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Dr Mwamba (FUEClinic - Brussels, Belgium) 1200 BHT donor area repair job - there is hope for your decimated donor!


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Guys, I just wanted to share my story with you all and hope it will help you in your respective journeys.

I want to say a big thank you to Mustang who inspired my transformation when I honestly thought all hope was lost.

For me it started at the beginning of 2020. I was going through a stressful period of my life (in my mid-30s) and began to notice my hair was thinner than usual. It has always (well, since 21 or so) been in the classic ‘widows peak’ shape at the front and that never really bothered me. Gradually it was receding but not to a worrying degree for me. What got to me was my crown area was starting to more noticeably thin out and just made feel way older and self-conscious.

I started out by trying PRP to try to spark some life into the follicles. Alas, results were not noticeable. The doctor who gave the treatments suggested a HTP might fix my woes. He made it sound like a routine procedure. Honestly, I hold my hands up here. I am pretty naïve when it comes to things like this and didn’t even really research a HTP and the prospective damage that could be done. I just dived in head first and was assured that a ‘jungle of hair’ would mean I wouldn’t notice the missing hair at the back.

Stupidly, I bought into this schpiel and went with this Doctor’s word. Bad decision.

He pushed me into a procedure with Dr Pisano of Marbella. An incompetent buffoon. I was assured the guy had even educated the respected Marbella HTP Dr Panno who was his protegee (a self-touted ‘master’). In hindsight, total bullshit. It was a 5.000 euro procedure and I went ahead blasé, as due to the lockdown protocols, I knew I would be hidden away for months.

The guy must have examined my hair for about 30 seconds and agreed that I could come in the following day to get it done. How foolish!

I am a Brit and have pretty weak hair at best. Not everyone is a good candidate for a HTP and it is a fallacy that your donor area never weakens. Actually the hairs in the donor area, like everywhere else on the scalp, wither with time. For some people (like me) more so than others. A good, ethical doctor would NOT have touched me. I wasn’t even that bald. But just trying to polish my locks up before it was too late.

What ended up happening was actually much worse. We didn’t even discuss how many grafts would be taken. Again, another mistake on my part. Poor planning when it comes to something as serious as this is going to cost you dearly.

On the day of the procedure he ended up taking a whopping 2700 grafts. About 6000 hairs total.

The results were pretty awful. The lion’s share went into the crown area, the remainder on the frontal peaks. The grafts on the peaks took fairly well, but on one side, they didn’t even properly join up to the rest of my hairline. The crown improved slightly, but eventually the grafts fell right back out. Only a few stayed!

I honestly think around 300-400 of the ‘2700’ grafts took. Maybe I am being generous there. The price though, besides the wasted money, a completely bodged donor area. A much heavier cost.

I prayed it would be shock loss, went through the usual desperate hope phase, and of course, 5-6 months later, realized I had just been stitched up like a kipper. I couldn’t grow my hair to a grade 1 without it looking awful. Obviously left a ton of scarring, but the sides of donor area were now filled with huge gaps. Growing it out was embarrassing and it couldn’t be covered. It left huge holes.

I honestly was resigned to life behind a hat and the prospect of seeing friends and family was terrifying.

I eventually got SMP– and it did help. It was actually very well done (by Vinci clinic in Malaga – Dayana there is top level). The thing is, the only ‘look’ I could sport was the classic HTP look. 0-0.5 grade on the back and sides (talking 3-5 days growth tops) before having to shave it down to a 0 again. So the longish hair on top, nothing on back and sides. Just wasn’t a look I was happy with, especially with the constant maintenance.

In my desperation leading up to all of this, wondering how I could ever contemplate a semi-normal head of hair again, I searched forums and the net like a mad man and eventually came across Mustang’s thread.

I found it hard to believe BHT would work at first, but given I had a thick chest full of hair, I thought it might be a viable option. I knew it was experimental at best and given my luck in life, fully anticipated it would fail.

I initially reached out to Spain’s top dog (Dr Lorenzo) but he didn’t fancy his chances much with my donor and had a huge waiting list. I then tried Bisanga as his clinic looked super pro, but they were strongly recommending SMP (this was before I did mine). I knew that SMP alone wouldn’t be enough for me. So that kind of put me off them.

I then reached out to Dr Mwamba, vindicated by Mustang’s thread, who (after some persistence – he doesn’t always answer first time) was confident enough to take me on. My only hesitation with Dr Mwamba was that their website was not very professionally designed and I couldn’t find much in the way of reviews and actual photos of his patients online.

Don’t let this put you off though. I took the chance with MyWHTC in Belgium, and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

Him and his staff were successfully able to extract around 1200 grafts from my chest over the course of a 3-day period. It was quite gruelling I must say but very much worth it. Mwamba and his team are extremely patient, welcoming and fit everything in according to your needs.

During the surgery, he even re-arranged my bodged peak and moved some of the grafts back to blend in with my core hairline. He cleans up the mess your last surgeon left behind, in a nutshell.

It was reasonably expensive (6 eur per graft), but then BHT with one of the world’s top doctors should be! Mwamba is the real deal. Not only is he a funny guy – he is also a consummate professional. It was probably one of my top 5 lifetime investments. I obviously regret having diced with the world of HTPs from the start, but Mwamba is going to give you a second (or third) chance if you are messed up!

I am now at around 4 and a half months and am seeing really good growth back in the donor area. BHT does blend in (and grow within scar tissue) and gives you back some density. The fit farming method pioneered by Mwamba is no joke! I can’t believe it isn’t talked about more often. I think as Mustang has mentioned, most of the top docs have so much work on their hands, they don’t want to deal with the messy cases.

Mwamba used my nape hair and replaced (the fallen) grafts from the last bodge job. Seems to have worked really well. I do still apply Toppik to the upper parts of the sides of my hair as it’s still not very dense, but I can now face the world much more confidently.

It really is a noticeable and massive improvement.

I actually plan to go back in August for about 1000 more (I have a mega hairy chest!). You do notice the scarring on your chest (or marks it leaves) initially for about a month, but then as the wounds heal and your hair grows out, you can barely even notice. In fact, I prefer how the chest looks with less hair! It is not even really noticeable. Couldn’t tell the difference.

I will be posting photos to reflect my story soon so stay tuned to this thread.

Edited by gimpoli
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25 minutes ago, JohnAC71 said:

Thanks for posting such a uplifting account of your experience so far ! From bodged Ht to repair 👌 really looking forward to seeing the pics. @mustangis a inspiration to us all ! 

X2

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  • gimpoli changed the title to Dr Mwamba (FUEClinic - Brussels, Belgium) 1200 BHT donor area repair job - there is hope for your decimated donor!
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Look forward to seeing your photos 🙌🏼


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.

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So here is my before photos.

Nothing too bad I thought, but was trying to fix up the 'diffuse thinning' (that is what several of the docs said it was) on the crown.

My peaks were a little receded, but not much.

Somehow the moron doc, Dr Pisano, from Marbella managed to extract 2700 grafts from the donor - for this.

before-2-1-blurred.jpg

before-3-1-blurred.jpg

before-4-1-blurred.jpg

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Next up is the immediate after first botch job photos.

As you can tell the extractions left big holes. I thought it might be just inflammation from the trauma of the extraction, but nope, never healed. Obviously they took all the juicy grafts, but here's the kicker. When you have weak surrounding follicles, the trauma can actually (like in the recipient) kill them once and for all.

days-post-op-2-1-blurred.jpg

days-post-op-blurred.jpg

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Next is a quick one and illustration quite simply of the magic that is Mwamba.

The first is at about 4 months post 1200 grafts from chest. No toppik was used for this photo at the back. Look at that result!

The second picture was taken BEFORE Mwamba and even after the SMP and when the final results from the first procedure were more or less settled. Look at what a shit show that is. Reason to never get a HTP in the first place unless you can get a doc who has skills with donor management.

The third was taken also December 2020 and affirms how bad it was and how little flexibility you have with donor after.

 

after-mwamba-blurred.jpg

before-mwamba-barbers-blurred.jpg

cut-style-dec-2020-1-blurred.jpg

Edited by gimpoli
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Photos are below are at 2 months post-Mwamba.

I was getting concerned as obviously not much in the way of positive results. In fact, probably shock loss had happened and it didn't look great.

Always going to be like this, as @Mustang re-assured me, up until about 4 months.

mwamba-2-month-2_blurred.jpg

mwamba-2-month-blurred.jpg

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Finally, the 4 month results, again with NO TOPPIK. Hopefully still not complete, but really excellent progress. The picture from the barber earlier on is probably better, as the sides (which were obviously the problem area) still have some distance to go.

I think the right side is slower to develop, and not sure if still shock loss. Both the upper sides are pretty thin though and greatly aided with Toppik to give an illusion of density.

I plan, as already mentioned, to go back to Mwamba's FUE clinic in August for another 1000 chest grafts or so to the sides, donor in general.

4-month-mwamba-1 – blurred.jpg

4-month-mwamba-2 – blurred.jpg

4-month-mwamba-3 – blurred.jpg

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8 minutes ago, gimpoli said:

Finally, the 4 month results, again with NO TOPPIK. Hopefully still not complete, but really excellent progress. The picture from the barber earlier on is probably better, as the sides (which were obviously the problem area) still have some distance to go.

I think the right side is slower to develop, and not sure if still shock loss. Both the upper sides are pretty thin though and greatly aided with Toppik to give an illusion of density.

I plan, as already mentioned, to go back to Mwamba's FUE clinic in August for another 1000 chest grafts or so to the sides, donor in general.

4-month-mwamba-1 – blurred.jpg

4-month-mwamba-2 – blurred.jpg

4-month-mwamba-3 – blurred.jpg

Hello. I am very happy for your good results and that you have successfully overcome the nightmare of a bad hair transplant. 

My future plans for myself include donor re-fill and I have a very rich breast tissue. The problem is that although I have a thick chest hair, it is very thin, and if I pull a little harder, some of it comes out. 

Is yours similar? what is your experience with this?

Thanks for sharing!

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Awesome man thank your for sharing 👏🏼

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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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In reply to @Raymond92

My chest hair is thick and strong. This was the before surgery. It is mostly comprised of single hair grafts, but still worthwhile - there are a few doubles too!

Don't mean to scare everyone D

 

chest.jpg

Edited by gimpoli
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Just now, gimpoli said:

In reply to @Raymond92

My chest hair is thick and strong. This was the before surgery. It is mostly comprised of single hair grafts, but still worthwhile - there are a few doubles too!

chest.jpg

Wow 😳 serious amount of grafts here 👍🏽

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you got enough boy hair to do 50.000 grafts into your donor

Man do I envy you!!!... If I had that I would restore the entire 10.000 grafts taken and probably expand my donor by another 3.000 grafts.

As long as the ratio is 3:1 on scalp hair to BHT the BHT blends in and you can't tell them apart.

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A great result. Did anyone ever mention finateride and minoxidol? Surgery really is the last resort. You could possibly have been able to avoid surgery altogether if you were made aware of medication. That said you are in a great place now. Thanks for sharing!

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On 6/8/2021 at 5:27 PM, giegnosiganoe said:

Do you have any immediate post op pictures from Mwamba that you can share?

Hey man. I could ask Mwamba for those. I will do if it would help and can publish within a week or so.

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On 6/9/2021 at 11:17 AM, Gatsby said:

A great result. Did anyone ever mention finateride and minoxidol? Surgery really is the last resort. You could possibly have been able to avoid surgery altogether if you were made aware of medication. That said you are in a great place now. Thanks for sharing!

To be honest, no. I was using topical fin and minox (rogaine) but really wasn't doing much imo. No problem on the share. Not quite where I want to be as density on the upper sides is still lacking sorely. Needs daily apps of Toppik, but a huge improvement and for that I am very grateful to Mwamba.

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