Three Months after Surgery

I am a bit delayed while posting the results after 3 months.  I have temporarily shifted to Canada and the delay was due to travelling etc.

Here are my results after 3 months.

I have just started seeing a visual difference from front side though the density of hairs is still low.
I spoke to the doctor and they said that the growth will happen. It will take around 6 months to see it prominently.

I see the hair line clearly but some areas before hair line have lesser growth.
The Minoxidil is still applied everyday twice.

I had haircut before travelling because otherwise the hairs in non transplanted area were growing faster than transplanted hairs and so the look was weird. Imagine long hairs on backside and short hairs on front side. To avoid this, I had hair cut with 7 MM hairs all over. With this length, the approximate scar was still visible. I think the visibility of scar is totally dependent on density of hairs on back side. So the length  to be kept should vary individual by individual.

One side effect of hair transplant which no doctor told me is that whenever you sneeze, you get a sensation in each transplanted hair. Its a feeling of a wound there. I still get it but may be because its not very long  since I had HT. This sensation also comes in the scar. I will speak to the doctor if I continue getting it after 6 months. Though its not painful, its just a sensation, but better to be aware about it.


Do let me know if you have questions or doubts. Till then I will keep posting.

Two Months after Surgery

Its 2 months now since I had my hair transplant. I can see the progress. Almost 30-40% of the transplanted hairs did not fall at all. So they have grown like normal hairs with considerable length. I can also see some of the new hairs coming up. 

The new hairs are darker and thinker than hairs which did not fall down. Though hair growth has started, its not yet to considerable level so still there is no change in look so far. In my friend circle, no one is able to understand that I had hair transplant. 

But as told by the doctor, it will take around 6 months for the complete hair growth. So I am not yet worried. 

The skin in the transplanted area still itches. I spoke to the doctor and he said I can sometimes apply oil during night. The dryness causes the itching and oil will remove the dryness. 

Compare the photos in Before Transplant post with current post. The difference is visible.
The hair line can not be identified yet as I cant see new hair growth in hair line area still. So keeping my fingers crossed to see the progress in next months.

Thanks for reading.

One Month after Surgery - Having Hair Cut

Today I had my hair cut first time after the transplant. I was advised not to have it before at least 1 month after surgery.

The hair length chosen was 7 mm. Unfortunately its not enough to hide the scar.  So you should keep more length to hide it. 

I visited the doctor to show him the progress. The Star doctors do not put in more time to check after the surgery is over. My expectation was he should see and give more advice on hair care etc.  But it didn't happen.

There has minor growth in the implanted hairs. Not all of them have fallen so far. Some of them have grown to considerable length. There are still some hard parts on the head but it will go soon. See below the current picture of the transplanted area.

Do let me know if you are planning for transplant and have any doubts. I will be happy to help.

Three Days after Surgery

I was asked to visit the clinic on third day after surgery. This is to remove the bandage put up for scar and wash the head. 

From hereon, I will have to wash the head daily with baby shampoo applying little pressure which has to be increased gradually. The blood clots will come out slowly. The hair line is nicely seen now. But these hairs will fall in 2-3 weeks time and start growing in 2-3 months.

I will have to apply minoxidil for next 6 months twice daily. It is to facilitate the hair growth. I am not allowed to have hair cut for at least three weeks.
  

Do remember that extreme care has to be taken for next few weeks to get best results.  

Seen below is the scar on the backside of the head. Though it is hidden behind the hairs, the line can be identified.The scar is left open as it has dried because of antibiotics. 

Though doctors did not advice me any special precautions for the scar except applying some antibacterial gel for 3 weeks, I slept reverse as I did for last 2 days so as not to put pressure on the wound. 

The Scar as well as the transplanted area pain little so I was given pain killers for 3 days. I did not take them as I was able to bear the pain.

The post procedure care varies from doctor to doctor. Some doctors prefer applying oil some don't. Washing methods also differ. Internet research says many more things to be done after procedure which my clinic didn't advice me. But I decided to stick to the points my clinic advised instead of trying other internet advises though they also look logical.

I hope my experience is helping you. Please let me know in comments if you need to know anything else at this stage. I will keep posting results anyway.

On the day of surgery

It's the D day. I was planning this day for so long. But it was usual day for the clinic. So you will not get the special feeling at the clinic. They perform so many of these surgeries daily.  

There were 3 surgeries planned in the clinic on my surgery day. The team of doctors and technicians along with the Star Doctor arrived 30 min later than I did. I am from Pune, India and so had traveled to Mumbai a day in advance. 

It was my first encounter with the doctor as I had consultation only on phone. I had sent my photographs and blood etc reports to them already. I have High BP due to unknown reason. So I was worried if I am eligible for this surgery. So they asked me to get ECG etc tests done in advance and thankfully there was no problem.

Procedure:-

Mine was FUT (Strip technique). As I needed to have 3500 grafts (as advised already by phone consultation)  to cover entire bald area. I met the doctor first time. He explained me the details. They do not need to go in much details usually as patients come with a lot of homework and know almost everything about the surgery theoretically. 

He made markings on my head and I was sent to the operation theater. 

In the Operation Theater:-

Here starts the little painful part. They inject the anesthetic solution in the head at many places on the Doner Area so as to extract the strip. But they keep talking to you and also numb the area with vibrator and with ice pack. So it pains little, but it does!!! :)

Then starts the strip extraction. It was done by assisting doctors. It took around 2.5 hours to extract it and stitch the scar. The Start Doctor came only at the time of stitching. He told me that the stitches are such that the hairs grow through the scar. I will confirm this later in the blog when I see the results.

Then I was given a break of 15 min and then started the punching procedure immediately. The assisting doctors only did this. The Star Doctor came in only for the punches for the Hair Line as it is the most important part. 

Lastly, the hair implantation procedure started where hairs were inserted into the holes already made with the punches. It was done by the assisting doctors and technicians. Single strands are implanted in front part, followed by double strands and then by triple strands. Out hairs are of three types: Single strand (1 hair per graft), Double Strand ( 2 hairs per graft), Triple Strand ( 3 hairs per graft).

I was implanted with 4200 hairs. They count the hairs and not the grafts. If you decide for the procedure, do make it clear if the doctor is giving number of hairs or number of grafts to be implanted and so pay attention to how he is charging you. 

See my photographs taken immediately after the surgery. This is with 4200 hairs.

Don't be scared with the blood stains. It stays for 2-3 days and washed later.
The bandage is put for the scar behind. 

There is no pain since pain killers are given and also they inject the anesthetic again after the surgery. 

I had my lunch after the surgery was over. Later I was given some precautions for 3 weeks. Usually they call us on third day after surgery to remove the bandage and wash the head. Baby shampoo is used and advised to be used for next 3 weeks.

Precautions:-

3 weeks are crucial. Even if they say that you can go back to work next day after surgery, you will usually don't feel like going in public as anyone can make out from your head that you have undergone some procedure. So I would advice to stay back home for 1 week or more if possible. 

Also have small hair cut already before surgery as it is difficult to get it done after surgery for 3 weeks. Small hair cut is required from my point of view because the head looks strange if there are large hairs on back side and small implanted hairs on front side. So hair cut with 3 inch/5 inch is fine.

There are no food restrictions after surgery. But the more care you take, the more reduction in hair grafts loss. KEEP IN MIND THAT EVEN IF YOU GET 4000 HAIRS IMPLANTED, YOU LOOSE SOME % OF IT POST SURGERY. So always keep lower expectations and be positive.

These hairs will come out slowly. I was told that I will loose all of them in 3-4 weeks time. Then they start growing after 2-3 months. 

I will keep posting more updates.

Before Surgery

I am suffering from Male Pattern baldness. All my hairs on left and right temple areas are lost. The top area hairs are also on the verge on falling.
See below my pictures before surgery:

So I decided to get the HT on complete frontal area. I have been keeping short hair style since long as I have been loosing hairs since last 4 years. I did undergo various treatments for hair loss. Now I am sure I am going to loose frontal hairs completely, so I decided to have HT done to cover it up.

Its going to cost me INR 90 per graft for 3500 Grafts so in total INR 315000 plus Taxes INR 55000. With some negotiations and utilizing the festival offer, they waved off the taxes on the complete surgery so it costed me INR 315000 which is approx $5200.

I never met the doctor before surgery day. Only phone consultations were done. I would advise to meet him personally first if you are in same country. If you are in different country, then insist on Skype consultation. 

Hair Transplant Decision

Hair Transplant is the most time consuming decision I have ever taken in my life. It took me 1 and half years to decide to go for Hair Transplant and 1 year to decide on the clinic to undergo the surgery.

I am from Pune, India. Finally I had my HT done in Mumbai (India) on 28th August, 2015. With this blog, I would like to share my experience and results with you which might help you to decide if you are also confused like me as to do it or not do it.    

To Do or Not To Do it

This is the confusing part. Since its a cosmetic procedure and not a life saving surgery, no HT doctor would say not to go for it. Also, the hair loss affects appearance and so it can be linked to emotional issue and so hair loss patients are ready to spend huge sums of money even though its a cosmetic procedure and not a life saving surgery. So price of this surgery is high and so the competition is also high.

I would recommend below points before you decide about your D day:

• Think for a hair loss treatment. First of all, the available hairs should be retained. Then you should think about the lost hairs. Its not possible to get the lost hairs back. But available hairs may be retained with proper Diet Plan, Yoga and Medicines i.e. following a healthy lifestyle.

• The surgery is usually performed considering current situation of hairs and so they will not consider the future hair loss. So if you try the above point, you will at least have idea about how the situation is going to be in future and decide accordingly.
• There is no harm if you delay the decision for some time as its better to judge future situation rather than having second hair transplant i.e. you do HT for frontal part and then loose hairs on top, so you have to go for second HT.

In a nutshell, first of all, correct the lifestyle which according to me is the most common reason for hair loss these days and then go for the transplant. Even after HT, you need to follow a healthy lifestyle otherwise hair loss will continue. So better to start it in advance.

Type of Procedures

As on date, FUT (Strip Technique) and FUE ( one by one extraction) are the available techniques for HT surgery.

FUT:- This is strip technique and oldest of all. A strip is harvested from back side of the head and hair follicles are separated by cutting. Then they are implanted on the bald area where punches are made already. Single Strands are implanted in front, followed double strands followed by triple strands.   

FUE:- Hairs are extracted one by one from back side and implanted with different types of implants. There are many variations of extractors and implanters in market. Sometimes they are used as marketing gimmicks attracting customers. But over all, they are the same.

Thumb Rule for Procedure to be chosen ( as per my experience):

When a large number hairs are to be extracted to cover larger bald area go for FUT method i.e. 3500 and more hairs requirement. But when smaller area is to be covered with less number of hairs, go for FUE method.  

After all, your doctor will guide you on the right procedure. But in most cases, they leave it up to the patient to decide on the procedure they prefer. I have checked many cases from internet research and found that larger bald areas are covered with FUT properly. However for smaller areas, FUE is better.

Selecting a Doctor

This is again a confusing part. I did a lot of internet research and got confused every time about doctor. I would not recommend any specific doctor not even my doctor who performed HT on me as I need to wait till my results. 

Usually the HT clinics market themselves on the name of the Star Doctor they have. But it is never performed by the doctor himself completely. Usually the Star doctor works on the important sections of the surgery only like making hair line, stitching the strip in case of FUT etc 

So my recommendation here would be to choose a clinic with experience of large number of surgeries since their staff will have very good experience of performing the surgery. Please beware that the staff is not necessarily all doctors. They may be Paramedics or nurses also will actually be involved in implantation. To be in safer hands, try to get the information when you visit for consultation and insist on doctors performing surgery instead of nurses.

Another important point is to select a clinic where the main doctor is available. Many clinics work on Franchise basis and a case worker is assigned to you when you contact the clinic. He/she tries to convince like a banker trying to find an investor. If you are convinced and undergo the surgery, case workers responsibility ends. 

When you pay huge amount, it is expected that the clinic voluntarily updates you on precautions and is concerned about your status post surgery. So prefer to go to main clinic so that you can be touch with the main doctor.  

I hope the above information will help you to take decision. I will keep on sharing my updates to help you further.