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

[honey21790]

looks good bro

[general-etwan]

11 months after 1st HT; 2 months after 2nd HT. I've started mentioning to some new people that I've met recently that I've had a HT, and everyone is in disbelief/would have never guessed/knows nothing about them. A pretty refreshing feeling to finally get to that point where I blend in as having normal looking hair for my age. 

 

The temples and 2nd-HT area have begun to grow in.

[Eugenix Hair Sciences]

@general-etwan

Thank you for the update, everything is looking good and on track. once the shedding period is over after that you'll experience the gradual growth month on month. Keep us updated on your progress. 

 

Warmest Regards,
Eugenix Hair Sciences

Email: info@eugenix.in
Telephone: +91 8826471111
WhatsApp: +91 8826471111

Website: https://eugenixhairsciences.com
Book an Appointment: https://eugenixhairsciences.com/book-an-appointment/

[general-etwan]

 

 

I was anxious about cleaning up the top but barber insisted it would look even better just taking a little bit off:

 

[asterix0]

Would you mind taking some pictures outside @general-etwan?

I ask because inside cars are the most flattering of shots, there is no light coming down on the scalp.

Edited August 30, 2023 by asterix0

[general-etwan]

3 hours ago, asterix0 said:

Would you mind taking some pictures outside @general-etwan?

I ask because inside cars are the most flattering of shots, there is no light coming down on the scalp.

Will give it a go tomorrow! As everyone should have expected, my density isn’t super high, so I’ll have to decide if I’ll eventually want to add SMP to increase illusion of density. Or just try other things like fibers. I’m not going to obsess too much over it though because even just coming this far has been fulfilling. 

Edited August 30, 2023 by general-etwan

[mrmane85]

4 hours ago, general-etwan said:

Will give it a go tomorrow! As everyone should have expected, my density isn’t super high, so I’ll have to decide if I’ll eventually want to add SMP to increase illusion of density. Or just try other things like fibers. I’m not going to obsess too much over it though because even just coming this far has been fulfilling. 

Looks good when you keep the sides short.

I would probably lean towards SMP as then you don't have to worry about weather, swimming, if someone touches your hair or spending too much time getting it ready. 

[GeneralNorwood]

13 hours ago, general-etwan said:

 As everyone should have expected, my density isn’t super high, so I’ll have to decide if I’ll eventually want to add SMP to increase illusion of density. Or just try other things like fibers. I’m not going to obsess too much over it though because even just coming this far has been fulfilling. 

It's only 2.5 months. The growth didn't start yet, so there is no sense to think about SMP right now.

[general-etwan]

Kind of unsure why my hair has been looking so dry and unhealthy the past few weeks. Not sure if the barber just didn’t do a good job cleaning up the top this time or what. 

But my hair is always so dry looking. What products do guys use to keep more of a moist look all day? I’m really struggling with the styling of it at this length and not sure why it’s not looking better than a few months ago. 

Directly under gym light 

 

[Gatsby]

Are you using Nizoral 2%? If so this can really dry the hair and scalp out. 

[general-etwan]

4 minutes ago, Gatsby said:

Are you using Nizoral 2%? If so this can really dry the hair and scalp out. 

I have been using this https://intelligent.shop/products/intelligent-shampoo

for about a year now 

[GeneralNorwood]

1 hour ago, general-etwan said:

Kind of unsure why my hair has been looking so dry and unhealthy the past few weeks. Not sure if the barber just didn’t do a good job cleaning up the top this time or what. 

But my hair is always so dry looking. What products do guys use to keep more of a moist look all day? I’m really struggling with the styling of it at this length and not sure why it’s not looking better than a few months ago. 

Directly under gym light 

 

 

I had problem with dry hair too. But not because of Nizoral, i don't use it. 

1. You have to use hair mask once a week (use it for 30 minutes then rinse with cold water). Maybe try something like this : https://www.garnier.co.uk/our-brands/hair-care/ultimate-blends/hair-food/coconut-and-macadamia

I didn't use it, because i use Polish product, but ingredients look promising. 

2. Use conditioner twice a week. I am using conditioner with wheat protein. 

 

My results: 

Edited September 4, 2023 by GeneralNorwood

[Gatsby]

I just asked because after my first HT I found that Nizoral 2% was just drying out my scalp and hair. In fact at the time I stopped using any shampoo entirely for about the first four months or so. I noticed that the shampoo in the link has ketaconozole also. Maybe give your scalp/hair a break for a short while at this point unless your hair is oily? All the best!

[general-etwan]

28 minutes ago, Gatsby said:

I just asked because after my first HT I found that Nizoral 2% was just drying out my scalp and hair. In fact at the time I stopped using any shampoo entirely for about the first four months or so. I noticed that the shampoo in the link has ketaconozole also. Maybe give your scalp/hair a break for a short while at this point unless your hair is oily? All the best!

Yeah, this has ketaconozole and is framed as a non-drying shampoo but honestly not sure how true that is. And not sure if ketoconozole even does anything positive worthwhile for me at this point, so going to use other shampoo & conditioner and see how that goes.

[Melvin- Admin]

16 hours ago, general-etwan said:

Yeah, this has ketaconozole and is framed as a non-drying shampoo but honestly not sure how true that is. And not sure if ketoconozole even does anything positive worthwhile for me at this point, so going to use other shampoo & conditioner and see how that goes.

Do you use conditioner? 

[general-etwan]

32 minutes ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

Do you use conditioner? 

Up until yesterday, no! But now I am and will 

[Melvin- Admin]

7 minutes ago, general-etwan said:

Up until yesterday, no! But now I am and will 

That should solve the problem. 

[Xanadu]

23 hours ago, general-etwan said:

I have been using this https://intelligent.shop/products/intelligent-shampoo

for about a year now 

But I seem to remember you are using sea salt too right? Apparently that really dries too.

[Xanadu]

I use Ketakonazol once or twice a week and nothing but water the remaining days. That seems to work.

[general-etwan]

3 hours ago, Xanadu said:

But I seem to remember you are using sea salt too right? Apparently that really dries too.

Only occasionally the past few months. Nothing much. 
 

3 hours ago, Xanadu said:

I use Ketakonazol once or twice a week and nothing but water the remaining days. That seems to work.

That’s been my routine but I think using conditioner a little as well should help. 

[sekiro109]

What was the price per graft for your second procedure? 

 

It looks like Dr. Das now charges 210 INR / graft? 

[SLA]

On 9/4/2023 at 4:45 PM, general-etwan said:

Kind of unsure why my hair has been looking so dry and unhealthy the past few weeks. Not sure if the barber just didn’t do a good job cleaning up the top this time or what. 

But my hair is always so dry looking. What products do guys use to keep more of a moist look all day? I’m really struggling with the styling of it at this length and not sure why it’s not looking better than a few months ago. 

Directly under gym light 

 

Looking good @general-etwan- What would it look like instead of combing forward, if you combed backwards instead. I am curious as to whether the density would look even better.

[OleBaldy]

On 10/9/2022 at 1:29 PM, 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.

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):

  

  

 

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.

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.

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.

  

 

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:

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.

  

 

 

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.

   

  

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.

  

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.

  

  

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.

  

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.

 

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!

What a great write up and preliminary result! Also a great experience with this team.

[Xanadu]

1 hour ago, SLA said:

Looking good @general-etwan- What would it look like instead of combing forward, if you combed backwards instead. I am curious as to whether the density would look even better.

Yes, after having a HT I understand why Melvin and others have their hair back. Mine looks much fuller when back like Melvin than when set forward.

[general-etwan]

Hello all,

Have some recent pics to share. Been super busy with life. I would never have allowed myself to be this busy if I hadn't chosen to embark on this journey and fix the most fundamental problem I was gifted. Simply having hair, as a young man should, was by far the most important thing I needed to take care of to simply pivot to a feel-good daily life.

4 months post-HT #2; 13 months post-HT #1

Combed backwards for evaluation as requested (I don't wear it like this daily):

 

 

Obviously, considering my original starting point and the massive area to cover, it's not super high density. But the great thing is that really no one even cares or notices. It's enough that it appears as a pretty normal head of hair to the vast majority of people.

Here are some more pics of forward-laying (hair is often just messy; I still wear hats so I don't spend too much time on the style; most days I just spray in a tea tree oil conditioner and ruffle it up and go):

 

 

 

Here you can see the progress on the rear lower crown; growth starting to come in stronger the last few weeks. I have just been buzzing the back and sides myself at home once a week, so don't be too hard on the look; I haven't been getting it consistently professionally faded yet. Once the growth kicks into consistency, then I'll have it faded by my barber every week:

Hairline region:

 

 

And finally, you can see where there is some see-through when looking directly down from the top. This is no surprise; as said earlier, I am very realistic about density. I was thinking about buzzing all the hair shorter to uniform length, but I'm a bit afraid of the density still being too low to match the sides and back, and it looking too diffuse:

 

 

I purchased fibers last month and used them once or twice and yes, they do a good job at visually filling the transparent-risk regions. However, I don't see them as something I want to use on a regular basis as I am very active and have to change my clothes multiple times a day as I engage in varying responsibilities. The fibers come off as dust on your hands and clothing, and ultimately are incompatible with water and the elements.

I am thinking about if there's anything else I'll want to do in the future for appearance of added density. An option as mentioned months back is SMP on the recipient area to create that illusion. If I were to do that, I'd have to buzz my hair all the way down to a short buzz-cut and then have it done. And I would just have it done on the entire top to help even the appearance out with the back and sides as much as possible. If I decide to do this, I'd want to do it this winter. But still undecided as I haven't seen enough cases of it yet to evaluate its success on others.

 

Edited October 18, 2023 by general-etwan