Looking for affordability in India, I found FIVE RIVERS CLINIC at 50 cents a graft. Any experiences?

[Nordic storm]

 

Hi, I am a 36 year old Canadian working with an international body presently based in India.

I have been getting this baldness for the past several years which  is now stable.Been on regular Propecia for 2 years now.

Having sought consultations locally, I have been quoted graft numbers that vary from 3500-5000 for the hairline and the crown areas.Clinics recommended on this forum, and that are from India, offer procedures from USD 1 to USD 2 per graft which I definitely cannot afford at present.  

Since I have a low budget, I homed down to some affordable clinics in India that could do a procedure under USD 2000 and one of which I am keen to explore further is theFive Rivers Clinic I visited recently. This clinic is run by Dr Tejinder Bhatti's daughter who has been in training with him for some time now.

I was quoted 50 cents a graft plus 18% tax. The clinic is clean and is overall administratively supervised by Dr Tejinder Bhatti who does his procedures at Darling Buds Clinic at another level of the same building.

Going to Turkey was an option earlier but then the country has become synonymous with horrendous results and my family will not permit me to.

 

Any advice will be welcome and greatly appreciated.

 

 

 

Edited September 29, 2019 by Nordic storm

[Rogers09]

Have been there too.
This is an affiliate clinic and housed in Dr Bhatti's own Five Rivers Hospital Building- ground floor.
I am also considering a low cost procedure with Dr Akanxa Bhatti. She is Dr Bhatti's daughter.
care is of a high order being in a  hospital set up.
The cost for large number of grafts, as you said, is very reasonable. Do not have to get the procedure financed here!
They also provide basic accommodation for 3 nights.

[Lennney]

Interesting post! It would be nice to get more information about this clinic. I had my procedure there with Darling Buds (Tejinder Bhatti). His new clinic is large, and impressive, but it was vacant when I went in Jan. It sounds like he's getting it up and running with his daughter. 

The price seems like it's 60% less. I think that's about as low as Turkey. 

I would try to get more info about the procedure; Who does what portions? Who are the techs (same as Darling Buds, or relatively new techs/ how long have support staff worked together)? 

Honestly, if Bhatti helped train her, is literally an elevator ride away if something happens, I would feel 80-95% confident I was getting a procedure to Darling Bud's standard.

Only question I would have is the value proposition for (Tejinder) Bhatti: Why open a competing clinic that undercuts in the same facility? Is it to pass on the business? To gain experience and name recognition before she opens a clinic further away?

I guess I can try asking @Dr Tejinder Bhatti directly.

Regardless, @Nordic storm you need to do your due diligence before you commit to anything. Money comes and goes, but this is a permanent decision. Make sure you're OK with the doc before you consider costs. One way I can try to help with costs (regardless of where you travel to) is a strategy I wrote about in a post: Airfare guide . I cover how you can try to save hundreds on the travel if you book certain times of year/ certain paths. But, if it becomes apparent that you're limited in that you only want to go during certain times of the year or certain luxuries (direct flights/few layovers) it may be more in your favor to save up for the procedure for an additional year to get the flight you want. I also recommend taking time now to start chronicling trip costs to Delhi/Turkey to find out what you can expect to pay, and how much it fluctuates (especially if you test future dates). It'll help you create a cost profile for the trip, and you may find out that a procedure is more affordable than you thought.

Best of luck.

 

[John Smith198]

On 10/2/2019 at 4:05 AM, Lennney said:

Interesting post! It would be nice to get more information about this clinic. I had my procedure there with Darling Buds (Tejinder Bhatti). His new clinic is large, and impressive, but it was vacant when I went in Jan. It sounds like he's getting it up and running with his daughter. 

The price seems like it's 60% less. I think that's about as low as Turkey. 

I would try to get more info about the procedure; Who does what portions? Who are the techs (same as Darling Buds, or relatively new techs/ how long have support staff worked together)? 

Honestly, if Bhatti helped train her, is literally an elevator ride away if something happens, I would feel 80-95% confident I was getting a procedure to Darling Bud's standard.

Only question I would have is the value proposition for (Tejinder) Bhatti: Why open a competing clinic that undercuts in the same facility? Is it to pass on the business? To gain experience and name recognition before she opens a clinic further away?

I guess I can try asking @Dr Tejinder Bhatti directly.

Regardless, @Nordic storm you need to do your due diligence before you commit to anything. Money comes and goes, but this is a permanent decision. Make sure you're OK with the doc before you consider costs. One way I can try to help with costs (regardless of where you travel to) is a strategy I wrote about in a post: Airfare guide . I cover how you can try to save hundreds on the travel if you book certain times of year/ certain paths. But, if it becomes apparent that you're limited in that you only want to go during certain times of the year or certain luxuries (direct flights/few layovers) it may be more in your favor to save up for the procedure for an additional year to get the flight you want. I also recommend taking time now to start chronicling trip costs to Delhi/Turkey to find out what you can expect to pay, and how much it fluctuates (especially if you test future dates). It'll help you create a cost profile for the trip, and you may find out that a procedure is more affordable than you thought.

Best of luck.

 

@Lennney is Dr Bhatti good with designing Hairline and temple area ?

[Lennney]

I'll preface this with a caveot; most people won't notice small imperfections, so the average friend of mine doesn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

I like my temple points. I think they're solid. One side needs about 10 - 20 more singles, but other side is natural. The side with 20, I guess some didn't take or haven't grown (doubtful). Like most HT procedures, it's not meant to be flawless the first pass. There's always some improvements which can be achieved. On a related note, I specifically sought Bhatt, among other reasons, because his work with temple points. With my hairline, and lack of inherent temple points, the typical procedure seeks to make a hairline and not touch the points. What pushed me to the point of researching HTs was seeing myself getting fitted for a suit in a 3-part mirror, which showed how bald I looked from the sides. The only thing that would correct this was temple work. The temples probably contribute 40% to my transformation. The filling of my windows peak voids was 55%, and the slight lowering/matching of my windows peak was 5%. For me, the temple points were mandatory.

I got pics of myself with Temples shown in my tracker post. I just got a haircut today, so I need to update it. 

Like I said earlier, I will need a slight addition to match my temple to the other. But I mentioned earlier in my post history that I'm going to be due for another procedure on my top and probably crown. I'm thinning pretty good in that (unaddressed in Bhatti's HT - since it wasn't an issue then) area. I'll just make a list of what additional touch ups I need when I go. So far, that's just about the only one. I'm comfortable with my hairline density currently - but since there was minimal work done just behind hairline, I'll probably reinforce the hairline when I get my next procedure. I don't know if that's clear, I can clear it up if it's not.

[champybaby]

When it comes to your head, something people will see each day, go with the best. If you can't afford the best wait until you can. Just my two bits.