2700 Grafts FUT led by Doctor Damkerng Pathomvanich (March 17, 2023)

[Henry]

I had my surgery exactly one month from today and this is how it is looking, I had a buzz cut just recently to match the hair transplant length. 

Here are some pre op pics from the clinic.

 

And here are some immediate post op photos

 

He designed the hairline exactly how i wanted it. He decided to put some grafts in between existing hairs that he decided were minituirized, we lowered the sides but not the entire hairline, we also made some revisions to the temple points.

I'd say I've shed 50 or 60 percent of the transplanted hair, most of the shed happened on day 14 and then much more gradual after that.

I was also noticing a lot more hair in the shower during that one month period, either from shock loss or from minoxidil shed (started oral min immediately post op, on finasteride for 8 months before pre op)

Now for my experience with DHT Clinic. 

it was a very professional atmosphere but extremely friendly and caring at the same time, Dr. Path had a huge team, he did the incisions and the strip and the other 2 doctors did the implanting while he got in and out of the room. All the other nurses helped with other parts of the procedure. The head nurse finished up the surgery, implanting more grafts near the end. (The head nurse has been with doctor path since the very beginning, so, 25 years give or take. I would have been okay if she did my entire procedure to be honest, 25 years of experience with dr. Path makes her better than a lot of doctors if you ask me.)

The actual surgery i think took 9 hours. According to Dr. Path, the reason it took this long was because i was a bleeder, and that very reason as well made the actual surgery very unpleasant for me, the bleeding kept on pushing out the anaesthesia (according to the head nurse) so i always complained about pain so they would inject more and it wouldn't hurt for like 30 minutes but would start hurting again and this scenario kept happening for the entirety of the procedure.

Just to be clear I don't blame them for any of the unpleasantness. 

As for the yield, i forgot to take a picture of the board where all the information was but one detail that i wouldn't forget, and Dr. Path talked to me about this, they got like 120 minituirized grafts from the strip. (Out of 2700) i guess i was thinning all over my scalp but it wasn't really noticeable with long hair, still i think they implanted those grafts and dr. Path hoped that oral min would help thicken them up.

There's really nothing to be said about results for now but I'm hoping for the best. Thank you everyone for the help with this decision, I haven't been exactly nice to everyone in this community but all of us really are after one thing, a natural hairstyle that we can be happy with and I legitimately want everyone to have that. Good luck to all of us.

[Cmpnla]

Thanks for posting this. You are (or rather, were) in a very similar situation to what I am currently and I'm also considering Dr Pathomvanich. Going to be following your progress closely. 👍

[Henry]

10 minutes ago, Cmpnla said:

Thanks for posting this. You are (or rather, were) in a very similar situation to what I am currently and I'm also considering Dr Pathomvanich. Going to be following your progress closely. 👍

You're welcome. I should also note that I'm 31, so it was very important for me to go with an FUT Procedure. 

[A_4_Archan]

He is a good surgeon ....work looks clean and dense packed from the pics...hairline implantation design also looks proper ..imo you will get a very good outcome ....Happy growing and keep updating ....

[Rafael Manelli]

9 hours ago, Henry said:

You're welcome. I should also note that I'm 31, so it was very important for me to go with an FUT Procedure. 

Can you explain your thought process here

[Gramatik]

There was no reason actually to do FUT...You were small norwood with good donor...

[Henry]

Based on my research, 31 is relatively young. By starting with an FUT procedure, I would have a higher number of grafts that's available to me that I would likely need for future ht's, i can even take multiple strips if i have the laxity for it before i even start thinking about an FUE. @Rafael Manelli

Edited April 15, 2023 by Henry

[Henry]

3 minutes ago, Gramatik said:

There was no reason actually to do FUT...You were small norwood with good donor...

That pre op picture is deceiving, the whole top of my head is noticably thinner than my donor area, especially the crown. Which i assume will be significantly thin, in my late 30s. And my hair caliber is thin. 

[Henry]

3 hours ago, A_4_Archan said:

He is a good surgeon ....work looks clean and dense packed from the pics...hairline implantation design also looks proper ..imo you will get a very good outcome ....Happy growing and keep updating ....

Thanks man, i hope yours grows out good too, you had yours with dr laorwong right?

[John1991]

Looks very good.

[A_4_Archan]

21 hours ago, Henry said:

Thanks man, i hope yours grows out good too, you had yours with dr laorwong right?

Not yet...going to have it on 2nd may...planned for march but it got delayed due to passport issue...so now 15 days to go and i will be in the same position as you...😊

Edited April 16, 2023 by A_4_Archan

[Henry]

2 months, and i gotta be honest, I'm a little worried, not about the transplant, it's still early, but about my existing hairs, they're getting thinner and thinner and as you can see I'm not even close to where my baseline was. What has me worried is, this area wasn't even touched so how could this be shock loss, and even if it was, it's already been 2 months. 

I'm 31 and on finasteride and minoxidil both oral, I'm worried they might not be working anymore. 

I gotta tell you, if this thing doesn't work out in 10 to 12 months, I'm done with all of this hairloss thing, and just accept the baldness. It's easier to let go knowing that i did everything i can, I took action and did something about it with research, medication and surgery. 

[fragile_shihtzu]

Were you on minoxidil before your HT?

[Henry]

8 hours ago, fragile_shihtzu said:

Were you on minoxidil before your HT?

On and off with the topical. Just started oral min right after ht, so 2 months on it now. 

[fragile_shihtzu]

Just now, Henry said:

On and off with the topical. Just started oral min right after ht, so 2 months on it now. 

Ah, that might be where the shed is coming from then, I'd be willing to guess all that native hair will come back thicker in coming months

[Henry]

Just now, fragile_shihtzu said:

Ah, that might be where the shed is coming from then, I'd be willing to guess all that native hair will come back thicker in coming months

I hope you're right, all i can do is wait. 

[fragile_shihtzu]

18 minutes ago, Henry said:

I hope you're right, all i can do is wait. 

it's the hardest part, stay strong brother 💪

[Gatsby]

To be honest I've found that it takes the scalp/hair a good 12 months to recover fully from the surgical trauma of a hair transplant. I've had surgery on my scalp from transplants and repairs all up about nine or ten times. Each time (no matter how minor) my scalp hair has taken a hit and later bounced back. Stay strong @Henry. 👍

[Henry]

1 hour ago, Gatsby said:

To be honest I've found that it takes the scalp/hair a good 12 months to recover fully from the surgical trauma of a hair transplant. I've had surgery on my scalp from transplants and repairs all up about nine or ten times. Each time (no matter how minor) my scalp hair has taken a hit and later bounced back. Stay strong @Henry. 👍

Thank you sir.

[Melvin- Admin]

Things look worse before they get better.

[Henry]

3 months now, good news is my native hair seemed to have recovered now. Phew, Right is post ht, left is pre ht .

 

Not so good news is, I'm not an early grower. Still being patient though. It's a loooong road.

[geepad]

Hello. Thanks for posting your progress - watching with great interest. I am in Thailand right now for a couple months and wish to check out the two places recommended on this website (Damkerng and Laorwong).

Any recommendations for what to expect and what to ask in my consult with Damkerng? Did Damkerng himself do the consult with you? Thanks!

A concern - on his website, he claims he is on the American Board of Surgery since 1979. He is indeed listed with them, but it states his certification expired in 1999 - which is not admitted on Damkerng's website.

I may or may not get it done this summer - just wanted to consult with them first and get a feel for it. What has me nervous is that my dermatologist friend back in the US told me a lot of doctors don't want to deal with patients who have post surgery problems done in other countries. 

 

Thanks for any replies.

Edited July 12, 2023 by geepad
spelling

[A_4_Archan]

@Henry you are probably now out of the shedding phase and will start seeing hairs popping out and there will be baby hairs all over your transplanted area by 4 month post op...than those hair will slowly and steadily start geting fuller and denser...its a long process my friend so patience is the key and have trust on the process...

@geepadyeh dr path and dr laorwong both have ABHRS certification and i don't know if dr path's certificate is expired or not..to be frank all those thing don't matter much...what matters are the results and both the doctors are good at producing decent results and both of them are ethical and well experienced surgeons...they both are somewhat introvert and don't go for advertisements an all such stuff and do their work quietly and imo both are underrated....i jst had my surgery with dr laorwong 2 Months back....you can go with either of them...whoever you feel comfortable and convenient with..if you want more info or ask anything about dr laorwong thn do let me know ..i would be happy to help you..best of luck ...

Edited July 12, 2023 by A_4_Archan

[Henry]

6 hours ago, geepad said:

Hello. Thanks for posting your progress - watching with great interest. I am in Thailand right now for a couple months and wish to check out the two places recommended on this website (Damkerng and Laorwong).

Any recommendations for what to expect and what to ask in my consult with Damkerng? Did Damkerng himself do the consult with you? Thanks!

A concern - on his website, he claims he is on the American Board of Surgery since 1979. He is indeed listed with them, but it states his certification expired in 1999 - which is not admitted on Damkerng's website.

I may or may not get it done this summer - just wanted to consult with them first and get a feel for it. What has me nervous is that my dermatologist friend back in the US told me a lot of doctors don't want to deal with patients who have post surgery problems done in other countries. 

 

Thanks for any replies.

Hey, i wouldn't worry about the ABHRS or any so called "hairloss organizations" you go with somene who has a good reputation, check out their results and their hairline designs etc.

My in person consultation with them was kind of different because we proceeded with the surgery immediately after, anyway we talked about medications im taking, my hairloss history, he asked about family members having hairloss etc. And then we designed the hairline. He just followed exactly what hairline i wanted.

I just asked one question since I've done extensive research about hair transplants and his clinic so i didn't really need to ask questions that i knew the answer to. My question was if the hairline i designed was too aggressive or too low, he said no and that was it. 

I suggest you do extensive research about these procedures too if you haven't already, to arm yourself with knowledge and to help you make informed decisions.

[Henry]

4 hours ago, A_4_Archan said:

@Henry you are probably now out of the shedding phase and will start seeing hairs pooping out...

@geepad

Man, i hope they poop more and more hairs too. Lol just kidding, i know what you mean, yeah my hair right now is still a buzz cut, I cut it every month since  i hope to have the transplanted hairs density to catch up so that i can grow them all at once without the transplants just catching up, plus i like the buzz cut look.