28 years old (NORWOOD 6/7) -- Hair transplant Eugenix with Dr Arika Bensal -- 4526 grafts (including 973 Beard)

[garcimore75]

Hi guys, 

Prologue:

I already started a post 6 months ago letting you know about the fact that I was thinking about an hair transplant after seeing the results of @Zoomster. Since then I had to take some time off to make my own decision. I was comforted in my choice seeing than more and more persons on this forum were going with either Dr Sethi or Dr Bansal.  

I finally took my final decision during the month of October after reaching out to Eugenix and Dr Bansal herself during a zoom call. I felt really confident with her on day one, and that confidence grew up even more when I saw her and her team in person when I arrived in India.

A bit about myself: 

My name is Nicolas, I am from France but live in Los Angeles. I am 28 years old, I started noticing hair falling/thinning at the age of 18 and since then it went down the hills as you will see in my pre-op pictures. In the past I never really wanted to take Finasteride because I was scared of the "side effects" after over reading articles on internet about it. May be it is one of my regret that I did not start earlier and I advise people to give it a try for a month, and if they do not have any sides effects, to keep taking it. It can probably be a big game changer (and also money saver, if you need less grafts you can probably keep a good amount of money for some vacation haha) the day you will have to do you surgery. 

My medications:

Finasteride 1mg each day (since October 20 2022): The first two days I noticed that I had legs cramps even though I was not doing anything that should have make me feel like this, so I blamed the finasteride for it, but after those 2 first days it disappeared. My guess is that since it is a strong drugs, your body probably need to adapt to this medicine (but I am not a doctor, so do not take my words as facts)

Dietary supplement "Hair Fact" (since post surgery, November 26 2022): Combinations of medicines provided by Eugenix after my surgery, those are composed of: Tricho gold, Cal D3, Tricho Ferum, Tricho Flax, Tricho protein, Q10S. To be 100% honest I have not done any research about it, I am just confident with what the clinic gave me, and I am willing to give it a try.

Why did I chose Eugenix? 

I chose them taking in considerations many things, first of all, I have been researching about a hair surgeon that I feel confident with for years, I had calls with Dr Feriduni, Dr Bisanga, Dr Umar and others. Personnally I did not get a good feeling with Dr Umar, I felt like I was just a cash cow in his eyes (it was only my perception, so may be others had different views of him), Dr Feriduni is an amazing doctor and a fantastic person. He had been in touch with me even though he told me he would not be able to perform surgery with me (it was 2/3 years ago), he was even advising me about my choices, so I can't thank him enough. Concerning Dr Bisanga, I think he was a good person but my final decision came to a kind of final between Dr Bansal/Dr Sethi and him and I finally made my decision to go with Dr bansal.

I think when it comes to your hair transplant, you have to know your situation, mine was a 28 years old NW6. Then you need to find a surgeon that have done work on similar cases. And finally the feeling plays a big role in the final choice. With Dr Bansal I felt very confident that I could get a good outcome out of that transplant.

THE SURGERY 

Super Premium Package

Planning designing, Complete Slits Complete extraction and Crucial implantation to be performed by Dr Arika Bansal and further assisted by Senior Eugenix Technicians under the supervision of the leading doctor.

Value added benefits: Complimentary three nights accomodation with airport pick up and drop off. Seven days post-op medication will be provided them.

Day 1: I arrived at Delhi airport in the morning around 9 AM where Eugenix had scheduled a picked up, they dropped me at the hotel they booked which was the Marriot courtyard (very nice by the way). I took a nap because of the small jet lag and then I had to go to Eugenix at 4 PM where I received 2 test shots of anesthesia to check my reactions + some paperwork to fill out. Then they dropped me at the hotel where I got a massage session (I advice you to do it while you can, before after the surgery you won't be able to enjoy it haha)

Day 2: Eugenix picked me up at 10.30 AM,  On my arrival there, I was welcomed by Ritu, I was a bit stressed but she really helped me out dealing with that and I can't thank her enough for it.

they started taking Pre-op pictures of me (I deliberately let my beard and my hair grew for more than a month before the surgery), then Dr Bansal came for the first time, we started talking about the surgery plan which was originally to take 2500 hair from scalp and 1000 from beard + she started drawing my hairline.

During the morning they got some blood from me to reinject it using PRP method and we finally started the surgery around 3 PM, I would say the most painful part is probably the anesthesia, but I have done SMP 2 years ago and the whole process was less painful overall than my whole session of PRP + Romita who gave the anesthesia is super kind. 

Everything which was promise in the package has been respected and Dr Bansal is a real kind professional. After I got my head shaved, she told me that my donor was actually in better condition than expected and she told me she will probably be able to get more from the scalp than what was thought before (without promising me anything at this point)

They ended the day around 9 PM. Total graft for the first day of surgery : 1306 (Scalp) + 307 (Left side lock) -> 1613 grafts 

Day 3: Eugenix picked me up around 8 AM that time and we started the surgery around 9 AM, that day was the most exhausting since It ended at 9.30 PM. The most painful part was probably the moment they had to do the anesthesia under my chin, I think it was Rajat who gave me a yellow emoji stress ball (I do not know if someone else had it, but if someone got it in the future, there is probably still my hand pressure on it haha). That's around noon that Ashish with Dr Bansal came to tell me that they would be able to get more grafts from my donor area and were asking me if I was okay with it (which I obviously agreed).

During the whole procedure I always had at least 3 to 4 persons with me, and at some point I think they were 7 or 8 taking care of me (some of the planters assistant even gave me some massage because I had to stretch out a little bit after laying down for so much time, that was not expected but definitely helped me relax haha)

Total graft of that day: 1735 (Scalp) + 973 (Beard) + 205 (Right side lock) -> 2913 grafts 

At the end of that exhausting day, They gave me some medications for the week as promised + all the instructions to take care of my new transplanted hair + they took some post OP pictures of me. 

TOTAL GRAFTS FOR THE WHOLE SURGERY: 3041 (Scalp) + 973 (Beard) + 512 (Side locks) -> 4526 Grafts

Day 4:  I was supposed to leave on day 5 but I was a bit scared to take a flight and risking doing some damages to my grafts, So I decided to extend my trips for 8 more days at the hotel to be able to go every day at Eugenix to get my donor cleansing done + at the end of week 1, having my head washed by themselves before flying back. Satyam who was my contact as concierge did such a great job adapting to my last minute demand and even though the Marriott was full, he found me another hotel (Hilton) in the hour or so.

A BIG THANK YOU TO DR BANSAL FOR EVERYTHING, I hope that whole trip is gonna be a life changing event for me

Also I want to thank the following persons: 

Victoria, Kimmi, Deepika, Romita and Ritu, all of them really charming persons and really kind during the whole procedure.

Concerning the guys: Rajat, Ranjan, Tapan, Amrendra, Sipun, Ashish, Sethy, sahoo, Adarsh and Bapi, they were fantastic from the first minute I met them

I probably forgot some people and I apologize for that. 

In the next post, I am going to give you my pictures Pre-OP

In the second post, I am going to give you my pictures Post-OP

Every feedback is appreciated, and I hope my case will inspire some people who were in my situation and are still a bit hesitant about going for a HT. 

Thank to all of you,

Nicolas

Edited November 28, 2022 by garcimore75

[garcimore75]

PRE OP PICTURES

(I deliberately let my beard and my hair grew for the surgery)

 

[garcimore75]

POST OP PICTURES

[Zoomster]

@garcimore75..you’ve given yourself the very best chance of a successful outcome going to the clinic you did ,given your set of circumstances.

Interesting to note you seem to have unnaturally good temple points already in place ..which will help add to the overall framing of your face .

I can see some modelling gigs for you once all grown in ..if you’re not already one that is 😀

Keep us all updated and good luck !

[ray35]

Great write up and looks like you're on your way to some great results! I too am concerned about flying back too close to day one of HT.... did you feel 8 days was overkill? Or were you going for the full 7 days plus rule of thumb?  Also how was the flight back? 

[garcimore75]

Thank you @Zoomster, I will update everyone tomorrow to show you pictures of how my donor is healing. So far so good by the way. 

Hey @ray35, thank you for the kind message. I am still in New Delhi right now. My surgery happened yesterday and 2 days ago. I was supposed to take my flight back tomorrow but I decided to call emirates to delay it which costed me $300 more.

I gave myself 2 options:

Either staying 8 more days (cost me $600) in Delhi chilling in a nice hotel and being able to have supervision and feedback from the clinic itself every day + all the daily donor area cleansing done by them (They are actually picking me up every day from the hotel to the clinic and then dropping me back at the hotel later on) + the head wash by them at the end of the week.

Or taking a business flight to be more comfortable (my total flight is 11 hours) which would have costed me $2000. And then do everything myself, not really being able to take good care of my donor during the flight.

So I picked option 1 haha

Concerning head wash, my surgery ended on November 26, and I will do the head wash on the 8th days after the surgery, which bring us to the 4th of december and I leave Delhi on the 5th of december. I do not know if it really matter to do it on day 7 or day 8, I will ask them tomorrow. 

Edited December 2, 2022 by garcimore75

[ray35]

Ok cool, look forward to seeing more updates! What an adventure!

[ApexB]

@garcimore75 Excellent write up and the work looks clean, as expected! Eugenix staff goes above and beyond for the entire procedure and their post care is one of a kind. Enjoy your stay in Delhi, good call on staying for the first wash. Happy growing! 
 

 

[Gramatik]

Happy growing man. Eugenix is a very good choice. The work looks clean too...

So whats the plan for your case to cover the whole recipient area? Are you going to use the the beard as the donor area, since it looks like you have thick beard, in comparison with your scalp donor which doesn't look so good.

[Xanadu]

11 minutes ago, Gramatik said:

Happy growing man. Eugenix is a very good choice. The work looks clean too...

So whats the plan for your case to cover the whole recipient area? Are you going to use the the beard as the donor area, since it looks like you have thick beard, in comparison with your scalp donor which doesn't look so good.

He already wrote exactly how much came from scalp and how much from beard.

[Xanadu]

4 hours ago, garcimore75 said:

POST OP PICTURES

Great writeup and good luck. The before and after difference is already stunning. If you didn't do this you should have just shaved because it already looks much better, but of course this will work out and be even better yet. 

I will arrive myself in about a month and am also planning on staying some extra days until the final wash.

[Gramatik]

5 minutes ago, Xanadu said:

He already wrote exactly how much came from scalp and how much from beard.

I know. But i i did not ask that.

[ZeeMan]

Thanks for sharing your journey @garcimore75, you picked the best clinic for your scenario, happy growing! You are going to be the next NW6 legend, challenging zoomster, bandit and others  

[garcimore75]

Thank you guys, I appreciate your feedback

1 hour ago, Gramatik said:

Happy growing man. Eugenix is a very good choice. The work looks clean too...

So whats the plan for your case to cover the whole recipient area? Are you going to use the the beard as the donor area, since it looks like you have thick beard, in comparison with your scalp donor which doesn't look so good.

Excellent question @Gramatik, so my plan is the following,

Concerning Finasteride: I just started using it a month ago, I still have some thin hair remaining on top of my scalp + my crown, so hopefully they will get thicker in the next 9 to 12 months (I don't count on it but hope never hurts haha). It should at least avoid them to fall out + it should make my donor area stronger and thicker if everything goes right. 

Concerning the hair transplant: I want to see the evolution of the results from month 3 to 12 to better assess my situation with Dr Bansal for a second transplant.

That being said, the plan is to get another hair transplant to assess the crown area in 12 to 14 months + if possible add a bit of density on top if needed. But the exact plan will depend on how everything goes with what I said above. 

Edit: I forgot to answer you about the fact if I will use beard for the second hair transplant, so the answer is Yes, it will most likely require a combination of beard + scalp 

Edited November 27, 2022 by garcimore75

[follically challenged]

Looks amazing! And....Holy sh*t that is a dense beard!!!

[Pbaird98]

Awesome stuff Bro, yeh that beard is immense… you could get 5k from that beast 🤜🏿

[Dillpickle123]

Wow I would say your a Norwood 7 tbh the humps are pretty much gone and the crown dips low, if this procedure works it’ll be the biggest comeback I’ve ever seen here, u looked good bald tho your head shape was perfect for it, did they say if your donor has any more left in it?

[Eugenix Hair Sciences]

@garcimore75, Thank you for showcasing your trust in us, team Eugenix wishes you the very best in your new journey. 

 

[garcimore75]

Hi guys, so few updates,

Today I came to do my usual daily cleansing at the clinic, Dr Sethi saw me and heard about the fact that I have extended my trip and that I was supposed to go to the Hilton and pay for a full week there. That's when Eugenix team member Rajat announced me that they wanted to invite me to stay to their farm house instead of going to the Hilton. That such an amazing attention.

I saw the place on @Melvin- Moderator's video and I can't wait to enjoy the rest of my trip there. That was really unexpected

Eugenix really pays attention to details.

Also, I am showing you some pictures that I took myself at day 2 post op (more precisely 40 hours after end of surgery), I will try to take some with Eugenix lighting tomorrow if possible  of my donor area (Beard + scalp) + recipient area

 

Edited December 2, 2022 by garcimore75

[garcimore75]

DAY 2 

DONOR (Beard + Scalp) / Recipient Area

Edited November 28, 2022 by garcimore75

[Ryan Daniel]

Seeing that hotel makes me miss the first few days post op when I was in Delhi. It was a good place to recover

You have the best beard ive ever seen. Being a norwood 7 means you will always requires more touch ups and it's great to see you have plenty of grafts to use under your chin! 

Good luck for the next 9 to 12 months that are coming to you man

[garcimore75]

Thank you @Ryan Daniel, hopefully Finasteride does its job for the future, but yes, I already plan a second session for the crown next year depending on my results and how my donor recover.

And then in the following years, I will probably have to get some correction.

[Bandit90]

Damm! This looks like some quality work. Really looking forward watching your progress over the coming year!  The transplant alongside the thickening from the finasteride makes 2023 a very exciting year for you! 

[garcimore75]

_

Edited December 2, 2022 by garcimore75

[garcimore75]

Day 3

Donor area close up

Left side + Left side lock

Right side + Right side lock

Back (view from behind)

Beard/Chin (view from below)

Edited November 29, 2022 by garcimore75