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FUE 1051 Grafts - The Maitland Clinic - Dr Edward Ball

A

Acaelus

member
Hello everyone.

First time making a post on this forum.
I'm not really one for writing long winded tales of my trials and tribulations, but I will try to make a point of what I believe to be the important details that people may want to be aware of.

First off, I am currently nearing the end of my 30th year of existence, of which I had noticed losing my hair at the age of 24.
I have been using Minoxidil from the age of 25, and taking Dutasteride from about 3 months after that.
From 2017 I spent a year in Japan, and was only allowed to bring 6 months worth of Minoxidil and Dut (in hindsight, I probably could have taken more, seeing as customs didn't seem to care that much). Because of this, I only applied Minoxidil once at night before bed, and took Dut once every other day. I then continued to do this all the way to now, seeing as it did not seem to make a difference.

As of the beginning of this year I was finally in a position were I could get a hair transplant without it getting in the way of any other plans, and that I knew I would continue to be in England long enough to monitor it properly without risk of interference.

I had spoken to a few other Clinics before settling on The Maitland Clinic, and honestly, the initial big sell for me, was that the Clinic was based in Portsmouth, which is only an hours drive from where I live. To me, this just meant that I didn't have to worry about travel, or getting a hotel, and risk being in an environment where I might not be able to protect the newly grafted hairs immediately after the procedure.

Now that was the initial selling point. Not the most important.
Reputation was a big deal to me. And from what I could find about The Maitland Clinic, the reputation was glowing and untarnished.

Now the £150 consultation fee lead me to believe that either these guys were cocky as Hell, con-artists, or just wanted to make sure that the people booking these time slots were truly here to play the game. Obviously, the latter applied. Maybe the first applies too (though they'd have right to be).

Because first contact started during lockdown, I had a Video Consultation with David, who made what would likely be considered an awkward and embarrassing conversation feel very reassuring and casual. The conclusion over the video was that I would need roughly 2500 grafts of FUT in order to cover my hairline and crown. After this, we arranged an in person consultation with both David, and Dr Ball to make a proper assessment.

I'm going to try make this less of a story now, as I'm sure many of you have read about how friendly, genuine, and professional The Maitland Clinic team is, so I'll try steer away from repeating that, but do know, that it is all indeed true.

Anyway. At the in house consultation, the decision was made that it would only need to be 2000 grafts FUT, in order to achieve my goal. I agreed, and we booked the day of surgery (27th of August).

Now, I had intended to use their suggested 0% interest loan company DEKO, but very likely due to that fact that my Profession is that of a Personal Trainer, and I was in furlough, it was rejected. No matter. It just meant that I would cut down on some luxuries for a while.

On the day before the surgery, I visited the clinic to go over the final details, and fill in the last of the paper work. It was here that I brought up that I had a mole at the front of my head (Hidden by hair) that was part of the reason that I don't really shave my head. It's annoying, and sticks out quite obviously. Also saying that I don't mind having a shaved head, and that I quite like the shape of my head. Hell, a shaved head suits me somewhat.
This was a throw away comment, but it comes back the next day.

The morning of the surgery, Dr Ball suggests that we make a last minute change of plan. At this point, my first thought was "Shit, this is going to cost a lot more".
Basically, he suggest that we change the method from FUT, to FUE, allowing me to have shorter hair style (shaved head), without having to worry about a possibly noticeable scar left behind from FUT. He also said that about a year ago, he used to also shave off moles, and would be happy to shave mine off, also removing one of my head based anxieties.
Dr Ball lead all this, by saying that the one comment I made about my mole, and how I liked my own head shape, had bugged him the night before after our meeting, and even the morning after he woke up on the day of the surgery. He had a feeling that there was a better option for me, and wouldn't feel right unless he brought it up.
One of the major things emphasized at The Maitland Clinic, is that they want their patients to think about the long term effects of, and future of their hair.
This truly became evident on that morning. This was to be a long term relationship. It was going to be done right.
So we came to the decision to have 1000 FUE grafts place along my hairline to strengthen it, while doing a course of PRP injections into my crown, to thicken up the current miniaturized hairs. He even offered to do the first session of PRP for free to get the ball rolling. Meaning that now we have 3 rounds of PRP injections left, 2 spread out over 8-12 weeks, and another 4 or so months after that.

Once again, I feel like I am typing too much. I'm going to keep this part as short as I can.

The day of the surgery was simple, also a bit of a blur due to the Valium (I don't think it was specifically Valium).
Head shaved. Pictures taken. Lain in a chair watching Community on Netflix while 7 people (all very lovely people) stabbed me in the head for maybe 10 or so hours.
At around lunch time there was a Subway food break (No in house food due to the Covid restrictions), and a literally basket full of snacks to keep me going.
It was indeed, a somewhat relaxing process. No really pain, especially once the painkillers had kicked in.

Recovery was simple. Spray head with special spray every 30 minutes while awake, and waking up every 2 hours while asleep, this went on for about 3 days. Then just spraying my head every 30 minutes during the day until the bottle ran out (2 bottles lasted about 8 days).
All the standard recovery process dealings. I've gone on too long, and now I'm getting hungry, so going to cut this short (I'm not the kind of person that can just stop and come back to something like this).
Recovery went very well. No extra bleeding, scab free by day 10, back to work by day 15. No one was any the wiser. I spent over a year in China training Shaolin Kung Fu, so when I told everyone I had shaved my head because I was meeting some old Shaolin friends, they didn't bat an eyelid. Not sure how many others have that excuse.

NOW!
Most of you are all probably here because you want to see the results!
Well so do I! And we're still gunna have to wait another 5-11 months, seeing as the surgery was only performed roughly 5 weeks ago.
But I'm not a complete tease!
I will be adding below(?) or attaching my before photos from the day of the surgery, photos from the first day after surgery, photos from 3 days after surgery, and photos from 7 days after surgery. I also have photos from 4 weeks post op, and will be taking photos on the 27th of each month until the 12th month. I will start uploading those photos from month 6, as not to watch the kettle boil.

Hope this helps.

Bye for now!


(Day of Surgery)

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(1 day after surgery, 3 days after, 7 days after, in that order within each of the pictures)


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Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
Hi Acaelus. Welcome to the forum.
It`s good to hear you had a pleasant experience with the clinic and everything went smoothly. I think switching to FUE was the better option with you wanting to keep your hair short. I do like FUT but there is always a chance a scar may stretch.
Your post op healing was quick which usually happens with a good aftercare regimen that includes regular spraying. The placement looks nice and clean which I`m sure will produce a very nice result once grown out.

Being in China and Japan must have been amazing. I like the excuse of saying you were meeting some Shaolin friends.

Thanks for sharing your story, it was an enjoyable read. I`ll look forward to following your progress.

All the best.

Bm.

ps, I was going to call you Grasshopper.
 
A

Acaelus

member
Hi Bigmac.
Thanks for the welcome.
Hopefully this is able to help any others who are on the fence about surgery, and or a surgeon in general.

Also, I should add, that the change of plans also reduced the price from £7000, to £6125. And though PRP is more of a gamble, if it works to the better end of the scale, than all in all, it is a bonus on my end.
That offer didn't have to be made. I truly believe it was offered as a genuine concern for my well-being.

You can also call me Grasshopper if you like.
 
D

Dazzster26

Valued member
Hi Friend

Thanks for sharing your story with us and good to have you here in the forum , Maitland Clinic has a very good reputation so your in good hands so to speak , the work looks very good as expected and should give you a nice result , all the very best wishing you great recovery and growth
 
Desmond

Desmond

member
Great documentation with an interesting story to boot. Your experience mirrors my own, excellent every step of the way.
Happy growing.
 
A

Acaelus

member
Would also like to add, that on Thursday I went in for my 2nd round of PRP injections to my crown with Karen.
Due to the fact that the first time I had them done was during the surgery, under painkillers and anaesthetic, Karen explained to me that she has been told it feels like having a tattoo done.
I've never had a tattoo, so I couldn't relate. But if I were to relate it to anything, it felt like a cat was pawing at my head (Also not sure how I know that).
But honestly, it wasn't bad at all.
Will be booking the next top up in 4-6 weeks.
 
Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
Hopefully, the PRP makes an improvement to the overall health of your hair. Good to hear it wasn`t too bad pain wise.
 
Desmond

Desmond

member
Is the main purpose of your PRP treatment to help your transplanted grafts flourish quicker?
 
A

Acaelus

member
Is the main purpose of your PRP treatment to help your transplanted grafts flourish quicker?

Hi Desmond.

The PRP is going into the crown to help see if we can encourage the miniaturized hair to thicken up and grow out some more. It's more of a gamble, but one I am interested in seeing the results of.
My transplanted grafts are all in my hairline.
 
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