Review of Dr Mwamba | New hairline created with 3k FUE grafts combined with hair system!

[iHT]

Before I go into the ins and outs of my experience of getting 3k FUE grafts at Dr Mwamba's FUE Clinic let me tell you about my hair history, because it's been a journey! lol 

My Hair History
2015 - I had my first hair transplant (in Poland). It was 2k FUT spread over the top of my head. I naively thought it would cover my Norwood scale 5 head and I’d have a full head of hair in 12 months’ time. Looking back, I wish I just waited until I had saved more money, found a better clinic and did more research!

2018 - I decided to shave my transplanted hair as it was looking sparse, and at this point I was pretty much back to a Norwood 5.

2019 - After watching a tv show about hair loss I discovered hair systems! My first hair system was awful and ridiculously expensive! Was too thick, hairline looked like a wall of hair. After some trial and error, I found the perfect hair system and was rocking a full head of head again. 

Drawbacks I found wearing a hair system were:

1. Trying to achieve a natural looking hairline with no visible knots, excess glue, shine, weird grids. 
2. I'm a side face sleeper, so my hairline rubs on my pillow a lot during the night. I'd wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and my hair system would have lifted at hairline, which is a right pain to clean and glue back down.

2020 - During the pandemic as we all know the world pretty much shut down which also meant China slowed its production hair systems. Luckily, I was able to work from home for the next 2 years.

2021 - I started to research hair transplant surgeons, hair loss drugs and PRP. After a few months of chatting with surgeons and users on here I decided to go with Dr Mwamba. I wanted to achieve a full head of hair that I could style backwards and have a natural looking hairline on show. 

My hair is fine and sleek, so I didn't want to use up a ton of donor hair just in case the back of my head looked patchy and thin. So, I decided to only have hair transplanted in the front to make a new hairline and then have a hair system sit behind it. 

I've been told I have plenty of donor hair left, should I want to fill in the top of my head which I might do in the future depending on how my hairline will look in a few years’ time. 
Towards to the end of 2021, I had booked a surgery date and paid my deposit with Dr Mwamba. I also started oral finasteride and massaged minoxidil over the donor area using an electric head massager.

Surgery with Dr Mwamba
24th June 2022 - I arrived in Brussels! The following day I met Dr Mwamba and Dr Ali, both are very nice and accommodating. After having my consultation and going over what I’d like to achieve, Dr Mwamba wanted to check my hair shafts count under a microscope and luckily, I had lots of healthy shafts with 2 and 3 hairs. After that we started on hairline design, height and shape. We agreed on 3k FUE grafts with the majority in the hairline and some (not sure how many) at the temples. 

As I found out during my first hair transplant, I’m a bleeder! (a month prior to surgery I had no caffeine or aspirin) which made things a little difficult for the Drs and it also made me burn through lidocaine very quickly, but it was nothing that both Dr Mwamba and Dr Ali couldn't handle! 

From what I can remember surgery took 2 days, maybe 2 and a half. Throughout the whole thing I was comfortable, no pain and informed about what they were doing. We took lots of breaks, was provided with nice food and j'ai appris un peu de français! (I learned a little French!)

The last day was the most brutal as it went into the early hours. Before leaving the clinic, they gave me a care package and told me to come back in the morning to wash the transplanted area and pick up my medication.

I went back home to the UK later that day and was optimistic about the next 12 months!

 

12-Month timeline + What my hair looks like in 2024
2021 – These are the photos I sent to Dr Mwamba with a rough guide showing where I wanted transplants. Can see my previous HT here! 

 

2022 – 28th June – Right after surgery.

 

2022 – July 7th – Scabs are off and looking good.
 

 

2022 – August – Month 1 – Scary stage! Hair shafts started to fall out.

 

2022 – October – Month 3 – Regrowth! Was such a relief when regrowth started. 

 

2022 – December – Month 6 – Had my first round of First PRP, only in transplanted area. 

2023 – February – Month 9 – Third PRP – Thought I’d test out the blow dryer, hence the smooth hair lol. My hair looks thinner here, wondering if the PRP had made my hair shed? Around 2 months later it thickened back up.

 

2023 – May – Month 12’ish – I lost some photos while switching from iPhone to Samsung around April, hence the big leap from Feb to May. But here we are month 12’ish with a hair system.

 

2024 February – In need of a haircut and wash lol, but here is what my hair looks like today. It seems to be in much better condition and a little thicker now than at the 12-month mark.

Am I happy with the results?
Yes, I’m very happy! 

What next? 
I’d like to go back to Dr Mwamba for a few more grafts where my transplanted hair meets my natural hair. Also like to thicken my side temples.

What hair meds do I take?
1mg Finasteride – Taken this since Jan 2022
2.5mg oral Minoxidil – Taken this since July 2022 (6 months before surgery I applied topical minoxidil)
Every year I have a 3-month course of PRP injected into the transplanted area. 

Would I recommend Dr Mwamba?
Yes!

[laverita]

You pull it off well...really looks good. Well done and very happy for you.

[Shadman]

35 minutes ago, iHT said:

Before I go into the ins and outs of my experience of getting 3k FUE grafts at Dr Mwamba's FUE Clinic let me tell you about my hair history, because it's been a journey! lol 

My Hair History
2015 - I had my first hair transplant (in Poland). It was 2k FUT spread over the top of my head. I naively thought it would cover my Norwood scale 5 head and I’d have a full head of hair in 12 months’ time. Looking back, I wish I just waited until I had saved more money, found a better clinic and did more research!

2018 - I decided to shave my transplanted hair as it was looking sparse, and at this point I was pretty much back to a Norwood 5.

2019 - After watching a tv show about hair loss I discovered hair systems! My first hair system was awful and ridiculously expensive! Was too thick, hairline looked like a wall of hair. After some trial and error, I found the perfect hair system and was rocking a full head of head again. 

Drawbacks I found wearing a hair system were:

1. Trying to achieve a natural looking hairline with no visible knots, excess glue, shine, weird grids. 
2. I'm a side face sleeper, so my hairline rubs on my pillow a lot during the night. I'd wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and my hair system would have lifted at hairline, which is a right pain to clean and glue back down.

2020 - During the pandemic as we all know the world pretty much shut down which also meant China slowed its production hair systems. Luckily, I was able to work from home for the next 2 years.

2021 - I started to research hair transplant surgeons, hair loss drugs and PRP. After a few months of chatting with surgeons and users on here I decided to go with Dr Mwamba. I wanted to achieve a full head of hair that I could style backwards and have a natural looking hairline on show. 

My hair is fine and sleek, so I didn't want to use up a ton of donor hair just in case the back of my head looked patchy and thin. So, I decided to only have hair transplanted in the front to make a new hairline and then have a hair system sit behind it. 

I've been told I have plenty of donor hair left, should I want to fill in the top of my head which I might do in the future depending on how my hairline will look in a few years’ time. 
Towards to the end of 2021, I had booked a surgery date and paid my deposit with Dr Mwamba. I also started oral finasteride and massaged minoxidil over the donor area using an electric head massager.

Surgery with Dr Mwamba
24th June 2022 - I arrived in Brussels! The following day I met Dr Mwamba and Dr Ali, both are very nice and accommodating. After having my consultation and going over what I’d like to achieve, Dr Mwamba wanted to check my hair shafts count under a microscope and luckily, I had lots of healthy shafts with 2 and 3 hairs. After that we started on hairline design, height and shape. We agreed on 3k FUE grafts with the majority in the hairline and some (not sure how many) at the temples. 

As I found out during my first hair transplant, I’m a bleeder! (a month prior to surgery I had no caffeine or aspirin) which made things a little difficult for the Drs and it also made me burn through lidocaine very quickly, but it was nothing that both Dr Mwamba and Dr Ali couldn't handle! 

From what I can remember surgery took 2 days, maybe 2 and a half. Throughout the whole thing I was comfortable, no pain and informed about what they were doing. We took lots of breaks, was provided with nice food and j'ai appris un peu de français! (I learned a little French!)

The last day was the most brutal as it went into the early hours. Before leaving the clinic, they gave me a care package and told me to come back in the morning to wash the transplanted area and pick up my medication.

I went back home to the UK later that day and was optimistic about the next 12 months!

 

12-Month timeline + What my hair looks like in 2024
2021 – These are the photos I sent to Dr Mwamba with a rough guide showing where I wanted transplants. Can see my previous HT here! 

 

2022 – 28th June – Right after surgery.

 

2022 – July 7th – Scabs are off and looking good.
 

 

2022 – August – Month 1 – Scary stage! Hair shafts started to fall out.

 

2022 – October – Month 3 – Regrowth! Was such a relief when regrowth started. 

 

2022 – December – Month 6 – Had my first round of First PRP, only in transplanted area. 

2023 – February – Month 9 – Third PRP – Thought I’d test out the blow dryer, hence the smooth hair lol. My hair looks thinner here, wondering if the PRP had made my hair shed? Around 2 months later it thickened back up.

 

2023 – May – Month 12’ish – I lost some photos while switching from iPhone to Samsung around April, hence the big leap from Feb to May. But here we are month 12’ish with a hair system.

 

2024 February – In need of a haircut and wash lol, but here is what my hair looks like today. It seems to be in much better condition and a little thicker now than at the 12-month mark.

Am I happy with the results?
Yes, I’m very happy! 

What next? 
I’d like to go back to Dr Mwamba for a few more grafts where my transplanted hair meets my natural hair. Also like to thicken my side temples.

What hair meds do I take?
1mg Finasteride – Taken this since Jan 2022
2.5mg oral Minoxidil – Taken this since July 2022 (6 months before surgery I applied topical minoxidil)
Every year I have a 3-month course of PRP injected into the transplanted area. 

Would I recommend Dr Mwamba?
Yes!

Looking great 👍 

[bigmistake]

I don't know why 3000 grafts were concentrated just on the front. I have seen many cases from Eugenix where they are able to cover a lot of area in 3000 grafts.

[mustang]

2 hours ago, bigmistake said:

I don't know why 3000 grafts were concentrated just on the front. I have seen many cases from Eugenix where they are able to cover a lot of area in 3000 grafts.

to match the density of the hair piece ....?

You can't cover a NW7 with 3K. You need 9k to 12k for decent coverage.

[Dr. Patrick Mwamba]

On 2/29/2024 at 7:56 PM, bigmistake said:

I don't know why 3000 grafts were concentrated just on the front. I have seen many cases from Eugenix where they are able to cover a lot of area in 3000 grafts.

Number of grafts on itself doesn't mean anything.

In hair transplant two concept are very important : 

1.Density = number of grafts per unit surface  ( hair surgery covers this aspect 

2. Coverage or volume which depends on density , hair caliber , hair pigmentation in contrast with skin color , hair lenght   to only name these principal factors .

 

The total surface of the upper scalp is 100 cm2 and the vertex could also measure around 100cm2 

If you graft 3000 grafts on top and frontal zone , you will. reach 30fu/cm2  ( which is a very low density compared to our natural density that averages 80 to 100 fu/cm2).

If you want to reach that natural density with 3000 grafts , you have to do it in only 35 to 40 cm2 .

That' the reason why we concentrate this number of such a small surface .

And as Mustang mentioned , to match the hair piece density  so you create harmony between natural hairs with the hair piece .

And in this specific case , it blends pretty well and I am happy for the patient .

 

And in this case it blends pretty well and I am happy for the patient .

[bigmistake]

5 hours ago, Dr. Patrick Mwamba said:

Number of grafts on itself doesn't mean anything.

In hair transplant two concept are very important : 

1.Density = number of grafts per unit surface  ( hair surgery covers this aspect 

2. Coverage or volume which depends on density , hair caliber , hair pigmentation in contrast with skin color , hair lenght   to only name these principal factors .

 

The total surface of the upper scalp is 100 cm2 and the vertex could also measure around 100cm2 

If you graft 3000 grafts on top and frontal zone , you will. reach 30fu/cm2  ( which is a very low density compared to our natural density that averages 80 to 100 fu/cm2).

If you want to reach that natural density with 3000 grafts , you have to do it in only 35 to 40 cm2 .

That' the reason why we concentrate this number of such a small surface .

And as Mustang mentioned , to match the hair piece density  so you create harmony between natural hairs with the hair piece .

And in this specific case , it blends pretty well and I am happy for the patient .

 

And in this case it blends pretty well and I am happy for the patient .

I guess if the patient is happy then its a win. But if I was in his shoes I would have just added density in and behind the hairline that he already had. Anyways good work doc, the implanted hairline looks natural.