T
Trickster
Valued member
Hello I thought id drop in and share my recent experience of having a 1600 graft FUE transplant at the Prohairclinic Belgium.
My Hairloss story:
I'm 32 years old and at about a Norwood 2 heading towards 3. I noticed my 3 or 4 years ago that my temples were really starting to thin out and the crown area also - mainly when i started getting sun burnt in those areas, something which never used to happen as i'd traditionally had quite thick hair.
Immediately I went on Proscar and started using Minoxidll on my temples. The thining in the crown area stopped thanks to the proscar and or about a year my temples regained some thickness and had some new growth, but sadly that only lasted about 1-2years until it visibly thinned again....so I made a decision, save myself that hassle of application & save money and stop the Minoxdll. The hair literally fell out of my temples and the area thinned even more.
The resulting depression and anxiety about my hair resulted in my looking to have a transplant in my temple area.
Planning the Transplant:
After reading around i decided on FUE, then being in the UK which clinic to go to. After being disapointed with the choice for FUE in the UK and the high prices, I started considering go abroad...and Prohaircinc's name kept coming up.
I'd established by sending pictures to a few clinics that i needed around 1400-1800 grafts into my temples, and to be honest the much cheaper price of Prohairclinic vs the UK clinics sealed it for me. With the exchange rate of GBP vs the Euro improved again over recent months i reckon I saved about £1000 having it done there, even when factoring the travel/ accommodation costs.
So in January this year i bit the bullet and booked my transplant date for June 11th and paid the deposit. 1600 FUE transplant into the temple and frontal hairline area.
Then the logistical planning stage began. I decided to drive over there with my partner as i was very worried about going out in pubic immediately after the procedure..... in hindsight a wise move (more on that later)
We booked a basic, but comfortable hotel in a nearby suburb about 10 mins drive from the clinic for 60 euros and booked a ticket on the Eurostar for £45
Over the next weeks and months i communicated with Prohair via email quite often regarding my concerns over various aspects of the procedure and I was very happy with thte level support and the quick responses i received.
So Sunday 10th June at Midday we set off on the 2hr drive to FolkStone, caught the train and 30mins later we're in France. Following the Tom Tom was a doddle and another 2.5hrs later we're parked up outside our hotel in Antwerp, 6pm local time. We ditched the car, caught a tram and had a night out in Antwerp (minus the alcohol for me)
Monday morning after a quick breakfast we followed the sat nav for 10 minutes, until we arrived at the clinic at about 8am
Day of Procedure:
We were greeted by Bart, who immediately put us ant ease, we had a good chat and a few laughs and sorted out the paper work and balance of payment. It was then that we discussed one of my biggest concerns.....the shaving of my head. I knew i'd look even more hideous than usual with a shaved head (lol) and i was pleasantly surprised to find out it wasn't mandatory. So I just had the side and back of my head shaved, and a tiny bit of my frontal hairline. Yes it looked silly at the time, but boy it was a good move, as after only about a 7-10 days post op I was able to blend it in with the hair rest of my hair and it just looked as if i'd had a short back and sides - which crucially meant i could go out in public.
So then after taking a painkiller and leaving my partner in her small, but well stocked and comfortable room i was lead to the theater. The whole process was explained then started.
The work was carried out my the female hair technicians, who although were very quiet and not particularly talkative (which really is a good thing because they were concentrating intensely).
Doctor P Schrapen who according to my booking form would supervise the procedure did drop by and say a few words to me partway through the morning, but that was all I saw and heard of him, everything was done my the technician girls. Very professional they were though.
Lunch break was spent with my partner in her waiting room, she was very well looked after and spent the day on her laptop using the free wi-fi and eating and drinking from the well stocked mini bar.
Then the afternoon session started and i was particularly pleased to see then don their magnification glasses so they could plant the new hairs at the right angle to match the existing hair, by about 4:30pm the last of my 1600 implants went in.
I was then seen by the lovely Nadine who explained the post procedure after care , and the important do's and dont's (i'd already been given all the info when booking but it was nice to have it all confirmed)
We left the clinic at about 5:30 and i was well enough to drive to Calais. I was pleased we chose to drive as i really wouldn't have wanted to go out in public with a partially shaved head and a bright red implant area on show. Arrived at Calais about 8pm and caught the next Eurostar, got back to Folkstone at 8pm local time, then my partner took over the 2hr drive home. Walked in my front door at 10:15pm, job done.
Post Procedure :
I wont lie, the first few days were pretty bad, with lack of sleep due to discomfort and itching on my head in the donor area. Days 3-6 i had some pretty bad swelling on my face, but my day 7 things were starting to settle down and the itching stopped enabling me to sleep properly.
I followed the aftercare instructions to the T, applying the saline solution and later the Keratine serum.
Day 7 was a crucial day for me, as it was the day I could finally wash my hair.... and a day I had to go out in public and visit my solicitor for an important appointment. To my pleasure what few scabs i had on my head just fell off, and i was able to shave the sides and back of my head with a number 1 blade and blend it all in. I looked about 10 years younger, but it certainly would pass for a normal (if rather extreme for a 32yr old) haircut and nobody except the most eager eyed person in passing would ever have known i'd had a transplant.
I returned to work 14 days post op and not one person even commented on my hair, as i'd brushed my hair at the front down over the implant area, it was unnoticeble. Boy was I glad that i'd not had all my hair shaved off on the day of the procedure.
After 3 or 4 weeks most of the implants had fallen off and their is just a slight reddening of the scalp in the trasnplant area, but again nothing anybody would notice.
I'm now at 6 weeks post op and to be honest life has been normal since about the 2nd week post op. To this day only my girlfriend is the only person who even knows I've had the transplant done.
Now its just a waiting game......... hope the new hairs all start to grow
I have included some pics pre procedure and then some day 10 pics, apologies for the poor quality and plan to update the thread with pics periodically with the ongoing results.
Pre front
Pre left
Pre right
Day 10 post procedure pics
My Hairloss story:
I'm 32 years old and at about a Norwood 2 heading towards 3. I noticed my 3 or 4 years ago that my temples were really starting to thin out and the crown area also - mainly when i started getting sun burnt in those areas, something which never used to happen as i'd traditionally had quite thick hair.
Immediately I went on Proscar and started using Minoxidll on my temples. The thining in the crown area stopped thanks to the proscar and or about a year my temples regained some thickness and had some new growth, but sadly that only lasted about 1-2years until it visibly thinned again....so I made a decision, save myself that hassle of application & save money and stop the Minoxdll. The hair literally fell out of my temples and the area thinned even more.
The resulting depression and anxiety about my hair resulted in my looking to have a transplant in my temple area.
Planning the Transplant:
After reading around i decided on FUE, then being in the UK which clinic to go to. After being disapointed with the choice for FUE in the UK and the high prices, I started considering go abroad...and Prohaircinc's name kept coming up.
I'd established by sending pictures to a few clinics that i needed around 1400-1800 grafts into my temples, and to be honest the much cheaper price of Prohairclinic vs the UK clinics sealed it for me. With the exchange rate of GBP vs the Euro improved again over recent months i reckon I saved about £1000 having it done there, even when factoring the travel/ accommodation costs.
So in January this year i bit the bullet and booked my transplant date for June 11th and paid the deposit. 1600 FUE transplant into the temple and frontal hairline area.
Then the logistical planning stage began. I decided to drive over there with my partner as i was very worried about going out in pubic immediately after the procedure..... in hindsight a wise move (more on that later)
We booked a basic, but comfortable hotel in a nearby suburb about 10 mins drive from the clinic for 60 euros and booked a ticket on the Eurostar for £45
Over the next weeks and months i communicated with Prohair via email quite often regarding my concerns over various aspects of the procedure and I was very happy with thte level support and the quick responses i received.
So Sunday 10th June at Midday we set off on the 2hr drive to FolkStone, caught the train and 30mins later we're in France. Following the Tom Tom was a doddle and another 2.5hrs later we're parked up outside our hotel in Antwerp, 6pm local time. We ditched the car, caught a tram and had a night out in Antwerp (minus the alcohol for me)
Monday morning after a quick breakfast we followed the sat nav for 10 minutes, until we arrived at the clinic at about 8am
Day of Procedure:
We were greeted by Bart, who immediately put us ant ease, we had a good chat and a few laughs and sorted out the paper work and balance of payment. It was then that we discussed one of my biggest concerns.....the shaving of my head. I knew i'd look even more hideous than usual with a shaved head (lol) and i was pleasantly surprised to find out it wasn't mandatory. So I just had the side and back of my head shaved, and a tiny bit of my frontal hairline. Yes it looked silly at the time, but boy it was a good move, as after only about a 7-10 days post op I was able to blend it in with the hair rest of my hair and it just looked as if i'd had a short back and sides - which crucially meant i could go out in public.
So then after taking a painkiller and leaving my partner in her small, but well stocked and comfortable room i was lead to the theater. The whole process was explained then started.
The work was carried out my the female hair technicians, who although were very quiet and not particularly talkative (which really is a good thing because they were concentrating intensely).
Doctor P Schrapen who according to my booking form would supervise the procedure did drop by and say a few words to me partway through the morning, but that was all I saw and heard of him, everything was done my the technician girls. Very professional they were though.
Lunch break was spent with my partner in her waiting room, she was very well looked after and spent the day on her laptop using the free wi-fi and eating and drinking from the well stocked mini bar.
Then the afternoon session started and i was particularly pleased to see then don their magnification glasses so they could plant the new hairs at the right angle to match the existing hair, by about 4:30pm the last of my 1600 implants went in.
I was then seen by the lovely Nadine who explained the post procedure after care , and the important do's and dont's (i'd already been given all the info when booking but it was nice to have it all confirmed)
We left the clinic at about 5:30 and i was well enough to drive to Calais. I was pleased we chose to drive as i really wouldn't have wanted to go out in public with a partially shaved head and a bright red implant area on show. Arrived at Calais about 8pm and caught the next Eurostar, got back to Folkstone at 8pm local time, then my partner took over the 2hr drive home. Walked in my front door at 10:15pm, job done.
Post Procedure :
I wont lie, the first few days were pretty bad, with lack of sleep due to discomfort and itching on my head in the donor area. Days 3-6 i had some pretty bad swelling on my face, but my day 7 things were starting to settle down and the itching stopped enabling me to sleep properly.
I followed the aftercare instructions to the T, applying the saline solution and later the Keratine serum.
Day 7 was a crucial day for me, as it was the day I could finally wash my hair.... and a day I had to go out in public and visit my solicitor for an important appointment. To my pleasure what few scabs i had on my head just fell off, and i was able to shave the sides and back of my head with a number 1 blade and blend it all in. I looked about 10 years younger, but it certainly would pass for a normal (if rather extreme for a 32yr old) haircut and nobody except the most eager eyed person in passing would ever have known i'd had a transplant.
I returned to work 14 days post op and not one person even commented on my hair, as i'd brushed my hair at the front down over the implant area, it was unnoticeble. Boy was I glad that i'd not had all my hair shaved off on the day of the procedure.
After 3 or 4 weeks most of the implants had fallen off and their is just a slight reddening of the scalp in the trasnplant area, but again nothing anybody would notice.
I'm now at 6 weeks post op and to be honest life has been normal since about the 2nd week post op. To this day only my girlfriend is the only person who even knows I've had the transplant done.
Now its just a waiting game......... hope the new hairs all start to grow
I have included some pics pre procedure and then some day 10 pics, apologies for the poor quality and plan to update the thread with pics periodically with the ongoing results.
Pre front
Pre left
Pre right
Day 10 post procedure pics
