Dr. Feriduni 20/06/2022 - Hairline Lowering (M25) (FUE)

[asvik]

So it's been about 6 months since I sat down at Dr. Feriduni's clinic in Hasselt, Belgium and had my very first hair transplant. I figured it's time to create a thread and give back to this community that has given me so much invaluable information regarding the field of hair restoration and which surgeons to choose/stay away from. If it weren't for you guys, I would have never been able to narrow it down to Feriduni (and the technicians), whom has undoubtedly changed my life. The reason why I chose to wait such a long time, was mainly because I didn't want to showcase my progress and have a bunch of strangers telling me how (potentially bad) I was doing. Instead I chose to trust the process, and me feeling much more confident about a solid final result - I'm sharing this with you now. Here's a couple of pictures of me before the consultation:

 

Some background

I was born with a very large forehead which has always bothered me - and late 2021 I sent an email with some pictures to the clinic, and they came back to me and allowed me an in-person consultation which happened in May 2022.

 

I told Dr. Feriduni that prior to the consultation, I had been to a doctor to confirm that I did not in fact suffer from MBP. Dr. Feriduni did not ask me to do this, but I also showed him a couple of photos of me around 12 years old with the exact same high forehead to "prove the fact" that it has always been this way. He did express his concerns about me being rather young, but after analyzing my hair and hearing my story he said I was a good candidate for a hair transplant, and also one of the "lucky few" - with around 10.000-11.000 grafts in donor capacity.

 

I asked him every question under the sun - and he took his time and made sure that he answered every single one, regardless of how stupid some of them might have been. I've always been a rather anxious person, so naturally I had a lot of concerns which he put me at ease with. After the chat he took his time and gave me a short tour around the clinic and explained to me how the day would look like - after this I got a strong feeling that this was the right place. 

 

Arrival

June 19th I arrived at Brussels Airport by myself after a surprisingly short flight. I took the train to Hasselt where Dr. Feriduni's clinic is located, which If I remember correctly took around 75 minutes. It was also very easy to get on a train from the airport, and the trip was overall a good experience. I checked in at HasHotel where I had gotten a discount through the clinic. The hotel was clean, the service was super friendly, and the room was also really good. It really exceeded my expectations.

 

Surgery Day

After waking up from a good night sleep I took a shower and went down to eat breakfast. I was told by the clinic to eat something light, so that's what I did. It was a very profound feeling, sitting and eating breakfast - knowing that in just a couple of hours you're going to do something life changing that you've been wanting to do for so long. It was a mix of fear (of the unknown) and excitement - mostly excitement. I was picked up at the hotel around 8.15 and was driven to the clinic. The driver was a super friendly guy that I had a small chat with - whom also reassured me that I was in good hands when I told him that I was slightly nervous.

Upon arrival I was welcomed by the receptionist and guided in to my private room that I had for the day. I was given my surgery clothes, mouthwash, a bottle of water and a couple of painkillers before signing the legal documents. After this was done it was time to meet the doctor and agree on the hairline design one last time. Dr. Feriduni measured my face by using the 1/3 rule and drew a hairline he suggested. The hairline was in my opinion perfect, and it framed my face well.

After this, a technician washed my hair and also shaved the area around the recipient area - including the back of my head. For some strange reason I had envisioned that a "partial cut" would "not look that crazy" - as I of course would be able to hide it. Well, jokes on me - and you will also probably laugh when you see the pictures. Now looking back I regret not telling them to just shave my whole head in one go, because it looked absolutely ridiculous 😂 Anyways, now with my new exquisite pineapple look, I was ready to get started.
 

The whole process took about 7 hours in total and I got a total of 2712 grafts (400 singles, 1734 doubles, 578 triples). The technicians did all of the harvesting, which I recall to be 2 - and 2 doing the counting. The harvesting took about 2,5 hours - and after this I was given a nice lunch. I got to order from this menu they had with many different options (something for everyone). I went for a coke zero and a ham & cheese baguette. After I was finished eating, it was time to do the slits. I was given another round of local anaesthetics and Dr. Feriduni started the work. This was all done by Dr. Feriduni alone, and I could sense that he was very concentrated and did everything with extreme precision. Under no circumstance did I feel any sense of rush - I honestly felt like I was the center of the universe. Everything worked like clockwork, and that's when it hit me how much of a team effort this really is. I can't give enough credit to both Dr. Feriduni and the technicians - a true rock star team all together.

The slits took about 1,5-2 hours, and with a short break the technicians jumped straight into the placement of the grafts. They did the majority of the placements while Dr. Feriduni placed the last remaining 200-or-so. This took about 2 hours, also completely pain-free. It was not until I was finished when I actually started to feel a burning sensation in the recipient area, due to the anaesthetics slowly fading away. However, I was quick to tell them about this - and I was given a paracetamol and after the cleaning it slowly faded away (30-45 mins). Since then, I did not notice any significant pain at all. I was given a post-surgery kit and also access to their hair transplant app that described everything that I needed to do the following days in detail along with a how-to video (cleaning and applying post surgery serum).

I went back into Dr. Feriduni's office and he took some pictures of the donor/recipient area and said that he was very satisfied with the results and that everything looked normal. He concluded that after this procedure, I still have +/- 7000 in donor capacity. The transplant was done in zone 1 + 2 with a WAW 0.90 punch. I told them that I was going to stay for five days, and they offered me to come in at any time to get help with the cleaning - which I really appreciated and said politely yes to. Below is a picture of me right before the procedure, and also a couple of pictures taken right after.

 

 

The first night was actually not that bad, but this was also because I'm one of the "crazy" black-sleepers. I woke up a couple of times during the night with my neck being soaking wet - which I later found out was the anaesthetics leaving the body. Uncomfortable and weird, but nothing that hurt. This is also what is causing the "sweaty look" in the images. Unfortunately I also bled through my towel that night, but a part from feeling swollen and a bit sore - everything went fine and I got a good night sleep after all.

 

Day 1

After waking up at around 07 the next day I went down to have some breakfast. I arrived exactly when it opened and I had a nice chat with the waitress and got myself a really nice breakfast. The staff at HasHotel is super friendly, and the breakfast was really good. They definitely contributed greatly in my overall experience. At 10.00 I was picked up for a check at the clinic. Everything looked fine according to Dr. Feriduni, and he seemed very satisfied with the results. Here are some additional pictures he took 1 day post op:

 

The following days literally just consisted of me following my instructions on the app and isolating myself in a hotel room for 6 days with a couple of more visits at the clinic where they helped me with the washing. In fear of traveling too early and potentially hurting the grafts I had 6 nights in Hasselt before I went back. These days were incredibly boring, but at the same time it was exciting to watch the healing - because the donor area did, in my opinion, heal incredibly fast. From here on I won't go into much detail but rather provide a couple of pictures. 

After all I am super appreciative of the incredible work of Dr. Feriduni and the team, and I have nothing but good words to say about them. I can't thank them enough for what they have done for me, and also for the outstanding follow-up the coming months. I did experience some heavy itching on the afternoon at day 4, which subsided after I went to bed. The "feeling of wearing a helmet" went away at day 8 or 9 I believe, and at day 14 I felt like a new person taking the remaining scabs of. Nothing big happened the next two months - I went into a heavy ugly duckling phase at around three weeks in, and experience a lot of redness up until month 4,5.

The donor area healed up in literally ten days or so - with no visible thinning at all. Will try to provide a picture of my donor on month 7.

Day 10

 

1 month 

 

2 months

 

3 months

4 months

 

5 months

6 months

 

I really spent a lot of time on this thread in an attempt to give valuable information back to you guys - I hope you find it useful - and please let me know what you think 😄 And no: I'm not on Fin - because MPB was not the reason to why I got the transplant in the first place.

Will I consider it later if I experience thinning? Of course. // But let's not make this thread about that.

I will update this thread on a monthly basis now. Peace! If you have any questions - drop me a DM and I will try my best to answer in a timely manner.

 

 

 

Edited December 30, 2022 by asvik
minor changes

[Dillpickle123]

24 minutes ago, asvik said:

So it's been about 6 months since I sat down at Dr. Feriduni's clinic in Hasselt, Belgium and had my very first hair transplant. I figured it's time to create a thread and give back to this community that has given me so much invaluable information regarding the field of hair restoration and which surgeons to choose/stay away from. If it weren't for you guys, I would have never been able to narrow it down to Feriduni (and the technicians), whom has undoubtedly changed my life. The reason why I chose to wait such a long time, was mainly because I didn't want to showcase my progress and have a bunch of strangers telling me how (potentially bad) I was doing. Instead I chose to trust the process, and me feeling much more confident about a solid final result - I'm sharing this with you now. Here's a couple of pictures of me before the consultation:

 

Some background

I was born with a very large forehead which has always bothered me - and late 2021 I sent an email with some pictures to the clinic, and they came back to me and allowed me an in-person consultation which happened in May 2022.

 

I told Dr. Feriduni that prior to the consultation, I had been to a doctor to confirm that I did not in fact suffer from MBP. Dr. Feriduni did not ask me to do this, but I also showed him a couple of photos of me around 12 years old with the exact same high forehead to "prove the fact" that it has always been this way. He did express his concerns about me being rather young, but after analyzing my hair and hearing my story he said I was a good candidate for a hair transplant, and also one of the "lucky few" - with around 10.000-11.000 grafts in donor capacity.

 

I asked him every question under the sun - and he took his time and made sure that he answered every single one, regardless of how stupid some of them might have been. I've always been a rather anxious person, so naturally I had a lot of concerns which he put me at ease with. After the chat he took his time and gave me a short tour around the clinic and explained to me how the day would look like - after this I got a strong feeling that this was the right place. 

 

Arrival

June 19th I arrived at Brussels Airport by myself after a surprisingly short flight. I took the train to Hasselt where Dr. Feriduni's clinic is located, which If I remember correctly took around 75 minutes. It was also very easy to get on a train from the airport, and the trip was overall a good experience. I checked in at HasHotel where I had gotten a discount through the clinic. The hotel was clean, the service was super friendly, and the room was also really good. It really exceeded my expectations.

 

Surgery Day

After waking up from a good night sleep I took a shower and went down to eat breakfast. I was told by the clinic to eat something light, so that's what I did. It was a very profound feeling, sitting and eating breakfast - knowing that in just a couple of hours you're going to do something life changing that you've been wanting to do for so long. It was a mix of fear (of the unknown) and excitement - mostly excitement. I was picked up at the hotel around 8.15 and was driven to the clinic. The driver was a super friendly guy that I had a small chat with - whom also reassured me that I was in good hands when I told him that I was slightly nervous.

Upon arrival I was welcomed by the receptionist and guided in to my private room that I had for the day. I was given my surgery clothes, mouthwash, a bottle of water and a couple of painkillers before signing the legal documents. After this was done it was time to meet the doctor and agree on the hairline design one last time. Dr. Feriduni measured my face by using the 1/3 rule and drew a hairline he suggested. The hairline was in my opinion perfect, and it framed my face well.

After this, a technician washed my hair and also shaved the area around the recipient area - including the back of my head. For some strange reason I had envisioned that a "partial cut" would "not look that crazy" - as I of course would be able to hide it. Well, jokes on me - and you will also probably laugh when you see the pictures. Now looking back I regret not telling them to just shave my whole head in one go, because it looked absolutely ridiculous 😂 Anyways, now with my new exquisite pineapple look, I was ready to get started.
 

The whole process took about 7 hours in total and I got a total of 2712 grafts (400 singles, 1734 doubles, 578 triples). The technicians did all of the harvesting, which I recall to be 2 - and 2 doing the counting. The harvesting took about 2,5 hours - and after this I was given a nice lunch. I got to order from this menu they had with many different options (something for everyone). I went for a coke zero and a ham & cheese baguette. After I was finished eating, it was time to do the slits. I was given another round of local anaesthetics and Dr. Feriduni started the work. This was all done by Dr. Feriduni alone, and I could sense that he was very concentrated and did everything with extreme precision. Under no circumstance did I feel any sense of rush - I honestly felt like I was the center of the universe. Everything worked like clockwork, and that's when it hit me how much of a team effort this really is. I can't give enough credit to both Dr. Feriduni and the technicians - a true rock star team all together.

The slits took about 1,5-2 hours, and with a short break the technicians jumped straight into the placement of the grafts. They did the majority of the placements while Dr. Feriduni placed the last remaining 200-or-so. This took about 2 hours, also completely pain-free. It was not until I was finished when I actually started to feel a burning sensation in the recipient area, due to the anaesthetics slowly fading away. However, I was quick to tell them about this - and I was given a paracetamol and after the cleaning it slowly faded away (30-45 mins). Since then, I did not notice any significant pain at all. I was given a post-surgery kit and also access to their hair transplant app that described everything that I needed to do the following days in detail along with a how-to video (cleaning and applying post surgery serum).

I went back into Dr. Feriduni's office and he took some pictures of the donor/recipient area and said that he was very satisfied with the results and that everything looked normal. He concluded that after this procedure, I still have +/- 7000 in donor capacity. The transplant was done in zone 1 + 2 with a WAW 0.90 punch. I told them that I was going to stay for five days, and they offered me to come in at any time to get help with the cleaning - which I really appreciated and said politely yes to. Below is a picture of me right before the procedure, and also a couple of pictures taken right after.

 

 

The first night was actually not that bad, but this was also because I'm one of the "crazy" black-sleepers. I woke up a couple of times during the night with my neck being soaking wet - which I later found out was the anaesthetics leaving the body. Uncomfortable and weird, but nothing that hurt. This is also what is causing the "sweaty look" in the images. Unfortunately I also bled through my towel that night, but a part from feeling swollen and a bit sore - everything went fine and I got a good night sleep after all.

 

Day 1

After waking up at around 07 the next day I went down to have some breakfast. I arrived exactly when it opened and I had a nice chat with the waitress and got myself a really nice breakfast. The staff at HasHotel is super friendly, and the breakfast was really good. They definitely contributed greatly in my overall experience. At 10.00 I was picked up for a check at the clinic. Everything looked fine according to Dr. Feriduni, and he seemed very satisfied with the results. Here are some additional pictures he took 1 day post op:

 

The following days literally just consisted of me following my instructions on the app and isolating myself in a hotel room for 6 days with a couple of more visits at the clinic where they helped me with the washing. In fear of traveling too early and potentially hurting the grafts I had 6 nights in Hasselt before I went back. These days were incredibly boring, but at the same time it was exciting to watch the healing - because the donor area did, in my opinion, heal incredibly fast. From here on I won't go into much detail but rather provide a couple of pictures. 

After all I am super appreciative of the incredible work of Dr. Feriduni and the team, and I have nothing but good words to say about them. I can't thank them enough for what they have done for me, and also for the outstanding follow-up the coming months. I did experience some heavy itching on the afternoon at day 4, which subsided after I went to bed. The "feeling of wearing a helmet" went away at day 8 or 9 I believe, and at day 14 I felt like a new person taking the remaining scabs of. Nothing big happened the next two months - I went into a heavy ugly duckling phase at around three weeks in, and experience a lot of redness up until month 4,5.

The donor area healed up in literally ten days or so - with no visible thinning at all. Will try to provide a picture of my donor on month 7.

Day 10

 

1 month 

 

2 months

 

3 months

4 months

 

5 months

6 months

 

I really spent a lot of time on this thread in an attempt to give valuable information back to you guys - I hope you find it useful - and please let me know what you think 😄 And no: I'm not on Fin - because MPB was not the reason to why I got the transplant in the first place.

Will I consider it later if I experience thinning? Of course. // But let's not make this thread about that.

I will update this thread on a monthly basis now. Peace! If you have any questions - drop me a DM and I will try my best to answer in a timely manner.

 

 

 

Look really good 👍 he’s one of the best in Europe what was his price per graft?

[HairEnthusiast101]

Looks great. Still plenty of time to thicken up!

[Gatsby]

Great results @asvik. Also the the hairline height is perfect. 👌

[Melvin- Admin]

Wow this is incredible, Dr. Feriduni hit this one out of the park and its only 6 months. Very excited to follow your progress.

[Tiger2050]

Looks awesome and it’s going to keep getting thicker in the coming months. Did Feriduni take any sort for measurements to determine your donor capacity of 10,000-11,000 grafts or was it more of just a feel thing? 

Edited December 30, 2022 by Tiger2050

[Mike10]

25 is young I agree with Feriduni. And it seems that it was not Feriduni who confirmed that this is not MPB just some other Dr.

[asvik]

7 hours ago, Dillpickle123 said:

Look really good 👍 he’s one of the best in Europe what was his price per graft?

Thank you! ☺️ I'm not entirely sure about that, but I think you can reach out to @L0ke and she can answer you directly.

[asvik]

7 hours ago, Gatsby said:

Great results @asvik. Also the the hairline height is perfect. 👌

Thank you @Gatsby! It's been super fascinating following your journey also, you look incredible - wishing you the best of luck on your upcoming trip 🙏🏼

[asvik]

5 hours ago, Tiger2050 said:

Looks awesome and it’s going to keep getting thicker in the coming months. Did Feriduni take any sort for measurements to determine your donor capacity of 10,000-11,000 grafts or was it more of just a feel thing? 

Thanks man! 😄 Yeah, he did use some measurement tool, it but what the name of that was - I don't know 😅

[GAT]

Looks great, congrats!

[Mike10]

Honestly I find it hard to believe that you do nozt have MPB. You have some pics when you were 18?

[asvik]

17 minutes ago, Mike10 said:

Honestly I find it hard to believe that you do nozt have MPB. You have some pics when you were 18?

And you're entitled to your opinion. But as I wrote in the bottom of this thread, let's not make it about this. I'm closely looking after my hair, and if I was to experience further thinning I would consider medication.

Edited December 30, 2022 by asvik

[Curious25]

Thats certainly grown in well - I don’t think I’ve seen a hairline with such a focus on micro irregularities like this from Feriduni before, it looks good though. 
 

I echo sentiments in the sense that I’m very sceptical you’ve had this hairline from birth, it looks like classic MPB frontal recession. However I respect you’ve had a different Dr assess you, and you’re comfortable with the path you’re following! 
 

Enjoy another 6 months of growth and maturation! 

[BaldReaper]

Looks good so far, what was the height of your hairline prior to the ht and what is it now?

[asvik]

14 hours ago, BaldV said:

Looks good so far, what was the height of your hairline prior to the ht and what is it now?

Thanks! Honestly - I remember I measured it in centimeters some years back - but I can't remember. Ever since I was 18 years (and started to measure by hand) my peaks has always around 6,5-7 fingers from the top of my eyebrows - as they were pre op also. Now it's 4-4,5 - across my whole forehead - the left side being the highest (4,5) ☺️

Edited December 31, 2022 by asvik

[asvik]

15 hours ago, Curious25 said:

Thats certainly grown in well - I don’t think I’ve seen a hairline with such a focus on micro irregularities like this from Feriduni before, it looks good though. 
 

I echo sentiments in the sense that I’m very sceptical you’ve had this hairline from birth, it looks like classic MPB frontal recession. However I respect you’ve had a different Dr assess you, and you’re comfortable with the path you’re following! 
 

Enjoy another 6 months of growth and maturation! 

Thank you very much! I'm really satisfied with the hairline design - Feriduni said that these micro irregularities would give a much more natural result with my hair type and frame my face better, which I think he was correct in his assumptions.

When it comes to the MPB - it's important for me to add that I've been wearing a beanie/cap 8+ hours every day for over 10 years - which has periodically caused a lot of itching in that particular area - that of course might have done some thinning. But if I added several photos of me down to like age 12 - I'm certain that most of you could immediately see that it is in fact the case. However, I won't do that - as that crosses a line of what I'm comfortable sharing here 😅

Anyways - I'm closely looking after my hair - and hopping on Fin if I was to experience thinning behind the transplanted area is definitely not out of the question.

Appreciate your feedback anyways!

Edited December 31, 2022 by asvik

[bear56]

great results!!! personally i like the short hair look like the one at your 4th month pic. i think it fits you best.

[asvik]

All right, so time is flying so fast and I apologise for not updating more frequently. I've included som more photos from better angles with better lightning this time - also with different hairstyles to give the most realistic view.

Here is a couple of photos of me exactly 7 months after surgery, while the last picture is in harsh lightning zoomed in from a "less good angle" and no hair products.

 

[asvik]

Lastly, here is a couple of pictures of me 7.5 months after - both with wet hair and using hair gel (uppercut deluxe pomade). I usually don't wear my hair slick back because of my hair caliber and the fact that it has so insane volume to it - but I tried my best for this photoshoot 😂

 

And - the donor area - which looks like I've never had anything done in the first place.

 

I'm super happy with the results so far - only thing I wish for is to make it thicken even more up in the front of the hairline - some angles makes the hairline still look significantly high, but that's just nitpicking - it's so much better than what it was prior to the surgery. Having scheduled an in-person (1 year consultation) with Feriduni in May - so I will head back and visit the team in Hasselt then for a final review/check-up.

And yes; I can see that I need to go to the hairdresser soon 🤣

Edited February 11, 2023 by asvik

[HairEnthusiast101]

Do you think your donor feels and looks the same or can you notice a slight difference ?

[asvik]

1 hour ago, JoDimaggio22 said:

Do you think your donor feels and looks the same or can you notice a slight difference ?

To be completely honest, I think my donor feels the same - and I can't really spot any difference. However, I've not had the back of my head trimmed in a while - so not sure what it would feel like/look like then. I guess I'll find out closer to the summer. But right now - not a difference at all.

[Hairy Henderson]

No offense, but, The hairline looks a bit sparse to me.  I get the micro irregularities, but, there’s lots of random hairs growing with nothing around them.  Was thinking the hairline would be more dense.

[Berba11]

Looks awesome! Great results which will mature and refine over the next three months especially.

[asvik]

1 hour ago, Calihome1 said:

No offense, but, The hairline looks a bit sparse to me.  I get the micro irregularities, but, there’s lots of random hairs growing with nothing around them.  Was thinking the hairline would be more dense.

None taken! ☺️ That's what I meant when I said that I was hoping that it will thicken up a bit more - because in this lightning especially - I agree with you that it looks a bit sparse. However, I've taken these photos in the most harsh lightning that I could find. Fingers crossed it will thicken up. Will discuss this with Feriduni on my 1 year in-person consultation if it does not improve ☺️

Edited February 11, 2023 by asvik