Regular Member im_not_a_robot Posted March 2, 2022 Regular Member Share Posted March 2, 2022 (edited) Hi, just wanted to share my experience with Dr. Saifi. Short about me: I'm a 33 year old (soon 34) man from Norway. I started to lose my hair at an early age, at about 18. Because i had very thick hair (see picture below) it really was not noticeable before i was perhaps 20. I lost hair rapidly from the age of 18 - 21 and was NW3 by the time i was 21. At the time i was really expecting to be bald before i was 25. When i was 21, however, it seemed like my hair loss began slowing down a lot. And at the age of 22 i began using finasteride, which i have been using ever since (without side effects). My hair situation has been pretty much stable for the last 10 -11 years with no significant change. The two pictures below are from about 9-10 years ago. Probably even used some toppik on the picture to the left. The pictures below are from 2022. Even though there is notable temple recession, my forelock is pretty strong, which makes my hair look OK when i style it. As you can see, i have deep temple recession and i also have some diffuse thinning on mid scalp (especially on left side). My temple recession has been pretty much unchanged since i was 22. I have also had diffuse thinning on my left mid scalp since i was about 22. I may have had some hair loss on my mid scalp for the last 10 years, but if so, it's going slowly. I have thought about having a hair transplant since i was in my 20's. I did, however, not want to have a transplant too young, but rather wait until my 30's to see my hair loss was somewhat stabilized. This year i have a study leave from work and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to go through with it. I have been consulted by multiple hair surgeons/clinics and decided in the end to have my surgery with Dr. Saifi in Poland. Why i choose Dr. Saifi: All the experiences i have read from him on this forum from patients have been positive. When i sent him my pictures, he responded me directly, and told me what his suggestions were. I liked his approach and he seemed like an honest guy, he also told me about the risks of having FUE and FUT. He really seemed to think long-term and wanting to preserve the donor area for the future. They also only take one patient a day, which i find reassuring. Dr. Saifi suggested a somewhat conservative hairline and doing some work on the mid scalp. This was in line with my wishes. Some of the other clinics i had been consulting with suggested much more aggressive hair lines. That may have been nice, but i really do not want to risk it if i need more transplants in the future. I then shecduled my appointment with Dr. Saifi for 22nd february 2022. When i arrived in Wroclaw (Poland) the service was great. The clinic arranged and paid for two nights at a hotel and transport. When i arrived at the clinic i met with Dr. Saifi and his team at about 0830 in the morning. We first discussed my situation and expectations from the procedure. He studied my hair and they did an analysis of my scalp etc. After that he drew a suggested hair line, and areas of my mid scalp where they would work on. It was a long day, i arrived at 0830 and left at about 1915 in the evening. My experience was all good. Dr. Saifi and his team was very professional and they talked me through every step of the procedure. The procedure itself was painless and i did not have any pain later that night of day after. An interesting note is that my forelock has a natural cowlick, which angles to the left. Dr. Saifi had to mimick the angles of the cowlick in this area. An other interesting thing, as you can see on the right, is that he left a strip on my donor area. I discussed with him the possibility of maybe having an FUT procedure in the future, and he suggested leaving a strip on the donor area, which i thought was brilliant. The two pictures below are 8 days after the procedure. Almost all scabbing is gone now, and have not noticed any shedded hairs yet. So far i think it looks good. Now both excited to see the progress, and also dreading the coming shredding phase. Will be updating my progress regularly. Edited March 8, 2022 by im_not_a_robot Misspelling and removed a picture 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member HappyMan2021 Posted March 2, 2022 Senior Member Share Posted March 2, 2022 Everything seems to have gone really well so far. 2200 grafts seems like an excellent number for your needs. Given your stable hairloss, if this HT goes well I wouldn't be surprised if this is the only 1 you'll ever need, or at the very least you should be good for the next 1-2 decades. To be fair you seem to be on the less challenging side of patients to begin with. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member im_not_a_robot Posted March 3, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 3, 2022 Thank you for the response. Hopefully 2200 grafts will do the trick. Time will tell I'm hopeful you are right. But since hair loss can be unpredictable, and may possibly accelerate in the future, i choose to be somewhat conservative with my procedure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member tunit Posted March 10, 2022 Regular Member Share Posted March 10, 2022 Thanks for sharing @im_not_a_robot, looks great. Hope you get a brilliant result. Heading over end of the month 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member im_not_a_robot Posted March 11, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 11, 2022 16 hours ago, tunit said: Thanks for sharing @im_not_a_robot, looks great. Hope you get a brilliant result. Heading over end of the month Thank you, and good luck! You are in good hands with Dr. Saifi 🙂 Will you be documenting your progress/results on the forum? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member tunit Posted March 11, 2022 Regular Member Share Posted March 11, 2022 Thanks a lot, I definitely will. Will add before ones soon, and after op will document the experience and will make updates as it progresses. It's so good to know that everyone has such positives to say about their experience in Poland. Speak soon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Sportman Posted March 12, 2022 Regular Member Share Posted March 12, 2022 Do you think you can share the cost of the transplant please ? I have considered him however he does not go over 2.8K normally and is extremely expensive. Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member im_not_a_robot Posted March 13, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 13, 2022 1 hour ago, Sportman said: Do you think you can share the cost of the transplant please ? I have considered him however he does not go over 2.8K normally and is extremely expensive. Thank you I think he seems reasonably priced. I paid about 2,68 euros per graft, 5900 euros for 2200 grafts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Sportman Posted March 13, 2022 Regular Member Share Posted March 13, 2022 (edited) 11 hours ago, im_not_a_robot said: I think he seems reasonably priced. I paid about 2,68 euros per graft, 5900 euros for 2200 grafts Thank you. As expected very expensive. Top clinics in Portugal and Spain have quoted me less like 2.4 Edited March 13, 2022 by Sportman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member im_not_a_robot Posted April 6, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted April 6, 2022 Just a quick 6 week update: Most, or all, of my transplanted hairs seems to have fallen out by now. Redness is still visible, but not too bad i guess. I don't think i have had any shock loss as of yet. I feel i now can go outside without wearing a cap without thinking it's obvious i had a hair transplant, which is nice. Looking forward to the months to come! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Britanium Posted April 6, 2022 Senior Member Share Posted April 6, 2022 Redness does appear to be fading though 👍🏽 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member RTC Posted April 7, 2022 Senior Member Share Posted April 7, 2022 Nice thread, will keep my eye on it, his prices sound reasonable too 1 Hattingen September 2023 - Punchouts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member im_not_a_robot Posted April 28, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted April 28, 2022 Just a quick update. 9 weeks since hair transplant tomorrow. Redness is slowly starting to disappear. Noticing some tiny pimples here and there in the hairline, but that is expected i guess. Just waiting for the transplanted hairs to start growing. I'm hopeful that i will start seeing some growth at the 3 month mark! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member drawdownfx Posted April 28, 2022 Senior Member Share Posted April 28, 2022 Great work by Dr Safi wishing you lots of growth and a speedy recovery. How involved was he in the procedure in terms of planning ,slits, extraction and implantation? My hair transplant Journey with Dr. Freitas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Britanium Posted April 28, 2022 Senior Member Share Posted April 28, 2022 Looking good, could you possibly enlarge the pic though ? 🙏 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Sitries1 Posted April 28, 2022 Senior Member Share Posted April 28, 2022 On 3/13/2022 at 11:05 AM, Sportman said: Thank you. As expected very expensive. Top clinics in Portugal and Spain have quoted me less like 2.4 That’s not expensive for a good surgeon. Some of the top surgeons in Spain charge 5 euros! And 3.5 to 4 euros for the top ones in Portugal. That’s IF you can event get an appointment with them! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member im_not_a_robot Posted May 2, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted May 2, 2022 (edited) On 4/28/2022 at 6:52 PM, J.A.C said: Looking good, could you possibly enlarge the pic though ? 🙏 Sorry, the pic was a bit small! I can upload some new ones from today, from different angles and lighting. The last one to the right is with some toppik added. My right side is much thinner than my left side. Hopefully the number of grafts inserted there will some density to that area. s Edited May 2, 2022 by im_not_a_robot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Britanium Posted May 2, 2022 Senior Member Share Posted May 2, 2022 (edited) @im_not_a_robotThanks, for some reason those ones are not showing ? Edited May 2, 2022 by J.A.C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member im_not_a_robot Posted May 2, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted May 2, 2022 On 4/28/2022 at 6:51 PM, drawdownfx said: Great work by Dr Safi wishing you lots of growth and a speedy recovery. How involved was he in the procedure in terms of planning ,slits, extraction and implantation? He was very involved in the planning of the procedure, hair line design etc. He made all the incisions/slits himself, while two technician/nurses did the extractions. The technicians seemed to be very experienced and have been working with Dr. Saifi for years. They also did most of the implantation, but Dr. Saifi oversaw the whole process and did the implantation in the hair line at the end. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member im_not_a_robot Posted May 2, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted May 2, 2022 7 minutes ago, J.A.C said: @im_not_a_robotThanks, for some reason ones are not showing ? See if they work now 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Britanium Posted May 2, 2022 Senior Member Share Posted May 2, 2022 Just now, im_not_a_robot said: See if they work now Yup all ok 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member im_not_a_robot Posted May 19, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted May 19, 2022 3 month picture update, including a picture of my donor area. I feel everything's healed well, and i'm pleased with how my donor looks. I have cut my back and sides a few times since the transplant, i guess it's somewhere between 1-1,5 cm length now. Haven't seen any growth yet, but hopefully soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Britanium Posted May 19, 2022 Senior Member Share Posted May 19, 2022 Thanks for the update, No doubt in one months time it will be kicking off 👍🏽 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member BuellerBueller Posted May 20, 2022 Regular Member Share Posted May 20, 2022 Smart move using meds at such an early age. Look forward to seeing your progress! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member im_not_a_robot Posted May 20, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted May 20, 2022 12 minutes ago, BuellerBueller said: Smart move using meds at such an early age. Look forward to seeing your progress! Thank you! I'm quite happy i made that decision. I just found a picture from 2012 (age 23) which clearly shows how much my hairline had receded by that point. It's hard to tell how my hair would look like today without meds, but i have a feeling i would need a lot more grafts 😅 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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