europe hair transplant My journey (Newbie)

[Romeodelta]

Hello Gentlemen – I am not new to this forum but decided to sign in today so that I can share my experience and give some positive information back to this wonderful community that has provided me a great deal of useful information during my research in the last 6 – 7 months, so in a way, I’m new!

First of all, some details:

I’m a male (who’d have guessed that), 63 years old, “Expat” Scot living in Germany and I’ve just had a hair transplant (even at my age, hey I’m vain!) but I’ll get to that in the following. One of the gentleman on this forum that really tipped this for me was @Dazed, a member of my generation – thank you and cheers sir, I love your attitude, you were an inspiration for me!

So let me get to the nitty gritty:

4777 Grafts from the originally estimated 5200 (apparently there was a very large number of “3-hair grafts” amongst them so I got some money back!

The procedure took place last week 6/7^th November, 2019 in Schaffhausen, Switzerland – yep, you’ve got it - Hattingen Hair – the surgeons were Dr. Sever and Dr. Laura Muresanu

Why Hattingen Hair?

Well first of all, they are only 220 Km from where I live in Germany, and I found out about them after combing(?) the Internet, talking to one person who had been there, reading and listening to what Joe Tillman had to say, the German forum, alopezie.de and of course, hairrestorationnetwork.com as well as Hattingen’s own website. I spent most of my time on this forum though, because although I am fluent in German, I found the German website to be a little too, well you know, “German” (they talk a lot and don’t always get op the point and don’t answer questions directly).

After contacting several other clinics,  and talking mostly to some kind of salesperson/representative (but never the actual doctor), I contacted Dr. Muresanu and went to him for a face-to-face consultation – this was important to me because I think it is important to talk to the person who is actually going to “knife me” - also he doesn't charge a fee for the consultation

To cut a long story short, I drove to Schaffhausen 30^th May and the straight-cut, no-messing-around Dr. Muresanu examined me, listened to my expectations and then told me what he could actually do while taking all things into consideration. His honest and open way impressed me and I only had to think for a day before accepting his offer – in short, I trusted him right from the very start and decided he was the best doctor for me.

I got a date for the procedure promptly – 2^nd/3^rd March 2020

I should point out at this stage, Dr. Muresanu doesn’t do mega sessions (anymore) and spreads the surgery over two days with a 3^rd day for the first wash and discussion of the follow-up care. He said it’s better that way and very much less taxing for the surgeon and technicians and of course, patient.

Later, Dr. Muresanu contacted me to offer me a new date because somebody dropped out at short notice and short notice it was indeed: 6 days. I accepted because at my age, time counts so I drove to Schaffhausen with my wife on Tuesday evening for surgery at 7 o’clock the next day. We stayed at a hotel only 5 minutes walk from the clinic.

The following is an account of the proceedings for anyone else that may be considering Hattingen – I know that there is gentleman on this forum who will be having his procedure there 19^th November so this one’s initially for you but of course, also for everybody else. Don’t worry, it’s gonna be OK!

First day:

After arriving, Dr. Muresanu drew the hairline, took pictures, explained what was going to happen and then he gave me the anaesthetic. That was only part of the whole procedure that hurt ( a little!)

I felt absolutely nothing from there on, but I “heard” the trips being cut  – strange feeling!

After that, the was a short break while the technicians started taking the follicles out of the strip.

Shortly after that, the procedure continued and Dr, Muresanu started on the hairline. The rest at the front was done by the technicians with intermittent checks on progress by Dr. Muresanu. Once completed, I got another dose of anaesthetic and my head was dressed and covered with a head cloth (bandana).

This was about 1:30 pm and then lunch was served and following that, I went back to the hotel (around 2:30 pm) armed with pain killers

I spent the afternoon taking a look at the picturesque town of Schaffhausen with my wife (she spent most of the time in the boutiques – beware, Switzerland is expensive so perhaps you shouldn’t take your wife – she may think that if your having an expensive hair transplant, then she needs new clothes!)

After a surprisingly and relatively good night’s sleep (I needed the pain killer towards the morning though – I’m a wimp), I was back at the surgery at 7 o’clock for the rest of the procedure.

This time, strips were taken from both sides and used to fill the crown and “thicken up” the front a little. Dr Muresanu joined them to the strip taken from the back on the previous day (perfectly!) and JFYI, the length of the whole strip is 30 cm.  Dr. Muresanu started on my crown and this took some time, after which, the team did the rest. Finished at around 1:00 pm, lunch again and, armed with pain killers again, back to the hotel and another tour of the boutiques.

The second night wasn’t so wonderful but still bearable and I turned up the next morning for the first wash and final instructions – this time at 9 o’clock.

On both days I was able to watch the extremely efficient and friendly team do their work and saw the “bits from my head” being dissected and take a look at my hair follicles under the microscopes – they explained what they were doing and how. The same team also help plant the follicles on both days

Afterwards, armed with shampoo, antibiotic gel, surgical staple remover, pain killers and various other things, my wife drove me back home.

It’s over!

The following two nights weren’t the best in my life but I did manage to get a few hours sleep. However, my wife complained that a snored a lot (lying on my back with a raised head!) – now, from day 4 post-OP, I’m getting my usual 7-8 hours sleep and am not in need of any pain killers.

I was told to wash my hair twice a day and apply an antibiotic gel afterwards for the first five days. Other than that no rocket science.

The initial skin tension is practically unnoticeable now and there is some numbness but I don’t actually notice that until a tap on the back of my head. There is some slight scabbing on top but it’s drying out and flaking away a little

Otherwise (day 8 post-OP) no pain, no discomfort and I go back to work on Monday wearing a bandana and wondering what I’m going to tell my colleagues.

Hope this is of interest and I will upload some pictures as everything progresses – not sure if it makes sense to upload post-OP pictures, after all they’re all the same – but when things start to happen in a few months, I will upload them for comparison!

Can I recommend Hattingen? – Hell yeah – best decision I ever made!

Cheers and take care!

Edited November 17, 2019 by Romeodelta
mistakes

[paddyirishman]

@Romeodelta great write up. Best wishes for very happy growing.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Romeodelta]

Good Day Gentlemen, just a few pics after all - one from the top and back before the procedure and one each afterwards as well as one after the staples - post-OP  pictures were taken on day 9 (15th November) - some won't upload so I'll try a little later on

Cheers to all!

[Romeodelta]

[Kartik Metha]

please post ur recent pic

[Romeodelta]

Hi Ladies and Gentlemen - thought I would upload a couple of pictures I took this morning to show the progress after hitting Month 3 post-procedure. I'm quite happy so far - recovery is good, no problems of any kind - still some numbness "on top" but I only "feel" this when I tap my head and this a huge difference to the first two months after the OP - the donor area has healed completely and there is absolutely no numbness. Hair is now begining to grow in the crown area.

As a comparison, there is one photo is a of my head several months before the procedure with a very short haircut (this is the top of my passport photo so the lighting is good - the other photos of course were taken with my mobile phone camera but I'm not awfully good doing this but I think they're good enough to see what's going on

Edited February 23, 2020 by Romeodelta
Picture was not properls positioned and spelling!

[Rolandas]

Do you still have numbness after 3 months in recipient area?

[Romeodelta]

Hi Rolandas - it's a strange coincidence that I took a look at your vid a couple of days ago ;-)) - looks like your procedure went well and I wish you, as they often say on this forum, "Happy Growing"

To answer your question, yes this is only part of my head that is still (a little bit) numb but nothing to write home about now! In the weeks after the procedure, it felt like a had an inch-thick piece of wood between my scalp and my brain ;-)) and that was almost all over my head - "knocking on wood" had an interesting meaning then ;-))

Now, it just "sort of feels" a little tight - there is some sensation and no more wood (I feel hot or cold water when showering) and it's also very relaxing to put the shower head up a little higher so that the impact of the water "massages" the scalp - lovely feeling!

It's not numb on the whole of top part of my head but let's say, a circle of about 3 cm in diameter - having diminished considerably over the last two months - however, it wasn't uncomfortable and I didn't notice it normally, just when "knocking on wood! ;-))

Don't worry , the first three months are "murder" - all that anticipation but then, things start "waking up" - don't keep looking - it's like watching paint dry

I had a little bit of shockloss around the incision just on my right-hand side which was noticable if I didn't comb my hair properly to hide it, but that has now grown back (thank god or whoever else was responsible for that!)

Cheers!

[Rolandas]

On 2/23/2020 at 7:14 PM, Romeodelta said:

Hi Rolandas - it's a strange coincidence that I took a look at your vid a couple of days ago ;-)) - looks like your procedure went well and I wish you, as they often say on this forum, "Happy Growing"

To answer your question, yes this is only part of my head that is still (a little bit) numb but nothing to write home about now! In the weeks after the procedure, it felt like a had an inch-thick piece of wood between my scalp and my brain ;-)) and that was almost all over my head - "knocking on wood" had an interesting meaning then ;-))

Now, it just "sort of feels" a little tight - there is some sensation and no more wood (I feel hot or cold water when showering) and it's also very relaxing to put the shower head up a little higher so that the impact of the water "massages" the scalp - lovely feeling!

It's not numb on the whole of top part of my head but let's say, a circle of about 3 cm in diameter - having diminished considerably over the last two months - however, it wasn't uncomfortable and I didn't notice it normally, just when "knocking on wood! ;-))

Don't worry , the first three months are "murder" - all that anticipation but then, things start "waking up" - don't keep looking - it's like watching paint dry

I had a little bit of shockloss around the incision just on my right-hand side which was noticable if I didn't comb my hair properly to hide it, but that has now grown back (thank god or whoever else was responsible for that!)

Cheers!

Nice one! Thank you for such detailed reply! Love it. That's a long time! Good it's disappearing. In the end of the day, it's been "botched" thousands of times in there! 😄

BTW Thank you! I will do my best to keep them growing! 🙂 Thanks for support on YouTube!

[Melvin- Admin]

Thanks for posting, I’ve been thoroughly impressed with Dr. Muresanu, they seem to be Europes elite FUT clinic.

[Melvin- Admin]

Update?

[LonelyGraft]

@Romeodelta update?

[Romeodelta]

Hello fellow apes - I thought it was time for me to share some pictures taken 9 months after my hair transplant at Hattingen. I'll just post the pics and leave out any comments other than that I am satisfied with the result so far.
Also, the pics were taken in bathroom in my company's premises with natural light coming in from windows above me (a couple were taken in my well lit office) - sorry for the "mugshot" style (I'm not very good at taking selfies). I have not used hair fibers or dermatch.

Cheers!

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Edited September 22, 2020 by Romeodelta

[DrTBarghouthi]

Beautiful result! Congratulations! 

[Rolandas]

Holy cow! Completely different person. Still few months of improvement left!

[Storyteller]

Good job but any pictures of your crown my friend ?

Iam rather curious as to what your crown looks like.for the number of grafts you used the crown must be adequately covered ,please keep us updated

[Melvin- Admin]

Excellent results 👏🏼

[yalla8]

Looks very natural!