where you were thinning? 

 

Have you continued on fin? Any side effects? Plan to use it indefinitely? 

 

Thanks 

[VicTNYC]

Hey man, great write-up, and great results thus far, happy for you!

[davehhh1]

5 hours ago, yesplease said:

Wow, the result looks great, congrats. At eight months you probably still have a few more months for things to thicken up and improve further.

would be great to see some more photos of your current state - side angles, top-down, exposed/close-up hairline. 

My hairloss is very similar to what yours was, both in terms of current appearance (pre-HT and chronology. We are also similar in age, so I’m very interested in seeing more. 

Are there any weak areas? Do you feel like you lost any of your native forelock as a result of grafts being implanted into the same area (frontal 1/3) as where you were thinning? 

 

Have you continued on fin? Any side effects? Plan to use it indefinitely? 

 

Thanks 

Thanks. Will get some more pics. Maybe get the wife to take some as my last pic was a selfie and that messes with the angles.

I am on 1mg of fin and I will continue for sure . No sides excepts I noticed I am no longer getting up in the night to pee five times. I think my bladder was enlarged .

Any weak areas. Only if you really go over it in detail maybe one spot but you don't notice.

I didn't lose any native hair. I thought I had shock loss but this was just my natural balding head when the grafts came out. Lorenzo said he had no worries about shock loss at all and said percentage wise it would not happen.

I wish I had the breakdown for you guys. I may ask for him. I have very very fine hair is what Lorenzo said. 

[hairman22]

much of a waiting list for Lorenzo?

[davehhh1]

2 minutes ago, hairman22 said:

much of a waiting list for Lorenzo? 

November 2017 I booked for April 2018.

There are cancellations. Maybe this was one as I expected a longer wait. It was worth the wait.

[hairman22]

Just now, davehhh1 said:

November 2017 I booked for April 2018.

There are cancellations. Maybe this was one as I expected a longer wait. It was worth the wait.

Yeah think ill get my next transplant from him in a few years when my crown/vertex thins more.

 

Great result btw. Hair looks great & lots of grafts left in the bank if needed.

 

I would be careful about fin. I was on it for 2 years. Had no sides for after 1.5 years. Then got PFS. I am recovering well tho but taking time.

[davehhh1]

Yes I will keep an eye on fin. Sorry to hear about your sides

[Raker]

3 hours ago, hairman22 said:

much of a waiting list for Lorenzo?

He quoted me May 2019 in October of this year. 

[Legend007]

Hair looks great with not many grafts used .

Edited December 18, 2018 by Legend007

[Ahmadhd1]

Could you tell us about the price,, how much you pay for the total and how’s the way you used to pay 

[davehhh1]

3 hours ago, Ahmadhd1 said:

Could you tell us about the price,, how much you pay for the total and how’s the way you used to pay 

Hi best to contact them for price. But I paid through bank transfer. First a deposit then a closing balance two weeks prior to surgery

[Sumit010]

Nice look dear

[davehhh1]

Ok. 

So here is my 10 month update.

Following are 2 pics side by side before and after with wet hair.

I must say that I am very happy with the result and cannot believe how bald I was going before. I'm staying on the fin and will monitor closely.

I now wear my hair as a disconnected undercut with a pompadour side left parting.

Thanks

[Spaceman]

Great result!  Congratulations!

[Raphael84]

Incredible result with just a little over 2000 grafts. Your pre HT situation wasn't so bad. I think you absolutely did the right thing to wait until you're 40s. I know it was hard for you, I can feel the pain in your words. But all of that is a thing of the past. Congratulations, you must be thrilled. And only 8 months in. You will have much maturing to experience yet.

I have a lot of respect for Dr Lorenzo and his results. But it is interesting when you wrote

Dr Lorenzo's techs did all the extracting I did not see him in the extraction process at all he just drew on my head prior to going in where to get the grafts from

Other Doctors are getting absolutely grilled for this right now. 

Job well done to all involved. Enjoy your new hair brother!

[CosmoKramer]

Fantastic 10-month results! Love the hairline design. Congrats!

I too am a bit concerned about his techs doing all the extractions, but, I think if it’s a small dedicated long-term team that he utilized and not many teams like for 5-9 concurrent daily procedures then I would be okay with that given Dr Lorenzo’s consistently good to great results.

[davehhh1]

Yes I was concerned about the techs doing the work but having been in the chair I'm not worried at all.

He used to do the extractions himself and he still would if he didn't trust the techs completely. All I know is my donor looks great and I take it down to a 2 shaved and it looks fine.

The implanting he was very meticulous. The way he matched my existing hair angles is incredible. You could feel him balancing the lion implanter before plunging. It was amazing.

If I need something done again. I'd go back. His techs were amazing. I no longer worry about this.

[VicTNYC]

Great results! 

‘Do you have any photos of your hair dry without any styling product to compare to the clinics pre-op dry photos?

Would be cool to see how the density is dry.

Thanks

Edited February 20, 2019 by VicTNYC

[davehhh1]

1 hour ago, VicTNYC said:

Great results! 

‘Do you have any photos of your hair dry without any styling product to compare to the clinics pre-op dry photos?

Would be cool to see how the density is dry.

Thanks

Sure here's one dry with shampoos hair no product

And another although angle not matching but hope it helps

Thanks

[VicTNYC]

9 minutes ago, davehhh1 said:

Sure here's one dry with shampoos hair no product

And another although angle not matching but hope it helps

Thanks

WOW! Excellent looking density and coverage for just 2,100 grafts, you must be thrilled.

[redcut]

Great results! 

I too remember Lorenzo's taste for heavy metal, ha!  He was a working-machine doing so much each day and into the evening.  I also had the hairline conversation and thought his original line was wrong. And hey, he proved me wrong because I'm happy with 99% of the results.

[mohasin]

i really liked your result. can you tell how much you paid for?

[ndubya]

Not sure I missed this one.

Congrats, it looks excellent

[davehhh1]

On 10/25/2019 at 7:06 AM, redcut said:

Great results! 

I too remember Lorenzo's taste for heavy metal, ha!  He was a working-machine doing so much each day and into the evening.  I also had the hairline conversation and thought his original line was wrong. And hey, he proved me wrong because I'm happy with 99% of the results.

Hey I checked out your write up before I committed you helped me realise I had made the right choice. 

Yeah don't get me wrong I'd like the hairline I wanted but Lorenzo was right we had to tackler my diffuse pattern. I may go back in a year or two who knows?