Getting my hair back ! 4692 Grafts with Westminster Medical Group in London

[Hazza]

Hello forum, my name is Harry and I had a hair transplant 3 years ago and thought I’d post my experience as I’ve been lurking the hair forums for a while now. 

 

I’m 49 years old and approaching the big 50 this November. I remember I started losing my hair around 25 years old. I never took any hair loss pills as I wasn't aware they existed until 10 years ago. After my 40th birthday I was at a stage where I'd pretty much lost the frontal half of my hair. My crown wasn't looking too clever either!  

 

I must of mulled over having a hair transplant for a good 6 years and consulted with a fair few clinics in the UK over the years. I certainly questioned is it all worth it and should I just leave it be. 

 

After much thought weighing up the pros and cons, I decided to go for a large hair transplant procedure with Westminster Medical Group in London.  

 

Doctor Sebastian & Doctor Rogers suggested a 2 day FUT and FUE combination session so I could tackle most of my scalp in a 2 day sitting. They talked me through the process and showed me some examples of FUT and FUE procedures. 

 

If I’m honest I wasn’t keen on the FUT procedure, though having looked at Doctor Roger's own FUT scar, I was quite impressed with how hard it was to find. I found traces of the scar, but it wasn’t as I feared. I keep my hair longer at the back anyway so this did give me faith. 

 

I was told combining FUT and FUE would help yield the most amount of grafts in a 2 day back to back sitting, whilst leaving a good reserve should I need to go back in again further down the road. I appreciated this pre-planning as a lot of other clinics were trying to sell me a procedure with no mention of any further hair loss or any subsequent procedures which may be needed.

 

I decided to go ahead with the op and booked in for a date near Christmas where I could have a good 4 weeks off work to relax and recover. I’m an engineer by trade, and was advised not to do any strenuous activity or wear a hard hat for a good 4 weeks so all could heal up nicely.

 

Both days went without a hitch. I had FUT on day one and then FUE on day two. 4692 grafts were achieved in total. Both days lasted about 6 hours all in all with a couple of breaks in-between which was helpful as I’m a big fidget. The team were very professional throughout and the girls certainly kept me entertained when planting the follicles in the afternoon as I watched a film. On day 2 I slept for most of the session. 

 

All in all I had a very pleasant experience and Doctor Sebastian, Doctor Rogers and the team are true professionals. 

 

Here’s my pre pictures

 

 

Here's my pictures after the procedure

 

 

Here’s my 1 month photos

 

 

Here’s my 4 month photos

 

 

Here’s my 10 month photos 

 

 

Here’s my 16 month photos 

 

 

The growth is brilliant and I can’t say how good it is to grow it long and comb it back again. Missed that for a long time now!

 

It took a good year to grow out, though thickened up all the way to 1.5 years after the procedure. Bit of a long haul, but worth the wait!

[ciaus]

Thanks for sharing, your 16 month pics showing nice face framing, definitely makes you look younger and yet still middle-aged appropriate. I see in your story that you haven't taken any meds (finasteride and minoxidil) and only became aware of them about 10yrs ago. How concerned are you about further loss, like in the crown area? Do the doctors think you have enough remaining donor and a loss pattern that you can probably just do additional procedures? Or are you not that concerned about loss in the crown? -Personally I'm in that camp, while I'm holding on to my crown with fin/minox, if I were to lose it later I'm not sure how much I would try to do with it since its not only a very common thinning area for middle-older aged guys, its not a spot people see when they are interacting with you face -to-face and doesn't effect how your face is framed, which are my primary concerns.

[Britanium]

Very nice, rolled back the years for you 😀 always like seeing people post beyond the usual 12 month point. 
Must be nice knowing you have more in the donor bank should you need it. 
 

[Silent1234]

Hit a home run here! Very nice result. Congratulations. 

[Curious25]

Looks great - and donor looks healthy enough to provide you with a few more passes should you ever want/need to address any further areas in the future! 

Congrats 

[Hazza]

On 9/28/2020 at 2:46 AM, ciaus said:

Thanks for sharing, your 16 month pics showing nice face framing, definitely makes you look younger and yet still middle-aged appropriate. I see in your story that you haven't taken any meds (finasteride and minoxidil) and only became aware of them about 10yrs ago. How concerned are you about further loss, like in the crown area? Do the doctors think you have enough remaining donor and a loss pattern that you can probably just do additional procedures? Or are you not that concerned about loss in the crown? -Personally I'm in that camp, while I'm holding on to my crown with fin/minox, if I were to lose it later I'm not sure how much I would try to do with it since its not only a very common thinning area for middle-older aged guys, its not a spot people see when they are interacting with you face -to-face and doesn't effect how your face is framed, which are my primary concerns.

Hi Ciaus, I've been told that I have another 2000 - 3000 grafts in my donor which is good to know. My crown hair loss seems to be slowing down, I haven't lost much there in the last 2-3 years compared to how the front thinned, though I am expecting it to thin out more in the next 10 years! I'll play it by ear and see if I need a further session in years to come. The hair transplant team did say always plan to do 2 hair transplants eventually. Like you say I'm more concerned with the frontal half of my hair and would rather have more hair here than the crown if I had to choose between the two.

[HairFunk]

Very good result. Hairline suits you. Congrats 

[TommyLucchese]

That's a great result, especially when you scroll up and look at the before photos again.

Really chuffed it worked out for you - the UK doesn't have the greatest of reps so I was reading through with trepidation about how it was going to turn out. Looks excellent though, congrats. 

[Hazza]

On 10/3/2020 at 3:38 PM, TommyLucchese said:

That's a great result, especially when you scroll up and look at the before photos again.

I know, I went through a short period of not being able to look at the before photos! So used to having hair again now 😄

[Cardin1977]

Wow. Massive transformation !

[Hazza]

Thanks 👍

[Melvin- Admin]

4 hours ago, JasmineHart said:

Congratulations! It will sit very well, and I wish you good health! Amazing changes, to be honest. Maybe someone will advise me as a hair transplant specialist that I want my father to do this operation for him. Still, I want an excellent specialist to be of good quality. But another question is not entirely on the topic. Still, I am studying now in a medical university last year. I need advice on how to score well on mcat, because I am very afraid of this exam, even if I feel ready. Is there anyone here from medicine, teachers, or students who could help me with advice?

Hi Jasmine,

we’re a forum of patients, yes some doctors do participate. But if you have off-topic questions please post it in the off-topic section.

[Davies]

On 10/21/2020 at 10:37 PM, Hazza said:

Thanks 👍

Hi Hazza . I tried to send you a message on here though couldn't . Are you still active ?

[DavidSheer]

hi hazza - r you still active on this forum? i had a question about fut procedure at westminster group. please check ur messages 

[RobertoDeNiro]

What a great transformation. Congratulations!