Dr. Bruno Ferreira | FUE 3219 grafts | 29/05/2020

[PT#31]

Hi everyone,

I'm going to tell you a little bit of my story, because I believe it can help some of you guys!

Started to feel more baldness in September 2014 and so, started taking finasteride (1gr / day), but since then I have had two interruptions (3 months in 2015 and 15 months in 2018/2019, because I wanted to cleanse my body before trying being a father - this last time, I felt shock loss and probably looked just like I never took finasteride).

For that reason - and since I had some friends who made hair transplants and encouraged me to do it -, in the beginning of 2019, I seriously began to think “hair transplant… why not??”.

I did my research, read and saw several feedbacks in forums - mainly here at HRN -, exchanged many opinions with my friends who had already done the transplant and selected my short list of surgeons.

I further reduced the short-list and chose a doctor: Dr. Khan Pekiner (Turkey). I liked his work that I saw on the forums and one of the things that weighed most on my decision was the fact that Dr. Khan does all the surgery, from the extraction to incision and implantation. Speaking English was also positive. The constant interactions with his assistant (Alex), sending several videos and photographs were essential for me to get confidence in the surgery as well as the doctor I had chosen. Alex was incredible, always answering my questions, at any time of the day.

Then, I scheduled my surgery for December 2019. We drew the front line, shaved my hair and started the extraction. After 267 grafts extracted, Dr. Khan decided to stop the surgery in order to talk and share his concerns. He told me that the grafts he was extracting did not have the quality that he was expecting and he could not guarantee me that, when implanting those grafts, the result will be the one we both expected, claiming that I had miniaturized grafts. For me, it was like a punch in the stomach! Not even in the worst scenario I thought that could happen! We talked a bit, pondered and decided not to proceed with the surgery (I noticed that there are some people in this forum with whom something similar happened too). We ended up by implanting those 267 grafts that had already been extracted, right in the middle of the scalp.

I was very grateful and impressed by Dr. Khan Pekiner's ethics, professionalism, friendship and human side. Many would have gone ahead with the surgery without even saying anything to me, running the risk of years later not seeing any results.

However, I didn't want to give up without looking for a second opinion. And so, after four weeks, I decided to contact a doctor who was already on my short list: Dr. Bruno Ferreira. The main reason I ended up not deciding for Dr. Bruno, was the absence of cases on the forums/internet and that left me uncomfortable. We had the consultation on January 2020, we saw the donor zone under a microscope and the Dr. Bruno readily concluded that I was a candidate for a transplant. The doctor explained to me that I only have few miniaturized grafts but for him there was no problem at all because I had a lot of “non-miniaturized” grafts and the main challenge will be the fact that I had very thin hair, with a tendency to be light and that I would never have a perfect case but, given my characteristics, I would look very well, and quite better than I was. I loved the conversation with Dr. Bruno - he was very transparent and clear to me; I was very happy and decided to move on to the transplant.

The plan is to do two surgeries: the first one for the front line; the second one will be for the mid-scalp and crown.

Finally, had my first surgery at the end of May 2020 and I confess that I was extremely impressed with Dr. Bruno's technical ability, for several reasons:

. The anesthesia… I felt practically nothing - only the first needlesticks - and, Dr. Bruno said to me, he used to use little anesthesia. The truth is that I did the whole front line and didn't swell up too much, which was incredible.

. He handles the manual as well as the motorized component: most of the surgery is motorized but whenever necessary, he operates manually

. His technique is very smooth, and he was always concerned about the surgery in order to be totally painless. It is very easy to fall asleep during his surgery!

. Most of the time he used a punch of 0.8 mm; sometimes of 0.85 mm

I had this first surgery (front line) in two days, totaling 3.219 grafts, with a 2.54 ratio between hairs/grafts.

I always told Dr. Bruno that I preferred to keep the line, including my temples, in order to have more coverage and to look as natural as possible. I didn’t want to go down the line too much as it might seem unnatural. We ended up by keeping the top of the line, but slightly reduced the temples. I’m very happy with my line!!

Everything went very well in the post-surgery, I swelled almost nothing - considering that I implanted 3.219 grafts in the front - and I believe it was related with Dr. Bruno’s technique.

I was treated very well from the beginning. They provide me a room just for me, so I could get dressed and undressed, eat, relax etc.

The two assistants/nurses Ricardo and Neuza were amazing! Very friendly, with constant concern for my well-being, competent, relaxed and with interesting conversation.

I am very happy with the decision I made, and I thank Dr. Bruno Ferreira for all his performance!

In the first month, after surgery, I only had few grafts falling (I believe I washed my hair too soft!). Throughout the second month, I washed my hair "normally" and the grafts were falling out.

Let’s see the results!

[Portugal25]

@PT#31 congratulations once again my friend!
Your journey demonstrates the reason why we should always chose a ethical surgeon. 

Dr. Pekiner was humble enough to admit his skills would most likely not provide you with the results you were expecting. 
This very humble and ethical attitude would never happen in any tech run clinics and I doubt most doctors would accept to lose the money from a 3 day surgery booked months in advance.

I honestly believe Pekiner is a Doctor that’s is more concerned with the results  he will achieve for his patients than making money. 

The way Pekiner behaved allowed you to ask for a second opinion with @Dr. Bruno Ferreira who is more used to difficult cases and even patients with DUPA.
In the end you managed to have a HT with a Doctor that assured you will achieve the results you were initially expecting so you ended up with the best possible outcome for your HT.  

Its because of what happened to @PT#31 and @duchainethat I started recommending Dr. Bruno on a regular basis and always warn fellow members that Pekiner does achieve great results and is amazing with beard grafts but he takes zero risks and aborts surgeries if he’s uncertain he can get a good result. 

In the pictures it’s clear that Pekiner punches are erratically performed and have a wider punch than those made by Dr. Bruno Ferreira (maybe Pekiner was testing out several areas to see if all grafts were miniaturized).

Looking at the donor pictures I have to say that Dr. BF does some of the most clean and optimized donor area I have ever seen!
It’s truly remarkable that Dr. BF does surgeries without any pain up to the point that you can even fall asleep during surgery.

I guess zero swelling after surgery is now the norm with highly skilled doctor only surgeries because I also had zero swelling with Pekiner. 

Hang in there during this ugly duckling phase as it will be over quickly and very soon you will be posting pictures of your amazing new hairline.

Wish you a great head hair my friend and will be following this thread very very closely!

Hope more of @Dr. Bruno Ferreira patients start posting their results because I believe he’s a future Konior in the making. 

Edited August 9, 2020 by Portugal25

[Gasthoerer]

Works looks clean and wish you the best for the worst time (2-4 month phase), stay strong. 

The difference between you before pic from the side and the top is WOW. One looks like a full head of hair the other one like a legit NW5-6. Keep us updated, not many results of this clinic online. 

 

[Rolandas]

@PT#31 Congrats on your surgery mate!

I can confirm every word you said about Dr. Ferreira's clinic. Although I would expect everything the same from any too clinic 😁

Your case looks very very similar to mine I must admit. From NW level, to implantations and donor management. Of course you had a much better start in terms of native hair than me 😁

P.s. I really like your hairline design!

Good luck and happy growing! 👍

[asterix0]

Keep us updated! Dr. Ferreira could certainly use more online cases to help patients see the quality of his work. 

[PT#31]

40 minutes ago, Rolandas said:

@PT#31 Congrats on your surgery mate!

I can confirm every word you said about Dr. Ferreira's clinic. Although I would expect everything the same from any too clinic 😁

Your case looks very very similar to mine I must admit. From NW level, to implantations and donor management. Of course you had a much better start in terms of native hair than me 😁

P.s. I really like your hairline design!

Good luck and happy growing! 👍

I saw your post before going to Dr. BF and at the time I thought “for the first time I see a case similar to mine, with very thin hair” eheh

[Rolandas]

1 minute ago, PT#31 said:

I saw your post before going to Dr. BF and at the time I thought “for the first time I see a case similar to mine, with very thin hair” eheh

At 6 month mark I think it looks extremely good! I'm sure yours will be way better given number of grafts, high average hair/graft and native hair!

[duchaine]

I had the same experience with pekiner.

i know it can be really frustrating and stressing.

i think bf made a great work. Hope for the best!

[BjornBorg]

Following, good luck.

[bruce90]

Hey,

Thanks so much for sharing your procedure with us. 

I too had looked into Pekiner for a while and almost decided on him but eventually decided against him due to how many people he aborts mid procedure. For me I couldn't afford to travel to a country more than 12 hours away only to be turned down. 

I was wondering if next time you get a haircut if you could show us how your donor area is healing. I would be very interested in seeing the difference in the extractions done by Dr Pekiner vs Dr Ferreria.

Appreciate any help with this and good luck with your results.

 

Edited August 12, 2020 by bruce90

[PizzaWolf]

All the work I've seen from Dr Ferreria thus far seems to be very meticulous. The detailed reports he gives with his online consults, and answering every question himself -- who else does that?

I just wish there were more final results, so thank you for posting your experience.

To anyone with more knowledge of Dr Ferreria, have you seen him do any temple point restorations? To the guys who have had work done by him, did you discuss doing your temple points?

[Rolandas]

6 minutes ago, PizzaWolf said:

All the work I've seen from Dr Ferreria thus far seems to be very meticulous. The detailed reports he gives with his online consults, and answering every question himself -- who else does that?

I just wish there were more final results, so thank you for posting your experience.

To anyone with more knowledge of Dr Ferreria, have you seen him do any temple point restorations? To the guys who have had work done by him, did you discuss doing your temple points?

I've asked Dr. Ferreira if he thinks I would benefit from temple work to which he said he don't think I would need this at this point.
I've been chatting with loads of people since I've posted my original thread and/or my YT videos. As you can understand it's very difficult to find any information on Dr. Ferreira online, so people are questioning as well. Recently one guy I've been in touch with had his HT done (around 3 weeks ago) with Dr. Ferreira where he had reconstructed temples. Early to say of course, but It's been done.

[PizzaWolf]

1 minute ago, Rolandas said:

I've asked Dr. Ferreira if he thinks I would benefit from temple work to which he said he don't think I would need this at this point.
I've been chatting with loads of people since I've posted my original thread and/or my YT videos. As you can understand it's very difficult to find any information on Dr. Ferreira online, so people are questioning as well. Recently one guy I've been in touch with had his HT done (around 3 weeks ago) with Dr. Ferreira where he had reconstructed temples. Early to say of course, but It's been done.

I realize this is a weird question, but what If you had straight-up told Dr. Ferreira you wanted your temple points touched up? Do you think he would have done them for you, or declined?

Why do you think it's so hard to find more info on Dr. Ferreira? He seems to be unusually good for his price point.

[Rolandas]

25 minutes ago, PizzaWolf said:

I realize this is a weird question, but what If you had straight-up told Dr. Ferreira you wanted your temple points touched up? Do you think he would have done them for you, or declined?

Why do you think it's so hard to find more info on Dr. Ferreira? He seems to be unusually good for his price point.

Haha, It's a good question. From what I've seen so far he is very caring and thinks long term. Who knows if he would do whatever you ask him to

I've been thinking about the same when I was doing my research. The main problem with Dr. Ferreira is he has quite a lot of "time on tissue", but he was/is working for other clinics. He can't take his work from there and present as his own due to copyright infringement. For example right now he is still working some time in Madrid @ Dr. Jose Lorenzo clinic, thus any job he has done in there doesn't belong to him.

He is at the point where he is trying to make a name for himself right now and that's why I believe he doesn't charge as much as he could for his skill.

I've asked Joe Tillman and Spencer Kobren if they know the guy to what they replied they know him, they've seen his work and they think it's a stellar job. Also they were the ones who told me about his lack of results.

This gave me a boost in confidence. I've obviously didn't rush, talked more with him and after 50-60 emails I've decided to take the plunge. So far (if you're following my journey) I can't be happier with what I've got at 6 months mark.

[BD99]

3 hours ago, PizzaWolf said:

All the work I've seen from Dr Ferreria thus far seems to be very meticulous. The detailed reports he gives with his online consults, and answering every question himself -- who else does that?

I just wish there were more final results, so thank you for posting your experience.

To anyone with more knowledge of Dr Ferreria, have you seen him do any temple point restorations? To the guys who have had work done by him, did you discuss doing your temple points?

 

A slight improvement of temple points was in the plan that he drew up for me, so he doesn't seem opposed to doing them (however, being from the US, had to cancel my surgery in both March and July.) There's one example on his Instagram specifically showcasing the temple point work, and it's beautiful for a very non-straightforward looking case. Also, Lorenzo is regarded as a go-to doctor for temple points, so that's a decent sign as well.

Rolandas, given that he wants to devote two days to your second surgery bc of potential popping issues, I wouldn't be shocked if you had some extra time and could top it off with temple work if things go smoothly (not saying that you need it, but if you were to request it.) I think it's one of those things most see as a luxury/icing on the cake once you're in good shape front to back and you have good donor.

Also, thanks for sharing your experience PT#31. Will be following the thread

Edited August 13, 2020 by BD99

[PizzaWolf]

56 minutes ago, BD99 said:

 

A slight improvement of temple points was in the plan that he drew up for me, so he doesn't seem opposed to doing them (however, being from the US, had to cancel my surgery in both March and July.) There's one example on his Instagram specifically showcasing the temple point work, and it's beautiful for a very non-straightforward looking case. Also, Lorenzo is regarded as a go-to doctor for temple points, so that's a decent sign as well.

Rolandas, given that he wants to devote two days to your second surgery bc of potential popping issues, I wouldn't be shocked if you had some extra time and could top it off with temple work if things go smoothly (not saying that you need it, but if you were to request it.) I think it's one of those things most see as a luxury/icing on the cake once you're in good shape front to back and you have good donor.

Also, thanks for sharing your experience PT#31. Will be following the thread

I'm from the US as well and can't even get my passport renewed at the moment.

How aggressive was his hairline recommendation for you, if you don't mind me asking?

[follically challenged]

On 8/13/2020 at 9:09 PM, Rolandas said:

As you can understand it's very difficult to find any information on Dr. Ferreira online

Actually, I can't understand...why is this? He seems to be creating great results so why isn't he more visible? Thanks

[Rolandas]

9 minutes ago, follically challenged said:

Actually, I can't understand...why is this? He seems to be creating great results so why isn't he more visible? Thanks

Most of his professional life he used to work for someone else rather than himself, thus he doesn't own the rights for his before & after. Even now he is still working in Madrid in Dr. Jose Lorenzo's clinic a week or two every month. He is still at the point that he is hustling and trying to make a name for himself.

This thing alone pushes away most of potential patients, but I've seen more and more people going to him recently. I guess in a year or two he will be very visible online (and will probably charge way more haha).

[Londoner7]

Hi PT#31

Any update of hows things are going? 
 

I am booked in for late November with Dr Ferreira myself.

Thanks

[PT#31]

On 8/9/2020 at 3:11 PM, PT#31 said:

Hi everyone,

I'm going to tell you a little bit of my story, because I believe it can help some of you guys!

Started to feel more baldness in September 2014 and so, started taking finasteride (1gr / day), but since then I have had two interruptions (3 months in 2015 and 15 months in 2018/2019, because I wanted to cleanse my body before trying being a father - this last time, I felt shock loss and probably looked just like I never took finasteride).

For that reason - and since I had some friends who made hair transplants and encouraged me to do it -, in the beginning of 2019, I seriously began to think “hair transplant… why not??”.

I did my research, read and saw several feedbacks in forums - mainly here at HRN -, exchanged many opinions with my friends who had already done the transplant and selected my short list of surgeons.

I further reduced the short-list and chose a doctor: Dr. Khan Pekiner (Turkey). I liked his work that I saw on the forums and one of the things that weighed most on my decision was the fact that Dr. Khan does all the surgery, from the extraction to incision and implantation. Speaking English was also positive. The constant interactions with his assistant (Alex), sending several videos and photographs were essential for me to get confidence in the surgery as well as the doctor I had chosen. Alex was incredible, always answering my questions, at any time of the day.

Then, I scheduled my surgery for December 2019. We drew the front line, shaved my hair and started the extraction. After 267 grafts extracted, Dr. Khan decided to stop the surgery in order to talk and share his concerns. He told me that the grafts he was extracting did not have the quality that he was expecting and he could not guarantee me that, when implanting those grafts, the result will be the one we both expected, claiming that I had miniaturized grafts. For me, it was like a punch in the stomach! Not even in the worst scenario I thought that could happen! We talked a bit, pondered and decided not to proceed with the surgery (I noticed that there are some people in this forum with whom something similar happened too). We ended up by implanting those 267 grafts that had already been extracted, right in the middle of the scalp.

I was very grateful and impressed by Dr. Khan Pekiner's ethics, professionalism, friendship and human side. Many would have gone ahead with the surgery without even saying anything to me, running the risk of years later not seeing any results.

However, I didn't want to give up without looking for a second opinion. And so, after four weeks, I decided to contact a doctor who was already on my short list: Dr. Bruno Ferreira. The main reason I ended up not deciding for Dr. Bruno, was the absence of cases on the forums/internet and that left me uncomfortable. We had the consultation on January 2020, we saw the donor zone under a microscope and the Dr. Bruno readily concluded that I was a candidate for a transplant. The doctor explained to me that I only have few miniaturized grafts but for him there was no problem at all because I had a lot of “non-miniaturized” grafts and the main challenge will be the fact that I had very thin hair, with a tendency to be light and that I would never have a perfect case but, given my characteristics, I would look very well, and quite better than I was. I loved the conversation with Dr. Bruno - he was very transparent and clear to me; I was very happy and decided to move on to the transplant.

The plan is to do two surgeries: the first one for the front line; the second one will be for the mid-scalp and crown.

Finally, had my first surgery at the end of May 2020 and I confess that I was extremely impressed with Dr. Bruno's technical ability, for several reasons:

. The anesthesia… I felt practically nothing - only the first needlesticks - and, Dr. Bruno said to me, he used to use little anesthesia. The truth is that I did the whole front line and didn't swell up too much, which was incredible.

. He handles the manual as well as the motorized component: most of the surgery is motorized but whenever necessary, he operates manually

. His technique is very smooth, and he was always concerned about the surgery in order to be totally painless. It is very easy to fall asleep during his surgery!

. Most of the time he used a punch of 0.8 mm; sometimes of 0.85 mm

I had this first surgery (front line) in two days, totaling 3.219 grafts, with a 2.54 ratio between hairs/grafts.

I always told Dr. Bruno that I preferred to keep the line, including my temples, in order to have more coverage and to look as natural as possible. I didn’t want to go down the line too much as it might seem unnatural. We ended up by keeping the top of the line, but slightly reduced the temples. I’m very happy with my line!!

Everything went very well in the post-surgery, I swelled almost nothing - considering that I implanted 3.219 grafts in the front - and I believe it was related with Dr. Bruno’s technique.

I was treated very well from the beginning. They provide me a room just for me, so I could get dressed and undressed, eat, relax etc.

The two assistants/nurses Ricardo and Neuza were amazing! Very friendly, with constant concern for my well-being, competent, relaxed and with interesting conversation.

I am very happy with the decision I made, and I thank Dr. Bruno Ferreira for all his performance!

In the first month, after surgery, I only had few grafts falling (I believe I washed my hair too soft!). Throughout the second month, I washed my hair "normally" and the grafts were falling out.

Let’s see the results!

Hi guys, sorry I haven't posted before.

Let me share with you some updated photos.

With 3 months, I realized that a fungus appeared right on the border of the mid-scalp (in the photo below it is not very clear). As the skin has been fallen, I've been losing some grafts - I hope I'll be able to recover all the grafts or most of them.

I took an antifungal for 15 days and washed my hair with a proper shampoo during a month. Apparently, I no longer have the fungus.

Right now I'm with 4 months and started to see some transplanted hair. I'm happy with the results for now!

Will keep you posted!

[Rolandas]

I must admit your donor area looks amazing... I bet you have another 7000 grafts available if not more! I'm also very jealous of your temporal peaks! Seems like they didn't miniaturise at all. It will look really good after just 3-4 months!

[Mycroft]

Looks like you had minimal shock loss despite the diffuse thinning throughout your scalp. You sound like you have realistic expectations and odds are you'll be happy with your result.

I was a little unclear from the original post, but are you back on Finasteride again?

 

[PT#31]

Yes, I’m having finasteride again. This was agreed with Dr. Bruno, before decided to proceed with the surgery.

[PT#31]

On 10/9/2020 at 9:42 AM, Rolandas said:

I must admit your donor area looks amazing... I bet you have another 7000 grafts available if not more! I'm also very jealous of your temporal peaks! Seems like they didn't miniaturise at all. It will look really good after just 3-4 months!

Will do my second surgery on January (mid-scalp and crown). The plan is to do another one of c. 7000 grafts, lets see!

[PT#31]

On 10/9/2020 at 12:14 AM, PT#31 said:

Hi guys, sorry I haven't posted before.

Let me share with you some updated photos.

With 3 months, I realized that a fungus appeared right on the border of the mid-scalp (in the photo below it is not very clear). As the skin has been fallen, I've been losing some grafts - I hope I'll be able to recover all the grafts or most of them.

I took an antifungal for 15 days and washed my hair with a proper shampoo during a month. Apparently, I no longer have the fungus.

Right now I'm with 4 months and started to see some transplanted hair. I'm happy with the results for now!

Will keep you posted!

Hi everyone!

I haven't said anything for a few months but I'm sharing now the photos from the 7th month (29/12/2020). I'm very happy with the result so far as it is super natural! The hair is darker than my original tone but I think it is normal and should lighten with the sun over the years.

Two days ago I did the second phase of the surgery (mid-scalp and crown): 2980 grafts (after this 2nd surgery, Dr. Bruno Ferreira believes that I still have over 2000 grafts that could be used in a possible third surgery for potential touch-ups).

Dr. Bruno Ferreira did not touch anything in the front line (1st surgery) as he believes that (a) the survival rate was 100% or very close to it (I was afraid of the slight fungus I had) and (b) I'm only with 7 months (regarding the 1st surgery) and thus the hair will grow even more.

Once again, it was a painless surgery (I fell asleep in 3 of the 4 sessions); I swallowed nothing in the front line and practically nothing in the mid-scalp and crown areas; nurses Ricardo, Liliana and Catarina were super helpful and I am very happy with the choice I made in this team!

I will keep you informed and will share some photos of the second surgery as soon as i have them from the Doctor.