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Transplant scheduled at Eugenix (Lockdown Special)


Pyrat

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I have finally scheduled my transplantation at @Eugenix Hair Science for the 31st of May which is in 5 days. I will be sharing my experience in detail over here and tracking the progress on a biweekly basis after the first 2 weeks. Hopefully, this will help others in my situation understand the what the experience will involve.

About Myself: I am 31 years old and have been gradually losing hair since I was around 19 – 20 years of age. Up till around 4 years ago, I could still fade my hair and it would look quite good even though it was receded quite a bit. I am now at a stage where I do need a hair transplant.

Expectations: I am not trying to overly bring down my hairline or try to achieve how I looked 10 years ago. I am probably going to just bring down the front tip by 1 cm and the sides by around 2 to 2.5 cms. This should give me a mature hairline with more V shape than a U shape. Additionally, I want to leave enough grafts in the bank for future procedures as my hair loss is expected to slowly continue.

Pre-operative preparations: Before booking my transplant at Eugenix, I consulted with a dermatologist. She examined my hair under magnification to confirm that I do  not have folliculitis or diffused un-pattern Alopecia (thinning of the donor area). I have also been taking the following medication/Supplements:

  • Vitamin D supplements (once a week for 4 weeks): My vitamin D levels are within normal range (This is a fat soluble vitamin and should not be taken unless you consult with a doctor). My dosage is just to give my body an extra push for the first 4 weeks and was deemed extremely safe by the doctor.
  • Ferritin to bump up blood hemoglobin levels even though they are within the normal range. This dosage is also just to give an extra push for the first 4 weeks and was deemed safe by the doctor.
  • B complex supplements: Been taking this for the past 4-6 months
  • Fish oil supplements: Been taking this for the past 2+ years
  • Finesteride for the last 2.5+ months, based on my initial consultation with the doctor and recommendation on this forumI will add MSM after my hair transplant once I can confirm it’s side effects and deem it safe for consumption

Note: None of the above are necessary and should not matter too much in terms of end results.

 

Research: I have been researching hair transplant clinics for the past 4 or 5 years and came very close to booking an appointment with Dr. Bhatti in 2016. After this, I was looking at Turkish clinics as al alternative and had a friend with very good results by Dr. Acar. Through my research, I eliminated turkey mainly because they seem to be doing too many transplants and it is very difficult to make sense of how some of the clinics can perform that many grafts in the time that they take to do them. It just felt a little risky.

I checked and followed results from Realself, youtube and other online forums. Through the research, watching countless videos online and the patient results posted on HRN, I finally decided to go with Eugenix. I literally could not find a single bad result anywhere from them (Except one on HRN for someone who had quite bad shock loss) and the thing that struck me most is that Eugenix seems to be evolving and not just sticking to what is the norm. If you trace back to the first results that are on HRN, you will see that the technique that was used was FUE and the results themselves are great but not as impressive as we have come to expect from them in the past few years with the DHT technique. All my interactions with Dr. Arika, the Eugenix counselors and reading the patient experiences just made me feel like I could trust them with my procedure.

Also, Dr. Arika and Dr. Sethi are AIIMS graduates. What you need to know is that AIIMS is probably the best medical institute in India. If you have grown up in India, you will know that it is extremely difficult to get into a medical college, let alone one that is as good as AIIMS.

So basically, @Eugenix Hair Science had the qualifications, experience, outstanding results and seemed to be working consistently to keep getting even better. I really could not have asked for more.

Appointment: My flight to Delhi lands on the 29th of May and my hair transplant is scheduled for the 31st of May. I opted for the comprehensive package based on the recommendation by the counselors and my procedure will be led by Dr. Arika. The transplantation is expected to involve around 2500 grafts.

Special mention for @GabrielleN (Nelson) and @paddyirishman who has been super responsive and super helpful in addressing all my questions and making me comfortable with this whole procedure.

IMG-0317.jpg

 

Day of Arrival

The flight landed about 15 minutes prior to the scheduled landing time on the 29th. I was able to get through the temperature checks fairly quickly and was picked up by Nelson (Counsellor) and Jaldhar (Driver) at the airport. The drive through Delhi to the clinic in Gurgaon was fairly short (30-40 minutes). Upon arrival at the clinic, I was asked to do a Covid test and my blood was taken for blood work. Post this, I was dropped off at the Hilton hotel. Eugenix usually accommodates it’s patients at the clinic itself but this was not available since the office staff were housed there in order to keep them safe and infection free during the Covid crisis.

 

Surgery Day

I was asked to be ready by 8 AM on the day of surgery and I preferred my surgery to start early since I wanted the surgery to be done earlier in the evening. I was picked up on time by Jaldhar and brought back to the clinic where Nelson was ready. We went into a room where I was requested to fill out a few forms, take a few medication and was tested to confirm that I was not allergic to Anesthesia. I was then asked to change into clothes that I would be wearing during the surgery. Post this, I was taken to the photography room where my head was photographed in a number of angles.

The hairline was then drawn by Dr Arika and after a little it of tweaking, we had arrived at a conservative hairline which did not lower the hairline much but framed the face quite well. This was then photographed again, the head was partially trimmed in the recipient and donor areas and we proceeded to the operation room.

I was first asked to lie down on my back while Dr Shishir administered the local anesthesia all over the recipient areas including the temple. I have always been weary and sensitive of needles and must say that the pricks were a little painful. Weirdly though, the pricks did not hurt much at the temples which is where I was warned it would hurt the most. Once it was confirmed that the area was numb, @Dr Arika Bansal went ahead and made the incisions. I was worried about shock loss due to transplanting grafts into areas that have existing hair and she allayed my fears saying that it should not happen since I was on Finasteride for over 3 months and that she would only make slits where there is quite some space between existing hair. Dr Arika works quite fast and she probably took a little over 30 to 40 minutes to make the 2500 slits in the frontal third of my head and the temples. The exact number of slits and how many were made in the temples are in the picture that I have attached.

Once the slits were made, Dr Shishir proceeded to anesthetize the left side of the donor. Punching, extraction and implantation then started from this side of the donor, which was then followed up by the right side of the donor. Kabul, who is actually Dr Sethi’s brother performed all the punching using the motorized punch and moves quite quickly. All in all, around 800 grafts were extracted. The implantation takes longer than the extraction and went on around 1 hour longer after the extraction was completed. Once the extraction was completed, 2 technicians worked simultaneously on the implantation to minimize out of body time to maybe around 1 hour. During this 1 hour, there was no extraction taking place. I have to say that the technicians work like robots and seem to be very well trained in what they do. Throughout the whole procedure, they keep checking on you to confirm that you are not in pain and ask you if you require breaks. We then broke for lunch. The technicians and the doctor did tell me a couple of times that I have very good grafts (mota mota in Hindi which is fat fat)

Post lunch, we were to focus on the back of the donor area from where majority of the grafts would be available. Dr Shishir anesthetized the back of the donor area, this was again followed by Kabul doing most of the punching while the technicians did the extractions, loading of grafts into implanters and implantation. The rest of the grafts were all extracted by around 5:15 PM while being simultaneously implanted. Again, due to the fact that the implantation takes longer than the extractions, the major portion of the implantations were not completed till around 7:40 PM. Post this, Dr Arika did the implantations of the temples and some portions of the hairlines. This took a lot longer than the rest of the implantations (for just 150 grafts) since Dr Arika wanted to place the grafts perfectly in the temples. Once these were placed, one of the technicians inserted them till the right depth. For the hairline and temples, the doubles and triples had to be split into singles since I did not have singles in the donor area. The entire transplant was completed at exactly 8:00 PM. Post this, the rest of the hair was trimmed and the transplanted area was cleaned and dressed up. I was quite concerned regarding the out of body time of the grafts during this second phase of the transplant since the grafts were out of the body for over 2.5 hours after the extractions were made. Dr. Arika and Dr. Sethi assured me that this will not be a problem and that my procedure went well. Dr. Arika and Dr. Shishir examined my grafts, assuring me that it looked good and that I should expect a great result.

I thanked all the technicians as they had worked really hard and with a lot of focus throughout the day, after which we went into the photography room where I was again photographed in all the angles. I then changed back to my clothes, was briefed about the medication and then went out to get some fresh air. I met Dr Sethi at the gate and we just spoke for quite some time on all things related to life for a while. We joked around a bit and he examined my transplant and said it looked quite good. The counsellor kept reminding me to not bump my head anywhere. I was then taken back to the hotel and was in the hotel by around 9:45 or 10 PM.

I had dinner and stayed up pretty much the whole night since I was worried that I would damage my grafts. I probably slept for around 2 hours, sitting up pretty much straight.

 

Next Day and a note on Dr. Sethi

The day after the surgery, I surprisingly felt good for someone who had just slept 2 hours. I had a late breakfast and was invited to lunch and dinner at Dr. Sethi’s house. I arrived at the clinic, met Dr. Sethi and was invited to his office.

Dr Sethi is not your typical doctor. He still does perform surgeries but seems to be more focused on the spiritual aspects of life, meditation, helping the less fortunate and so on. I was gifted a book (same book that Steve Jobs gifted everyone at his funeral). We then went upstairs to Dr. Sethi’s house for lunch and had a very hearty meal. I then met his son, we played ping pong for a while at which Dr. Sethi is unfortunately not very good before returning back to the hotel. I also joined Dr. Sethi for dinner later that day at his house.

The overall feeling you get in the end of the day is that the doctors are more your friends/extension of your family than somebody who’s just making holes in your head. It feels like they not only care about your surgery and how it goes, but also about your experience you have as a whole. They are very particular about making sure that their patients are fully taken care of during the surgery as well as after the surgery.

This was my experience. Now, I need to be patient and wait for the most important and fundamental thing of it all, which is the FINAL RESULTS.

Note: I had read from a poster somewhere that @Eugenix Hair Science makes their patients pay for the surgery before the surgery or asks them to pay for the additional grafts during the surgery. I just want to state that I was never forced or asked to pay. I was doing online transfers from USD to Indian rupees and had some difficulties. I was always told that I can make the payment for the surgery, after the surgery and at my convenience. Even for the medications, when it was late in the night and I wanted to pay, I was asked to just go to the hotel and take care of the payment later. I never felt like they were after your money, and valued your experience more.

 

Graft Count.JPG

Slits.JPG

Excluding Temples.JPG

Cleaned Up.JPG

Donor.JPG

Edited by Pyrat
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Good call on seeing the dermatologist to rule out some possible issues before surgery. I’m sure eugenix pre op instructions say this but you will likely need to stop fish oil and possibly other supplements as they can potentially increase bleeding during surgery.

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I’ve been very impressed by Eugenix, I look forward to seeing your progress.

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I’m a paid admin for Hair Transplant Network. I do not receive any compensation from any clinic. My comments are not medical advice.

Check out my final hair transplant and topical dutasteride journey

View my thread

Topical dutasteride journey 

Melvin- Managing Publisher and Forum Moderator for the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q&A Blog.

Follow our Social Media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, and YouTube.

 

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I was researching Eugenix myself and really wanted to go there ASAP but was concerned about the possibility of being told I had to quarantine upon landing in India or either the US or Indian government suddenly implementing some kind of quarantine and being stuck in India for an unknown amount of time!

What is this about a lockdown special though? Some kind of discount? If so, what is it?

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9 hours ago, LonelyGraft said:

Good call on seeing the dermatologist to rule out some possible issues before surgery. I’m sure eugenix pre op instructions say this but you will likely need to stop fish oil and possibly other supplements as they can potentially increase bleeding during surgery.

I had no idea that fish oil could cause bleeding. I went through the pre op instructions and did not see that written anywhere. Tagging @Abhinay Singh for help confirming this.

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Just now, Pyrat said:

I had no idea that fish oil could cause bleeding. I went through the pre op instructions and did not see that written anywhere. Tagging @Abhinay Singh for help confirming this.

I've read that Vitamin E and fish oil supplements in general are off-limits for about 2 weeks before surgery (along with things like aspirin and other blood thinners) because of the increased potential for bleeding. Not that the supplements cause bleeding but they thin the blood and make it more likely.

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5 hours ago, Johnboy71 said:

I am going to be following your case as I too am impressed with what I see from your chosen clinic.

Is the comprehensive package the top tier one? 

Hi @Johnboy71, Eugenix has 3 packages. The comprehensive is the middle of the bunch where Dr Arika does all the slits and the crucial steps of the hair transplant. 

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1 minute ago, Superteeth said:

I've read that Vitamin E and fish oil supplements in general are off-limits for about 2 weeks before surgery (along with things like aspirin and other blood thinners) because of the increased potential for bleeding. Not that the supplements cause bleeding but they thin the blood and make it more likely.

I did read that aspirin, alcohol, smoking was not advised a week before the procedure. I will stop taking these right away. Thanks for the tip.

Edited by Pyrat
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6 minutes ago, Superteeth said:

I was researching Eugenix myself and really wanted to go there ASAP but was concerned about the possibility of being told I had to quarantine upon landing in India or either the US or Indian government suddenly implementing some kind of quarantine and being stuck in India for an unknown amount of time!

What is this about a lockdown special though? Some kind of discount? If so, what is it?

There is no discount during the lockdown. Just added that since I’m getting it done during the lockdown. 
 

I believe international flights are still barred in India so you will not be able to fly in for the transplant till this lockdown is lifted.

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That's what I was thinking, I was wondering how you would be able to get it done now because I was reading about international flights into India being prohibited and even some domestic flights. But then I figure you had to have been in India to get the transplant despite the lockdown!

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1 minute ago, Superteeth said:

That's what I was thinking, I was wondering how you would be able to get it done now because I was reading about international flights into India being prohibited and even some domestic flights. But then I figure you had to have been in India to get the transplant despite the lockdown!

I actually traveled to India in March and was supposed to get the transplant done earlier. I was unable to do that due to the lockdown in India which started on the 24th. I have been in India since then and am finally able to do it.

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14 minutes ago, Pyrat said:

I actually traveled to India in March and was supposed to get the transplant done earlier. I was unable to do that due to the lockdown in India which started on the 24th. I have been in India since then and am finally able to do it.

Oh, did you get stuck there or were you planning on staying this long anyways? Because if you got stuck that's exactly what I was fearing, and it's why I wouldn't go there for a transplant until this coronavirus stuff clears up.

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5 hours ago, Zoomster said:

Wishing you all the best with your procedure mate.  

I'll be rooting for you.. If you'll excuse the pun 😊

Hats 🎩  off to you zoom pun intended 

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I’m a paid admin for Hair Transplant Network. I do not receive any compensation from any clinic. My comments are not medical advice.

Check out my final hair transplant and topical dutasteride journey

View my thread

Topical dutasteride journey 

Melvin- Managing Publisher and Forum Moderator for the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q&A Blog.

Follow our Social Media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, and YouTube.

 

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Good luck I’ll be looking forward to seeing your progress as much as I love seeing posts from all the others on here from Eugenix.

One question, can a dermatologist see if you have a thinning donor area then? How does that work?

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14 hours ago, Superteeth said:

Oh, did you get stuck there or were you planning on staying this long anyways? Because if you got stuck that's exactly what I was fearing, and it's why I wouldn't go there for a transplant until this coronavirus stuff clears up.

I kind of expected to stay back a little longer and was prepared for it a little bit but basically did get stuck for over 2 months and counting. Luckily, I am originally from India so it's not too bad.

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8 hours ago, Zoomster said:

Wishing you all the best with your procedure mate.  

I'll be rooting for you.. If you'll excuse the pun 😊

Thanks Z. You're always full of it. The puns I mean. 😁

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23 minutes ago, Jonboy81 said:

Good luck I’ll be looking forward to seeing your progress as much as I love seeing posts from all the others on here from Eugenix.

One question, can a dermatologist see if you have a thinning donor area then? How does that work?

The dermatologist used a camera attachment to take pictures all over the scalp. She then showed me the donor area which was mostly doubles with some triples and singles and showed that the hair was quite thick and normal looking. There were no empty spots.

It areas where I had lost all hair or was losing hair (thinning), you'll just see white spots (empty spots) which is basically where there was once hair but is no longer there. This could either mean the follicle is resting or is permanently gone. Also, the strands hair had a lot more singles and were narrower or wavier than the hair from the donor areas.

It is a real quick check and took less than 10 minutes for the whole process.

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On 5/27/2020 at 9:15 AM, Pyrat said:

I had no idea that fish oil could cause bleeding. I went through the pre op instructions and did not see that written anywhere. Tagging @Abhinay Singh for help confirming this.

Hello Sir,

Sorry for the delay response 

Following are the pre op instructions 

Avoid alcohol intake, at least one week prior to surgery.
- Avoid smoking, at least one week prior to surgery.
- Avoid hair oil.
- Shampoo your hair regularly.
- Avoid aspirin and pain killers for one week prior to surgery.
- Do not shave or trim your head and beard prior to a week of the surgery.

 

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Kind Regards
Abhinay Singh  -  I am no longer a representative for Eugenix Hair Sciences. If you want to contact them please see below:


Email : info@eugenix.in    WhatsApp Call/Message: +91 79-779-15534          My Hair Transplant Journey 
I am not a medical professional. All opinions are my own and my advice should not constitute as medical advice.

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Updated my experience and added photos from the surgery in the first post.

Quick update with a picture as of 4 days post Op.

The donor is healing quite well at the back of the head. The sides still sting a bit and look a little worse than the back of the head. I do not think they were over harvested and it could just be that the sides are more sensitive than the back. I am starting to feel the back of my head and the numbness has reduced in that part of the donor quite significantly.

I obviously have not touched the recipient to know if it is still numb or not and will wait 7 days before trying to make than evaluation

4 days post op.JPG

Edited by Pyrat
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3 hours ago, Pyrat said:

Updated my experience and added photos from the surgery in the first post.

Quick update with a picture as of 4 days post Op.

The donor is healing quite well at the back of the head. The sides still sting a bit and look a little worse than the back of the head. I do not think they were over harvested and it could just be that the sides are more sensitive than the back. I am starting to feel the back of my head and the numbness has reduced in that part of the donor quite significantly.

I obviously have not touched the recipient to know if it is still numb or not and will wait 7 days before trying to make than evaluation

4 days post op.JPG

All ok Sir. Please let me know if you need any assistance at any point of time.

Kind Regards
Abhinay Singh  -  I am no longer a representative for Eugenix Hair Sciences. If you want to contact them please see below:


Email : info@eugenix.in    WhatsApp Call/Message: +91 79-779-15534          My Hair Transplant Journey 
I am not a medical professional. All opinions are my own and my advice should not constitute as medical advice.

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