Questions - specific to Dr. Freitas Clinic

[rocketmas]

Hi Folks,

I am considering transplant with Dr. Freitas.  This is the reply I received form his clinic -

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am writing to inform you that Dr. De Freitas has valued your photos. 

The surgery strategy consists on repopulating the frontal, central area  and the receding line with the extraction of 2.800 hair follicles(5.600 hairs approximately) in two consecutive days of procedure. (The temples can not be done at the same time) 

The surgical intervention includes three check-ups: after 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months. We also provide a cervical pillow, shampoo and medication for the next four days after the surgery.

In case you decide to schedule this intervention, you will be recommended to follow a treatment before and after the transplant (finasteride, minoxidil, among others). This treatment will be indicated based on your personalized diagnosis. In the case you can not follow the treatment, the doctor does not recommend to perform the surgery because the aesthetic result will not be the desired.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

My questions re as follows :

 

1.) Why does Dr. Freitas take 2 days. Usually doctors do well upto 4000 grafts in a day. I obviously don't want to go in for a second day, unless there is a patient benefit to this ? 

 

2.) Why can't temples be done on the same day and a second procedure is required later ? 

 

3.) 3 check ups and post-op treatment - I am not in Spain and will travel for the procedure. How essential are the post-op visits. Are these meant to be in-clinic visits or Face time etc would work fine.

Also, is anybody familiar with his post-op treatment ? Is it minoxidil and Propecia or much more ? I would like to know since there is a limited amount I am willing to do for my hair. 

 

And lastly I want to thank everybody here. Over the years, I have learnt that this is an invaluable source and most (actual all ) of my questions always get answered here. Also, BTW I find Dr Freitas to be quite cost-competitive also. 

 

Thanks,

S

[rocketmas]

Transplanted Phil,

Thanks for your input. Everything you say makes sense. I have reached out to the doctor for the other answers also.

Seems like the doctor is fan of PRP and may recommend that. Most data I have seen is inconclusive on PRP benefits?

Temple does mean temple points ! I would like to get it done during the same surgery on second day if possible. Lets see if the doctor concurs.

Cheers,

Sean

 

 

[BjornBorg]

22 hours ago, transplantedphil said:

One doc mentioned to me that they dont like doing above 1500 in a single sitting as the donor can thin rapidly at sessions over 2000.

Hmmm. I'm sorry I don't understand what you mean here. Could you please elaborate?

[BjornBorg]

1 hour ago, rocketmas said:

Transplanted Phil,

Thanks for your input. Everything you say makes sense. I have reached out to the doctor for the other answers also.

 

 

 

Please get back to us here when the answers have come. A lot of interesting questions.

[BjornBorg]

7 minutes ago, transplantedphil said:

Based on a conversation I had with a doctor and based on my own experience with FUE.

A doctor I greatly admire mentioned that they didnt like doing sessions over 1500 FUE in a single sitting as people heal differently from FUE. A potential result from doing large scale FUE is it can result in significant thinning. They mentioned they had seen it multiple times with sessions over 1500, but never in numbers under that, so their approach is to keep it small and conservative, assess the donor's recovery then proceed from there. I guess it's like dipping your toe in the pool to see how cold it is before going swimming. They also mentioned their approach was in the minority.

Based on my own experience I can confirm this is true. For my first FUE I was supposed to have only 1800 but the operation was expanded when i was unconscious to 2600. It resulted in areas of overharvesting/donor depletion and I currently keep my hair around 2cm to hide the patchy appearance. My own understanding of things I would believe some people are just better candidates for FUE than others ...

So they will be able to assess the donor's recovery already on the next day? Because in this case they already planned on doing two days of FUE in a row for a total of 2800 grafts.

They told me the same thing when I was quoted 2300 grafts in consultation, that they will do 1500 the first day and then 800 the second day.

I'm unsure what you mean by thinning if you're not talking about shockloss because the number of grafts removed will be the same if it's removed in one day or two days back to back.

[rocketmas]

Thanks Trasnplanted Phil and Bjorn Borg,

I will post here if I get some clarification from the doctor or clinic, as I am communicating with them. English is a barrier though..

I am also more curious about PRP, so I am going to read up on that. If it reduces the ugly duckling phase then maybe worth it.

Any other inputs would be appreciated -