Absolute Hair Clinic | Dr. Kongkiat Laorwong | FUE 4037 grafts | August 2023

[Himothy26]

Hey everyone!

This'll be my first post here but I will be posting my pics from pre op to post op 6 months. Thank you everyone for sharing all details and responding to all questions for us trying to get a hair transplant. I'll try to keep it short but I'll split my experience into parts.

HISTORY and CLINIC DECISION

I am 22 and started balding at 19. Noticed major clumps during the lockdown era of covid. My dad is bald and my mom has thin hair. Their brothers are also bald as well as parents so I never had the best luck haha. I know it seemed too early for a transplant but I wanted my confidence back in my 20s as I wouldn't care further down the line when I'm married and in that next phase of life. I hopped on fin and min topical 

Started my search for a transplant in 2022 and I narrowed down to Camacho in Colombia, Gur in Turkey, or Laorwong in Thailand. Gur had denied me for weak donor but I got messages saying others were denied too while having strong donors so I don't know exactly what was the case. Camacho seemed like an excellent choice especially being close to him ( I live in the US) but I kept being warned about Colombia and the safety so I decided to stay away. Also I had friends that wanted to go to Thailand so I decided to combine a vacation trip with a surgery loll. Laorwong stood out to me from his exceptional work being posted on the reddit forum. I loved how clean it was and how consistent the results were so I decided to go through with them. He also responded very quickly and drew the expected hairline through messages and told me my estimated graft count. 

Pre op consultation and Surgery day

I arrived at the clinic the day before surgery where he inspected my donor and recipient zone and drew what would be my new hairline. Answered any question I had and gave me shampoo to use before my surgery. The clinic was very clean and organized and the people were very nice and caring.

On surgery day I arrived at 8am where I was prepped for surgery: shaved my hair, PRP, gave me meds to get me sleepy and then I laid on the surgery bed where I was injected with anesthetic injection. That was kind of crazy haha but they massaged my legs to calm me down. They extracted the grafts which took a couple of hours and then I ate lunch which was amazing lol (chicken stir fry). Then they began the implanting of the grafts which ended up going till around 10pm. I was very dizzy but I had my friends take care of me leaving the clinic with my bandages and medications. Went to the BNB I was staying at to get some sleep before the free after care for the next couple of days.

Post Operation days

I slept using a neck pillow on top of 2 stacked pillows so that I wouldn't move around and stayed elevated which was necessary. Was a tough sleep I'll tell you that. I woke up the next morning and went to the clinic as they offered a 5 day post op after care and red light therapy for healing which I was very happy about. Came here for the next 4 days where they took pics and continued with the aftercare treatment until I left officially. Would really recommend staying the 5 days after if it is in your schedule! Flew back home and followed all instructions for proper aftercare. 

The Now

I want to start off my saying I would highly recommend this clinic and doctor to anybody regardless of my results. He was very nice and genuinely cares for his patients as do his team. Was a lovely experience and the plus is, Thailand is amazing!! 

Now it has been 6 months and I am not where I wanted or expected to be. I have a hairline again which I am happy about but the density is not great. I have spoken with the doctor and he told me to give it a couple of more months as I may be a late grower which I am very much so hoping for. 

The pics are in order from preop, post op, 1 month, 3 months, 4.5 months, and the last 3 are 6 months

[TakeAction]

The good news is it still looks like a major improvement. But yeah definitely lacking in density. From a couple of the photos it looks a lot more dense than the others. I think you'll see significant improvement in the next 6 months, even if it doesn't turn out perfect.

[Himothy26]

51 minutes ago, TakeAction said:

The good news is it still looks like a major improvement. But yeah definitely lacking in density. From a couple of the photos it looks a lot more dense than the others. I think you'll see significant improvement in the next 6 months, even if it doesn't turn out perfect.

Yeah it is weird that some photos have better density than others. Maybe it’s the way it is styled. Appreciate the comment mate. I’m hoping to be a late bloomer. 

[718S]

6 months is pretty early to see full results, I'd give it another 4-6 before making a final judgement.

Before that, try some Toppik (or similar) in the thinning areas. It will make a huge difference. 

[TakeAction]

Can you share some more post op photos of the hairline? Just to see how much was actually placed there

[Broni]

12 hours ago, Himothy26 said:

Hey everyone!

This'll be my first post here but I will be posting my pics from pre op to post op 6 months. Thank you everyone for sharing all details and responding to all questions for us trying to get a hair transplant. I'll try to keep it short but I'll split my experience into parts.

HISTORY and CLINIC DECISION

I am 22 and started balding at 19. Noticed major clumps during the lockdown era of covid. My dad is bald and my mom has thin hair. Their brothers are also bald as well as parents so I never had the best luck haha. I know it seemed too early for a transplant but I wanted my confidence back in my 20s as I wouldn't care further down the line when I'm married and in that next phase of life. I hopped on fin and min topical 

Started my search for a transplant in 2022 and I narrowed down to Camacho in Colombia, Gur in Turkey, or Laorwong in Thailand. Gur had denied me for weak donor but I got messages saying others were denied too while having strong donors so I don't know exactly what was the case. Camacho seemed like an excellent choice especially being close to him ( I live in the US) but I kept being warned about Colombia and the safety so I decided to stay away. Also I had friends that wanted to go to Thailand so I decided to combine a vacation trip with a surgery loll. Laorwong stood out to me from his exceptional work being posted on the reddit forum. I loved how clean it was and how consistent the results were so I decided to go through with them. He also responded very quickly and drew the expected hairline through messages and told me my estimated graft count. 

Pre op consultation and Surgery day

I arrived at the clinic the day before surgery where he inspected my donor and recipient zone and drew what would be my new hairline. Answered any question I had and gave me shampoo to use before my surgery. The clinic was very clean and organized and the people were very nice and caring.

On surgery day I arrived at 8am where I was prepped for surgery: shaved my hair, PRP, gave me meds to get me sleepy and then I laid on the surgery bed where I was injected with anesthetic injection. That was kind of crazy haha but they massaged my legs to calm me down. They extracted the grafts which took a couple of hours and then I ate lunch which was amazing lol (chicken stir fry). Then they began the implanting of the grafts which ended up going till around 10pm. I was very dizzy but I had my friends take care of me leaving the clinic with my bandages and medications. Went to the BNB I was staying at to get some sleep before the free after care for the next couple of days.

Post Operation days

I slept using a neck pillow on top of 2 stacked pillows so that I wouldn't move around and stayed elevated which was necessary. Was a tough sleep I'll tell you that. I woke up the next morning and went to the clinic as they offered a 5 day post op after care and red light therapy for healing which I was very happy about. Came here for the next 4 days where they took pics and continued with the aftercare treatment until I left officially. Would really recommend staying the 5 days after if it is in your schedule! Flew back home and followed all instructions for proper aftercare. 

The Now

I want to start off my saying I would highly recommend this clinic and doctor to anybody regardless of my results. He was very nice and genuinely cares for his patients as do his team. Was a lovely experience and the plus is, Thailand is amazing!! 

Now it has been 6 months and I am not where I wanted or expected to be. I have a hairline again which I am happy about but the density is not great. I have spoken with the doctor and he told me to give it a couple of more months as I may be a late grower which I am very much so hoping for. 

The pics are in order from preop, post op, 1 month, 3 months, 4.5 months, and the last 3 are 6 months

Photos from above are always unforgiving. Illusion of density wise, people don't see you like this mostly, they look at your hairline eye-to-eye, unless you are sitting...

[Jackdaniels]

In most cases at 6 months patients see the most growth, but there are some cases with later growth too. There is indeed luck of density so far but you should wait a a few more months to judge for sure.If this doesn’t improve until month 10, then it means you have lower yield and many grafts dis not survive. 

Edited March 27 by Jackdaniels

[Himothy26]

4 hours ago, 718S said:

6 months is pretty early to see full results, I'd give it another 4-6 before making a final judgement.

Before that, try some Toppik (or similar) in the thinning areas. It will make a huge difference. 

I tried toppik the other day as I had to attend an event and man it was insane haha. It looked so thick. You’re definitely right about that. And yeah another 4-6 months hopefully it gets thicker and increases density. 

[Himothy26]

43 minutes ago, Broni said:

Photos from above are always unforgiving. Illusion of density wise, people don't see you like this mostly, they look at your hairline eye-to-eye, unless you are sitting...

That is very true. My temples need to fill in and I’ll be happy. It’s strange because I had most of my grafts in my temple areas and heading back but it’s oddly thin. 

[Himothy26]

15 minutes ago, Jackdaniels said:

In most cases at 6 months patients see the most growth, but there are some cases with later growth too. There is indeed luck of density so far but you should wait a a few more months to judge for sure.If this doesn’t improve until month 10, then it means you have lower yield and many grafts dis not survive. 

Sounds good will take note of that. I’ve seen insane growth for others within month 7-10 so I’ll know if it is the same for me. Hoping for it. Thank you

[Himothy26]

1 hour ago, TakeAction said:

Can you share some more post op photos of the hairline? Just to see how much was actually placed there

Yeah of course. 

[hairman4321]

@Himothy26 are you on medication? if you asked here people probably would have told you not to pull the trigger being only 22.

[Himothy26]

8 hours ago, hairman4321 said:

@Himothy26 are you on medication? if you asked here people probably would have told you not to pull the trigger being only 22.

Yes I’ve been on medication for 2 years prior transplant. Yeah I’ve been told before I’m too young and I should wait but like I said on the post, 20s are a whole experience I’d like to enjoy with my confidence high. It might’ve not been a good decision for long term but I don’t care too much about later on.