4132 grafts Dr. Bisanga, BHR Clinic

[NTCP8]

I have a few topics on this forum regarding my hairloss, which started 4 years ago, probably a bit earlier. I live and work in Hong Kong, and no decent surgeons there. I was searching for other options in the region, I came up with a dude in Thailand and one Singapore. Didn't feel comfortable with both of them. The dude in Singapore charges 60$ for an online consultation, which is ridicules. It's not about the money, but about the principle. I work in healthcare myself, and it's easy for me to see which Docs are good... 

I've been talking with BHR clinic since 2017. Last month I made decision to move ahead, and they had a spot free in May. Flew over last week to lovely (read depressing) Belgium. I'm originally from Belgium, so I could combine this with seeing my family. 

Ian from BHR guided me through the process, met Dr. Bisanage last Sunday, day before surgery. Everything went perfect, friendly team... We initially planned for 3,600 grafts, which turned into 4,132 grafts. From the pictures you will probably think this is overkill, but my hair was thinning faster than I can swipe right on Tinder... 

I will post, after surgery pictures tomorrow. I literally just arrived back at the hotel. 

Pictures before:

 

 

Edited May 25, 2021 by NTCP8
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[SLA]

Wow...I was going to ask if those were the final results!

To me it looks like a tad bit thinning in the crown and maybe a little recession in hairline.

That's a lot of grafts for sure.

Looking forward to seeing photos and best of luck with your journey!

[ITA]

You have chosen an excellent surgeon, you start from a very good starting position, you will surely have an excellent final result.  I will follow your journey 💪

[sl]

Congratulations and looking forwards to the updates and thank you for coming so far...You will be in great hands with Ian for sure from the healing and growth stages.

[NTCP8]

15 minutes ago, SLA said:

Wow...I was going to ask if those were the final results!

To me it looks like a tad bit thinning in the crown and maybe a little recession in hairline.

That's a lot of grafts for sure.

Looking forward to seeing photos and best of luck with your journey!

It's more than just the crown. My overall scalp and sides were thinning (you will see on the pictures I will post tomorrow), not sure why it accelerated that fast in the last 6 months. I'm on Propecia for 18 months, no regrowth, maybe just stabilisation. Will switch to oral minox in 6 months. 

For what it matters I'm 36... The last couple of months I was extremely anxious and whenever people stood behind me, I thought they were looking at my thinning hair. I was always very cautious about it, but the last months it was not healthy anymore. 

[hairlossPA]

will be following

[giegnosiganoe]

That must be some Dr. Hasson level dense packing! I'd love to hear more info (perhaps from the clinic) on how they determined the number of grafts required for your case.

[NTCP8]

I gave the clinic permission to use my case on forums, so they might make a topic. 
 

Without exaggeration, I lost around 40-50% from my original density. I used to go to barber twice month. It may appear on the pictures that it’s just mild hair-loss, but it isn’t. My hair is wavy so it covers certain thinning areas. My goal was to fill in the crown, hairline and some other thinning spots  

Hopefullt my hair will grow fast. It was a two day procedure, and they had to shave my head again today. Hopefully the growth will not be affected by the transplant. 

[Britanium]

Excellent choice of Dr ! Look forward to following 🙏

[Mycroft]

Sounds like an interesting case. I'll be interested to see how you develop. The good news is as long as your natives tolerate the trauma this number of grafts should give you a very nice result.

[NTCP8]

As promised the pictures after the surgery. I'm expecting some better quality pics from the clinic. For now this will do... 

 

[Britanium]

Work looks very refined ! Thanks for posting the pics 🙏

Edited May 26, 2021 by JohnAC71

[NTCP8]

Never shaved my head before till past Monday. Could have been worse...  Unfortunately, not the most professional look to meet clients. 

[Raphael84]

@NTCP8
Congratulations on completing your procedure. 
Dr. Bisanga was very pleased with how your surgery went and it is great to see your hairline design, overall approach and to get an idea of the area of placement from your photos. Very nice quality which will really go a long way to supplement your thread.
As discussed, as soon as I have access to all photos taken from the clinic in the next days, I will be sure to share them with you and they will be great to be able look back and compare as growth begins.
For now rest up, heal well and look forward to the months ahead. You have all of our support for anything that you may need.

[Marco Van Basten]

Looking forward to seeing your progress, Im booked in with Dr Bisanga later on this year!

 

Happy growing

[Huncholini]

Looks great, you chose a great surgeon. To be honest I wouldn't mind having your pre-op hair. How does having grafts implanted between native hairs in the recipient affect the native hairs? Is it possible that they can suffer from trauma and thin faster?

[NTCP8]

That's also a concern I have/had... I hope my native hair will not suffer too much trauma. I'm convinced Dr. Bisanga had similar cases (placing grafts between native hairs), so I all should be good... 

My pre-op hair was getting worse. I was not able to style it how I want it, and was losing a lot. The reason why it looks ok pre-op because it's wavy, it's my natural 'comb over'... I'm glad I did the transplant, now I just have to wait. 

I'm using Propecia for 18 months and just started with oral minox. Hopefully this will strengthen the native and transplanted hairs... 

 

[cbc3113]

On 5/27/2021 at 2:36 AM, NTCP8 said:

That's also a concern I have/had... I hope my native hair will not suffer too much trauma. I'm convinced Dr. Bisanga had similar cases (placing grafts between native hairs), so I all should be good... 

My pre-op hair was getting worse. I was not able to style it how I want it, and was losing a lot. The reason why it looks ok pre-op because it's wavy, it's my natural 'comb over'... I'm glad I did the transplant, now I just have to wait. 

I'm using Propecia for 18 months and just started with oral minox. Hopefully this will strengthen the native and transplanted hairs... 

 

Your case is very interesting and I'll for sure be following. Seeing my own result now, I wish I had done a HT much earlier myself.

Which brand of oral minox are you taking? Are you planning on stopping Propecia or taking it together?

[NTCP8]

On 5/29/2021 at 10:10 AM, cbc3113 said:

Your case is very interesting and I'll for sure be following. Seeing my own result now, I wish I had done a HT much earlier myself.

Which brand of oral minox are you taking? Are you planning on stopping Propecia or taking it together?

I bought a one year supply from Darwin Pharmacy in Brussels. BHR clinic works with them... They do ship abroad. 

I have 2 months supply of Propecia left, so will continue taking it. I also bought topical finasteride from the same pharmacy. 

Edited June 1, 2021 by NTCP8
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[NTCP8]

Some more details:

1 Follicular unit: 621 grafts

2 Follicular unit: 1815 grafts

3 Follicular unit: 1146 grafts

4 Follicular unit: 550 grafts

[NTCP8]

@Raphael84

Maybe this is a question you can answer in this topic. Some people mentioned how my native hair might thin faster because of trauma of the transplanted grafts. Will trauma accelerate the thinning process of my native hair (or just in general, not specific to my case)? 

[Raphael84]

If native hair were to "thin faster" due to the trauma of surgery and placing grafts amongst native hair, then this would be an issue for the majority of hair transplant patients. Other than extensive patterns of Norwood where patients have lost essentially all native hair on top, then placing amongst native hair is common practice. Even those patients with just a small amount of frontal loss, when restoring the hairline at density it is necessary to transition into native hair behind to ensure of an undetectable result and consistent visual of density.

This is not the case when surgery is performed at a high standard and the making or recipient sites, their angles, direction and depth is harmonised with that of the native hair of the patient which ensures that there is as little "trauma" as possible. 
The "take away" here is the quality of surgery. This is why Dr. Bisanga will request a complete shave down to be able to have complete visuals of hair direction and angle at the exit points, and will use a punch size that does not require the recipient site to be larger than needed, which creates less "trauma" to the surrounding area and therefore has little to no impact on surrounding grafts.

If the patient may have miniaturised hairs throughout the recipient area, then this may present a different situation as the native hair has already begun the process/cycle of thinning and loss and depending on the status/extent of the follicle within that cycle, then shock loss may occur. But this is not an accelerated thinning of healthy hair.
This is another reason why medication pre surgery to help to stabilise and strengthen native hair can be a very important factor, especially when transplanting amongst native hair.

[NTCP8]

Quick update. 

10 days after surgery. Crown area seems a bit thinner than the other areas, I've been losing quite a lot of hair while removing the crusts though. Have to check how much grafts they placed at the crown, think it was around 2,000. Will probably lose more hair in the next coming weeks/months... Donor area seems to recover well, obviously thinner than before surgery. 

My current regime is 1mg Propecia a day. Switching to oral Minoxidil and topical finasteride in the next coming days/weels. Never was a big fan of Propecia, did I have side effects, yes. Never had an issue getting it up, keeping it up was a bit more challenging. Not 100% sure if this was just in my head or because of Propecia... I've been popping Viagra like gummy bears (not a shame of it), not that I needed it (I think), just in case. Had several one nights stands without have to take Viagra. 

Anyone here knows if a combination of oral minox and Viagra can give me a heart attack? Don't want my family to find me with my pants down...  @Raphael84

[NTCP8]

Quick update after 23 days...  

Currently back home in Hong Kong. Was a bit anxious taking a long haul flight, not because of the duration, just a bit uncomfortable being around strangers after a hair transplant. Business Class was basically empty, so once I boarded I was more relaxed. 

I had to do the 14 day compulsory hotel quarantine. Originally it was 21 days, but they reduced it to 14 days for vaccinated people. The 14 day quarantine was actually perfect, so I could grow my hair a bit without going out to meet friends and go to the office. They released me back into the wild on 13/06, it felt weird to have your freedom back. In Hong Kong quarantine means you can't leave your hotel room for 14 days, can't even open a window. 

Now my hair transplant. Shedding didn't really till last week, not sure how many hairs of the transplanted grafts I've shedded. Maybe around 30-40%, can be more. I keep an eye on it, not that I'm obsessed with it. I went to the office past Monday, didn't feel too anxious with my short hair. No one really noticed a difference in the office. Told some people about it and they couldn't believe it, seeing I didn't really have bald spots. Once I arrived home, I shared the elevator with a girl I didn't recognise. I know most of the people in my building. She started talking to me, which was the confidence boost I needed... My short hair feels definitely more refreshing in Hong Kong's climate, 35 Degrees Celsius and a humidity of 85%. 

For people here who are considering Dr. Bisanga, BHR Clinic. The follow up with Ian is great. I had some questions/concerns about my case and some general questions regarding transplants. Ian always replies fast and his replies are detailed, informative and comforting. The post-op service that BHR clinic offers is fantastic, which is important to me.

My current medication regime is 0.5mg Propecia (I'm not a fan of generic drugs) and 5mg oral minoxidil. I reduced Propecia from 1mg to 0.5mg and will start using topical Finasteride (yes, this one is based on generic Propecia) soon. The reason why I'm switching is because of side effects. The sexual side effects are manageable, I still have a high libido, I do take Viagra once in awhile, sometimes more than I need. I'm more concerned about mood swings, insomnia, and I tend to forget certain things. These are all manageable, nothing too  extreme. Just want to see if they go away after reducing the dose to 0.5mg every other day. 

Now the pictures. I'm not too concerned of my current situation. Donor area looks a bit thin, which will fill in over time, I hope. The next few months will be hard, although as long my native hair doesn't shed, it should more or less ok till the other transplanted hairs start to grow. I like my new hairline, looks natural for my age. I tried to have the same lighting in all my pictures, camera gets out of focussed. I live on a high floor with floor-ceiling windows so a lot of sun. Opinions are welcome... 

Opinions are welcome... 

 

 

[Britanium]

BHR after care is fantastic. Your looking totally on track at this early stage. Thanks for the very detailed follow up 🙏