Procedure with dr. Freitas

[Mat16]

Hello guys,

 

today I have received email assessment on my situation from doctor Freitas from Spain. He quoted me 2000 grafts to allocate to my frontal area. 

I would like to hear some experienced opinions on whether I should go ahead and do it. If yes, I would like to do it in January 2024 (I will reach my 25. year that month) since I’ll be living in Spain from January until June that year (exchange studies). 
 

The procedure is very costly (more than I expected with this dr) so I really need some good advices on what to do. I started using topical dutasteride from farmacia parati approximately 3 months ago and oral minoxidil 2.5mg five times a week more than a year ago. Regimen of dustasteride is 1ml of 0.5% once a week. When I finish my bottle I would like to go up to 1% once a week. So far cannot assess the efficacy. 
 

here you can see my photos. The ones with white/yellow wall behind me (first two) are from before I started using medicine. The ones with longer hair are also 1-2 years ago. The other ones with short hair are quite current.

 

the fact is that my hair is bothering me so much (not as much as before I started wearing it short) that it is affecting other areas of my life and I would like to solve it asap.

thanks to anyone who reads this

Edited June 6, 2023 by Mat16

[GAT]

The meds seem to have really helped you, congrats on that!  I think your hair actually looks really good currently.  It appears with your short haircut that your areas of concern have recovered.  Of course it’s a personal decision but I would wait as long as possible  to have a HT.

Should you choose to go through with your Freitas intervention, he’d rock your hairline.

Best of luck!

[duckling]

you dont need HT,  you are golden for now. meds did great in hairline which is rare

[TheGreatPretender]

You look great man!

Honestly I wouldnt botter with the stress of surgery at this point. 

Give meds some time as you seem to be a good responder. 

Reevaluate when you reach 1/2 years on it.

[ITA]

I agree that you don't need any transplant.

[Met]

 

I'm interested in how you come to the conclusion that you need an ht? How did you come up with this idea?
enjoy your life and don't waste your time here with physically weak people like me, for example

[Hairboy67]

Mat16,

You're young and in good shape with a nice head of hair. Keep up your hair regimen and hold off on a HT. Go enjoy your life.

Edited June 6, 2023 by Hairboy67

[Mat16]

Thank you all for your answers. Yes I am aware that the hairstyle on photos with red shirt looks quite good, however under a brighter light or under the sun it looks so very weak and then my temples are completely fu***d. That’s why I would like to strengthen my hairline. I don’t know maybe less than 2000 grafts would be more optimal.

[Mat16]

Also, what do you think 2000 grafts will do to my hairline? I don’t want it to be so obvious so everyone immediately knows my hairline is much lower. My primary goal is to strengthen the temples so the look even with hairline under the light.

[SamK23]

Hair looks great my friend. I think you run the risk of people actually knowing you had an HT with 2000 grafts. The meds seem to be working and your hair looks great. I know you don't see it that way, but I think you should wait it out and see how things look in another 1-2 years.

[RTC]

You don't need HT, you had a great result with meds

[Gavinlee]

@Mat16 I agree with what others are saying - you have great hair! Stick with the meds and give it time. Especially if you’re a student and money is tight. What is Freitas charging for you? 

[A_4_Archan]

You still don't need a HT mate....just keep on the medication and you are fine...you can use a bit of fibers too....

[Eli_Avdikian]

Just out of curiosity, did De Freitas accept operating on you knowing that you're not on any oral 5AR inhibitor? 

[Mat16]

On 6/15/2023 at 3:24 PM, Gavinlee said:

@Mat16 I agree with what others are saying - you have great hair! Stick with the meds and give it time. Especially if you’re a student and money is tight. What is Freitas charging for you? 

So after I told them that I don’t want the transplant to be very noticeable they lowered the amount of grafts to 1800 and the price is in the region between 5000-6000€…

[Mat16]

On 6/16/2023 at 12:32 AM, Eli_Avdikian said:

Just out of curiosity, did De Freitas accept operating on you knowing that you're not on any oral 5AR inhibitor? 

Yea, I just told them that I use oral minoxidil and topical dutasteride and they were okay with it

[TheGreatPretender]

I would still urge you to reconsider going down the surgical path. Not trying to actively discourage you but you have to consider the risks/rewards implications that come with a surgery.

I am only a week before my proccedure with De Freitas and I can tell you de anxiety I have felt so far hasnt equaled anything I have been through in my entire life, there are a lot of factors that go into consideration when you go for a HT and you got to understand that not all implanted folicles will grow back after being implanted, there is a risk of transection and permanent loss of your native hair especially in diffuse thinning cases. But my baldness is way too advanced to not consider surgical means while yours is not. 

If I saw you down the street I wouldnt probably be able to tell you had hair loss which means that meds have been helping you maintain what you currently have and at least keep yourself presentable to the outer world. 

If you decided to grow it out it would be 99% impossible to tell any signs of thinning and I think you should try to at least wear it that way that makes you comfortable because you certainly have options where many dont. I completly understand the need to recover lost ground and the depression that comes with it, but in my view your hair already looks great and it wouldnt really make a top tier difference as someone with more advanced form of balding would.

Again not trying to discourage, only trying to give some advise. 

[Eli_Avdikian]

15 hours ago, Mat16 said:

Yea, I just told them that I use oral minoxidil and topical dutasteride and they were okay with it

That's strange given that every HT surgeon that I consulted in Spain absolutely requires taking at least 1mg of finasteride daily. I also heard that De Freitas is a notorious oral 5AR inhibitors advocate. 

Edited June 19, 2023 by Eli_Avdikian

[Met]

15 hours ago, TheGreatPretender said:

would still urge you to reconsider going down the surgical path. Not trying to actively discourage you but you have to consider the risks/rewards implications that come with a surgery.

I am only a week before my proccedure with De Freitas and I can tell you de anxiety I have felt so far hasnt equaled anything I have been through in my entire life, there are a lot of factors that go into consideration when you go for a HT and you got to understand that not all implanted folicles will grow back after being implanted, there is a risk of transection and permanent loss of your native hair especially in diffuse thinning cases. But my baldness is way too advanced to not consider surgical means while yours is not. 

If I saw you down the street I wouldnt probably be able to tell you had hair loss which means that meds have been helping you maintain what you currently have and at least keep yourself presentable to the outer world. 

If you decided to grow it out it would be 99% impossible to tell any signs of thinning and I think you should try to at least wear it that way that makes you comfortable because you certainly have options where many dont. I completly understand the need to recover lost ground and the depression that comes with it, but in my view your hair already looks great and it wouldnt really make a top tier difference as someone with more advanced form of balding would.

Again not trying to discourage, only trying to give some advise.

I wish you the best of luck with your ht.

You do not have to be scared. I've already had an HT and everything went great. because fear doesn't help you. trust the situation and your choice. you have chosen one of the best doctors.

I recommend that if you can't get your fear under control, you should tell your doctor. he would give you the appropriate medication. at the latest after the operation is over you will feel super happy.

for me it was one of the best decisions i've made. I will have a second ht accordingly. keeping your mind and body loose during surgery should be important. don't tense up

[TheGreatPretender]

1 minute ago, Met said:

I wish you the best of luck with your ht.

You do not have to be scared. I've already had an HT and everything went great. because fear doesn't help you. trust the situation and your choice. you have chosen one of the best doctors.

I recommend that if you can't get your fear under control, you should tell your doctor. he would give you the appropriate medication. at the latest after the operation is over you will feel super happy.

for me it was one of the best decisions i've made. I will have a second ht accordingly. keeping your mind and body loose during surgery should be important. don't tense up

Thanks man. The doctor does give anti depressants on the day of the surgery to calm patients down from what I have been told so that may help. 

My only fear is the post op process and how painful sleeping is according to most people. Also some horror stories about people banging their heads. 

I will fly off at the morning after my last day and fortunately I have been told by the clinic that I should be fit to fly off so hopefully it won't be too bad. 

I will also be taking one of my parents to help me with the process so there's also that. Hopefully the saline solution will help me to speed up healing and I can get home safely without the scratch of a sound. 

[TheGreatPretender]

12 hours ago, Eli_Avdikian said:

That's strange given that every HT surgeon that I consulted in Spain absolutely requires taking at least 1mg of finasteride daily. I also heard that De Freitas is a notorious oral 5AR inhibitors advocate. 

He is. 

He actually recommended me to start 1MG of Finasteride from Monday to Friday but I told them I was already on it for 2 years besides topical Minoxidil for 1. They essentially told me to continue the medication. 

But I have also heard from patients that I liked to get agressive and recommending oral dutasteride and Minoxidil for the mix. 

[Met]

8 minutes ago, TheGreatPretender said:

Thanks man. The doctor does give anti depressants on the day of the surgery to calm patients down from what I have been told so that may help. 

My only fear is the post op process and how painful sleeping is according to most people. Also some horror stories about people banging their heads. 

I will fly off at the morning after my last day and fortunately I have been told by the clinic that I should be fit to fly off so hopefully it won't be too bad. 

I will also be taking one of my parents to help me with the process so there's also that. Hopefully the saline solution will help me to speed up healing and I can get home safely without the scratch of a sound. 

You have prepared yourself very well. learn a principle in life: you only die once. f**k the fears. live your life.
you have chosen a very good doctor. everything else is fate. you can stand the few days after the operation. a bit of insomnia is part of it. that's not bad. after 3 days everything is fine. after 10 days everything is the same. I'll put it this way: your appearance can't be any worse than before. so enjoy the healing process. I would be happy if you describe your case in detail. Best regards

[TheGreatPretender]

1 minute ago, Met said:

You have prepared yourself very well. learn a principle in life: you only die once. f**k the fears. live your life.
you have chosen a very good doctor. everything else is fate. you can stand the few days after the operation. a bit of insomnia is part of it. that's not bad. after 3 days everything is fine. after 10 days everything is the same. I'll put it this way: your appearance can't be any worse than before. so enjoy the healing process. I would be happy if you describe your case in detail. Best regards

Norwood V diffused with lack of density in the frontal thirds. Imagine rolandas before surgery but without the massive frontal bald spot and a lot of thinning hairs growing long. The crown is a little bit receeded but concealable with a bit of lenght. 

What I usually do is grow it long and comb it to the side like Saul Goodman and it stays until the wind gets the best of it. 

[Met]

6 minutes ago, TheGreatPretender said:

Norwood V diffused with lack of density in the frontal thirds. Imagine rolandas before surgery but without the massive frontal bald spot and a lot of thinning hairs growing long. The crown is a little bit receeded but concealable with a bit of lenght. 

What I usually do is grow it long and comb it to the side like Saul Goodman and it stays until the wind gets the best of it. 

Thanks, I meant the process at the doctor. the process white and after. 
the mentality of the doctor. the talks etc.

[TheGreatPretender]

2 minutes ago, Met said:

Thanks, I meant the process at the doctor. the process white and after. 
the mentality of the doctor. the talks etc.

He basically gets the extractions done by his techs which may go from 1000 grafts extracted by techs before being implanted. He may do another round of another 1000 in the same day (probably evening) and perform the implantation after that. 

Usually he goes till 2000 only at the first day. Then in the next to complete the 3000 approx will do the remaining 1000 and that's it. 

As for the talks I had to the clinic they recommended me 3000 grafts (though it's likely gonna go up because he does offer grafts for free most of times) for frontal, entrances and central area of the scalp. 

For recovery they give you some sheets to wrap around the pillows and a travel pillow for you to sleep. 

They asked me to come early in the first day so I assume it will be the most exausting one but the second should be a bit easier to handle and hopefully I can get discharged earlier to rest on my hotel and catch the flight in the next day. 

The doctor also likes to put patients on agressive meds such as oral min or dut which I am ok with. Speaks Portuguese which is great since it's my mother tongue and apparently likes F1 according to some users here. He also had a HT himself apparently.