First HT: FUE 3400 grafts, Clinique Racine Carrée

[kiwik]

Hi everyone, 

 

I'd like to share my HT experience at a local clinic near Paris. I'm 28, I've been losing my hair for about 8 years now, and after taking minoxidil for several years, I came to the conclusion that I needed a transplant. I chose a local clinic, Racine Carrée, and had surgery 7 weeks ago: FUE, motorized punch, 3400 grafts in one session (from what I gather, it's the biggest number of grafts they do in one day). The doctor, Dr Alavi, did the pre-op consultation, anesthesia and incisions, and her team did the actual extraction and implantation of the grafts. 

 

Here are some pictures : before, receiving area right after surgery and after three weeks, donor after removing the headband, and now after 7 weeks. I feel like my donor area still needs to recover (though it has already healed: there's no itching or redness anymore). What's your take on this? 

 

I'll try and post updates once a month! 

 

 

[Rafael Manelli]

It looks good, seems most of the grafts didn’t even shed. 

[A_4_Archan]

Yeh your donor area is recovering well...work looks good...best of luck and keep updating ...

[kiwik]

3 hours ago, Rafael Manelli said:

It looks good, seems most of the grafts didn’t even shed. 

The picture of the recipient area was taken 3 weeks post-op; some of the grafts have shed since. Here is a picture 7 weeks post-op:

 

[Rafael Manelli]

That looks normal. 

[WhereIsMyMind]

Looks like a surprisingly good job for an unknown clinic. In my opinion 3.4k graft was never enough to give full coverage on such area so don't expect thick results but definetely big improvement for sure! 2cnd HT should seal the deal.

[kiwik]

Yep, I'm not expecting miracles in terms of thickness, the doctor told me what to expect. If I'm satisfied with the results, I'll go back for a second HT next year! 

[Melvin- Admin]

Where is this clinic, did the doctor do extractions?

[kiwik]

The clinic is located in Levallois-Perret, just outside of Paris. It's a hair clinic, they don't do any other plastic surgery, which seems to be quite rare in France. 

The extractions were done by two technicians. I paid 3500€ for the transplant (which includes the post-op treatment: minoxidil and supplements, as well as three follow-up visits).

[kiwik]

[Update: 2 months] 

 

Here is the situation after 62 days: hasn't really evolved since last time, the shedding has stopped. Definitely feeling like an ugly duckling!

 

People don't seem to notice it anymore though, in normal lighting my hair is now quite similar to what it looked like before the HT.

[kiwik]

[Update: 3 months] 

Finally reached the 3 months mark! I'm delighted to see some growth in the recipient area. Donor still looks the same though, I'm hoping for a significant change on that front in the coming months. 

[Surf]

Looks really clean OP. Side note, have you had those two spots on your head checked in the 3rd picture before (assuming they’re not transplant-related)? Always better to be safe than sorry! 

[kiwik]

Yeah I already had those before the transplant. I'm actually seeing a dermatologist later this week to have them checked :)

[Surf]

That’s great - didn’t mean to worry you if I did!

[kiwik]

No worries and thanks for pointing it out! One of the two spots looks and feels like a small cyst, which I planned on having removed before my second HT anyway. 

[kiwik]

[Update: 4 months] 

It's getting better each month now! I'm seeing constant growth in the recipient area, and can still look forward to a lot more. I'm still waiting for my donor to recover from shock loss, with summer around the corner I'd love to be able to cut my hair a bit shorter a few weeks from now, but I still have to grow it out for the moment. 

[kiwik]

[Update: 5 months] 

I've seen some thickening in the last weeks, but not much new growth. There are finally a few dozen small hairs sprouting in the donor area: the recovery has officially started! But I have a feeling that's it's going to take a few more months before it looks completely normal again. 

[mr_peanutbutter]

On 3/8/2023 at 9:05 AM, kiwik said:

The clinic is located in Levallois-Perret, just outside of Paris. It's a hair clinic, they don't do any other plastic surgery, which seems to be quite rare in France. 

The extractions were done by two technicians. I paid 3500€ for the transplant (which includes the post-op treatment: minoxidil and supplements, as well as three follow-up visits).

the price is definitely very competetive, cheaper then even many doctors in turkey 

 

were the technicians from france or were they flow in from other parts of the world?

[kiwik]

The techs (who I was told are actual nurses) were French.

[kiwik]

[Update: 7 months] 

I don't see a lot of change anymore, there has definitely been a lot of thickening since the last update, but no new growth. I'm quite happy with the result, I don't think I could have expected more coverage than this from only 3400 grafts. 

One thing worth noting is that I have a few double grafts in the hairline (but to be honest, I am not really bothered by that). 

I hopped on topical fin (Finagen from Hemiacosmetics, a fin+min blend) a couple of few weeks ago and am currently experiencing some shedding. Doc told me to wait for the crown to stabilize before having another transplant, so that's what I'm going to do.