Eugenix | Dr. Somesh | 4815 grafts | July 27, 2023

[MAL87]

Background: 

I've been losing my hair for roughly the past decade+. I always hoped it would slow down or stop before too much damage was done, but...it didn't. About 3 years into my hairloss I started taking both oral Fin and topical Min, but quit both after only a few weeks. The side effect profile for Fin scared me off and without the Fin, I thought the Min was just annoying to keep up with since I was keeping my hair a little longer at the time. Clearly that was a mistake, as things progressed rapidly from there on.

So after all these years of losing self confidence and getting annoyed by seeing people my age with full heads of hair, I decided it was time to finally take action. I started vigorously researching transplant options and clinics on first Reddit, then on this forum. I figured myself to be a hard Norwood 5, approaching NW6, so I checked out related experiences and decided on a clinic. I hopped back on both Fin and Min immediately, though still much later than I should have. It's usually recommended to get on both about a year prior to deciding on a transplant, but I sort of did that backwards. Fortunately, in the few months I've been back on the meds I feel like I've already seen some decent progress. 

Choosing Eugenix:

Seeing great results from several people here (y'all know who by now) who went to Eugenix, I reached out for consultation. I first thought they were a bit pushy, calling me almost daily and asking when I would schedule. I had decided initially to go with Dr. Das, based again on experiences I had seen on here and was almost ready to commit. Then I had my initial consultation with Dr. Somesh and found him to be very knowledgable and personable. I didn't want to go with an option just based on cost (especially since I could comfortably afford a higher package), but after my initial consultation, I was leaning towards Dr. Somesh. I had a second consultation with him and firmly decided that I would go with him, even though I knew there was some risk due to not really seeing any reviews on here with him. Being as impatient a person as I am, I decided to schedule for sooner rather than later.

Procedure:

First I'll just note that I've never flown internationally before. Living in the US, the furthest I had ever been was Mexico... After 23 hours worth of flights (including layovers), I landed in Delhi earlier this week. I arrived a full day ahead of my procedure to allow myself some time to rest and acclimate (and thank god I did). I arrived to the clinic the next morning, still pretty jet-lagged and tired (you can see it on my face in the pre-op pics), but ready to go. Initially, It was supposed to be a 2 day procedure with 4500 grafts. The proposal was to get roughly 3000 from my scalp and the rest from my beard, with about 2500 grafts going into the hairline and frontal scalp and the rest in the crown area. While going through the planning and design phase with Dr. Somesh, we decided on a good, conservative hairline that was about perfectly in line with what I wanted/expected. Upon further inspection, Dr. Somesh also figured he could get a lot more from my scalp than was thought. I was a little worried about this because I was under the impression that my donor was fairly limited due to retrograde alopecia and because I have a pretty thick beard to take from, but I trusted him. 

After deciding this, he also figured I could get full-ish coverage, instead of leaving the mid-scalp untouched (where I had the most hair). While creating the slits, Dr. Somesh also upped the graft count from 4500 to 4815. I don't have the full graft breakdown yet, but I'm interested to see it when I get it. 

Post-op concerns:

My primary concern is that my beard went untouched. I thought the initial plan of getting 3000 grafts from my scalp was generous, but they took all 4815 from the scalp. I suppose only time will tell how this turns out. I'm optimistic, but cautiously so. 

My other slight concern is that there might not be great density in the hairline. Hopefully some of you can chime in with your thoughts. 

 

[MAL87]

Pre-op pics: 

Edited July 30, 2023 by MAL87

[rsb]

Wow! Congrats and good luck mate.

[Shadman]

 Great work by Dr. Somesh and Eugenix team. Hairline designing was great. In my opinion, good density was given in the hairline. So, you shouldn't worry about the density.

And regarding the beard I think you can use it for touch up in future if required. And also can go for donor firming only if you feel the necessity.

[CuriousAcademic]

Thanks for a detailed explanation! Did you arrange your own hotel or did you stay at their facility?

[MAL87]

6 minutes ago, Shadman said:

 Great work by Dr. Somesh and Eugenix team. Hairline designing was great. In my opinion, good density was given in the hairline. So, you shouldn't worry about the density.

And regarding the beard I think you can use it for touch up in future if required. And also can go for donor firming only if you feel the necessity.

Thanks, man. That's good to hear. Despite any "concerns" I may have, I feel very confident in the work they did. Also a good point about the beard, which I didn't think about.

 

2 minutes ago, CuriousAcademic said:

Thanks for a detailed explanation! Did you arrange your own hotel or did you stay at their facility?

Eugenix provided two nights complimentary at the Doubletree by Hilton and I added three additional nights on my own. Very nice hotel and great staff, by the way.

[Shadman]

2 minutes ago, MAL87 said:

Thanks, man. That's good to hear. Despite any "concerns" I may have, I feel very confident in the work they did. Also a good point about the beard, which I didn't think about.

 

What medicines will you be taking ?

And in your thread you mentioned about how you felt after the initial consultation with Dr. Somesh. Basically same thing happened with me also. When I consulted with other clinic, I became bit demotivated. They quoted higher number of grafts. But when I consulted with Eugenix and had a video consultation with Dr. Somesh I became quite confident. He was extremely knowledgeable. Within that 10-12 mins of vc I finalized Eugenix mentally. 

[MAL87]

7 minutes ago, Shadman said:

What medicines will you be taking ?

And in your thread you mentioned about how you felt after the initial consultation with Dr. Somesh. Basically same thing happened with me also. When I consulted with other clinic, I became bit demotivated. They quoted higher number of grafts. But when I consulted with Eugenix and had a video consultation with Dr. Somesh I became quite confident. He was extremely knowledgeable. Within that 10-12 mins of vc I finalized Eugenix mentally. 

I'll be continuing topical Min and also Fin @ 1mg, which Dr. Somesh said I could do every other day (or more frequently). I may also make the switch to oral Min, but I'm a bit hesitant due to potential heart concerns since I had a minor heart issue a few years ago. 

I also have multivitamins with Biotin and MSM which I'll be taking, along with Nizoral 1% and Pura D'or shampoo & conditioner. 

Edited July 30, 2023 by MAL87

[A_4_Archan]

@MAL87work looks very clean and the doctor covered a huge area with less grafts comparatively...you will have a good outcome brother....if you had a heart issue earlier than don't switch to oral minoxidil on your own and consult a good doctor in your state and take his advice and switch it under his/her observation....will follow your journey closely ...Happy growing and keep updating....

[Eugenix Hair Sciences]

@MAL87

Thanks for choosing us for your hair restoration. We wish you all the best in your new journey.

Keep us updated on your progress. 

Warmest Regards
Eugenix Hair Sciences 
 

[MAL87]

Day 8 update

All scabs removed without hassle after 2nd head wash

 

 

Edited August 6, 2023 by MAL87

[Gatsby]

Excellent coverage and very clean. Looking forward to following your progress. Thanks for sharing! 🙏

[shadow_god]

I am on day 15. I also got all my scabs removed on Day 8. Almost 90% was removed on Day-7 itself and the remaining were removed on Day-8. My recipient looks something similar, may a bit darker as I have brown skin. Hopefully we both get denser hair. Density is the key in the frontal area.

[MAL87]

1 hour ago, shadow_god said:

I am on day 15. I also got all my scabs removed on Day 8. Almost 90% was removed on Day-7 itself and the remaining were removed on Day-8. My recipient looks something similar, may a bit darker as I have brown skin. Hopefully we both get denser hair. Density is the key in the frontal area.

Thanks man, I'm hoping for the best. I just saw your thread and think you'll have a knockout result. Eugenix is doing good work for us. 

[shadow_god]

19 hours ago, MAL87 said:

Thanks man, I'm hoping for the best. I just saw your thread and think you'll have a knockout result. Eugenix is doing good work for us. 

Hopefully, I am little concerned about density too. Shedding has started. I am losing like around 15 or so everyday from the recipient area. 

By the way, were you having your head-wash or donor cleaning on 30th July around 11.30-12Pm or like that?? I think I might have seen you.

[MAL87]

2 hours ago, shadow_god said:

Hopefully, I am little concerned about density too. Shedding has started. I am losing like around 15 or so everyday from the recipient area. 

By the way, were you having your head-wash or donor cleaning on 30th July around 11.30-12Pm or like that?? I think I might have seen you.

Yep! That was the last day I was there, but that was exactly when I had my donor wash.

And I haven't had any shedding yet, but I'm only on day 10. Guess I should expect that to start pretty soon.

Edited August 7, 2023 by MAL87

[shadow_god]

7 minutes ago, MAL87 said:

Yep! That was the last day I was there, but that was exactly when I had my donor wash.

And I haven't had any shedding yet, but I'm only on day 10. Guess I should expect that to start pretty soon.

That was you. The day before(on 29th ) I had my first head-wash. I went again on 30th to get the remaining scab(like 10% maybe) removed. 

I started a bit of shedding or losing around Day-5 as I could see some scabs coming out with very gentle touch. Maybe that because I used to spray saline like once in every 10 minutes. 

It was little shedding around Day5-Day9, but from Day-10- Day15 It has increased a bit.

[MAL87]

One month update

Not a whole lot to report, other than shedding is in full effect. I buzzed my hair down to a #1 with the clinic's blessing, but I'm guessing within the next few weeks all the transplanted hair will have left me.

 

 

Edited August 28, 2023 by MAL87

[shadow_god]

Hey buddy, how is it now? did you shed any non-transplanted hair too along with transplanted ones?

[MAL87]

35 minutes ago, shadow_god said:

Hey buddy, how is it now? did you shed any non-transplanted hair too along with transplanted ones?

I don't think I've really shed too many, if any, non-transplanted hairs so far. I'm definitely still in the thick of shedding, though. 

In the picture below, the left side was taken today and the right side was taken pre-transplant:

 

[MAL87]

Month 2 update

Everything still seems on track, from what I can tell. I still have a lot of hair that's kept growing instead of shedding and I haven't been seeing as much come out when I wash, so I'm interested to see if they stick around

 

[SLA]

2 hours ago, MAL87 said:

Month 2 update

Everything still seems on track, from what I can tell. I still have a lot of hair that's kept growing instead of shedding and I haven't been seeing as much come out when I wash, so I'm interested to see if they stick around

 

You might just be a minimal shed guy like I was- fingers crossed...looking great for 2 months.

[Eugenix Hair Sciences]

@MAL87

Thank you for the update. At the 2-month mark, your scalp is showing significant improvement, with a noticeable reduction in shedding. Once shedding period is over after that you'll experience the gradual growth month on month.

Keep us updated on your progress.

Warmest Regards
Eugenix Hair Sciences 

[Shadman]

On 9/29/2023 at 12:23 AM, MAL87 said:

Month 2 update

Everything still seems on track, from what I can tell. I still have a lot of hair that's kept growing instead of shedding and I haven't been seeing as much come out when I wash, so I'm interested to see if they stick around

 

At 2 month mark, everything is looking good. It looks like you’re not shedding that much but you might shed more or might not. Because upto three months shedding phase can possibly happen. Your donor also recovered pretty well. 

[MAL87]

Month 3 update

Don't know what to say, I guess shedding is over and growth is starting. All pictures are fresh out of the shower, un-styled and nothing in my hair. Things looks pretty good from the front, though the right side is lagging behind the left so far. Seems like crown already has some growth, but that could just be from keeping up with meds. I'm pretty optimistic, though.