Dr. Bruno Pinto - 2025 grafts - Nov. 18th

[JDEE0]

6 hours ago, digi23 said:

Looks good, will be fun to see your result!  

Cheers Digi! I'll do my best to keep the updates as detailed as possible.

I saw you posted an update recently actually but I was rushed for time so didn't get the chance to check it out, I will do so now. 

P.S. - I saw you mention the other day that you were considering going to Dr. P if needed at the end of the year (I don't think it will be necessary for you just as an FYI), but if you have any questions or anything you think I could maybe help you out with then just shoot me a message mate. 

[Curious25]

Donor looks untouched - scarring barely visible even zoomed in at that length, very impressive. 

Growth well and truly under way now as well - by month 6 you will be rocking a Mane 😎

[aaron1234]

@JDEE0 Just stumbled across this!  I haven't seen any work from Dr. Pinto before so this will be an interesting follow.  You had an enviable head of hair going into this surgery, also stellar donor characteristics.  I like how Dr. Pinto angled the hairs forward in the corners, it really matched your natural growth pattern.  Donor looks great.  I think you'll be a happy camper in a couple months!

Edit: You are the ideal candidate for FUE!

Edited January 29, 2022 by aaron1234

[Dark]

Looking good, just getting this on my radar.

[JDEE0]

3 hours ago, aaron1234 said:

@JDEE0 Just stumbled across this!  I haven't seen any work from Dr. Pinto before so this will be an interesting follow.  You had an enviable head of hair going into this surgery, also stellar donor characteristics.  I like how Dr. Pinto angled the hairs forward in the corners, it really matched your natural growth pattern.  Donor looks great.  I think you'll be a happy camper in a couple months!

Edit: You are the ideal candidate for FUE!

Cheers mate, I appreciate the encouragement! I'll post another update in a few weeks at the 3 month mark so we shall see how it progresses now things are starting to pick up and happen a bit!

[Gokuhairline]

i see similarities with mine...pre op ,design, and growth...this is looking great my dude. it will be a nice outcome. cheers 

[Spaceguy]

23 hours ago, JDEE0 said:

I had a hair cut yesterday at exactly 10 weeks post-op and thought I'd post an update for the the donor mainly, as I believe it to be completely healed now and I don't think it's going to look any different in 6 months or a years time from now really.

Hopefully helps to document and show how very short hairstyles can (everyone is different, so it's not to be taken as you will look the same, could be better, could be worse, but still) look after FUE when done with an appropriately sized punch in the hands of a good doc.

Also added a couple of pics of the recipient (left side only) as I may as well since I'm already giving an update.

Looks great and there is early growth as it seems, a bunch of tiny hairs all over the place....

[digi23]

On 11/19/2021 at 8:32 AM, JDEE0 said:

Sure, no problem.

He's about as involved as is humanly possible as he is one of the few doctors that performs both extractions and implantation. As a note though, this is not the norm in the industry and doesn't take away from the clinics who delegate to techs/assistants, as there are many great ones out there where the doctor isn't anywhere near as involved...

We actually had a quick chat about the topic somewhere during the day where Pinto said this himself, which I already agreed with, but he made the point that it doesn't necessarily make him or any other doc who is as involved as him automatically better and was telling me how he is a bit OCD and stuff, so he uses surgery as a therapy of sorts for himself as all of the meticulous detail and constant processing/adjusting mid surgery helps to keep him balanced and whatnot. He seemed to really enjoy being as hands on as he is for this reason and said he hates taking more than a few weeks holiday as he starts to miss the discipline. 

Anyway, back to the question, from when I arrived at 8.30AM to when I left at nearly 8PM, I was probably out of the docs hands for a total of 1 hour and that whilst whilst I was eating breakfast and lunch. He's the only pair of hands that touched me all day and no one else is involved in your surgery; he extracts, the nurses clean and sort the grafts under some very fancy microscopes at the same time, you go have lunch, come back and he then implants for the rest of the day.

He doesn't use pre made slits, he uses an implanter pen (Lion for what its worth) and so the grafts are just loaded in as he goes along. He implants whilst the nurses sit beside him and load grafts into the pens simultaneously. He clicks one into your recipient, puts the pen down, the nurse then fills it back up whilst he is at the same time using a different implanter for the next graft and so on. But to answer your question in some way regardless, yes he does all of the implantation. 

He only ever does 1 patient per day, no exceptions. You're the only one there and you have his full attention for 12 hours, he doesn't go off anywhere at any point, like I say, you're only apart during lunch really. He told me that he gave himself a rule a long time ago when he opened his clinic that he only will do 100 patients or so per year, which he sticks to and has no plans of changing. So, he only does a few surgeries a week on average.

I paid 2.6 EUR per graft, prices are currently the same as this still now as far as I know.

Thanks for the kind words, appreciated!

A late reply on this, but this should be highlighted. This is so unique in this world, you have some of the best in the world, they still want to scale up their business to make more money so they go from 1 day to 2 a day to 3 a day and so forth. 

A Dr who just takes 1 patient EVERY OTHER DAY is incredible. Yeah hes doing it to earn a living and of course he gets rich doing it, but he could easily just hire more techs and scale this up to atleast 2 a day, even 3 or 4 and he will earn so much more money, but decides not to.

All respect for this, he is among a VERY FEW in the world who does this. Even the ones that are considered the best in the business usually does 2+ patients a day.

Edited January 29, 2022 by digi23

[shadowcast]

Donor looks great, but wow, solid growth already. This will be a home run for sure.

I'm now booked with Dr. Pinto myself. So impressed with how professional and communicative the clinic has been so far. Will be watching this thread closely!

[JDEE0]

On 1/30/2022 at 2:54 AM, shadowcast said:

Donor looks great, but wow, solid growth already. This will be a home run for sure.

I'm now booked with Dr. Pinto myself. So impressed with how professional and communicative the clinic has been so far. Will be watching this thread closely!

Thanks man, much appreciated.

Glad to hear you found your way to a good surgeon such as Dr. P. Will you be posting a thread?

[Joocee]

Hi mate, I've just booked with Dr Bruno Pinto myself. Your thread contributed to that decision, all looks great so far. 

Can I ask what you did with regards to travel/accomodation? Did you fly back the day of the surgery or the day afterwards for example. 

Thanks

[JDEE0]

1 hour ago, Joocee said:

Hi mate, I've just booked with Dr Bruno Pinto myself. Your thread contributed to that decision, all looks great so far. 

Can I ask what you did with regards to travel/accomodation? Did you fly back the day of the surgery or the day afterwards for example. 

Thanks

Good choice!

I stayed for a couple nights, arrived Wednesday, had surgery on Thursday and flew home Saturday morning.

The clinic pay for one night in a hotel for you (I think it's called the Bessa Boavista if you wanna look it up). It's only a 4/5 minute walk to the clinic and the hotel is nice enough, so I just asked Emilio if he could book me in for a couple extra nights that I just paid for once I got there.

Was gonna get an airbnb, but since they already put you up for one night it was just easier to stay there for 2 more nights and it was very convenient being only a few mins away. It's not ideal walking back from the clinic to the hotel right after surgery looking like you're deranged haha, so it was nice to get it over with quickly. I'd suggest just doing the same as I did if you're staying a couple extra nights.

[stephcurry30]

Looking good. Posting to keep track of your progress!

[recoba2020]

Hi mate,

Congratulation on your surgery. This will turn out great. I have just booked with Dr Pinto for April and I have a couple of questions if that's ok. The doctor asked to complete some blood tests. I'm not sure where is the best place to do them  in the UK and how much they cost. Could you offer any advice?. Also, what is the best way to get from Porto airport to the hotel and vice versa?

Thanks in advance.

[Msiko]

Will be also there in April. Is there a grocery store nearby? How did you manage your days after the surgery? I assume you were exploring a little bit Porto. What did you do to protect your head, for e.g., from sunlight?

 

@recoba2020

Emilio, the patient coordinator, suggested to take a taxi. Would be the easiest way. 

[JoeMan]

11 minutes ago, Msiko said:

Will be also there in April. Is there a grocery store nearby? How did you manage your days after the surgery? I assume you were exploring a little bit Porto. What did you do to protect your head, for e.g., from sunlight?

 

@recoba2020

Emilio, the patient coordinator, suggested to take a taxi. Would be the easiest way. 

I didn't go to Dr. Pinto but instead Dr. Ferreira. I did stay in Porto. Uber worked just fine for me. I think around €17 if I remember correctly to get from airport to Porto center. Plenty of grocery stores around Porto but I have to say that on Uber eats, they had grocery stores. I ordered several times through this and it was only about €3 delivery charge plus a small tip. I basically stayed indoors until around 4pm when the sun was going down. It's really a great area and the people are so nice. Try a restaurant called Ze Bota while you're there. 

[JDEE0]

On 2/5/2022 at 4:00 PM, recoba2020 said:

Hi mate,

Congratulation on your surgery. This will turn out great. I have just booked with Dr Pinto for April and I have a couple of questions if that's ok. The doctor asked to complete some blood tests. I'm not sure where is the best place to do them  in the UK and how much they cost. Could you offer any advice?. Also, what is the best way to get from Porto airport to the hotel and vice versa?

Thanks in advance.

Hi man,

Thanks a lot mate, much appreciated. Sure - for the blood tests, I had a similar conundrum, in the end I just went to a private doctors and had them run a panel for what was needed (HIV, HEP B, HEP C, FBC and other stuff like potassium levels etc). Not cheap though, cost 500 quid, but that's what it'll cost in the UK (even if you go to your GP, will be the same). I know some of the guys who went to Dr. Ferreira had their bloods done in a clinic in Porto and it was only £100 or so, a lot cheaper, but I didn't know how to organise it etc and Emilio advised I get them done in advance at home so I just did so. Might be worth looking into though.

But yeah, just go to your GP or search for a private doctors office in your area and ring them up/send an e-mail and they'll organise it for you. Mine was a same day doc and they had the results ready in like 24 hrs which was good at least.

I actually ended up having to cancel my first flight on the Tuesday to Porto due to a last min work thing and instead flew out the next day on Wednesday, but due to covid there was only a flight to Lisbon, so I actually flew into there on the way in and not Porto, but an Uber is the easiest. That's what I did on the way back from the hotel to Porto airport and it was around 15 quid or so If I remember correctly, about 15 mins away, if that.

 

[JDEE0]

23 hours ago, Msiko said:

Will be also there in April. Is there a grocery store nearby? How did you manage your days after the surgery? I assume you were exploring a little bit Porto. What did you do to protect your head, for e.g., from sunlight?

 

@recoba2020

Emilio, the patient coordinator, suggested to take a taxi. Would be the easiest way. 

Yeah, there are shops nearby, restaurants, a McDonalds a few mins away etc. Pinto's clinic (and the hotel) is literally right in the middle of the city, so lot's of stuff around. I had a bit of a wonder around yeah, I walked around for a bit on the evening I arrived (I got to the Hotel at like 8pm or so and surgery was the next morning) and had something to eat etc, but then after that I mostly just chilled in the hotel room and didn't go out much. I only really had one full day there after my surgery and going home, and I was pretty done in by it all and didn't want to go out exploring.

It was the end of November when I went, so was pretty cold and I wasn't out in the sun really, if it's summer you'll want to stay in the shade and not be in the sun at all really. Will need to cover your head if you have to be out and about. 

[recoba2020]

Thanks for responding and answering all of my questions it is greatly appreciated. I'll see if I can get it done through my private health insurance. 

[Woody1000]

Hi buddy. Hair is coming along nicely with your procedure. I’ve emailed the clinic today after Dr Pinto has been on my list for months. How long was your waiting time from consultation to procedure? 

[JDEE0]

1 hour ago, Woody1000 said:

Hi buddy. Hair is coming along nicely with your procedure. I’ve emailed the clinic today after Dr Pinto has been on my list for months. How long was your waiting time from consultation to procedure? 

Cheers mate.

From consultation to my transplant date, I think around 8 months or so, I believe I contacted the clinic in May and then I had surgery in November. They did have some cancellation dates (two if I remember correctly) earlier than this though, I think in June or July time, but I wouldn't have been able to make it so I just took the next available one in Nov. 

[Woody1000]

14 minutes ago, JDEE0 said:

Cheers mate.

From consultation to my transplant date, I think around 8 months or so, I believe I contacted the clinic in May and then I had surgery in November. They did have some cancellation dates (two if I remember correctly) earlier than this though, I think in June or July time, but I wouldn't have been able to make it so I just took the next available one in Nov. 

Cheers for the update buddy! I will give them a call through tomorrow as I just got a email back saying they are not taking any patients in who have enquired. Will look forward to your picture updates buddy 

[JDEE0]

6 minutes ago, Woody1000 said:

Cheers for the update buddy! I will give them a call through tomorrow as I just got a email back saying they are not taking any patients in who have enquired. Will look forward to your picture updates buddy 

No worries man - yeah they're busy and so I think they've had that automated e-mail turning patients away for a while now  (was the same response I initially got when I got in touch nearly 10 months ago), but people seem to still be getting through and getting dates booked in with a bit of persistence and actually speaking to someone.

I'll post my 3 months on Thursday!

[Woody1000]

5 minutes ago, JDEE0 said:

No worries man - yeah they're busy and so I think they've had that automated e-mail turning patients away for a while now  (was the same response I initially got when I got in touch nearly 10 months ago), but people seem to still be getting through and getting dates booked in with a bit of persistence and actually speaking to someone.

I'll post my 3 months on Thursday!

Really appreciate you being really thorough on your responses! Will look forward to your posts bud!

[JDEE0]

Some close-ups of the left side before I post a proper 3 month update at the end of the week... lots and lots of hairs are through the skin and growing now, they're just very fine, short and wispy at this point obviously, but I'm quite happy with the way things are developing and think I'll most likely have a good result now and feel like I can relax a bit.

Anyway, I was just looking at these pics trying to guesstimate what percentage of grafts have popped through the skin, I can't figure out roughly what amount have, would be interested to see what everyone else thinks - 50 percent or more?

Edited February 9, 2022 by JDEE0