Dr. Ratchathorn Panchaprateep - 4538 Grafts | AHC

[Geno56]

It's only been 2 weeks, but it's already felt life changing. I look completely different with a hairline framing my face again after so long, and feel so confident and happy when seeing the mirror again. I started diffuse thinning and heavily receded temples in my early 20s (I am 32 y.o. now), I never thought I'd have such a clean hairline and full dense head of hair again. Truly feels like a miracle this journey, thank God truly. I used topical fin+min to regain a lot of hair over past 1.5 years, but still it didn't look look right in most lighting situations (as seen in pre-op photos), but still it helped enable me to do a HT with Dr. Ratchathorn since it stabilized the hair loss finally (and regrew too).

I researched doctors for a long time, and Dr. Ratchathorn was the one I felt fully comfortable trusting and flying out across the world to for something like this. Mainly due to her caring personality and actual passion for the Hair Research field, giving talks around the world and professor in the related field at a University too. So it felt clear to me she's not just in it for the money unlike a lot in this industry, and actually cares about the field and her patients. Also her consistent results I've seen from her patients, especially with diffuse thinning cases like mine, and Absolute Hair Clinic (both her & Laorwong) in general also helped a lot, though I had booked appointment with her before she recently started getting much more popular.

I didn't have much bleeding or visually noticeable scabbing, it looked quite clean and undetectable that I had a HT even 5 days post-op TBH. I don't think I have much redness either. Maybe it's the way she extracted/inserted or the after-care, but it looked clean quite fast after op. I was there for OP day for about 10 hours, but it flew by faster than I expected. The anesthesia injections weren't too bad for me. I wore a bandana that they gave for first 7 days. For the most part I slept well, and was out and about shopping in Malls nearby the clinic and Hotel during the evenings. In the day time for 5 days I did the oxygen chamber + LLLT + wash at the clinic. The nurses did a great job, I appreciate their work. 

First photo is from about a year-and-half ago (left side) vs 10 days post-OP

Pre-Op Photos

 

 

Post-OP Photos

 

2 Weeks Post-OP

If you have any further questions feel free to ask. I am hoping it doesn't shed too soon, I am really enjoying this look as is right now even with it just being a buzzcut.. It's been such a long journey.. it feels so good. I pray the shedding / ugly duckling phase doesn't last too long and every hair survives.

Edited Wednesday at 12:05 AM by Geno56

[BaldGuy]

It looks great. Thanks for sharing your journey. Let me ask you how much did you pay per graft?

[Geno56]

3 minutes ago, BaldGuy said:

It looks great. Thanks for sharing your journey. Let me ask you how much did you pay per graft?

Thank you! I spent so many years contemplating over doing this, so glad it went so well the procedure and Dr. Ratchathorn I trust in her skill. I paid 80 THB per graft (roughly 2.32$ USD), I reserved this price back in like June. 

Anyhow I'll try to keep this thread updated consistently throughout these next 12 months. Let's see how this ends up, but so far I am happy.

Edited November 28 by Geno56

[BaldGuy]

25 minutes ago, Geno56 said:

Thank you! I spent so many years contemplating over doing this, so glad it went so well the procedure and Dr. Ratchathorn I trust in her skill. I paid 80 THB per graft (roughly 2.32$ USD), I reserved this price back in like June. 

Anyhow I'll try to keep this thread updated consistently throughout these next 12 months. Let's see how this ends up, but so far I am happy.

so its about 2.20 euro/graft. Does Dr. Ratchathorn work in the same clinic with dr laorwong? which steps of the procedure were done by the doc?

[Geno56]

6 hours ago, BaldGuy said:

so its about 2.20 euro/graft. Does Dr. Ratchathorn work in the same clinic with dr laorwong? which steps of the procedure were done by the doc?

Yeah, they both work in the same clinic, just those two. I met a few and kept in touch with a few of the patients from both Dr. Laorwong & Dr. Ratchathorn during my 5 days of after-care that week. They all had nice early results too.

Dr. Ratchathorn did the injections for anesthesia, 100% of the extractions from donor, and 100% of the pre-made incisions to implant grafts into. Both the doctor and assistants do the implanting into those pre-made incisions, in her consultation she said she does about 20-40% of this step.

Edited November 29 by Geno56

[Jupiter_]

Happy growing..The work here looks great. I with you the best.

[Geno56]

6 hours ago, Jupiter_ said:

Happy growing..The work here looks great. I with you the best.

Thank you, appreciate it! Definitely satisfied so far in early stages, it looks dense in-person. I hope the shedding phase doesn’t come too soon, enjoying this current look!

[Hairwolf]

Looks good here and the meds were definitely a big help too! Interesting you had such a good response on topical not oral!  Happy growing!

[Geno56]

8 minutes ago, Hairwolf said:

Looks good here and the meds were definitely a big help too! Interesting you had such a good response on topical not oral!  Happy growing!

Thank you! Yeah I had great regrowth on topical fin (1x per day) + topical min (2x per day), so I'm hoping switching to Oral Fin 1mg + Oral Min 2.5mg doesn't somehow perform worse / cause a shed.. Mainly worried about the switch from Topical Minox to Oral Minox, but doctor recommended trying Oral Minox since it would help donor area too so I figured I'd give it a try.

I hope the oral versions do help my crown more though, then perhaps I won't need any further HTs in future. 

Edited November 29 by Geno56

[Hairwolf]

Cool, I am a Laorwong patient, so know you were in good hands. Like the area good place to chill out rather than the other hotspots of the city. 

[Geno56]

10 minutes ago, Hairwolf said:

Cool, I am a Laorwong patient, so know you were in good hands. Like the area good place to chill out rather than the other hotspots of the city. 

Oo nice! Also yeah I loved the area! I stayed in a very nice Hotel close to the ICON Siam Mall & River, it was an amazing experience. Plus it allowed me to walk about 15-20 minutes to clinic if I wanted to, or Grab if felt too hot / tired. I enjoyed walking though, very lively city and stopping at random restaurants. The ICON Siam mall was insane though, I believe the largest mall in all of SE asia.

[Hairwolf]

ICON Siam is a busy spot indeed. I stayed on the same road as the clinic. Myself and another Laorwong patient had a few drinks in a couple of those bars on the riverside. 

[Geno56]

Day 17 Progress

 

I’ve been paranoid about rubbing hair much with hands when shampooing hair in shower, so still some flakes left I need to wash off. It’s day 17 now, is it safe to rub / clean hair vigorously at this point? Or gentle still?

Edited November 29 by Geno56

[Silent1234]

18 hours ago, Geno56 said:

Day 17 Progress

 

I’ve been paranoid about rubbing hair much with hands when shampooing hair in shower, so still some flakes left I need to wash off. It’s day 17 now, is it safe to rub / clean hair vigorously at this point? Or gentle still?

Looking great! I’d still take it easy and not vigorously rub though all the grafts should be locked in by now. How about a few consecutive light washes and light rubbing to loosen up? 

[Geno56]

2 hours ago, Silent1234 said:

Looking great! I’d still take it easy and not vigorously rub though all the grafts should be locked in by now. How about a few consecutive light washes and light rubbing to loosen up? 

Thanks! Got it, yeah I will play it safe and just do light rubbing for another week. Wasn’t sure if it’s weird to have some scabs still there around 18 day mark due to my gentle washing

[Geno56]

Day 18 - Outdoor / Sunny Day Lighting

Just enjoying last moments before the dread shed takes over. I got so used to camera not picking up any of my hair in outdoor lighting pre-HT due to thinning lol, so nice to see it visible again

Edited December 1 by Geno56

[Gramatik]

happy growing! The work looks great...

[Geno56]

6 minutes ago, Gramatik said:

happy growing! The work looks great...

Thank you 🙏! Praying they all come back like this post-shed!

[Gatsby]

@Geno56 the work looks really clean. I like the hairline design and the widows peak. Happy growing! 👌

[Britanium]

Really nice work, will be watching with interest 👍

[Geno56]

17 minutes ago, Gatsby said:

@Geno56 the work looks really clean. I like the hairline design and the widows peak. Happy growing! 👌

@Gatsby Thank you, originally I was trying to ask the doctor to lower it further  but she strongly suggested what she designed due to amount of coverage already needed and that it should look solid as is. Glad I listened to her, I am happy with how it looks in-person so far.

18 minutes ago, Britanium said:

Really nice work, will be watching with interest 👍

@Britanium Thanks, will try to keep this updated consistently!

[Berba11]

Loving the hairline design!

[Geno56]

Graft Breakdown

Forgot to include this in original post.

1-Hair: 176

1.5-Hair: 668

2-Hair: 2267 + 57

3-Hair: 1370

Total Grafts: 4538

Total Hairs: 9488

I don’t know what 1.5 hair means, any idea? Also not sure what the “+57” for 2-Hairs mean either. Looks like a lot of 3-Hair grafts used, hopefully that results in a fuller look, but I have no idea how this stuff works.

Day 20

Surprisingly I don’t think much shed yet, thankfully. Hope when grown out the back half density will increase and look okay to match frontal half with Oral Minox / Finasteride (was on topical for both pre-HT). But yeah right now in real life as is, I couldn’t even tell I was ever balding, surreal feeling. Praying to God they all survive after the shed 😭 

Edited December 2 by Geno56

[Berba11]

1 hour ago, Geno56 said:

Graft Breakdown

Forgot to include this in original post.

1-Hair: 176

1.5-Hair: 668

2-Hair: 2267 + 57

3-Hair: 1370

Total Grafts: 4538

Total Hairs: 9488

I don’t know what 1.5 hair means, any idea? Also not sure what the “+57” for 2-Hairs mean either. Looks like a lot of 3-Hair grafts used, hopefully that results in a fuller look, but I have no idea how this stuff works.

Day 20

Surprisingly I don’t think much shed yet, thankfully. Hope when grown out the back half density will increase and look okay to match frontal half with Oral Minox / Finasteride (was on topical for both pre-HT). But yeah right now in real life as is, I couldn’t even tell I was ever balding, surreal feeling. Praying to God they all survive after the shed 😭 

I’m guessing ‘1’ = fine single grafts and ‘1.5’ = thicker/normal single hair grafts. 

[Geno56]

27 minutes ago, Berba11 said:

I’m guessing ‘1’ = fine single grafts and ‘1.5’ = thicker/normal single hair grafts. 

Ahh that could be it / make sense, thanks!