C
cooty
Valued member
Having now had my hair transplant I wanted to share my experience to try and repay to the hair forum the knowledge and advice I have gained from it in the hope that this will help someone that is trying to make sense of it all. It is not straightforward that’s for sure and there is an awful lot to it which requires a great deal of research – and I and many others would have been lost if not for the forum and I would like to offer my immense thanks to Big Mac for running this forum and for everyone that contributes; there are some of you that although you’ve had your transplants are kind enough to continue to comment on here and offer people advice which is greatly appreciated.
My journey has been quite a long one having been losing my hair since my mid-20’s for over 30 years, and although I did try Minoxidil and Propecia (Finasteride) approx. 25 years ago I suffered sides so stopped taking them. I ended up being a Norwood 5 and decided a year ago I would take the plunge as using Regaine for about the previous 2 years seemed to help retain but not regain.
If you don’t want to make any costly mistakes you really need to look into it thoroughly, and fortunately I found the forum before committing to the wrong thing or clinic as the fundamentals of a hair transplant and what can be done are based on your available donor hair this is something that you cannot waste and have to maximise its use.
I decided on FUT as the amount needed to cover my Norwood 5 wouldn’t be achieved by FUE and also I wanted to have some donor in the bank should I need another transplant in the future – which FUE would not have enabled.
So, then it’s a question of which clinic to entertain – unfortunately as the industry is unregulated you have to be very careful about who you select - the information you receive can be very confusing and conflicting! The forum is a great place for recommendations and substantiating good clinics / surgeons, particularly those members that are experienced in hair transplants.
I selected Hattingen clinic after much research and based on their online videos of patients results and how dense the coverage was and natural looking, scars being barely noticeable, and that it seemed that patients with similar hair loss to mine were able to cover all their thinning areas from front to crown…. The only clinic to answer all of my questions and provide me with information in the way I had requested was Hattingen Hair Clinic, who also said I could have the coverage I required with 4500-5000 grafts in one transplant (which very few clinics do). Dr Muresanu afforded me as much time as I wanted in our contacts – and was very easy to deal with. They don’t employ sales reps and you speak directly with the surgeon, and I immediately liked the openness and integrity – and always being available for my many questions over a period of 7-8 months. As Hattingen are one of the few clinics to do both FUE and FUT I felt that their advice was balanced and given with my best interests at heart and not skewed by a financial bias which I felt some of the others might have been.
Another big plus point with Hattingen which instilled a greater confidence is that you get two specialist hair doctors working together on each patient.
Hattingen delivered in their assessment of between 4500-5000 grafts at the upper end at 4899. Another plus is that they advised that my hair to graft ratio count was very good at 2.56 (average normally 2.15), whereas the majority of the other clinics consulted said I had less than average!....and some saying I couldn’t possibly get enough grafts to cover my Norwood 5 (which very nearly made me not go ahead with a transplant!!). Hattingen were the only clinic to accurately advise me on this (follicles per sq cm, follicular grouping, quantity of grafts etc.), some of the other clinics disappointingly being well out or didn’t provide this info despite requests to do so – don’t be fobbed off by this as this is key to your transplant!
As I wanted density in coverage as opposed to a larger but sparser area you may see I went for an age appropriate hairline being more conservative to enable the crown and mid-scalp to be better covered. Of the 4899 grafts they placed 2700 in the frontal third, 1100 mid scalp and 1100 in the crown.
It is obvious that everyone at Hattingen clinic really cares and this came through over the two days of my transplant; they split the larger FUT’s over two days so that you don’t have to suffer one really long day and of course this should help with graft survival being out of the head for less long. The day starts at 7am and mine finished both days around 3:30 to 4pm. You are provided with a choice of three cooked meals for lunch.
I must mention the aftercare as its beyond anything I’m aware is provided by other clinics – I stayed on for a period after the transplant and was invited back each day I remained there for a hair wash and examination of progress. Both Dr’s came and reviewed it and determined what was required each day – such as when the scabbing should be removed and the dead skin too + reviewing the scar and its progress. Dr Muresanu has kept in touch since and offers video calls for any concerns if required.
I have attached my pre and post transplant photos for you to see – and as its now been 2½ months since my transplant I will upload some more up to date photos very shortly.
Obviously its all about hair and scar results and I will keep you appraised with more pics / videos throughout the process. Wish me luck!, and I would be interested to hear any comments.
My journey has been quite a long one having been losing my hair since my mid-20’s for over 30 years, and although I did try Minoxidil and Propecia (Finasteride) approx. 25 years ago I suffered sides so stopped taking them. I ended up being a Norwood 5 and decided a year ago I would take the plunge as using Regaine for about the previous 2 years seemed to help retain but not regain.
If you don’t want to make any costly mistakes you really need to look into it thoroughly, and fortunately I found the forum before committing to the wrong thing or clinic as the fundamentals of a hair transplant and what can be done are based on your available donor hair this is something that you cannot waste and have to maximise its use.
I decided on FUT as the amount needed to cover my Norwood 5 wouldn’t be achieved by FUE and also I wanted to have some donor in the bank should I need another transplant in the future – which FUE would not have enabled.
So, then it’s a question of which clinic to entertain – unfortunately as the industry is unregulated you have to be very careful about who you select - the information you receive can be very confusing and conflicting! The forum is a great place for recommendations and substantiating good clinics / surgeons, particularly those members that are experienced in hair transplants.
I selected Hattingen clinic after much research and based on their online videos of patients results and how dense the coverage was and natural looking, scars being barely noticeable, and that it seemed that patients with similar hair loss to mine were able to cover all their thinning areas from front to crown…. The only clinic to answer all of my questions and provide me with information in the way I had requested was Hattingen Hair Clinic, who also said I could have the coverage I required with 4500-5000 grafts in one transplant (which very few clinics do). Dr Muresanu afforded me as much time as I wanted in our contacts – and was very easy to deal with. They don’t employ sales reps and you speak directly with the surgeon, and I immediately liked the openness and integrity – and always being available for my many questions over a period of 7-8 months. As Hattingen are one of the few clinics to do both FUE and FUT I felt that their advice was balanced and given with my best interests at heart and not skewed by a financial bias which I felt some of the others might have been.
Another big plus point with Hattingen which instilled a greater confidence is that you get two specialist hair doctors working together on each patient.
Hattingen delivered in their assessment of between 4500-5000 grafts at the upper end at 4899. Another plus is that they advised that my hair to graft ratio count was very good at 2.56 (average normally 2.15), whereas the majority of the other clinics consulted said I had less than average!....and some saying I couldn’t possibly get enough grafts to cover my Norwood 5 (which very nearly made me not go ahead with a transplant!!). Hattingen were the only clinic to accurately advise me on this (follicles per sq cm, follicular grouping, quantity of grafts etc.), some of the other clinics disappointingly being well out or didn’t provide this info despite requests to do so – don’t be fobbed off by this as this is key to your transplant!
As I wanted density in coverage as opposed to a larger but sparser area you may see I went for an age appropriate hairline being more conservative to enable the crown and mid-scalp to be better covered. Of the 4899 grafts they placed 2700 in the frontal third, 1100 mid scalp and 1100 in the crown.
It is obvious that everyone at Hattingen clinic really cares and this came through over the two days of my transplant; they split the larger FUT’s over two days so that you don’t have to suffer one really long day and of course this should help with graft survival being out of the head for less long. The day starts at 7am and mine finished both days around 3:30 to 4pm. You are provided with a choice of three cooked meals for lunch.
I must mention the aftercare as its beyond anything I’m aware is provided by other clinics – I stayed on for a period after the transplant and was invited back each day I remained there for a hair wash and examination of progress. Both Dr’s came and reviewed it and determined what was required each day – such as when the scabbing should be removed and the dead skin too + reviewing the scar and its progress. Dr Muresanu has kept in touch since and offers video calls for any concerns if required.
I have attached my pre and post transplant photos for you to see – and as its now been 2½ months since my transplant I will upload some more up to date photos very shortly.
Obviously its all about hair and scar results and I will keep you appraised with more pics / videos throughout the process. Wish me luck!, and I would be interested to hear any comments.
