Flying to India to see Dr Bhatti

[raj singh]

So i have spent hours on this forum reading and looking at pictures.I have decided to go with Dr Tejinder Bhatti .Top reason is his strong resume and their assurance of doctor doing all the procedure.

I am going to have the FUE done on April 24th and will be flying from washington DC on 20th.

Will be staying with my parents in Punjab.

I want to post my experience and really excited for this trip as i am visiting India after 11 years.

 

 

 

[HLPToronto]

21 hours ago, raj singh said:

So i have spent hours on this forum reading and looking at pictures.I have decided to go with Dr Tejinder Bhatti .Top reason is his strong resume and their assurance of doctor doing all the procedure.

I am going to have the FUE done on April 24th and will be flying from washington DC on 20th.

Will be staying with my parents in Punjab.

I want to post my experience and really excited for this trip as i am visiting India after 11 years.

 

 

 

Good luck Raj singh, You have made a solid choice in selecting Dr. Bhatti for your HT journey. 

My procedure was in march 2019, just a month ago and already seeing some positive movements / results /magic sprouting around my transplanted area. Not sure if you got a chance to review my detailed post

If you have any doubts or concerns , i highly recommend you to spend time as I tried my best to provide each and every minor detail for future Dr Bhatti patients . Overall, i wish you all the best and do share your journey periodically here .... so we keep a track of each other;s progress

All  THE BEST 

[paddyirishman]

When you say the doctor Bhatti  does all the procedure himself do you mean.

1) extractions of grafts.?

2) incisions ?

3) implanting of grafts?

 4) Does Dr. Bhatti use any technicians at all and if so what exactly do they do?

........Thanks and all the best ......

................Paddy.........

 

[raj singh]

3 hours ago, HLPToronto said:

Good luck Raj singh, You have made a solid choice in selecting Dr. Bhatti for your HT journey. 

My procedure was in march 2019, just a month ago and already seeing some positive movements / results /magic sprouting around my transplanted area. Not sure if you got a chance to review my detailed post

If you have any doubts or concerns , i highly recommend you to spend time as I tried my best to provide each and every minor detail for future Dr Bhatti patients . Overall, i wish you all the best and do share your journey periodically here .... so we keep a track of each other;s progress

All  THE BEST 

Thanks for your response and i really appreciate your feedback.

I have read your posts and will be posting my experience as well.

Thanks

[Lennney]

19 hours ago, paddyirishman said:

 

1) extractions of grafts.?

2) incisions ?

3) implanting of grafts?

 4) Does Dr. Bhatti use any technicians at all and if so what exactly do they do?

........Thanks and all the best ......

................Paddy.........

 

1. Bhattidoes the selection of grafts and the "extraction". His staff pull the extracted hairs after he finishes 95% of the work. They pull the hair and place it in the solution which keeps the hair healthy before insertion.

2. Yes, incisions he does.

3. Staff do 90% or all the graft placement.

4. That's about what staff does.

 

He does the injection if anesthetic. He does the extraction process minus the actual hair removal (quick scoop of the loosened hair). He does the incisions for the recipient hair.

 

Staff do the rest and handle 95% of post-op care such as washing and medicine application. He told me he is more than happy to have the patient come in daily to have their post op care treatments done in his clinic. I happened to fly out relatively soon after, but if I had the time, I would do my recovery in Chandigarh.

Hope it helps.

[paddyirishman]

Thanks Lenney very well explained.  You provided a lot of information there for anybody considering a trip to Dr Bhatti.

Is Dr Bhatti present during the implantation of grafts or for the first single hairs ?

How long are the technicans working at the Clinic?

Is the punch for extractions manual or motorised  ?

How much does it cost per graft.

 

..............Thanks again Lenney........

..................Paddy..................

 

 

 

 

[Lennney]

23 minutes ago, paddyirishman said:

Thanks Lenney very well explained.  You provided a lot of information there for anybody considering a trip to Dr Bhatti.

Is Dr Bhatti present during the implantation of grafts or for the first single hairs ?

How long are the technicans working at the Clinic?

Is the punch for extractions manual or motorised  ?

How much does it cost per graft.

 

..............Thanks again Lenney........

..................Paddy...............…

 

 

 

 

I was face down during the procedure, so I would ask Dr. Bhatti to get a certain answer. Most of the implantation was done by the two person staff, after Bhatti placed the incisions. He did check on everything a couple times, and ended up creating more incisions later in the surgery for placement of remaining hairs (obviously don't want to place unnecessary incisions if there are not sufficient hairs).

How long are technicians working at the clinic? I don't think you mean daily - 8-10 hours per day (my procedure was from 0730-1830). I think you mean their experience with Dr. Bhatti and HTs completed. In this case, I do not know. Again, this question should go to Dr. Bhatti. Maybe ask +/- number of HTs the techs have assisted on. My guess is it is in the thousands (of HTs) for 50%+ of the techs. Just a guess, but I would definitely ask!

Punch is 100% motorized. Incisions are done manually.

Cost per graft: Get a quote from Bhatti. I would ask approximately how many hairs [he thinks] you need, and approximately how much it will cost in INR. I will say that my procedure was slightly less than his official price (I booked during a promotion - for me it was irrelevant(since I was going to use Bhatti anyway), but obviously beneficial). I will say that price is well worth it for the procedure. If you're interested in strategies to reduce some of the [travel] cost, I can link a writeup I did. For me, I got a 2-world wonder 9 day vacation + airfare from Los Angeles to Delhi (then separate round trip flight from Delhi to Chandigarth) plus the procedure for under $5000 USD. PM me and I can tell you what I paid if you're still interested in my procedure cost, but know it will go up 10-15% because of promotion I had.

Glad to help you make an informed decision!🙂

[paddyirishman]

Thanks for all the information Lenney I appreciate it.

Im sure many more will also.

..........Paddy......

[California]

On 4/16/2019 at 2:51 PM, paddyirishman said:

Thanks Lenney very well explained.  You provided a lot of information there for anybody considering a trip to Dr Bhatti.

Is Dr Bhatti present during the implantation of grafts or for the first single hairs ?

How long are the technicans working at the Clinic?

Is the punch for extractions manual or motorised  ?

How much does it cost per graft.

 

..............Thanks again Lenney........

..................Paddy..................'

Hi Paddy,

Lenney has kindly shared his experiences with our Clinic in detail and his observations seem to be quite accurate. Regarding the other questions that you had, I would like to chime in for that. The technicians working in Dr. Bhatti's office have been there for years and years. Patients that get a procedure done at our Clinic will validate the fact that the Clinic staff seems to be like one family, happy, smiling and actually enjoying what they do. In such an environment, the chances of "leaving" are less. I personally know of instances when Dr. Bhatti sent his technicians on fully paid vacations (travel and lodging) while he was out of India attending conferences. He personally made sure that they stayed at top of the line hotels. I do not know of any employer who would take this good a care of his employees. This is where the "family" part comes from.

In response to your other question, the answer is yes. Dr. Bhatti does come into the OT frequently to check in on the plantation process. His is a very hands on approach. There has to be  reason that Dr. Bhatti has no franchise offices anywhere in the world....not even in India. The reason is that he cares a lot about his Patients and his reputation and wants to take care of each and every Patient of the Clinic, himself. Nothing more. Nothing less.

At Darling Buds India, like everything else, the pricing model is fully transparent. No bait and switch. A Patient knows up front what he/she is getting and how much the cost will be. Here is a link to our website discussing the different pricing/packages. Please note that the Clinic does run pricing specials a few times every year.

https://darlingbuds.com/hair-transplant-cost

Any other questions, please feel free to reach out to me. 

We wish you all the best.

Best regards,

California

 

 

On 4/16/2019 at 2:51 PM, paddyirishman said:

 

 

 

 

 

[Lennney]

Obviously I can't verify the vacations and such that @California said, but everything else I felt first hand. I did enjoy speaking with his staff and making my jokes. I had to be told to not smile, because I may risk grafts. 🙃

I felt very comfortable and taken care of. As far as value, I got incredible value from Dr. Bhatti. Between the correspondence, his own taxi(s!) that shuttled me my entire time in Chandigarh (even taking me to a strip mall for a button down shirt I needed to buy because I didn't pack), the post op care and ensuring I had my paperwork for medicines and altered-appearence handled before I left. 

All of this for a clear price. It was in INR, so my only fluctuations we're in my USD. The only variance in price was the final determination of hairline you agree on.

When I picked my hairline, (as I mentioned in my writeups) Dr Bhatti treated me like he may see me for life. He genuinely cared and encouraged me to think my hairline over. He gave his professional opinion on what was natural (one side always "recedes"), and what hairline suits my face (his measuring of the face).

I chose Dr. Bhatti after doing my research. I had no reservations. The experience went even smoother than I could have imagined.

[Wassermann]

Good luck then
Looking forward to your responses

[Shera]

Hi Raj, I'm sure it'll all go well for you today, I wish you all the best.

Paddy, the same technicians are present today that were present when I had my own surgery done nearly 5 years ago. As my colleague California stated there is an extremely low staff turnover at the clinic.

If you wish I can hook you up with an Irish patient or two so you can speak to them about their own experiences.You could even join me on my September trip if you wish, that's if your good wife will trust you to go without her!

[paddyirishman]

24 minutes ago, Shera said:

Hi Raj, I'm sure it'll all go well for you today, I wish you all the best.

Paddy, the same technicians are present today that were present when I had my own surgery done nearly 5 years ago. As my colleague California stated there is an extremely low staff turnover at the clinic.

If you wish I can hook you up with an Irish patient or two so you can speak to them about their own experiences.You could even join me on my September trip if you wish, that's if your good wife will trust you to go without her!

Thanks Shera for your reply and response about the technicians  which is good to hear.

Yes I would love to go on a trip to India. Its a great idea. My wife would be delighted to have a bit of peace for a few weeks . 

I cant go in September. Can you have another one after September.?

Yes I would be interested in connecting with past Irish patients of Dr. Bhatti.

Thanks Shera.

..............Paddy........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[paddyirishman]

Thanks CALIFORNIA  for your reply and input on some questions.  I appreciate that thank you. I will have a look at the link you provided also. 

 

Yes looking after your employees is very important and Dr Bhatti does that very well.

What times of the year does the Clinic offer discounts ?

Thanks CALIFORNIA....

........Paddy.....

 

.

 

[Markee]

How many hours is the flight ?

[Shera]

Hi Markee,

I take it you are in Florida so the time taken for you to get to India will depend on your chosen route. You should look at flying into Delhi or Mumbai where you can get many connections to other cities for as little as $20 each way depending on timings.

If you fly via Europe then you are looking at at an average of 18 hours flying time. On top of this you need to add in transfer times, wait times etc.

To break it up you could stop off in Europe for a day or so and make a little adventure of your journey.

So about 10 hours into Europe (8.5 - 9  hours to the UK)  and 8 hours to India (8.5 - 9 hours from the UK).

You could save some money if you don't mind multiple stops. Also there are many China Airlines which offer cheap quality flights with a few hours transfer delay in one of the major Chinese cities.

If you PM message my colleague, California, I'm sure he'll be able to advise you more specifically.

If you have an Indian travel agent nearby (every city has at least one), then you could pop in and see if they have any hidden travel gems.

[youngheart]

On 4/23/2019 at 10:28 PM, Shera said:

Hi Raj, I'm sure it'll all go well for you today, I wish you all the best.

Paddy, the same technicians are present today that were present when I had my own surgery done nearly 5 years ago. As my colleague California stated there is an extremely low staff turnover at the clinic.

If you wish I can hook you up with an Irish patient or two so you can speak to them about their own experiences.You could even join me on my September trip if you wish, that's if your good wife will trust you to go without her!

Hi Shera. Hope you are well. I am from Dublin and have been leaning toward Dr Bhatti. However, I am advised to take Finasteride for first 6 months after the surgery in my emails with Dr Bhatti. I have heard really horror stories about this drug and can leave permanent side effects. What are your thoughts on this?

If I do decide to go to Chandigarh, Flights seems to be quite expensive and its a long journey. Do you recommend a route from Dublin to Chandigarh? Would Dr Bhatti offer a discount considering this long journey

Many thanks

 

 

[youngheart]

On 4/23/2019 at 11:43 PM, paddyirishman said:

Thanks CALIFORNIA  for your reply and input on some questions.  I appreciate that thank you. I will have a look at the link you provided also. 

 

Yes looking after your employees is very important and Dr Bhatti does that very well.

What times of the year does the Clinic offer discounts ?

Thanks CALIFORNIA....

........Paddy.....

 

.

 

Hey buddy. I am from Dublin and was wondering if you would like to connect. I have not 100% decided yet to go with Dr Bhatti but if I do, we both could fly together to Chandigarh. We might be eligible for discount too. Also, forgot to mention, I am also looking at Pradeep sethi who is based in Delhi or Mumbai and is quite good as well. . PM me and we can connect  Cheers

 

Edited April 25, 2019 by youngheart

[youngheart]

1 minute ago, youngheart said:

Hey buddy. I am from Dublin and was wondering if you would like to connect. I have not 100% decided yet to go with Dr Bhatti but if I do, we both could fly together to Chandigarh. We might be eligible for discount too.  Cheers

 

 

On 4/23/2019 at 10:28 PM, Shera said:

Hi Raj, I'm sure it'll all go well for you today, I wish you all the best.

Paddy, the same technicians are present today that were present when I had my own surgery done nearly 5 years ago. As my colleague California stated there is an extremely low staff turnover at the clinic.

If you wish I can hook you up with an Irish patient or two so you can speak to them about their own experiences.You could even join me on my September trip if you wish, that's if your good wife will trust you to go without her!

Hi Shera. Would be great if you could give some details of the Irish patients Dr Bhatti has operated on and their results. Thanks

[Shera]

4 hours ago, youngheart said:

 

Hi Shera. Would be great if you could give some details of the Irish patients Dr Bhatti has operated on and their results. Thanks

I've PM'd you, just spoke to one of my Irish guys and he's cool with you contacting him.

[Lennney]

4 hours ago, youngheart said:

Hey buddy. I am from Dublin and was wondering if you would like to connect. I have not 100% decided yet to go with Dr Bhatti but if I do, we both could fly together to Chandigarh. We might be eligible for discount too. Also, forgot to mention, I am also looking at Pradeep sethi who is based in Delhi or Mumbai and is quite good as well. . PM me and we can connect  Cheers

 

Hey, my advice from experience is to book a flight to Delhi, then book a separate round trip flight from Delhi to Chandigarh. Difference in price for me was $1600 USD vs $460 +$76. 

[youngheart]

1 minute ago, Lennney said:

Hey, my advice from experience is to book a flight to Delhi, then book a separate round trip flight from Delhi to Chandigarh. Difference in price for me was $1600 USD vs $460 +$76. 

Thanks mate. Its quite a journey. Specially coming back with that head.

[Shera]

1 minute ago, Lennney said:

Hey, my advice from experience is to book a flight to Delhi, then book a separate round trip flight from Delhi to Chandigarh. Difference in price for me was $1600 USD vs $460 +$76. 

Yes Lenny, it does work out cheaper if the timings work out. I actually provide this info along with other advice and tips during the planning stage.

[Lennney]

31 minutes ago, youngheart said:

Thanks mate. Its quite a journey. Specially coming back with that head.

If it makes you feel any better, my trip was 34 hours on the return, and I was only 3-4 days post op. I survived lol. My other advice is: Dr. Bhatti's price won't change (or minimal change, but you understand...) but the travel price will. I don't know when you're available, but use Google flights "explore destination" feature using Dublin as your starting point. It'll tell you the price to fly to India, and the best time of year to fly. You can save 20%+ on your journey (HT +travel) if you plan the timing.

To finish booking, I used kayak with their +/-3 day feature. 

One last thing: I've noticed for USA based travel abroad, the best days to book tickets are Monday night and Tuesday. Aka Tuesday for me, but Monday afternoon for you. It's when airlines allow lower fare tickets on market. I constantly saw swings from 970 to 750 when prices were high... And when prices were 650, I booked my trip on Tues for 460. 

Best of luck.

29 minutes ago, Shera said:

Yes Lenny, it does work out cheaper if the timings work out. I actually provide this info along with other advice and tips during the planning stage.

No prob, I hope the above info helps too. Dr. Bhatti and other reputable Indian docs charge less than European and American docs. Many people believe that travel costs will put USA/EU docs in same price range for HTs. I'm just trying to dispell that myth and help others make informed decisions, whatever is best for the individual. 

I really do think I should make a post on traveling from the 5 or so most popular airports to India, Turkey,  and Thailand (for HTs or even vacations!). Maybe I could add it to a stickied post for travel abroad.

 

Edited April 25, 2019 by Lennney
*clarified for whom it is cheaper to fly.

[Lennney]

25 minutes ago, spex said:

Hi Lenny, Your involvement in this forum is excellent. You are a very respected member and I think your suggestions is a great one!

Regards

Spex

I'll take a look and start compiling the list. Should only take a couple hours, if I have the time.