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My hair transplant diary: FUT at The Maitland Clinic Jan 2023

M

MsAnneThrope

member
Hi all,

I thought that I would create an ongoing and regularly updated forum post to share my experiences with The Maitland Clinic (TMC) in Portsmouth for my FUT procedure – kind of like a contemporaneous diary so you can see the good, bad, and ugly. My plan is to update this post so it will read from top to bottom as a long all-in-one post, but if that doesn’t work then I’ll post separate updates as replies to this (let me know which you’d prefer if you’re wanting to follow the progress).

My hairloss and me
So, full disclosure: I’m trans. I’m posting here because my hairloss, although not awful was leaving an impact on how I felt about myself. And, yes I know I know trans people are a hot potato moral panic political football at the minute, so whatever your own thoughts are let’s just all suspend nastiness and come together to share experiences and be supportive. I’m 43 and transitioned over 15 years ago, so my hairloss happened prior to that and was in a typical MPB pattern - while hormonal treatment and later surgeries have put halt to the hair loss, the damage was already done so to speak and since the NHS doesn’t fund anything related to trans care pretty much (despite what the media would like to suggest) I had to initially save the £20k needed for facial hair removal before even thinking of a hair transplant.

After that I’d scrimped and saved up for a deposit for a house but then the Russia-Ukraine sent everything haywire so I thought I’d use what I’d saved to fix the hairloss issue. While you can see from the photos it’s not awful, it does mean that I’ve had to wear the same style to hide the worst bits and has always made me feel like I’m part of a male trying to be a facsimilie of a woman. In any case, you can probably appreciate the challenging feelings that come with hair loss whatever gender you are (otherwise why are you on this forum).

IMG_9768.jpg

IMG_9769.jpg

IMG_9770.jpg

IMG_9771.jpg


Other things that may be relevant to you reading this: I’m medically trained, so perhaps had an easier time when speaking with surgeons relating to the medical aspects, care, how the procedure works and why certain things are done in certain ways. I also think that perhaps the surgeons may have been able to speak with me in a little more depth because we could understand each other (if that makes sense).

Clinic choice
There’s not a huge amount online about hair transplants in the trans community – I don’t know if it’s a taboo or anything, but looking on Reddit the most often suggested (in the UK at least) was TMC. I asked a couple of acquaintances on Facebook who I knew had previously had transplants and one of them had gone to Turkey and another had used (and recommended) the Hair Growth Centre (HGC) in London where she had paid in the region of £5k for FUE all-in. She mentioned to me (and I’m looking at her Facebook messages here so I can be accurate) that a few of her friends had also used HGC and were happy with the results. She did mention that they tried to sell PRP injections at the end, and gave a pretty morally questionably example (although I cannot confirm or deny this so draw your own conclusions as to its veracity).

IMG_1127.jpg


I also conducted some research on different recommended clinics, and TMC came up together with the Vinci Hair Clinic and the Farjo Clinic. I completely wrote off going abroad – my friend who had been to Turkey had a nice head of hair but in my opinion the hairline was SUPER harsh and looked a bit like it had been drawn on. I did not want to risk something so important to me when I was a little bit in unfamiliar waters – I know there are some wonderful surgeons abroad, and this is not me saying medical tourism is a bad thing as I don’t think it is – I had my boobs done in Poland and they’re fab – it’s just that with something so personal and consistently on show I wanted to remain with someone in the UK that I could properly chat with and vet accordingly. So, I therefore had assessments with HGC, TMC, and Vinci all in Sep and October 2022 (I’ll explain why I didn’t have one with Farjo below).

1. Hair Growth Centre
As with a lot of hair transplant places I sent images to a WhatsApp number for their initial thoughts. I sent the exact same pictures I’ve used above to show my hairloss. Someone called Sylvia replied to me and asked to arrange a video consultation with her which I duly did. The consultation with her consisted of her saying something along the lines of “I’ve shown your pictures to the surgeons and they said you can have FUE all-in at a discounted rate of £2000. Shall we get you booked in?”

There was no real consultation and I honestly felt from the beginning it was just a hard sell and I would be part of a conveyor belt of people going through. Their heavily discounted offer also seemed a bit too good to be true. This hair loss is very personal to me and I want it to be dealt with by someone also takes it personally, or at least seriously and not just a quick way to make money. I felt very uncomfortable after this consultation and when I really undertook some research on the internet there were lots of stories that seemed to align with my suspicions. For me the HGC was not an option. Amazing if people have been there and had a great time, but it was not for me.
HGC sell email.jpg


2. The Vinci Hair Clinic
I was much happier with the consultation here – from the initial email back and forth from their Senior Hair Loss Consultant called Neil McAleese to the quotation I could tell their approach was night and day after the shambles of HGC. He was interested in what I was looking to achieve, wasn’t fazed at all about the whole trans thing, and I felt that he was capable, competent and not just out to sell their services to me – he really wanted to make sure it was the right thing for me. He sent me various testimonials and information of all the surgeons he recommended (Dr Amanda Wolkowski or Dr Laurentio Tandarica) so I could also research them properly. This instilled confidence and honestly I was impressed. Their quote was between £4200 and £5200 for FUE and I can’t see anywhere anything in relation to number of grafts so I assume it was for all-in

Vinci quote.jpg


4. The Maitland Clinic (TMC)
The initial emails with TMC were similar in a sense to Vinci, in that David Anderson who was the key contact with me was clearly competent, experienced and passionate about what he did. He offered a free video consultation with him so that he could get a better idea of what I needed, what was important to me, and really took the time to get to know me as a person and if/how what they offered could help. I appreciated this informal and respectful approach, and it felt very professional and slick. He offered a face to face consultation in Portsmouth with Dr Ball for a proper assessment at a cost of £100. I decided to go with it because there was perhaps some anchoring heuristics at play knowing that he had a good reputation from my internet research, but honestly the professionalism and approach by David was excellent and I felt he ‘got me’. I’ll explain the initial assessment below.

5. Farjo
I couldn’t get in for a face to face with the Farjo Centre prior to my appointment with TMC, and as I ended up going with them I can’t really comment on Farjo, although I did my research and saw that they also have a great reputation.


Initial assessment with Dr Ball
So I booked and paid in advance for an in-person assessment with Dr Ball, however a few days beforehand the Queen died and so we were all a bit unsure as to whether the appointment would go ahead as it was scheduled for the same day as her funeral. In the end they decided that since people (like me) had made plans to make the long journey (5 hours for me and with a hotel stay) they wouldn’t cancel their appointments. I think this in itself says a lot about their approach to patient care – I really appreciated this because I’d booked time off work, paid for hotels, and made lots of arrangements. It was nice that they recognised that.

The clinic was in a MASSIVE business park thing, was very clean and everyone was very polite and lovely. I initially went through a few health related questionnaires etc with David and then Dr Ball came through to see me. I found him to be personable, clearly confident in his abilities, and I could feel his passion for what he did. He used a special camera to examine and assess my scalp and the hair follicles for density and suitability – he explained everything he was doing, and why he was doing it. After he did this he explained his approach to hairline creation – explaining that he does it by hand to create a more natural look and to make it as feminine as possible. We discussed some previous surgical scars and how he could hide them for me, and drew on his proposed hairline. It was a really thorough and comprehensive assessment and I honestly felt that he was the right choice for me. They explained that I would need around 2500 grafts and recommended FUT for me because a) I could hide it better, and b) would lend itself better to me. The total quote was £4 per graft, so around £10,000. This was by far the most expensive quote I’d had, but I believe is the same as Farjo and I do believe the price is reflective of their expertise. Here’s part of the email I sent to David after the consultation:

david.jpg

So in the end I went with TMC and so I am booked for my FUT on 25th January and I will update as I go. I hope this has helped so far – please let me know if you have any questions :)
 
N

Norwood

Valued member
Welcome to the forum @MsAnneThrope and thanks for sharing your story so far.

You're in good hands with Dr Ball and his team, I had my surgery with them just over 3 months ago and they were superb.
 
M

MsAnneThrope

member
Welcome to the forum @MsAnneThrope and thanks for sharing your story so far.

You're in good hands with Dr Ball and his team, I had my surgery with them just over 3 months ago and they were superb.
Thank you - I'm glad you had a good experience. So far I'm very impressed :)
 
Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
Hello Anne. It’s great to have you on the forum and willing to share your hair transplant journey. It sounds like you did plenty of thorough research before deciding on Dr Ball and the whole interaction with the clinic has been very positive. I have met some of his female patients in person. The hairlines were very natural, so I think you will be pleased with yours once you have it done.
Is the scar along your hairline from a forehead reduction surgery? Your transplanted grafts will conceal this for you. It`ll be interesting to see if Dr Ball places grafts directly into the scar.
You`ll need to post updates to this thread that will allow you to reply and answer any questions.
Wishing you all the best for the 25th. I’ll look forward to reading all about it.
 
D

Dazzster26

Valued member
Hi

Thank you for posting your experience of researching to find the right Dr Clinic for you , this will certainly help others wishing you all the best with your surgery .
 
M

MsAnneThrope

member
Hi all,

I thought that I would create an ongoing and regularly updated forum post to share my experiences with The Maitland Clinic (TMC) in Portsmouth for my FUT procedure – kind of like a contemporaneous diary so you can see the good, bad, and ugly. My plan is to update this post so it will read from top to bottom as a long all-in-one post, but if that doesn’t work then I’ll post separate updates as replies to this (let me know which you’d prefer if you’re wanting to follow the progress).

My hairloss and me
So, full disclosure: I’m trans. I’m posting here because my hairloss, although not awful was leaving an impact on how I felt about myself. And, yes I know I know trans people are a hot potato moral panic political football at the minute, so whatever your own thoughts are let’s just all suspend nastiness and come together to share experiences and be supportive. I’m 43 and transitioned over 15 years ago, so my hairloss happened prior to that and was in a typical MPB pattern - while hormonal treatment and later surgeries have put halt to the hair loss, the damage was already done so to speak and since the NHS doesn’t fund anything related to trans care pretty much (despite what the media would like to suggest) I had to initially save the £20k needed for facial hair removal before even thinking of a hair transplant.

After that I’d scrimped and saved up for a deposit for a house but then the Russia-Ukraine sent everything haywire so I thought I’d use what I’d saved to fix the hairloss issue. While you can see from the photos it’s not awful, it does mean that I’ve had to wear the same style to hide the worst bits and has always made me feel like I’m part of a male trying to be a facsimilie of a woman. In any case, you can probably appreciate the challenging feelings that come with hair loss whatever gender you are (otherwise why are you on this forum).

View attachment 37475
View attachment 37476
View attachment 37477
View attachment 37478

Other things that may be relevant to you reading this: I’m medically trained, so perhaps had an easier time when speaking with surgeons relating to the medical aspects, care, how the procedure works and why certain things are done in certain ways. I also think that perhaps the surgeons may have been able to speak with me in a little more depth because we could understand each other (if that makes sense).

Clinic choice
There’s not a huge amount online about hair transplants in the trans community – I don’t know if it’s a taboo or anything, but looking on Reddit the most often suggested (in the UK at least) was TMC. I asked a couple of acquaintances on Facebook who I knew had previously had transplants and one of them had gone to Turkey and another had used (and recommended) the Hair Growth Centre (HGC) in London where she had paid in the region of £5k for FUE all-in. She mentioned to me (and I’m looking at her Facebook messages here so I can be accurate) that a few of her friends had also used HGC and were happy with the results. She did mention that they tried to sell PRP injections at the end, and gave a pretty morally questionably example (although I cannot confirm or deny this so draw your own conclusions as to its veracity).

View attachment 37479

I also conducted some research on different recommended clinics, and TMC came up together with the Vinci Hair Clinic and the Farjo Clinic. I completely wrote off going abroad – my friend who had been to Turkey had a nice head of hair but in my opinion the hairline was SUPER harsh and looked a bit like it had been drawn on. I did not want to risk something so important to me when I was a little bit in unfamiliar waters – I know there are some wonderful surgeons abroad, and this is not me saying medical tourism is a bad thing as I don’t think it is – I had my boobs done in Poland and they’re fab – it’s just that with something so personal and consistently on show I wanted to remain with someone in the UK that I could properly chat with and vet accordingly. So, I therefore had assessments with HGC, TMC, and Vinci all in Sep and October 2022 (I’ll explain why I didn’t have one with Farjo below).

1. Hair Growth Centre
As with a lot of hair transplant places I sent images to a WhatsApp number for their initial thoughts. I sent the exact same pictures I’ve used above to show my hairloss. Someone called Sylvia replied to me and asked to arrange a video consultation with her which I duly did. The consultation with her consisted of her saying something along the lines of “I’ve shown your pictures to the surgeons and they said you can have FUE all-in at a discounted rate of £2000. Shall we get you booked in?”

There was no real consultation and I honestly felt from the beginning it was just a hard sell and I would be part of a conveyor belt of people going through. Their heavily discounted offer also seemed a bit too good to be true. This hair loss is very personal to me and I want it to be dealt with by someone also takes it personally, or at least seriously and not just a quick way to make money. I felt very uncomfortable after this consultation and when I really undertook some research on the internet there were lots of stories that seemed to align with my suspicions. For me the HGC was not an option. Amazing if people have been there and had a great time, but it was not for me.
View attachment 37480

2. The Vinci Hair Clinic
I was much happier with the consultation here – from the initial email back and forth from their Senior Hair Loss Consultant called Neil McAleese to the quotation I could tell their approach was night and day after the shambles of HGC. He was interested in what I was looking to achieve, wasn’t fazed at all about the whole trans thing, and I felt that he was capable, competent and not just out to sell their services to me – he really wanted to make sure it was the right thing for me. He sent me various testimonials and information of all the surgeons he recommended (Dr Amanda Wolkowski or Dr Laurentio Tandarica) so I could also research them properly. This instilled confidence and honestly I was impressed. Their quote was between £4200 and £5200 for FUE and I can’t see anywhere anything in relation to number of grafts so I assume it was for all-in

View attachment 37481

4. The Maitland Clinic (TMC)
The initial emails with TMC were similar in a sense to Vinci, in that David Anderson who was the key contact with me was clearly competent, experienced and passionate about what he did. He offered a free video consultation with him so that he could get a better idea of what I needed, what was important to me, and really took the time to get to know me as a person and if/how what they offered could help. I appreciated this informal and respectful approach, and it felt very professional and slick. He offered a face to face consultation in Portsmouth with Dr Ball for a proper assessment at a cost of £100. I decided to go with it because there was perhaps some anchoring heuristics at play knowing that he had a good reputation from my internet research, but honestly the professionalism and approach by David was excellent and I felt he ‘got me’. I’ll explain the initial assessment below.

5. Farjo
I couldn’t get in for a face to face with the Farjo Centre prior to my appointment with TMC, and as I ended up going with them I can’t really comment on Farjo, although I did my research and saw that they also have a great reputation.


Initial assessment with Dr Ball
So I booked and paid in advance for an in-person assessment with Dr Ball, however a few days beforehand the Queen died and so we were all a bit unsure as to whether the appointment would go ahead as it was scheduled for the same day as her funeral. In the end they decided that since people (like me) had made plans to make the long journey (5 hours for me and with a hotel stay) they wouldn’t cancel their appointments. I think this in itself says a lot about their approach to patient care – I really appreciated this because I’d booked time off work, paid for hotels, and made lots of arrangements. It was nice that they recognised that.

The clinic was in a MASSIVE business park thing, was very clean and everyone was very polite and lovely. I initially went through a few health related questionnaires etc with David and then Dr Ball came through to see me. I found him to be personable, clearly confident in his abilities, and I could feel his passion for what he did. He used a special camera to examine and assess my scalp and the hair follicles for density and suitability – he explained everything he was doing, and why he was doing it. After he did this he explained his approach to hairline creation – explaining that he does it by hand to create a more natural look and to make it as feminine as possible. We discussed some previous surgical scars and how he could hide them for me, and drew on his proposed hairline. It was a really thorough and comprehensive assessment and I honestly felt that he was the right choice for me. They explained that I would need around 2500 grafts and recommended FUT for me because a) I could hide it better, and b) would lend itself better to me. The total quote was £4 per graft, so around £10,000. This was by far the most expensive quote I’d had, but I believe is the same as Farjo and I do believe the price is reflective of their expertise. Here’s part of the email I sent to David after the consultation:

View attachment 37482
So in the end I went with TMC and so I am booked for my FUT on 25th January and I will update as I go. I hope this has helped so far – please let me know if you have any questions :)

Update - day -1 to day 3 (today)

Hi all - here's my quick update as I'm day 3 post-op today, just to let you know the highs and lows and how the day itself went.

Preop assessment
On the night of the 24th I went to the clinic for my pre-op assessment with Dr Ball. On arrival the clinic was lovely and clean, and we went through the procedure again together with the consent form and a run through of the day. He drew on the planned hairline and encouraged me to spend the night in the hotel looking at it and confirming I was happy.

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Excuse that spot by the way - hormones lol.

Day of operation
I was staying at the Premier Inn so booked an Uber for first thing and arrived in the clinic at 0730 where I was met by a lovely staff member called Gina. She got me into a disposable scrubs top and got me all settled. Because I am on a special diet I brought all my food for the day but they have LOADS of snacks available, and offered to run down to the Co-op which is located on site if I needed anything. Caffeine was forbidden as it can inhibit the Diazepam they give so I was given decaffeinated coffee, and brought into the room in which everything would take place.

The room had a large adjustable bed in the centre facing a TV and they made sure that I could connect my headphones to it and they asked me to get sorted with what I might like to watch in advance so it was all ready to go while they prepared everything in the background. The TV had Netlifx, YouTube, etc and so had plenty on. At the same time they gave me some prophylactic antibiotics, cocodamol, and some diazepam. It was the first time I'd ever had diazepam and I have to say after around 30 mins I could definitely feel it working: I felt ever so slightly disequilibriated but totally chilled.

One thing that struck me all day was the slick, professional, and caring atmosphere of everyone - there was a calm but happy presence in the room and it felt a bit like we were all a group of friends chatting. This made a difference, and I genuinely felt they were all doing their best to look after me. I was really impressed, seriously. I felt like I was important to them, and not some random patient.

My hair was washed with the awful smelling special shampoo they recommend and I was then ready to start.

Dr Ball then came in and started to anaesthetise the back of my head from which the donor strip would be taken. This was done in conjuction with a vibration device which disrupts the nerve signals and really mitigates any pain from the injections - I am fairly hardy and honestly at it's very very worst it was a 2/10 in pain. Absolutely no issues at all.

So at this point I was face down almost in a massage chair position, and given everyone was using my back as a table together with the diazepam I actually felt really relaxed and snoozed a litte. The whole procedure took around 45 mins to harvest the strip and close with continuous sutures.

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After that it was a quick toilet break and positioning for the insicions to be made while the other staff harvested the grafts. What I thought was great about this bit was they showed me the grafts under the microscope, what they looked like and how they harvested it. I thought this was a nice touch and kept me involved the whole time.

I then sat down, put the headphones in and started watching a Netflix series while Dr Ball anaesthetised the front of my head in the same was as the occiput, and again it was absolutely fine. 1/10 at worst. He was very keen to make sure everything was pain free and so continually checked with me that I was okay and topped me up at regular intervals, although I didn't need a huge amount (YMMV with this - I think for some people the local anaesthetic (LA) lasts longer than for others. For me it lasted ages and I didn't need many top ups.)

The incisions lasted around 90-120 mins (I think from memory) which took us to around 13:30hrs when we stopped for lunch and a quick break. I was encouraged to drink water throughout - and as someone who is crap at doing this it was nice to be made to look after myself!

After lunch, and at around 1400hrs the main bulk of the day was due to begin - the insertion of grafts. I waas topped up with antibiotics, cocodamol, diazepam and LA and then the team got down to business: three of them were working non-stop to insert grafts, making sure that the right grafts were placed in the right place (i.e., singles vs 2s vs 3s relating to how many hairs per graft). The team were joyful throughout, and once I got sick of watching TV I snoozed again, only waking up when I realised I may have started to snore gently lol. I then just sat and chilled while they got to work. They said I could stop at any point, but I just wanted to remain still for them to make their life as easy as possible.

At around 19:30 we finally had finished - and they had managed to insert more grafts thanm was originally planned so were able to boost some areas within my hairline that we hadn't really thought was possible, and so I really appreciated this unequivocal attention to detail. By this time I was very stiff and was starting to become a little sore and restless to be honest. It's a long day to be sat not moving.

The aftercare instructions were then given by Karen, the nurse and also very experienced. I believe this team have been working together for around 4-5 years and their fluidity and efficiency really shows.

I was given a full aftercare bag which contained everything I needed which was a nice surprise as I'd already bought vaseline and baby shampoo etc in advance. Essentially the aftercare is similar to most transplants:
1. Do not touch the grafts
2. Spray the liposomal ATP spray every 2 hours at night and 30 mins during the day
3. Do not touch the grafts
4. Sleep inclined for the first 3 days
5. Do not touch the grafts
6. Use the provided neck pillow to avoid touching the grafts
7. Do not touch the grafts!

You get the idea. There was a comprehensive aftercare booklet with all the instructions, timings, days and everything. This included all salient medications such as painkillers, continued antibiotics, and steroids. They also provided a WhatsApp number for me to send pictures at day one and also to contact if I had any issues. They also provided a suture removal kit as I have colleagues that can remove for me - although your local nurse at your GP can do it, or if you want to go back to the Maitland Clinic they will remove them for you.

I got another Uber back to the hotel and got ready for my night of spraying.

In total they harvested 2628 grafts with a total hair count of 4959 comprising (717 x 1 hair grafts, 1491 x 2 hair grafts, 420 x 3/4 hair grafts)

Here are my immediate post op pictures taken by me back at the hotel:
postop1.JPG
postop2.JPG


Day 1 post op
I drove back home very early the day after as I have an electric car which would need charging and didn't want to scare people seeing my very unattractive head and face, so sprayed every 30 mins from around 03:30am all through the day.

Day 1 photos looked like this:

day1.2.JPG
day1.3.JPG
day1.JPG


Day 2 post op

Sleeping on the night of day 1 into day two was fine - I had one of those V-shaped pillows old people have which really helped me stay in my place, although I did need to content with my cat who kept trying to headbutt me. Waking up every two hours wasn't too much of a chore - I had a timer on my Apple Watch and just restarted it each time and I found that I went back to sleep easily enough. Spraying every 30 mins during the day got very old very quickly though!

Here are the day 2 pics - you can see them starting to scab and I'm really happy with the hairline:

day2.2.JPG
day2.3.JPG
day2.JPG


Day 3 - PANIC!
I'm on day 3 today but wanted to include this as something happened through the night I wanted to share. While day 2 was fine, I did notice how itchy my scalp had become, as well as the site. This is a good sign as it means that things are healing, but is important to be aware of, as you'll see. I went to sleep as normal with my spray by the bed in case I woke up and needed to spray (you don't need to spray on night two, just nights 1 and 2). Anyway, while I was sleeping I must have been itchy and scratched my head because I woke up immediately as I did so, and knew that I'd done some damage with the grafts - I could feel the blood trickling down my head. Cue mild panic while I had a look. I had a good look and I think I only managed to dislodge one of the grafts, but it was definitely done and not viable anymore. I tried to remain sanguine and keep in mind the bigger picture (i.e., 1 or 2 in the context of 2600 will hardly be noticable) but I was, and am still gutted. I am worried about sleeping tonight in case I do similar because I can't quite control my unconscious self. I think I'm going to wear some gloves to mitigate it.


Here's the pictures I took - I sent them to the WA number, and Karen agrees that it's just one and not to worry. I am leaving them well alone:

day2nightmare1.JPG
day2nightmare2.JPG
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The rest of my day 3 is going fine - I haven't needed any painkillers at all, in fact I haven't had any at all post surgery. The itching is my issue - it's pretty grim but I do appreciate that this is effectively good news and even though I've finished my ATP spray I'm still spraying chilled distilled water over the grafts to mitigate it. There is the option of a non contact cup wash, but honestly I'm just leaving it all alone until day 6.


So that's the update for now. I'll post again day 7 when I'm back at work and let you all know how it's going. Any questions just ping me a message!
 

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Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
Hi Anne, thanks for the great write up on your surgery experience.
Having your hairline designed the day before provided you plenty of time to decide if you liked the design. I think the design is great. It will create a nice new hairline for you. The FUT donor closure looks very neat. The graft placement looks very refined, clean and tidy.
It`s nice to hear the whole procedure was pretty painless. The vibrating device really does distract you from the injections. Also, the staff being very professional but interacting with you too, letting you see the grafts etc is great.
Sleeping can be an issue for some but you sound as though you have a high pain tolerance which does help. It’s a shame you scratched your scalp and lost a graft but I agree with Karen that it won`t make a difference to the end result. The itching can be a problem. Some people find anti histamine's help.
For now, take it easy and I’ll look forward to your 7 day post op update.
All the best.
 
M

MsAnneThrope

member
One Month Update

Hi all,

It's been a month today since my FUT so thought I'd drop a quick update. All going well and can definitely see that there's been quite a bit of shedding which is always concerning, even though I know it's expected and normal. The redness is abating and the scar is absolutely fine - still quite itchy but that's a good thing. I'll post again in a couple of months when hopefully I will start to see some growth. I do not like having to be patient to see how successful it's been lol

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Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
Post-op looks right on track. Redness can linger for a while. Donor closure looks good. Thanks for the update.
 
I

Im new here

member
I think your redness looks pretty good. I have seen a lot of threads and at one month most are a lot redder.

Does the FUT hurt?
 
M

MsAnneThrope

member
I think your redness looks pretty good. I have seen a lot of threads and at one month most are a lot redder.

Does the FUT hurt?
Hiya - not at all. The anaesthetic injections sting a little but honestly nothing to worry about - plus they use a vibration tool to disrupt the nerve endings
 
I

Im new here

member
Apologies I worded the question wrongly. I was meaning like a few weeks after does it hurt at all or generally feel different like any pulling.

It looks a very clean work and healing all ok for you. Hopefully your hair gets growing in a few months
 
M

MsAnneThrope

member
Apologies I worded the question wrongly. I was meaning like a few weeks after does it hurt at all or generally feel different like any pulling.

It looks a very clean work and healing all ok for you. Hopefully your hair gets growing in a few months
Oh sorry - no not at all. Doesn’t hurt one bit - even the days afterwards it was fine. I didn’t need any painkillers or anything :)
 
F

felixeddie

member
Hi just wondered if you had any bleeding from the donor area when the stitches were removed.
 
M

MsAnneThrope

member
Hi just wondered if you had any bleeding from the donor area when the stitches were removed.
Hiya - a colleague at work removed them for me - no bleeding or issues at all. Right now it's all fully healed and have no isses - no pain or anything :)
 
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felixeddie

member
Thanks for that does the scar look like it will heal to a fine line with not much width or is it to early to tell ?
 
M

MsAnneThrope

member
Thanks for that does the scar look like it will heal to a fine line with not much width or is it to early to tell ?
Hi

Apologies for the delayed reply and the crap photo - I'm at work and have just taken one now. In short the scar is not noticeable - in fact I can't feel it. I'll get my other half to take a photo in the next day or two


scar.jpg
 
M

MsAnneThrope

member
Here's a better picture of scar currently - around 2 months post op.

scar2.JPG
 
Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
That is an amazing donor closer/scar. The hairs are growing through with the Tricho closure technique. One of the best scars I’ve seen.
Thanks for the update.
 
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