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My experience at the Maitland Clinic

B

bignut

member
Over the last year or so, I undertook research into hair restoration methods and surgeons.
I decided I wanted FUE and following a consultation with David and Dr Edward Ball I decided the Maitland clinic was my first choice.
This site provided me with a wealth of information and the contributions from regulars assisted my well-informed decision making and confidence to have a procedure.
On the 13[sup]th[/sup] of July 2017 I went to Portsmouth to have the recommended 2000 grafts. This would hopefully address my chronically receding hairline and my decreasing sense of self-esteem.
For those of you that have followed the blogs of some of the guys on this site who underwent poor outcome procedures in the 90s that also resulted in excessive scarring, you will understand my admiration for Bullitnut, David Anderson and others for the support they have offered on sites such as this. It was great to meet David and hear first hand his opinions. Dr Ball has also had hair restoration surgery and although this doesn €™t automatically make for a better surgeon, it does allow him great insight into the psyche of those experiencing hair loss.
Anyway, getting to the point. The entire team were fantastic and took every opportunity to reassure and relax me.
I €™ve worked in healthcare for around 30 years so have good insight clinical practices and can quickly assess the competence of those I come into contact with. The team at the Maitland were all exceptional, all experienced and confident in their roles. Dr Ball is clearly a perfectionist and has a great eye for detail.
The day started with Dr Ball drawing my new hairline and shaving my head. I had planned for three to fours weeks off from work to let it grow a little and minimise the drastic new look.
The local anaesthetic was administered with the aid of a vibrating €˜distraction €™ machine. This results in the injections only causing minimal discomfort. Don €™t let the thought of injections put you off!
I was offered drinks and food throughout the day. I think keeping yourself hydrated and adhering to the preoperative advice is essential to minimising any risks and aiding recovery.
The final grafts were placed at around 18.00 and I returned home with an accessory pack provided by the clinic. This included an extremely comfortable neck pillow, which I used to protect my new hairline from accidental removal over the next week. I used the spray meticulously and after 10 days was scab free. I must say the work was so clean that scabbing etc was never a problem. My face became a little puffy at around day two and three but soon went. I gently massaged the area encouraging the fluid to drain away and applied an ice pack at regular intervals. After care was good, with regular contact and support if needed.
After around two weeks I quite liked my new look and loved the new hairline. Unlike many of the other reviewers I didn €™t notice shedding hairs until around week four when suddenly my lovely new look disappeared, and I looked pretty terrible (welcome to the ugly duckling stage!) }:BY:>?.
Now if you remember, during the first phase my hair although very short, looked great; I was now returning to work looking well, pretty awful. On reflection I would take a week off following the procedure, by which time the redness had gone (although you will only know this with hindsight) and then work until week 4 when I would take a good couple of weeks off.
I noticed a real difference at around week 12 and new hairs and my hair appearance keeps changing. I €™m approaching five months post op now and can clearly see a new hairline, although most of the new hair is fine. I €™m looking forward to getting to six months to see if the improvement continues. For anyone interested in the varying stages of regrowth, I highly recommend Sig G €™s YouTube blog. His transformation via a procedure with Dr Ball earlier this year is truly amazing.
If I can provide any information that will assist others, I will be more than glad to help. You have to be realistic with what you can achieve but the skill set of the Maitland team is incredible. Total admiration to you all!
 

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bignut

member
These pictures are 3 days post op.
 

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bignut

member
Whoops, didn't mean to post that twice!
 

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Aerospace

member
Congratulations on making a good choice of clinic. The Internet is full of false information, thanks to sites like this with their cool members less people will make mistakes.
Good luck and good growth to you.
 
Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
Hi Bignut.
Sounds like you had a good experience at the clinic. The work looks nice and clean which should produce a very nice result for you.
Thanks for sharing your story, I`ll look forward to following your progress.
All the best.
Bm.
 
B

bignut

member
Hi Bigmac and thank you. My experience really was great. I have attached a couple of pics 10 days post op.
 

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bignut

member
Hi Aerospace, thank you. Totally agree. I hope my experience will help others and provide confidence in having procedures with such skilled doctors as Dr Ball.
 
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B

bignut

member
Can you remove the repeats, I don't know why I am doing this[):h::
 

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bullitnut

bullitnut

4 awesome repairs with SMG
Loved reading about your experience with Dr Ball and the Maitland clinic. Firstly i want to say thanks for the kind words you said and secondly i want to say i love the new hairline shape....that's going to look incredible when it grows out i reckon. Hardest bit now is the waiting game pal but it soon passes and things get exciting real quick.

I appreciate you sharing your experience with us guys on here.... it will help others contemplating Hair transplant surgery i'm sure;)
Welcome to the forum dude.



 
B

bignut

member
Thanks Bullitnut,
The attached pic is at nearly 4 weeks and you can see the thinning of the sides, as my hair begins to return to pre-transplant thickness. Still didn't look too bad at this stage! I'll post the ugly duckling pics next!
 

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Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
Everything looks right on track and looks like it all healed well.
 
B

bignut

member
Hi Bigmac,
I was very fortunate that the redness only lasted around a week. I wasn't so fortunate with the next stage of hair evolution. The attached picture is from the 6th September around 7 weeks post procedure. Shows how thin my hair had become! It's so depressing seeing the new hair line disappear. I used quite a bit of fibres during these weeks. I can laugh about it now ;)
 

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Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
Back to pre op is always sad but you're on your way to a whole new look. Time will pass by quickly, before you know it, you will have a nice head of hair. A brand new hair line that will frame your face and change your appearance for the better. Exciting times ahead.
 
B

bignut

member
This picture is taken on the 14th of September around 8 weeks post op. The support offered on various threads on this site really helped with this, the worst stage. Looking at the progress of others and what is hopefully to come is a great mental 'pick me up'!
 

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bignut

member
These are taken on the 22nd September and show hair beginning to appear, this is a great stage for using hair fibres as they have something to stick to ;;D
Thank you for the replies,
Bignut
 

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bignut

member
Right side
 

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Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
All looks normal. It doesn't look like you have any redness left which is always good. When my transplanted area was healing, the redness would come and go, everything turned out fine for me.
Thanks for the update.
 
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