Dr. Bisanga | BHR Clinic Brussels | 3100 grafts | 13/10/2022

[Swoodsy91]

Hi Guys

I’m coming up to two weeks since having FUE with Dr Bisanga at his BHR clinic in Brussels. I chose Dr Bisanga after doing a fair share of research on this forum and being very impressed with several different patient stories I had come across on here. The main reason as obviously the quality of his results but it was also convenient that there was not a super long waiting time and Brussels only being a short journey from the UK.

 

Background

I’m 31 years old and a NW3. I started taking hair loss medication at the end of May this year. This was a topical form of finasteride + minoxidil supplied by Hims. After about a month, after doing more research, I added 2.5mg of oral minoxidil to my daily routine. I saw really good results from this, my crown was thickening up and overall my hair felt a lot more dense.

I first met Dr Bisanga for a consultation in August while he was over in London. I found him very friendly, open and honest. Below is the summary of the consultation, he also suggested ceasing the use of topical minoxidil and switching to 5mg oral daily. I still had bottles of the fin + min topical solution left so I decided to carry on until they ran out (plus I didn’t have any finasteride-only topical solution to take with oral min, as oral fin had given me sides previously at 1mg every day).

Unfortunately, towards the end of August I started experiencing side effects from the oral minoxidil (heart palpitations and dizziness) so I stopped the oral and just continued with the topical fin + min.

 

Hair Characteristic - Straight

Hair Thickness - Fine

Donor Density  -  80/70/75

Dermoscopy - Androgenetic Alopecia

 

Dr. Bisanga has confirmed your candidacy for surgery and has determined that surgery should consist of around 2400 grafts to restore your hairline and frontal forelock.

A further 600-700 grafts can then be utilised to restore areas of concern in your crown.

Total of approximately 3000-3100 grafts

 

Dr. Bisanga would lead your surgery, consult and plan your approach.

Dr. Bisanga and Dr. Kostis would then make your recipient sites.

Punching of your extraction sites would be shared between Dr. Bisanga and Dr. Kostis

Technicians would then extract the pre punched grafts and place the grafts into the pre made recipient sites as with all BHR surgeries.

 

Pre-surgery consultation

I flew to Brussels on 12^th October (super quick flight – about 40 mins in the air from Heathrow) and met Bisanga and Kostis at the clinic at 16:30. We had a bit of a chat about how things had been going. I told Dr. Bisanga about stopping the oral minoxidil and he suggested the sides may have been because I was still using the topical form with it. At this point I did feel my hair had regressed in terms of density. Dr Bisanga reiterated the importance of the meds and I agreed that after surgery I will try 1mg oral fin EOD and 2.5mg oral minox only (no topical) and see how I get on.

They drew the hairline and circled around the crown area and everything was agreed. I was a bit surprised that I had to keep the lines on my head until surgery the next day! Not ideal when I had planned to go out for a meal with my partner that evening before surgery, but it is what it is! Dr.Bisanga then left shortly after (he was there for about 20 mins in the consultation). I was originally told that my head would be shaven there and then but in the end Dr.Kostis said we would do it tomorrow before surgery instead. He then took some pictures from all different angles (some of them below), gave me a bandanna to cover the lines drawn on my head and off I went!

 

Surgery

 I arrived at the clinic at 7:30. I was straight in the chair and had my head shaven by the technician. Surprisingly, I felt really calm about everything. I think I just felt confident in the choice of Dr and clinic and also just accepted that there was no going back now anyway. I was given a calming tablet that dissolved under my tongue and also an anti-biotic. Dr Bisanga came and administered the numbing injections (like most people this was the part I was dreading the most based on what I had read). I have to say, they weren’t as bad as I thought they would be. Some of them caused me to grimace quite a bit but nothing TOO bad.

Dr Bisanga then made all the incisions, Dr Kostis then did the punching, followed by the technicians extracting and placing into the recipient sites. I did have a short (my choice) lunch in the middle of it all. The food was good (beef noodles and cheesecake). The placement of the grafts did seem to go on for a long time, the technicians did say that the grafts kept ‘popping’ out which would cause blood to stream out (they seemed to be forever spraying my head with the saline solution). They said it was nothing to be concerned about, although couldn’t explain why it was happening. Usually it happens with a heavy smoker or drinker because of the blood but I don’t smoke anymore and hadn’t drank alcohol for a few days. Nevertheless, they said it was fine, just taking a bit longer.

I think, in total, I was in the chair for around 11 hours. It seemed to go fairly quickly from what I remember. I don’t recall ever feeling bored or restless.  I’m pretty sure I was drifting in and out of sleep, so maybe that was why.  

After everything was done, I got changed and had photo’s taken. Dr Bisanga came in and had a look. He told me that after shaving my head, he could see that the front-middle of my hair wasn’t as dense as he originally thought and he had to place some grafts there to make the front look natural and match the density of the corners. He still used the same total of grafts as agreed, so there was no extra cost and I was happy to go with his advice. The only thing I would say on the subject is that it would have been better if my head was shaven during the pre-surgery consultation so this could have been discussed prior to the surgery or even if there was a quick check in the morning after my head was shaven to confirm we were all still happy with the lines drawn.

A bandage was placed around the back of my head on the donor area and I was given a bandana for the top. Trying to get home after the surgery was a bit of an issue. Waterloo is only a small town really and there were no Ubers or taxi’s available (the BHR reception tried several taxi firms) at the time due to rush-hour. There was also another patient in the same situation, waiting with me in reception, until eventually one of the technicians was getting picked up and kindly offered us both a lift back, as we were staying in the same hotel.

 

Post-Surgery

Sleeping the night of the surgery wasn’t too bad. I had bought a Snugl travel pillow which was I would say is well worth it instead of an ordinary travel pillow, especially as you’ll be using it for the next week. I woke up a few times throughout the night but overall it was OK. The clinic provided anti-biotics and pain killers which helped with any uncomfort.

I headed back to the clinic at around 10am where they took the bandage off and my head was cleaned up and I was given all my post-care medication creams and shampoo’s. The lady explained what to use and when and answered any questions I had. All the information was in the document they give you afterwards too. I had to sign some papers and then that was it! My flight home was at around 5pm that day. I got a few stares from people in the airport but honestly took no notice at all, it really didn’t bother me as you’re never going to see these people again.

 

When I was home and after inspecting everything properly, I must admit I was a little disappointed that more grafts hadn’t been used in my crown area, as you can see where its still thin near the midscalp. I queried this with Ian (the patient advisor) and he fed this back to Dr Bisanga. Dr Bisanga explained that this was because of having to use more grafts than expected in the front. I was only booked for 1 day surgery and using 3100 grafts already, we had to be careful to manage the donor area. I guess using any more than this in one session would start to increase risks. I shall see how I get on with the medication at new doses, and see what growth I can get in that area. If needed, I wouldn’t hesitate to back in a couple of years for a second HT.

 

Overall, I’m very happy with my experience and progress so far. I would definitely recommend BHR Clinic to anyone else looking to have a hair transplant. Big shout out to Ian as well, he is a fantastic patient advisor who always gets back to you promptly to answer any queries.

 

Below are my photos at day 0, day 7 and day 10. I'll post every month form the surgery date with progress. 

 

Day 7

 

Day 10

[Ryan Daniel]

First time I'm saying this.. that is the best and cleanest extraction I've ever seen, especially for 3100 grafts 

[hairman22]

5mg of Oral Minox is too high for some people 

 

https://donovanmedical.com/hair-blog/oral-minoxidil-top-10

 

Much more minoxidil in your blood stream at 5mg rather than 2.5mg

[Marlo]

Happy growing!

What was the cost per graft? 

[Pbaird98]

Looks really good, Dr Bisanga is always a good choice 🤜🏿

[Swoodsy91]

6 hours ago, Ryan Daniel said:

First time I'm saying this.. that is the best and cleanest extraction I've ever seen, especially for 3100 grafts 

Thanks, I was impressed too. It’s healed really well too, even after 10 days the donor is not noticeable.

[Swoodsy91]

7 minutes ago, Marlo said:

Happy growing!

What was the cost per graft? 

Thanks! It was €3.50 per graft

[Swoodsy91]

5 hours ago, hairman22 said:

5mg of Oral Minox is too high for some people 

 

https://donovanmedical.com/hair-blog/oral-minoxidil-top-10

 

Much more minoxidil in your blood stream at 5mg rather than 2.5mg

Yeah I plan to stick with 2.5mg for now and see how I get on. 

[Hairy Henderson]

Kinda interesting b/c 2500 in the hairline seems like a lot for the area marked off, must be pretty dense packing.  Did he give you a total for the density?

[A Fue Good Men]

Wow. Bisanga is the king of donor management 

[Jayson1361]

Following this one closely. That work looks packed in there especially given the native hairs. I’m betting this will be spectacular. 

[Swoodsy91]

Hi all

A bit late on my update. Im 6 weeks post HT today. Fair to say my hair isn’t looking great right now. Im either more of a diffuse thinner than i thought or i’ve had a pretty hefty shed and some shock loss. I’d probably say its a mix of all three. Ive definitely had some shock loss right at the front centre.

I did start oral fin 1mg EOD/2.5mg oral min every day after my HT so a shed is very likely I’d say. Previously I was applying topical fin/min. I’ve not experienced any sides yet which is good. I am almost waiting for oral min sides which i experienced previously but so far all good.

I’m not too worried about current status. I had already prepared myself for my hair to look pretty sh*t for at least 3 months anyway. Apart from the hairloss, everything else seems ok. Ive had a haircut on the back and sides at a grade one, that was fine. You can’t really tell at all from the donor that I’ve had a HT.

 

 

 

[A Fue Good Men]

Some of it could very well be shock loss but a lot of us (me included) get a harsh reality of things once shaved down and in the ugly duckling. Just keep on pushing through, it will look much better in the months to come 

[Swoodsy91]

5 minutes ago, 5BetaReductase said:

Some of it could very well be shock loss but a lot of us (me included) get a harsh reality of things once shaved down and in the ugly duckling. Just keep on pushing through, it will look much better in the months to come 

Yep maybe, i did wonder about looking into SMP but not sure how effective it is for the illusion of density? Or maybe swapping fin for dut? Either way i think ill just carry on as is for at least 6 months before changing anything.

[Tybwl5]

On 11/24/2022 at 4:21 PM, Swoodsy91 said:

Hi all

A bit late on my update. Im 6 weeks post HT today. Fair to say my hair isn’t looking great right now. Im either more of a diffuse thinner than i thought or i’ve had a pretty hefty shed and some shock loss. I’d probably say its a mix of all three. Ive definitely had some shock loss right at the front centre.

I did start oral fin 1mg EOD/2.5mg oral min every day after my HT so a shed is very likely I’d say. Previously I was applying topical fin/min. I’ve not experienced any sides yet which is good. I am almost waiting for oral min sides which i experienced previously but so far all good.

I’m not too worried about current status. I had already prepared myself for my hair to look pretty sh*t for at least 3 months anyway. Apart from the hairloss, everything else seems ok. Ive had a haircut on the back and sides at a grade one, that was fine. You can’t really tell at all from the donor that I’ve had a HT.

 

 

 

On 10/25/2022 at 5:55 PM, Swoodsy91 said:

Thanks! It was €3.50 per graft

Did you pay for it all at once or did you use a credit card? If so do you recommend one?

 

[Swoodsy91]

Quick update - this is 3 months in. There wasn’t much to show at 2 months. I’m still on 2.5mg oral min each day and 1mg fin M/W/F no sides. 
 

I added a couple more ‘before’ pics to show what my hair was like before as I don’t think the pre-surgery pics show it that well.

Overall I’m happy with the progress so far.

[GAT]

This looks great and only 3 months in, will be following your progress.  Congrats!

[airporteffect]

Awesome progress for only 3 months!

[Judelaw]

Outstanding growth for 3 months. I wonder how much the oral minoxidil helps early growers like this. 

[Swoodsy91]

3 hours ago, Judelaw said:

Outstanding growth for 3 months. I wonder how much the oral minoxidil helps early growers like this. 

I think it does massively. I was on it before the HT (until I experienced sides) and I responded well to it then. As soon as I came off it, I could really notice the difference in the look/health of my hair. 

[Gennox]

Hey Swoodsy, 

First of all: congrats, looks really good so far. Natural. And it fits you well. 

I have sth in mind in relation of oral minox: I think it really helps for growth and thickness of hair. 

I myself definitely want to start it after my HT in summer. And I am considering starting it now, a few month before surgery. My concerns are, that then, there are Grafts transplantated, which actually were not healthy enough. What do you guys think? 

Because other point is: if you start before, you go to surgery with strong hair and do not experience the shed from the oral minox afterwards. 

Gennox 

 

[hairlossPA]

following! looks great so far

[Neily_77]

Looks a great job that 👍

[Ryan Daniel]

Nobody does better donor management than Dr Bisanga. This is one of the best results on the forums

[Spring15]

This should turn out great