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Eugenix (Drs. Das/Somesh/Vinita) | 11,102 grafts | NW 6/7 | 28 yrs old | 2022/2023/2024


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  • Senior Member

Hello everyone,

First I want to thank everyone here who may have played a role in helping me find a clinic I was confident in and helped me achieve this. This will document the journey for me.

Pre-HT Situation
MPB runs very aggressively on my father's side of the family. My grandfather, two uncles, and father have all lost significant amounts of hair by their 20s-30s. In my early teens, I already had thin hair, but didn't recognize it at the time. The aggressive hair loss probably began around age 15. I wasn't into the science of hair loss back then and so I didn't really know what was happening/didn't think about it much. But by the time I was 18-20, I knew I had lost a significant amount, suffered from the mental and social effects of knowing I disliked the look so much, etc. Below is a progression of the situation at different ages.

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I remember trying minoxidil very briefly in my early 20s, but quickly "gave up" after it (obviously) didn't regrow all of my hair. I also saw a dermatologist around age 22 who presented the option of finasteride to me, but I chose not to begin taking it at that time for a few reasons: 1) He (correctly) informed me that it would not regrow all of my hair, and 2) I was in a period of being irrationally scared of taking it based on claims I had read online. So I essentially continued to do nothing while still dreaming of the possibility of having a HT somewhere, somehow. At age 24 I had a transplant consultation at a world-renowned doctor in NYC, and was politely turned down for the possibility of a transplant. My hair loss was too aggressive, they said, and a transplant at the time would not yield satisfactory results. They also said they would require finasteride for 1 year first before even considering a procedure.

So, at that point I was discouraged and essentially gave up again, though mentally I never gave up on trying to figure out how to change the situation. When you're still very young and suffer from this amount of hair loss, it makes you feel like you don't belong in many ways. Even though I've always had a fantastic family, great friends, and good people in my life, went to a great school, played sports, attended a great university and had several great involvements, I never felt confident in the look of having such aggressive hair loss and so I wore hats everywhere. The only time I would not wear a hat was when I was alone. I would read about hair cloning all the time, knowing it will probably be available someday, but that day surely won't come for decades yet.

So in early 2021, at age 25, I tried something that I learned my father has done since his 20s: wear hair systems. I actually didn't even know that he wore them until I was in my early 20s; that is how authentic and natural they looked. One of my uncles was also starting to get into the process of wearing them, so they taught me all about them and I decided to try it out. I purchased systems online and took them to HairClub to apply and maintain. I did that for about 8 months in 2021 and sported a bit of a medium-length messy look on top. There are pros and cons to hair systems. The pros were that they looked pretty good and allowed me to go outside without hat wearing which was a whole new feeling of freedom that I appreciated. The cons are that they become very expensive recurring costs, the adhesives break down constantly and require regular maintenance (appointments, scheduling), the daily time commitment of styling and making sure the edges were not coming up, the careful washing in the shower, the occasional irritation. Ultimately, I decided that continuing to wear systems forever was simply not satisfactory enough for me. I am a very active person and while you absolutely can learn to make systems work with an active lifestyle, it certainly is not without irritation and annoyance, and it just wasn't what I wanted to do going forward.

In January 2022 at age 26, after reading a lot of the science behind it, I decided I was going to try finasteride, as I was no longer irrationally afraid of any side effect claims. I did not experience any noticeable negative side effects and within a few months already started to see some improvement around the edge of the pattern of hair loss. I also added minoxidil and microneedling to that strategy; simply a "final stand" attempt at a natural hair recovery.

By spring, I had found Eugenix and had read a lot of the cases posted here. I was highly impressed with what they've done for higher Norwoods, and finding a clinic that was also within my financial means for the number of grafts I would need also felt like a miracle. At first they quoted me for around 5,500 grafts; upon more communication I requested they plan to be as aggressive as possible because I care far less about the back and sides of my head than I do the top. They re-assessed a plan for 6,500 grafts using 4,500 scalp donor + 2,000 beard donor, but I did understand that was a high projection and it would likely end up being around the original estimation. 

First, some pre-HT pictures from the last year or so (age 24-26):

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Eugenix Pre-HT Plans
I chose the Exclusive Package at Eugenix, which is 120 INR/graft + 18% tax (so about $1.45 USD/graft right now). The Exclusive Package has the procedure led by a senior doctor; senior doctor performs 100% of slits and then all extraction and implantation is performed by senior technicians. I was informed that Dr. Priyadarshini Das would be doing my HT, and I've seen great work from her in some other cases. I also received complimentary 4 nights in a 5-star hotel, all transportation from New Delhi airport to the hotel and to the clinic, and food included in that package. They scheduled me for September 15-16 and I began my travel planning.

I only told a few people about my plans early on because I wanted to focus on all of the travel planning required without worrying people in addition. Only a few people in my family have traveled very far; certainly never to the other side of the Earth. I was never even on an airplane myself until age 24, but I'm very independently driven and I had no concerns about my ability to travel to India to do this. It was worth it for me. I just didn't want to worry too many people too early, because not everyone understands everything involved, and attempting to explain everything to people who aren't into this topic can be very exhausting.

I am from the eastern USA so I chose a flight from JFK to DEL for around $1,000 round trip. Direct flight from JFK to DEL, but then on the way home, a stop in Doha, Qatar to save money. It would have been $600 more for a direct flight home. I had miles racked up from a credit card, so I actually ended up only paying about $200 out of pocket for my flights. My procedure was scheduled for September 15-16, Thursday and Friday, so I had to leave home on Tuesday evening to arrive in New Delhi Wednesday evening. 

I had to have blood work done a few weeks prior and forward the results to Eugenix for standard inspection: red/white blood cells, Hep, HIV, prothrombin time, etc.

The communication from Eugenix leading up to my travel was excellent. I had members of the Eugenix Concierge team reach out to me consistently every few days to ensure I was prepared, understood the way things would go, etc.

Evening Before HT
After about a 15-hour flight from NYC to DEL, which honestly wasn't too bad because I slept for most of it, I arrived at Indira Gandhi International Airport a little after 9 pm Wednesday night and proceeded through customs and immigration. As for travel documents needed for this journey: passport, India e-visa printout, negative covid test result (if not providing vaccine card), and Air Suvidha declaration form required for all international passengers arriving to India.

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I was contacted by the concierge team in the airport and was informed of how to locate my driver who was waiting to take me to the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel. Upon walking outside to the taxi area, I was immediately bombarded with multiple "taxi drivers" asking me where I was going, offering rides, etc. I was prepared for these "scams" ahead of time as I had heard about them. It was a bit chaotic and I was trying to find the gate where my Hilton driver was, but it took me about 5-10 minutes and in that time I was approached by 5-10 taxi drivers offering rides and demanding info on where I was going. You have to just politely say "I already have travel arranged, thank you" and keep walking away. Eventually I found the Hilton representative and my driver, who had his car parked in the parking lot. He went and got his car, pulled up to the curb, took my bags, and we proceeded to the hotel. 

I stayed in the DoubleTree by Hilton in Gurugram (Baani Square) which is only a couple minutes down the street from the Eugenix clinic. All of the attendants at the hotel were fantastic in getting me checked in and settled in my room. By that time it was after midnight and I had been informed of my reporting time at 9 am to Eugenix the next morning.

View from my hotel room

Day 1
I woke up around 8 am and stuck to my breakfast snacks I had brought with me because I didn't have a lot of time. At 9 am Eugenix called me and said the driver was outside; he picked me up in a very nice luxury SUV and we proceeded to the clinic. I brought my backpack with me with just a few belongings needed and a buttoned shirt which you need to wear after the procedure starts so you're not messing up your head. The roads in Gurgaon/Gurugram are very chaotic. The constant honking, aggressive maneuvers of drivers, but I found it amusing.

There, I checked in with some attendants and they showed me around. Then I was met by some doctors who informed me of how things would go, gave me some medication, etc. Then Dr. Das greeted me. Then I was met by a leading technician (who would take the primary care for me for all 3 days) and he led me into the photo area to take pre-HT photos. Below are some of those.

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Dr. Das was initially stressed at the examination of the situation; I could tell. Her goal was to get 4,000 grafts from scalp donor area but she told me honestly that she was not sure if she could get 4,000. I did seem to experience some thinning in the 2 months leading up to the procedure, which I'm not sure why occurred...I do not know whether finasteride's effects hit a plateau and reversed, or if it was temporary caused by stress or something, or just an illusion. Anyway, Dr. Das then consulted with me for 15-30 minutes on the design of the HT on big screens with these pictures. We agreed on no temple work because it would require too many grafts, and when I grow my hair out, my temples are still acceptable to me anyway. She suggested a pretty conservative hairline, which of course I understood because of the advanced hair loss. She also explained that the plan would be to cover to the upper part of the crown, but not all the way down to the lower donor area, for 2 reasons: 1) Not enough grafts available and 2) that lower crown region is area that can improve with finasteride + minoxidil and be addressed in other ways. So, the plan was to cover approximately the below area (though I drew the hairline inaccurately), utilizing 1,000-2,000 beard grafts as well since I have good facial hair:

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Once we agreed to the plan, an assistant sat down with me and went over the pricing and payment, and we took care of that. Then the lead caregiving technician got me ready with a change of clothes and settled me into the room, made sure I was comfortable, and began the preparation.

First I was given the local anesthesia all over the top of the scalp and the donor area. Dr. Das made all of the slits across the entire scalp, which I could feel the sensation of but of course not feel the pain from. That took a while. Then the leading techs began the extractions and implantations; the first day consisted of using scalp donor hair from the sides of the head on the hairline and the middle half of the scalp. I believe 2,400 grafts were implanted the first day according to the whiteboard the next day. Lunch was around 2-3 pm and they order anything you want; I'm a big pizza and fast food guy (bad I know) so they ordered some pepperoni pizzas for me which were very good. They also ask you what kind of music you like and they'll put on a playlist on a big TV in the room. They played some rap/hip-hop, pop, and some relaxing meditation music which was all uniquely enjoyable. After all the slits were made, Dr. Das left but would check in every 30 minutes or so during the extraction and implantation. We finished up around 6-7 pm. I was given full instructions on how to care for my head overnight along with a kit of items; mainly a bottle of saline spray that I was told to spray on the recipient area every hour. Also an absorption cloth to put on the pillow at night to absorb the donor area.

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Day 2
The second day again began at 9 am. I was able to wake up earlier and order room service breakfast at the hotel. Chocolate chip pancakes, one of my favorites.

The plan for the second day was to cover the mid-scalp all the way back to the crown. The hair in the middle of the scalp donor area was used for this. I believe around 1,600 were implanted, bringing the 2-day total to 4,000 grafts.

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Note that in the donor area on the back, I have a scar where no hair grows...that is just a scar from a cut in childhood; leaving it alone was absolutely fine with me.

Day 3
The entire area had been covered in the first two days but rather than rush to extract and implant beard grafts for more density Friday night, after an already long day, Dr. Das wanted to take Saturday to finish everything up. 1,300 beard grafts were used I believe in the mid-scalp to crown region. This part of the local anesthesia was the most painful as the jaw area can be very sensitive, but I just had to push through and get it done. A lot of this work was done in a position that allowed me to sit upright leaning over the reclined chair and I was able to use my phone a bit.

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My head was very sore after these 3 days and I also started experiencing a lot pain in the implantation phase; the anesthesia kept wearing off so the technician had to keep giving me more, which blew my head up like a balloon (not seen here; the worst of it happened later that night and the next day). It was exhausting to say the least, but I felt extremely cared for by the team and they did whatever they had to do to make me as comfortable as possible. 

So the total was 5,300 grafts (4,000 scalp + 1,300 beard). When we finished up, Dr. Das inspected everything and expressed that she was super happy with the density achieved given the situation, and also that she was able to get 4,000 grafts from scalp donor. I was able to go sit in the "chill" room for a while, eat lunch, and relax. Then we took post-HT pictures.

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I had seen Dr. Sethi while walking through the clinic, so after a few minutes I asked an assistant about him and they said "Oh yeah, of course, he's going to be so happy to see you" or something like that. Then I met Dr. Sethi; he has an absolutely elated personality. He examined the work done and then grabbed my hand and said "Come on, let's go!" It was a busy Saturday at the clinic and there were multiple people there for consultations/planning. Dr. Sethi took my hand and led me all around the building, showing my results to people and having me say hello to other technicians and team members I had not met yet. He asked me where I was from, about my family and schooling, etc. It was a SUPER fun time and his care made me feel fantastic after an exhausting procedure. Dr. Arika Bansal also arrived sometime after and I briefly got to say hello to her on the stairs, and she smiled a bunch at me and told me to send her pictures of the results as time went on. I wish I had taken some selfies with them but everything was chaotic and I was just focused on enjoying the moments. 

Then I spent at least a half hour with one of the leading doctors who gave me a kit full of items and explained the post-care to me. This included: saline spray for the recipient area every hour for 7 days, betadine solution and healing ointment for the donor area daily for 7 days, recovery medication to take for 7 days, months supply of hair growth vitamins, a year's worth of finasteride tablets at no cost, more absorption cloths for pillow, many surgical caps to wear gently over the head if desired while out/traveling, a neck pillow to help with sleeping for the first few nights, a letter to TSA instructing permission for me to travel with oversized items if stopped at the airport (I was not), a book by a Yogi, and an absolutely beautiful letter thanking me for entrusting this clinic and promising a lifetime of friendship.

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Weekend & Travel Home
I extended my hotel reservation by one night, so I stayed 5 nights stay total. Saturday evening and Sunday I simply relaxed and caught up some movies I wanted to watch in my hotel room. My head was blown up from all the fluid in it; I had to keep pressing it to the sides of my forehead and downward to help the body get rid of it more quickly. Sleeping was not too bad at all. I left Monday morning; my driver took me to the airport and I was on my way back home. Well, first to Doha, which was a fun few hours in Hamad Airport, and then the long flight back home to JFK.

I chose to wear my surgical cap and a loose high-crown hat over top of it, just 2 days after the procedure was finished. If you are careful, this is absolutely safe to do, as the top of the hat lays above the head and does not put pressure on the recipient area.

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I especially want to thank the leading caregiver technician who worked with me for all three days. He led me around, told me what was next, took all of my pictures, took care of my Gatorade and water drinks, phone, made sure my positions in the chair were comfortable, etc. I did not get to learn his name and wish I had, but he treated me like royalty, as did everyone on the team, and I would never expect or ask for so much love. It made my anxiety in a completely unknown place go away and he made me feel great about every step of the procedure.

I will be posting some updates here since it has already been a few weeks, though I don't plan to spend as much time on this forum as maybe some users going forward. But I know there is a lot of interest in Eugenix and cases like mine, so I will be sure to check in. If you desire, you can also follow me on Instagram @ethanlculver (http://instagram.com/ethanlculver) as I enjoy responding to DMs on there, and I may upload some pictures in the future of the results, if you should be interested. Thank you to all here who contributed to me embarking on this journey. See you around!

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@general-etwan for some reason I thought you were older than 26 haha. 

Being a NW 6 at your young age is quite dicey. Are you worried that even on Fin you may eventually become a NW7?

Does Dr. Das believe this is a "one and done" procedure for you, or does he see more down the road for you?

Do you feel if you did hop on Fin at 21 you would presently be a lesser Norwood? It's frustrating how so many guys buy into the Propecia fear mongering and spend a few years progressing 1 to 4 grades higher on the Norwood scale before at least trying it out. 

That all being said, happy growing!

Edited by HappyMan2021
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22 minutes ago, HappyMan2021 said:

@general-etwan

Being a NW 6 at your young age is quite dicey. Are you worried that even on Fin you may eventually become a NW7?

Of course I know that has a good chance, but not worried. Since the vast majority of my hair loss has already occurred, it made having a HT at this point feel better, as opposed to if I was say a NW 4 or so. There's not much more to lose, and at least the top of my head now has permanent hair.

22 minutes ago, HappyMan2021 said:

Does Dr. Das believe this is a "one and done" procedure for you, or does he see more down the road for you?

She left that entirely up to me and my own desires; I didn't ask for an exact number of how many grafts would still be available for future procedures as I want to fully focus on this first and foremost, but she did hint there would be some but not a huge amount. I'd guess no more than 1,000 scalp and maybe ~700 beard donor, so maybe another 1,700ish if it ever became necessary.

22 minutes ago, HappyMan2021 said:

Do you feel if you did hop on Fin at 21 you would presently be a lesser Norwood? It's frustrating how so many guys buy into the Propecia fear mongering and spend a few years progressing 1 to 4 grades higher on the Norwood scale before at least trying it out. 

I do wish I had started finasteride earlier, but I doubt it would have made a big difference in my case. At 21-22 I was already a NW 5-6. Since then I have been relatively stable. All my hair went in my late teens and went fast. So unfortunately for me, starting finasteride at 15 or 16 was never going to be advised even if I had known about it at the time. If I had started it at 22, maybe a little more regrowth, but probably negligible. Finasteride is never going to make a huge difference for me due to genetics, but since I have no issues on it, I will continue to take it in the case it does hold onto remaining hair or helps in thickening some of the area below the recipient area and above the donor area.

Thank you!

Edited by general-etwan
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3-4 days after procedure, upon arrival back home. 4th pic is donor area up close after a few days.

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Meant to say in my original post, too:

I understood going into this that I would never have the density of pre-hair loss, or even the density that I briefly had wearing systems. I fully understood the hairline would have to be conservative, as well as the difficulty of the thinning ring area that could not be addressed in this procedure. Still, this was absolutely the best way forward for me, and if I can regain some framing of the face with some coverage on top, that will be a success to me.

Edited by general-etwan
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1 hour ago, general-etwan said:

Hello everyone,

First I want to thank everyone here who may have played a role in helping me find a clinic I was confident in and helped me achieve this. This will document the journey for me.

Pre-HT Situation
MPB runs very aggressively on my father's side of the family. My grandfather, two uncles, and father have all lost significant amounts of hair by their 20s-30s. In my early teens, I already had thin hair, but didn't recognize it at the time. The aggressive hair loss probably began around age 15. I wasn't into the science of hair loss back then and so I didn't really know what was happening/didn't think about it much. But by the time I was 18-20, I knew I had lost a significant amount, suffered from the mental and social effects of knowing I disliked the look so much, etc. Below is a progression of the situation at different ages.

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I remember trying minoxidil very briefly in my early 20s, but quickly "gave up" after it (obviously) didn't regrow all of my hair. I also saw a dermatologist around age 22 who presented the option of finasteride to me, but I chose not to begin taking it at that time for a few reasons: 1) He (correctly) informed me that it would not regrow all of my hair, and 2) I was in a period of being irrationally scared of taking it based on claims I had read online. So I essentially continued to do nothing while still dreaming of the possibility of having a HT somewhere, somehow. At age 24 I had a transplant consultation at a world-renowned doctor in NYC, and was politely turned down for the possibility of a transplant. My hair loss was too aggressive, they said, and a transplant at the time would not yield satisfactory results. They also said they would require finasteride for 1 year first before even considering a procedure.

So, at that point I was discouraged and essentially gave up again, though mentally I never gave up on trying to figure out how to change the situation. When you're still very young and suffer from this amount of hair loss, it makes you feel like you don't belong in many ways. Even though I've always had a fantastic family, great friends, and good people in my life, went to a great school, played sports, attended a great university and had several great involvements, I never felt confident in the look of having such aggressive hair loss and so I wore hats everywhere. The only time I would not wear a hat was when I was alone. I would read about hair cloning all the time, knowing it will probably be available someday, but that day surely won't come for decades yet.

So in early 2021, at age 25, I tried something that I learned my father has done since his 20s: wear hair systems. I actually didn't even know that he wore them until I was in my early 20s; that is how authentic and natural they looked. One of my uncles was also starting to get into the process of wearing them, so they taught me all about them and I decided to try it out. I purchased systems online and took them to HairClub to apply and maintain. I did that for about 8 months in 2021 and sported a bit of a medium-length messy look on top. There are pros and cons to hair systems. The pros were that they looked pretty good and allowed me to go outside without hat wearing which was a whole new feeling of freedom that I appreciated. The cons are that they become very expensive recurring costs, the adhesives break down constantly and require regular maintenance (appointments, scheduling), the daily time commitment of styling and making sure the edges were not coming up, the careful washing in the shower, the occasional irritation. Ultimately, I decided that continuing to wear systems forever was simply not satisfactory enough for me. I am a very active person and while you absolutely can learn to make systems work with an active lifestyle, it certainly is not without irritation and annoyance, and it just wasn't what I wanted to do going forward.

In January 2022 at age 26, after reading a lot of the science behind it, I decided I was going to try finasteride, as I was no longer irrationally afraid of any side effect claims. I did not experience any noticeable negative side effects and within a few months already started to see some improvement around the edge of the pattern of hair loss. I also added minoxidil and microneedling to that strategy; simply a "final stand" attempt at a natural hair recovery.

By spring, I had found Eugenix and had read a lot of the cases posted here. I was highly impressed with what they've done for higher Norwoods, and finding a clinic that was also within my financial means for the number of grafts I would need also felt like a miracle. At first they quoted me for around 5,500 grafts; upon more communication I requested they plan to be as aggressive as possible because I care far less about the back and sides of my head than I do the top. They re-assessed a plan for 6,500 grafts using 4,500 scalp donor + 2,000 beard donor, but I did understand that was a high projection and it would likely end up being around the original estimation. 

First, some pre-HT pictures from the last year or so (age 24-26):

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Eugenix Pre-HT Plans
I chose the Exclusive Package at Eugenix, which is 120 INR/graft + 18% tax (so about $1.45 USD/graft right now). The Exclusive Package has the procedure led by a senior doctor; senior doctor performs 100% of slits and then all extraction and implantation is performed by senior technicians. I was informed that Dr. Priyadarshini Das would be doing my HT, and I've seen great work from her in some other cases. I also received complimentary 4 nights in a 5-star hotel, all transportation from New Delhi airport to the hotel and to the clinic, and food included in that package. They scheduled me for September 15-16 and I began my travel planning.

I only told a few people about my plans early on because I wanted to focus on all of the travel planning required without worrying people in addition. Only a few people in my family have traveled very far; certainly never to the other side of the Earth. I was never even on an airplane myself until age 24, but I'm very independently driven and I had no concerns about my ability to travel to India to do this. It was worth it for me. I just didn't want to worry too many people too early, because not everyone understands everything involved, and attempting to explain everything to people who aren't into this topic can be very exhausting.

I am from the eastern USA so I chose a flight from JFK to DEL for around $1,000 round trip. Direct flight from JFK to DEL, but then on the way home, a stop in Doha, Qatar to save money. It would have been $600 more for a direct flight home. I had miles racked up from a credit card, so I actually ended up only paying about $200 out of pocket for my flights. My procedure was scheduled for September 15-16, Thursday and Friday, so I had to leave home on Tuesday evening to arrive in New Delhi Wednesday evening. 

I had to have blood work done a few weeks prior and forward the results to Eugenix for standard inspection: red/white blood cells, Hep, HIV, prothrombin time, etc.

The communication from Eugenix leading up to my travel was excellent. I had members of the Eugenix Concierge team reach out to me consistently every few days to ensure I was prepared, understood the way things would go, etc.

Evening Before HT
After about a 15-hour flight from NYC to DEL, which honestly wasn't too bad because I slept for most of it, I arrived at Indira Gandhi International Airport a little after 9 pm Wednesday night and proceeded through customs and immigration. As for travel documents needed for this journey: passport, India e-visa printout, negative covid test result (if not providing vaccine card), and Air Suvidha declaration form required for all international passengers arriving to India.

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I was contacted by the concierge team in the airport and was informed of how to locate my driver who was waiting to take me to the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel. Upon walking outside to the taxi area, I was immediately bombarded with multiple "taxi drivers" asking me where I was going, offering rides, etc. I was prepared for these "scams" ahead of time as I had heard about them. It was a bit chaotic and I was trying to find the gate where my Hilton driver was, but it took me about 5-10 minutes and in that time I was approached by 5-10 taxi drivers offering rides and demanding info on where I was going. You have to just politely say "I already have travel arranged, thank you" and keep walking away. Eventually I found the Hilton representative and my driver, who had his car parked in the parking lot. He went and got his car, pulled up to the curb, took my bags, and we proceeded to the hotel. 

I stayed in the DoubleTree by Hilton in Gurugram (Baani Square) which is only a couple minutes down the street from the Eugenix clinic. All of the attendants at the hotel were fantastic in getting me checked in and settled in my room. By that time it was after midnight and I had been informed of my reporting time at 9 am to Eugenix the next morning.

View from my hotel room

Day 1
I woke up around 8 am and stuck to my breakfast snacks I had brought with me because I didn't have a lot of time. At 9 am Eugenix called me and said the driver was outside; he picked me up in a very nice luxury SUV and we proceeded to the clinic. I brought my backpack with me with just a few belongings needed and a buttoned shirt which you need to wear after the procedure starts so you're not messing up your head. The roads in Gurgaon/Gurugram are very chaotic. The constant honking, aggressive maneuvers of drivers, but I found it amusing.

There, I checked in with some attendants and they showed me around. Then I was met by some doctors who informed me of how things would go, gave me some medication, etc. Then Dr. Das greeted me. Then I was met by a leading technician (who would take the primary care for me for all 3 days) and he led me into the photo area to take pre-HT photos. Below are some of those.

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Dr. Das was initially stressed at the examination of the situation; I could tell. Her goal was to get 4,000 grafts from scalp donor area but she told me honestly that she was not sure if she could get 4,000. I did seem to experience some thinning in the 2 months leading up to the procedure, which I'm not sure why occurred...I do not know whether finasteride's effects hit a plateau and reversed, or if it was temporary caused by stress or something, or just an illusion. Anyway, Dr. Das then consulted with me for 15-30 minutes on the design of the HT on big screens with these pictures. We agreed on no temple work because it would require too many grafts, and when I grow my hair out, my temples are still acceptable to me anyway. She suggested a pretty conservative hairline, which of course I understood because of the advanced hair loss. She also explained that the plan would be to cover to the upper part of the crown, but not all the way down to the lower donor area, for 2 reasons: 1) Not enough grafts available and 2) that lower crown region is area that can improve with finasteride + minoxidil and be addressed in other ways. So, the plan was to cover approximately the below area (though I drew the hairline inaccurately), utilizing 1,000-2,000 beard grafts as well since I have good facial hair:

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Once we agreed to the plan, an assistant sat down with me and went over the pricing and payment, and we took care of that. Then the lead caregiving technician got me ready with a change of clothes and settled me into the room, made sure I was comfortable, and began the preparation.

First I was given the local anesthesia all over the top of the scalp and the donor area. Dr. Das made all of the slits across the entire scalp, which I could feel the sensation of but of course not feel the pain from. That took a while. Then the leading techs began the extractions and implantations; the first day consisted of using scalp donor hair from the sides of the head on the hairline and the middle half of the scalp. I believe 2,400 grafts were implanted the first day according to the whiteboard the next day. Lunch was around 2-3 pm and they order anything you want; I'm a big pizza and fast food guy (bad I know) so they ordered some pepperoni pizzas for me which were very good. They also ask you what kind of music you like and they'll put on a playlist on a big TV in the room. They played some rap/hip-hop, pop, and some relaxing meditation music which was all uniquely enjoyable. After all the slits were made, Dr. Das left but would check in every 30 minutes or so during the extraction and implantation. We finished up around 6-7 pm. I was given full instructions on how to care for my head overnight along with a kit of items; mainly a bottle of saline spray that I was told to spray on the recipient area every hour. Also an absorption cloth to put on the pillow at night to absorb the donor area.

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Day 2
The second day again began at 9 am. I was able to wake up earlier and order room service breakfast at the hotel. Chocolate chip pancakes, one of my favorites.

The plan for the second day was to cover the mid-scalp all the way back to the crown. The hair in the middle of the scalp donor area was used for this. I believe around 1,600 were implanted, bringing the 2-day total to 4,000 grafts.

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Note that in the donor area on the back, I have a scar where no hair grows...that is just a scar from a cut in childhood; leaving it alone was absolutely fine with me.

Day 3
The entire area had been covered in the first two days but rather than rush to extract and implant beard grafts for more density Friday night, after an already long day, Dr. Das wanted to take Saturday to finish everything up. 1,300 beard grafts were used I believe in the mid-scalp to crown region. This part of the local anesthesia was the most painful as the jaw area can be very sensitive, but I just had to push through and get it done. A lot of this work was done in a position that allowed me to sit upright leaning over the reclined chair and I was able to use my phone a bit.

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My head was very sore after these 3 days and I also started experiencing a lot pain in the implantation phase; the anesthesia kept wearing off so the technician had to keep giving me more, which blew my head up like a balloon (not seen here; the worst of it happened later that night and the next day). It was exhausting to say the least, but I felt extremely cared for by the team and they did whatever they had to do to make me as comfortable as possible. 

So the total was 5,300 grafts (4,000 scalp + 1,300 beard). When we finished up, Dr. Das inspected everything and expressed that she was super happy with the density achieved given the situation, and also that she was able to get 4,000 grafts from scalp donor. I was able to go sit in the "chill" room for a while, eat lunch, and relax. Then we took post-HT pictures.

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I had seen Dr. Sethi while walking through the clinic, so after a few minutes I asked an assistant about him and they said "Oh yeah, of course, he's going to be so happy to see you" or something like that. Then I met Dr. Sethi; he has an absolutely elated personality. He examined the work done and then grabbed my hand and said "Come on, let's go!" It was a busy Saturday at the clinic and there were multiple people there for consultations/planning. Dr. Sethi took my hand and led me all around the building, showing my results to people and having me say hello to other technicians and team members I had not met yet. He asked me where I was from, about my family and schooling, etc. It was a SUPER fun time and his care made me feel fantastic after an exhausting procedure. Dr. Arika Bansal also arrived sometime after and I briefly got to say hello to her on the stairs, and she smiled a bunch at me and told me to send her pictures of the results as time went on. I wish I had taken some selfies with them but everything was chaotic and I was just focused on enjoying the moments. 

Then I spent at least a half hour with one of the leading doctors who gave me a kit full of items and explained the post-care to me. This included: saline spray for the recipient area every hour for 7 days, betadine solution and healing ointment for the donor area daily for 7 days, recovery medication to take for 7 days, months supply of hair growth vitamins, a year's worth of finasteride tablets at no cost, more absorption cloths for pillow, many surgical caps to wear gently over the head if desired while out/traveling, a neck pillow to help with sleeping for the first few nights, a letter to TSA instructing permission for me to travel with oversized items if stopped at the airport (I was not), a book by a Yogi, and an absolutely beautiful letter thanking me for entrusting this clinic and promising a lifetime of friendship.

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Weekend & Travel Home
I extended my hotel reservation by one night, so I stayed 5 nights stay total. Saturday evening and Sunday I simply relaxed and caught up some movies I wanted to watch in my hotel room. My head was blown up from all the fluid in it; I had to keep pressing it to the sides of my forehead and downward to help the body get rid of it more quickly. Sleeping was not too bad at all. I left Monday morning; my driver took me to the airport and I was on my way back home. Well, first to Doha, which was a fun few hours in Hamad Airport, and then the long flight back home to JFK.

I chose to wear my surgical cap and a loose high-crown hat over top of it, just 2 days after the procedure was finished. If you are careful, this is absolutely safe to do, as the top of the hat lays above the head and does not put pressure on the recipient area.

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I especially want to thank the leading caregiver technician who worked with me for all three days. He led me around, told me what was next, took all of my pictures, took care of my Gatorade and water drinks, phone, made sure my positions in the chair were comfortable, etc. I did not get to learn his name and wish I had, but he treated me like royalty, as did everyone on the team, and I would never expect or ask for so much love. It made my anxiety in a completely unknown place go away and he made me feel great about every step of the procedure.

I will be posting some updates here since it has already been a few weeks, though I don't plan to spend as much time on this forum as maybe some users going forward. But I know there is a lot of interest in Eugenix and cases like mine, so I will be sure to check in. If you desire, you can also follow me on Instagram @ethanlculver (http://instagram.com/ethanlculver) as I enjoy responding to DMs on there, and I may upload some pictures in the future of the results, if you should be interested. Thank you to all here who contributed to me embarking on this journey. See you around!

Excellent write up bro and the work looks real good .Now it’s a waiting game for us. 

btw I was also operated by Dr Das on 17 th September. Follow my journey here - 

https://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/topic/65971-eugenix-norwood-2sep-20222207-graftsdr-priyadarshini-das/#comment-675261

Also please post your 20 days post op progress if you can .

 

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1 week. All scabs came off in first head wash. I resumed full life activity (weightlifting, fitness) at 1 week.

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Beard extraction area looks untouched. Crown work (direction of swirl) was excellent:

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Donor area still recovering.

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Great write up!

 

The work looks brilliant, and the donor area looks absolutely fine in that last picture. Sounds like Eugenix have really improved the design process as well as I felt that was a weak area when I went last year.

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Firstly thank you for the presentation of your hair transplant. I wish you happy growing. However, I dont think you were good candidate for hair transplant as You are about to be norwood 7. The area that was covered was big and the density will be average in midscalp and crown, without considering the further hairloss progress...

The thinning is progressing towards down to the donor as you can see in the picture below. Anyway, good luck with your procedure and keep on getting finasteride!

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Edited by Gramatik
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4 hours ago, general-etwan said:

Hello everyone,

First I want to thank everyone here who may have played a role in helping me find a clinic I was confident in and helped me achieve this. This will document the journey for me.

Pre-HT Situation
MPB runs very aggressively on my father's side of the family. My grandfather, two uncles, and father have all lost significant amounts of hair by their 20s-30s. In my early teens, I already had thin hair, but didn't recognize it at the time. The aggressive hair loss probably began around age 15. I wasn't into the science of hair loss back then and so I didn't really know what was happening/didn't think about it much. But by the time I was 18-20, I knew I had lost a significant amount, suffered from the mental and social effects of knowing I disliked the look so much, etc. Below is a progression of the situation at different ages.

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I remember trying minoxidil very briefly in my early 20s, but quickly "gave up" after it (obviously) didn't regrow all of my hair. I also saw a dermatologist around age 22 who presented the option of finasteride to me, but I chose not to begin taking it at that time for a few reasons: 1) He (correctly) informed me that it would not regrow all of my hair, and 2) I was in a period of being irrationally scared of taking it based on claims I had read online. So I essentially continued to do nothing while still dreaming of the possibility of having a HT somewhere, somehow. At age 24 I had a transplant consultation at a world-renowned doctor in NYC, and was politely turned down for the possibility of a transplant. My hair loss was too aggressive, they said, and a transplant at the time would not yield satisfactory results. They also said they would require finasteride for 1 year first before even considering a procedure.

So, at that point I was discouraged and essentially gave up again, though mentally I never gave up on trying to figure out how to change the situation. When you're still very young and suffer from this amount of hair loss, it makes you feel like you don't belong in many ways. Even though I've always had a fantastic family, great friends, and good people in my life, went to a great school, played sports, attended a great university and had several great involvements, I never felt confident in the look of having such aggressive hair loss and so I wore hats everywhere. The only time I would not wear a hat was when I was alone. I would read about hair cloning all the time, knowing it will probably be available someday, but that day surely won't come for decades yet.

So in early 2021, at age 25, I tried something that I learned my father has done since his 20s: wear hair systems. I actually didn't even know that he wore them until I was in my early 20s; that is how authentic and natural they looked. One of my uncles was also starting to get into the process of wearing them, so they taught me all about them and I decided to try it out. I purchased systems online and took them to HairClub to apply and maintain. I did that for about 8 months in 2021 and sported a bit of a medium-length messy look on top. There are pros and cons to hair systems. The pros were that they looked pretty good and allowed me to go outside without hat wearing which was a whole new feeling of freedom that I appreciated. The cons are that they become very expensive recurring costs, the adhesives break down constantly and require regular maintenance (appointments, scheduling), the daily time commitment of styling and making sure the edges were not coming up, the careful washing in the shower, the occasional irritation. Ultimately, I decided that continuing to wear systems forever was simply not satisfactory enough for me. I am a very active person and while you absolutely can learn to make systems work with an active lifestyle, it certainly is not without irritation and annoyance, and it just wasn't what I wanted to do going forward.

In January 2022 at age 26, after reading a lot of the science behind it, I decided I was going to try finasteride, as I was no longer irrationally afraid of any side effect claims. I did not experience any noticeable negative side effects and within a few months already started to see some improvement around the edge of the pattern of hair loss. I also added minoxidil and microneedling to that strategy; simply a "final stand" attempt at a natural hair recovery.

By spring, I had found Eugenix and had read a lot of the cases posted here. I was highly impressed with what they've done for higher Norwoods, and finding a clinic that was also within my financial means for the number of grafts I would need also felt like a miracle. At first they quoted me for around 5,500 grafts; upon more communication I requested they plan to be as aggressive as possible because I care far less about the back and sides of my head than I do the top. They re-assessed a plan for 6,500 grafts using 4,500 scalp donor + 2,000 beard donor, but I did understand that was a high projection and it would likely end up being around the original estimation. 

First, some pre-HT pictures from the last year or so (age 24-26):

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Eugenix Pre-HT Plans
I chose the Exclusive Package at Eugenix, which is 120 INR/graft + 18% tax (so about $1.45 USD/graft right now). The Exclusive Package has the procedure led by a senior doctor; senior doctor performs 100% of slits and then all extraction and implantation is performed by senior technicians. I was informed that Dr. Priyadarshini Das would be doing my HT, and I've seen great work from her in some other cases. I also received complimentary 4 nights in a 5-star hotel, all transportation from New Delhi airport to the hotel and to the clinic, and food included in that package. They scheduled me for September 15-16 and I began my travel planning.

I only told a few people about my plans early on because I wanted to focus on all of the travel planning required without worrying people in addition. Only a few people in my family have traveled very far; certainly never to the other side of the Earth. I was never even on an airplane myself until age 24, but I'm very independently driven and I had no concerns about my ability to travel to India to do this. It was worth it for me. I just didn't want to worry too many people too early, because not everyone understands everything involved, and attempting to explain everything to people who aren't into this topic can be very exhausting.

I am from the eastern USA so I chose a flight from JFK to DEL for around $1,000 round trip. Direct flight from JFK to DEL, but then on the way home, a stop in Doha, Qatar to save money. It would have been $600 more for a direct flight home. I had miles racked up from a credit card, so I actually ended up only paying about $200 out of pocket for my flights. My procedure was scheduled for September 15-16, Thursday and Friday, so I had to leave home on Tuesday evening to arrive in New Delhi Wednesday evening. 

I had to have blood work done a few weeks prior and forward the results to Eugenix for standard inspection: red/white blood cells, Hep, HIV, prothrombin time, etc.

The communication from Eugenix leading up to my travel was excellent. I had members of the Eugenix Concierge team reach out to me consistently every few days to ensure I was prepared, understood the way things would go, etc.

Evening Before HT
After about a 15-hour flight from NYC to DEL, which honestly wasn't too bad because I slept for most of it, I arrived at Indira Gandhi International Airport a little after 9 pm Wednesday night and proceeded through customs and immigration. As for travel documents needed for this journey: passport, India e-visa printout, negative covid test result (if not providing vaccine card), and Air Suvidha declaration form required for all international passengers arriving to India.

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I was contacted by the concierge team in the airport and was informed of how to locate my driver who was waiting to take me to the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel. Upon walking outside to the taxi area, I was immediately bombarded with multiple "taxi drivers" asking me where I was going, offering rides, etc. I was prepared for these "scams" ahead of time as I had heard about them. It was a bit chaotic and I was trying to find the gate where my Hilton driver was, but it took me about 5-10 minutes and in that time I was approached by 5-10 taxi drivers offering rides and demanding info on where I was going. You have to just politely say "I already have travel arranged, thank you" and keep walking away. Eventually I found the Hilton representative and my driver, who had his car parked in the parking lot. He went and got his car, pulled up to the curb, took my bags, and we proceeded to the hotel. 

I stayed in the DoubleTree by Hilton in Gurugram (Baani Square) which is only a couple minutes down the street from the Eugenix clinic. All of the attendants at the hotel were fantastic in getting me checked in and settled in my room. By that time it was after midnight and I had been informed of my reporting time at 9 am to Eugenix the next morning.

View from my hotel room

Day 1
I woke up around 8 am and stuck to my breakfast snacks I had brought with me because I didn't have a lot of time. At 9 am Eugenix called me and said the driver was outside; he picked me up in a very nice luxury SUV and we proceeded to the clinic. I brought my backpack with me with just a few belongings needed and a buttoned shirt which you need to wear after the procedure starts so you're not messing up your head. The roads in Gurgaon/Gurugram are very chaotic. The constant honking, aggressive maneuvers of drivers, but I found it amusing.

There, I checked in with some attendants and they showed me around. Then I was met by some doctors who informed me of how things would go, gave me some medication, etc. Then Dr. Das greeted me. Then I was met by a leading technician (who would take the primary care for me for all 3 days) and he led me into the photo area to take pre-HT photos. Below are some of those.

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Dr. Das was initially stressed at the examination of the situation; I could tell. Her goal was to get 4,000 grafts from scalp donor area but she told me honestly that she was not sure if she could get 4,000. I did seem to experience some thinning in the 2 months leading up to the procedure, which I'm not sure why occurred...I do not know whether finasteride's effects hit a plateau and reversed, or if it was temporary caused by stress or something, or just an illusion. Anyway, Dr. Das then consulted with me for 15-30 minutes on the design of the HT on big screens with these pictures. We agreed on no temple work because it would require too many grafts, and when I grow my hair out, my temples are still acceptable to me anyway. She suggested a pretty conservative hairline, which of course I understood because of the advanced hair loss. She also explained that the plan would be to cover to the upper part of the crown, but not all the way down to the lower donor area, for 2 reasons: 1) Not enough grafts available and 2) that lower crown region is area that can improve with finasteride + minoxidil and be addressed in other ways. So, the plan was to cover approximately the below area (though I drew the hairline inaccurately), utilizing 1,000-2,000 beard grafts as well since I have good facial hair:

e666a6b8-9f77-4a3d-8db6-85086ae42b8f.jpeg.0f9d7c5c2177566ef1a3397045482129.jpeg

Once we agreed to the plan, an assistant sat down with me and went over the pricing and payment, and we took care of that. Then the lead caregiving technician got me ready with a change of clothes and settled me into the room, made sure I was comfortable, and began the preparation.

First I was given the local anesthesia all over the top of the scalp and the donor area. Dr. Das made all of the slits across the entire scalp, which I could feel the sensation of but of course not feel the pain from. That took a while. Then the leading techs began the extractions and implantations; the first day consisted of using scalp donor hair from the sides of the head on the hairline and the middle half of the scalp. I believe 2,400 grafts were implanted the first day according to the whiteboard the next day. Lunch was around 2-3 pm and they order anything you want; I'm a big pizza and fast food guy (bad I know) so they ordered some pepperoni pizzas for me which were very good. They also ask you what kind of music you like and they'll put on a playlist on a big TV in the room. They played some rap/hip-hop, pop, and some relaxing meditation music which was all uniquely enjoyable. After all the slits were made, Dr. Das left but would check in every 30 minutes or so during the extraction and implantation. We finished up around 6-7 pm. I was given full instructions on how to care for my head overnight along with a kit of items; mainly a bottle of saline spray that I was told to spray on the recipient area every hour. Also an absorption cloth to put on the pillow at night to absorb the donor area.

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Day 2
The second day again began at 9 am. I was able to wake up earlier and order room service breakfast at the hotel. Chocolate chip pancakes, one of my favorites.

The plan for the second day was to cover the mid-scalp all the way back to the crown. The hair in the middle of the scalp donor area was used for this. I believe around 1,600 were implanted, bringing the 2-day total to 4,000 grafts.

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Note that in the donor area on the back, I have a scar where no hair grows...that is just a scar from a cut in childhood; leaving it alone was absolutely fine with me.

Day 3
The entire area had been covered in the first two days but rather than rush to extract and implant beard grafts for more density Friday night, after an already long day, Dr. Das wanted to take Saturday to finish everything up. 1,300 beard grafts were used I believe in the mid-scalp to crown region. This part of the local anesthesia was the most painful as the jaw area can be very sensitive, but I just had to push through and get it done. A lot of this work was done in a position that allowed me to sit upright leaning over the reclined chair and I was able to use my phone a bit.

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My head was very sore after these 3 days and I also started experiencing a lot pain in the implantation phase; the anesthesia kept wearing off so the technician had to keep giving me more, which blew my head up like a balloon (not seen here; the worst of it happened later that night and the next day). It was exhausting to say the least, but I felt extremely cared for by the team and they did whatever they had to do to make me as comfortable as possible. 

So the total was 5,300 grafts (4,000 scalp + 1,300 beard). When we finished up, Dr. Das inspected everything and expressed that she was super happy with the density achieved given the situation, and also that she was able to get 4,000 grafts from scalp donor. I was able to go sit in the "chill" room for a while, eat lunch, and relax. Then we took post-HT pictures.

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I had seen Dr. Sethi while walking through the clinic, so after a few minutes I asked an assistant about him and they said "Oh yeah, of course, he's going to be so happy to see you" or something like that. Then I met Dr. Sethi; he has an absolutely elated personality. He examined the work done and then grabbed my hand and said "Come on, let's go!" It was a busy Saturday at the clinic and there were multiple people there for consultations/planning. Dr. Sethi took my hand and led me all around the building, showing my results to people and having me say hello to other technicians and team members I had not met yet. He asked me where I was from, about my family and schooling, etc. It was a SUPER fun time and his care made me feel fantastic after an exhausting procedure. Dr. Arika Bansal also arrived sometime after and I briefly got to say hello to her on the stairs, and she smiled a bunch at me and told me to send her pictures of the results as time went on. I wish I had taken some selfies with them but everything was chaotic and I was just focused on enjoying the moments. 

Then I spent at least a half hour with one of the leading doctors who gave me a kit full of items and explained the post-care to me. This included: saline spray for the recipient area every hour for 7 days, betadine solution and healing ointment for the donor area daily for 7 days, recovery medication to take for 7 days, months supply of hair growth vitamins, a year's worth of finasteride tablets at no cost, more absorption cloths for pillow, many surgical caps to wear gently over the head if desired while out/traveling, a neck pillow to help with sleeping for the first few nights, a letter to TSA instructing permission for me to travel with oversized items if stopped at the airport (I was not), a book by a Yogi, and an absolutely beautiful letter thanking me for entrusting this clinic and promising a lifetime of friendship.

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Weekend & Travel Home
I extended my hotel reservation by one night, so I stayed 5 nights stay total. Saturday evening and Sunday I simply relaxed and caught up some movies I wanted to watch in my hotel room. My head was blown up from all the fluid in it; I had to keep pressing it to the sides of my forehead and downward to help the body get rid of it more quickly. Sleeping was not too bad at all. I left Monday morning; my driver took me to the airport and I was on my way back home. Well, first to Doha, which was a fun few hours in Hamad Airport, and then the long flight back home to JFK.

I chose to wear my surgical cap and a loose high-crown hat over top of it, just 2 days after the procedure was finished. If you are careful, this is absolutely safe to do, as the top of the hat lays above the head and does not put pressure on the recipient area.

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I especially want to thank the leading caregiver technician who worked with me for all three days. He led me around, told me what was next, took all of my pictures, took care of my Gatorade and water drinks, phone, made sure my positions in the chair were comfortable, etc. I did not get to learn his name and wish I had, but he treated me like royalty, as did everyone on the team, and I would never expect or ask for so much love. It made my anxiety in a completely unknown place go away and he made me feel great about every step of the procedure.

I will be posting some updates here since it has already been a few weeks, though I don't plan to spend as much time on this forum as maybe some users going forward. But I know there is a lot of interest in Eugenix and cases like mine, so I will be sure to check in. If you desire, you can also follow me on Instagram @ethanlculver (http://instagram.com/ethanlculver) as I enjoy responding to DMs on there, and I may upload some pictures in the future of the results, if you should be interested. Thank you to all here who contributed to me embarking on this journey. See you around!

This is super interesting as I am considering Eugenix too, and only has slightly more hair than you. 

Which package did you choose and who was the doctor?

 

I now saw that you included both pieces of info. Great writeup.

 

Edited by Xanadu
Saw I missed something
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5 minutes ago, Gramatik said:

I dont think you were good candidate for hair transplant as You are about to be norwood 7. The thinning is progressing towards down to the donor as you can see in the picture below.

image.jpeg.fbd88bc007d56740596d18ef3f4c6de5.jpeg

 

Anyway, good luck with your procedure and keep on getting finasteride!

it may. and he may lose some hair. so what he lives his entire life not liking the baldness instead of going for it. If it does thin, he will get top ups and touchups to improve it. 

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2 minutes ago, shiba1985 said:

it may. and he may lose some hair. so what he lives his entire life not liking the baldness instead of going for it. If it does thin, he will get top ups and touchups to improve it. 

I agree. And I'm not sure that is even the donor area but just the scalp/crown thining as it does in someone who would undoubtedly be NW7 without fin. I think Eugenix made the right decision and decided that this was certainly doable (and they do excel at high NWs), and the results so far look good. Looking forward to see the updates.

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16 minutes ago, Gramatik said:

I dont think you were good candidate for hair transplant as You are about to be norwood 7. The area that was covered was big and the density will be average in midscalp and crown, without considering the further hairloss progress...

The thinning is progressing towards down to the donor as you can see in the picture below. Anyway, good luck with your procedure and keep on getting finasteride!

image.jpeg.fbd88bc007d56740596d18ef3f4c6de5.jpeg

 

 

I respect your opinion, but if you had read the entire post you’d know that I knew this beforehand, accepted that, and chose to do this anyway as I am a firm believer that framing on the top of the scalp is far more important than inferiorities around the back and sides of someone’s head. That area that you have circled was even worse 1-2 years ago, then stabilized and has shown a bit of regrowth since. Not sure whether it’s primarily from finasteride, minoxidil, or both, but it’s better than nothing. In non-harsh lighting, it even looks not as thin. So I respect your perspective but I assure you I understood my entire situation beforehand and this path was the best option forward for me. Sure, I was not a great transplant candidate but being a transplant candidate period was better for me than continuing to do nothing because the back and sides of my head were still dark with hair and even shaving looked bad and would have never made me happy. Eugenix did great work. The thinning lower crown area, I will figure out a strategy to combat to the best of my ability as time goes on…

Edited by general-etwan
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2 minutes ago, general-etwan said:

I respect your opinion, but if you had read the entire post you’d know that I knew this beforehand, accepted that, and chose to do this anyway as I am a firm believer that framing on the top of the scalp is far more important than inferiorities around the back and sides of someone’s head. That area that you have circled was even worse 1-2 years ago, then stabilized and has shown a bit of regrowth since. Not sure whether it’s primarily from finasteride, minoxidil, or both, but it’s better than nothing. In non-harsh lighting, it even looks not as thin. So I respect your perspective but I assure you I understood my entire situation beforehand and this path was the best option forward for me. 

If you understand your situation and you decided to do it anyway, then its fine. Yea your sides that i had circled are already thinning, so that means your future norwood will be norwood 7. But for now finasteride keeps the sides up. I hope finasteride works forever so you can enjoy your result !

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3 hours ago, HappyMan2021 said:

@general-etwan for some reason I thought you were older than 26 haha. 

Being a NW 6 at your young age is quite dicey. Are you worried that even on Fin you may eventually become a NW7?

Does Dr. Das believe this is a "one and done" procedure for you, or does he see more down the road for you?

Do you feel if you did hop on Fin at 21 you would presently be a lesser Norwood? It's frustrating how so many guys buy into the Propecia fear mongering and spend a few years progressing 1 to 4 grades higher on the Norwood scale before at least trying it out. 

That all being said, happy growing!

What's more than frustrating is that we even have people in here (a place that is supposed to support people with MPB but has people (like Goligoli) that constantly try to scare people away from using the only FDA approved medicine that actually combats the root cause. They do so under the guise of providing information, when everyone is already bombarded with information about the potential sides and no sane person has not been down a deep rabbit hole of reading and getting information about fin none-stop. Noone needs more fear mongering, because that is what it is. 

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39 minutes ago, Berba11 said:

Great write up!

 

The work looks brilliant, and the donor area looks absolutely fine in that last picture. Sounds like Eugenix have really improved the design process as well as I felt that was a weak area when I went last year.

Design of the hairline you mean?

 

What was the problem?

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6 minutes ago, Xanadu said:

What's more than frustrating is that we even have people in here (a place that is supposed to support people with MPB but has people (like Goligoli) that constantly try to scare people away from using the only FDA approved medicine that actually combats the root cause. They do so under the guise of providing information, when everyone is already bombarded with information about the potential sides and no sane person has not been down a deep rabbit hole of reading and getting information about fin none-stop. Noone needs more fear mongering, because that is what it is. 

My best understanding of finasteride is that yes, it alters your natural hormone math. It decreases your T to DHT production by about 2/3. However, it seems that in the vast majority of men that can be done in adulthood without any significant side effects or harm to the body. I think that’s where a lot of the miscommunication is. Yes it alters your system, but those alterations can usually be made without significant side effects or at least very tolerable, and ultimately sometimes that’s the small sacrifice you might have to make to hold onto hair. I can say that so far a side effect of finasteride for me was it seems to help put to bed adult acne for good. I took accutane 3 times in late teens/early 20s and it worked, but my acne started to come back again last year and since I started finasteride it stopped completely. DHT has certainly unleashed its hell on me.

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2 minutes ago, Xanadu said:

Design of the hairline you mean?

 

What was the problem?

Yes. My expectation - and others had said similarly - was that you'd get some decent one on one time with the lead Dr to go through the design process, discussion options, considerations and so on, but that wasn't really how it was. It was a much quicker and more casual affair. I've written a more detailed account in my journey thread. But hearing that @general-etwanhad a good amount of time including use of the big screen with Dr Das is great to hear. I know his case will have been a bit more complicated than my own and requires extra time in the planning phase, but nevertheless I'm encouraged to hear they're developed that aspect of the process for patients.

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31 minutes ago, Gramatik said:

Firstly thank you for the presentation of your hair transplant. I wish you happy growing. However, I dont think you were good candidate for hair transplant as You are about to be norwood 7. The area that was covered was big and the density will be average in midscalp and crown, without considering the further hairloss progress...

The thinning is progressing towards down to the donor as you can see in the picture below. Anyway, good luck with your procedure and keep on getting finasteride!

image.jpeg.fbd88bc007d56740596d18ef3f4c6de5.jpeg

 

 

I think most blokes would be happy with a homogenous, thinner look across the midscalp & crown knowing that they have good framing of the face and the ability to pad-out the thinner areas with some product, styling & fibers. It'll also be a look that a patient will grow into very naturally as the thinner look in those areas will be totally age appropriate down the line.

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6 minutes ago, Berba11 said:

Yes. My expectation - and others had said similarly - was that you'd get some decent one on one time with the lead Dr to go through the design process, discussion options, considerations and so on, but that wasn't really how it was. It was a much quicker and more casual affair. I've written a more detailed account in my journey thread. But hearing that @general-etwanhad a good amount of time including use of the big screen with Dr Das is great to hear. I know his case will have been a bit more complicated than my own and requires extra time in the planning phase, but nevertheless I'm encouraged to hear they're developed that aspect of the process for patients.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Honestly though, although my case was a large procedure, there wasn’t much debate about the design because of limited donor hair. Perhaps it was closer to 15 minutes than 30 minutes. But the hairline that Dr. Das presented to me was about what I went in expecting, and I knew there was no logical reason to argue for a lower hairline because it would decrease overall density far too much. Measuring now, the hairline is about 7 cm above my brow, so that’s mathematically acceptable as stated in some of Eugenix’s YouTube videos with Dr. Bansal. From the side view, the corner of the temple where the designed hairline meets the existing natural temple…that point is still farther forward than the start of the ear, which is good. That’s a visual evaluation tool I’ve used to see whether a case ends up looking sufficient. 

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9 minutes ago, Berba11 said:

I think most blokes would be happy with a homogenous, thinner look across the midscalp & crown knowing that they have good framing of the face and the ability to pad-out the thinner areas with some product, styling & fibers. It'll also be a look that a patient will grow into very naturally as the thinner look in those areas will be totally age appropriate down the line.

He will need fiber product for the midscalp and crown but The main thing here is that his result is related on finasteride, if finasteride in the future loose its effectivenes he will become norwood 7 and he doesnt have enough donor to cover the sides and lower crown and his result will not look good.

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18 minutes ago, general-etwan said:

My best understanding of finasteride is that yes, it alters your natural hormone math. It decreases your T to DHT production by about 2/3. However, it seems that in the vast majority of men that can be done in adulthood without any significant side effects or harm to the body. I think that’s where a lot of the miscommunication is. Yes it alters your system, but those alterations can usually be made without significant side effects or at least very tolerable, and ultimately sometimes that’s the small sacrifice you might have to make to hold onto hair. I can say that so far a side effect of finasteride for me was it seems to help put to bed adult acne for good. I took accutane 3 times in late teens/early 20s and it worked, but my acne started to come back again last year and since I started finasteride it stopped completely. DHT has certainly unleashed its hell on me.

Yes, it stops some test from getting transformed into DHT. So you will end up with more test as a result of fin. DHT is very necessary in children and teens. However, much research states that it has no clear role in adulthood except give acne, enlarged prostate, and baldness. It seems to be a remnant of evolution like male nipples, appendix etc. It might have some role in regulating some mood in a noticable way in a minority of people. For some the added test will increase libido (I know of some this happened to, and me as well) and we know that for some 0.5 to 1% above the control group incident level feel it has lowered their libido. This is because in some men some of the added test can be transformed into oestrogen through another pathway (but only some, so they still end up with more test than without fin). This however is not a problem for the vast majority. But if someone has a tendencu to gyno for example, then it seems that fin may make that worse (and noticable). In normally healthy males fin is really well tolerated. Despite the fear mongering that makes you think it will have all kinds of sides and will affect most people. 

Edited by Xanadu
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3 minutes ago, Gramatik said:

He will need fiber product for the midscalp and crown but The main thing here is that his result is related on finasteride, if finasteride in the future loose its effectivenes he will become norwood 7 and he doesnt have enough donor to cover the sides and lower crown and his result will not look good.

There will be a thin rim and I guess if the scalp DHT resistant hairs are grown out they might be able to cover that (maybe with powder). I'm not sure it won't look good even if he gets off fin. 

What would you suggestion be? to 'just shave it bro'?

 

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