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Maitland Clinic Dr Ball FUE 1500 June 21

H

Hairstory

member
Introduction
I am a 33 year old living on the South Coast and have a hair transplant booked for June 10th next week. I found this forum late on in my research and feel I wanted to share my experience to help others in a similar position. I will post videos of my progress pre and post op.

Like a lot of people posting on the forum, my hair loss story started in my mid 20s. I used to take pride in my hair, spending plenty of time styling it, highlighting it and it was part of my personality. Around the age of 25 I started to notice my hair thinning and receding in the frontal region. I have quite thick and curly hair so I could quite easily disguise this initially. As time went by I noticed more and more hair being lost and it became increasingly more difficult to cover the thinner areas. At about the age of 28 I started using regaine religiously as a friend had started using it with fantastic results. Unfortunately I didn't quite have the same results and my hair loss continued to progress. I had recently got engaged and with my wedding in the diary for Spring 2022 I thought now was the time to act.

Hair Clinic Research
At the beginning of 2021 I started dedicating time to researching treatment for hair loss. I had a few video consultations and a friend had recommended a London clinic that I attended for a consultation but I did not feel these clinics were right for me. I work in healthcare and wanted to have an experienced and well qualified clinician operating on me. It was after this that I became familiar with the British Association of Hair Restoration Surgery. Their website has excellent advice and information for patients and also has a directory of members. It was here that I came across Dr Ball and the Maitland Clinic.

Consultation
The Maitland Clinic website alone gave me a lot of realistic information for non surgical and surgical treatment of hair loss for someone like myself in my 30s. I contacted the clinic at the end of January and paid the £50 video consultation fee which was booked for March. Please don't be put off by paying for the consultation because it was by far the best of all I had. The consultation was with David Anderson who is the Senior Patient Advisor at the clinic and someone who has also been through hair transplant surgery. The consultation lasted around 45 minutes and was a detailed overview of my hair loss and how the clinic could help. I felt very comfortable and well informed by David and so I was very happy to book my in person consultation with Dr Ball.

I attended the Maitland Clinic in Portsmouth for my consultation which was easy to get to and park. Dr Ball was extremely professional and thorough in the consultation. I have a medical condition in which I have to take blood thinners for and he spent a considerable amount of time informing me how best to carry out treatment in the safest way with the best clinical outcome. I was also keen to avoid finasteride as I knew I would be starting a family in the not too distant future. We looked at all the pros and cons of each non surgical and surgical treatment and concluded I would be a good candidate for surgery. Dr Ball gave me a visual idea of what my hairline would look like and all information of costs involved. I left the clinic feeling over the moon with my experience and excited about finally tackling my hair loss problem. I will be returning next week for my pre op appointment which I will write a post about prior to the surgery the following day.

Below are photos I have taken today to show the extent of my hair loss and also a video explaining the hair loss story so far.



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Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
Hi Hairstory. Welcome to the forum.
It sounds as though you`ve done quite a bit of research which is good to hear.
You did hide your hair loss quite well with the careful styling. How many grafts will you be having?
Congratulations on the engagement and future wedding in 2022. By then, you should have a nice result from your transplant.
I`ll look forward to reading all about the surgery in a couple of weeks.
All the best.
Bm.
 
H

Hairstory

member
Hi Bigmac
Thanks for your message, really appreciate it! I’m due to have 1500-2000 grafts on Thursday so will keep you updated on how it goes...
 
H

Herr Loss

member
Thanks for sharing and good luck with your surgery, you're in good hands with Dr Ball.
 
H

Hairstory

member
Pre op appointment
Today I attended my pre op appointment at the Maitland Clinic in Portsmouth. This lasted roughly 2 hours and involved planning and preparation for tomorrow’s surgery.

 
Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
Wow, a 2 hour pre op. You must have addressed every single point.
Good luck for tomorrow.
 
H

Hairstory

member
Day of Surgery
So it’s finally here, the day I’ve been leading up to to for a long time...and I can safely say it was not nearly as bad as I imagined.

The treatment was set out into three stages - extraction of follicles, preparation or recipient site and insertion of follicles. I ended up having 2026 grafts in total. Each stage took around 2-3 hours to carry out but I had the added complexity of needing to come off my blood thinners for the operation. This meant we needed regular breaks to allow me to go and do some leg exercises and drink copious amounts of water. This also meant I needed regular toilet breaks!

For the whole procedure I was either lying face down or at an upright 45 degree angle, always well supported by pillows. The only slight discomfort came from the local anaesthetic injections but after this it was largely pain free. Any mild discomfort was counteracted by oral medication prescribed by Dr Ball.

Throughout the whole procedure I could watch netflix, listen to the radio, listen to podcasts and event managed a sleep! It honestly was a very relaxing experience. Full credit to the team at the Maitland Clinic who were always professional but made me feel so at ease with everything. The aftercare was extremely thorough and all items needed were provided to keep the surgical site safe for the next 10 days.


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H

Hairstory

member
Day 1 post op
After the excitement of yesterday, today has been a largely uneventful day. I had to take some co-codamol last night and this morning but otherwise I’m pain free. Just some tightness around the forehead which is starting to swell slightly. Ice and massage are currently keeping that at bay but I’m expecting that to become more pronounced in the next day or two.

I have a regime of steroids and flucloxacillin to take over the next few days to help with healing. Sleeping was obviously disturbed but I seemed to get back to sleep ok after the 2 hourly sprays. The pillows to elevate my head were fairly comfortable and I’m pleased I was provided with the pillow cover as I did ooze a fair bit from the donor site.

I’ve had a follow up call from the Maitland clinic who requested photos of the donor and recipient sites which they are happy with so currently all is well.



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Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
Hi Hairstory. It`s good to hear the surgery went smoothly and your nerves were soon put to rest. Having everything explained as surgery progresses really helps reassure you and watching the TV takes your mind off things.
The work looks ultra refined and clean. The recipient area looks exceptionally good. The pain medication does help with the dull achy pain you can get as the skin begins to pull together while healing. Hopefully, you don`t suffer much swelling.
Those 2026 grafts should make a very nice difference.
I`ll look forward to your next update.
Heal and grow well.
 
H

Herr Loss

member
Great to see you had a good experience, the hairline design really suits you.

As you're not taking Finasteride, what was their advice regarding future planning?
 
H

Hairstory

member
Thanks Bigmac and Herr loss, much appreciated.

Yes finasteride certainly seems to be the go to treatment but until then I will try a combination of regaine and theradome. Have you seen some good results with the theradome? PRP is also another option I might be interested to explore. Any advice welcomed!
 
Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
I`ve seen some people respond positively to PRP but it`s a small percentage. Finasteride is very effective but it`s a personal choice whether to use it.
 
H

Herr Loss

member
I personally think the potential results of PRP aren't sufficient enough to warrant the cost in the long term, but there's no harm in giving it a go to see if you're a good responder.
 
0

01jmcginnes

member
Hi Hairstory

I am looking into getting a procedure done in the near future with Dr Ball at The Maitland Clinic, I will be following your progress closely and look forward to your results. How has the swelling been from Day 2 and were you in any pain/discomfort days after your HT?

Great write up and keep us all posted.
 
H

Hairstory

member
Hi 01jmcgimnes

You certainly are in good hands, the whole experience before, during and after at Maitland was superb. I could not recommend more highly.

Day 1 and 2 I had minor swelling but today on day 3 my swelling has peaked which I expected from the aftercare documents provided. I’ve attached photos showing it mainly around my nose and eyes. I have had very little pain other than some mild discomfort on the evening of the surgery and day after. Since then I have not required any pain relief. I thought the ATP spraying might be a pain but as long as you set a continuous alarm on your phone you’ll be fine!
 

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Hairstory

member
One Week Post Op
So I’m one week in and I am starting to feel a lot more normal again. Since yesterday I have been able to touch the grafts which is certainly a relief as I was rather paranoid about causing any damage before. I was previously having baths where I would trickle baby shampoo over the grafted area but I can now gently shower and massage the grafted hairs to remove scabs. I can also wear t shirts opposed to only having buttoned or zipped tops.

I finished the 30 minute ATP spraying a couple of days ago and also have stopped applying Vaseline to the donor area. I am sleeping normally without any extra pillows or protective covers.

I am pretty much pain free although the donor site can still be a little tender sometimes. The problem I have is developing pimples in the donor area. I have had long standing problems with spots on my scalp but the Maitland clinic have given me follow up advice on using hot flannels to open the pours to help prevent this.

The appearance of the scalp is certainly improving with the redness and scabs fading. I felt comfortable enough to go out shopping without feeling self conscious today. The one problem with the short hair cut is it certainly highlights the thinning in the crown more now. Hopefully I can slow that until I eventually use finasteride or consider a second surgery in the future.

 

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Last edited:
Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
Hi 01jmcgimnes

You certainly are in good hands, the whole experience before, during and after at Maitland was superb. I could not recommend more highly.

Day 1 and 2 I had minor swelling but today on day 3 my swelling has peaked which I expected from the aftercare documents provided. I’ve attached photos showing it mainly around my nose and eyes. I have had very little pain other than some mild discomfort on the evening of the surgery and day after. Since then I have not required any pain relief. I thought the ATP spraying might be a pain but as long as you set a continuous alarm on your phone you’ll be fine!

Good to see the swelling wasn`t too bad and that you never really needed any pain meds. The ATP spray really helps with post op healing and keeping the recipient area looking clean.
 
Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
One Week Post Op
So I’m one week in and I am starting to feel a lot more normal again. Since yesterday I have been able to touch the grafts which is certainly a relief as I was rather paranoid about causing any damage before. I was previously having baths where I would trickle baby shampoo over the grafted area but I can now gently shower and massage the grafted hairs to remove scabs. I can also wear t shirts opposed to only having buttoned or zipped tops.

I finished the 30 minute ATP spraying a couple of days ago and also have stopped applying Vaseline to the donor area. I am sleeping normally without any extra pillows or protective covers.

I am pretty much pain free although the donor site can still be a little tender sometimes. The problem I have is developing pimples in the donor area. I have had long standing problems with spots on my scalp but the Maitland clinic have given me follow up advice on using hot flannels to open the pours to help prevent this.

The appearance of the scalp is certainly improving with the redness and scabs fading. I felt comfortable enough to go out shopping without feeling self conscious today. The one problem with the short hair cut is it certainly highlights the thinning in the crown more now. Hopefully I can slow that until I eventually use finasteride or consider a second surgery in the future.


Everything looks good and on track at 7 days. The grafts are secure which does help stop the paranoia allows you to relax and start getting back to normal.
Those pimples can be painful if they swell up. Hopefully, preventing them with the flannels works for you.
After 10 days you could sprinkle a little bit of hair fibres on the crown area if it bothers you.
Thanks for the update.
 
H

Hairstory

member
Everything looks good and on track at 7 days. The grafts are secure which does help stop the paranoia allows you to relax and start getting back to normal.
Those pimples can be painful if they swell up. Hopefully, preventing them with the flannels works for you.
After 10 days you could sprinkle a little bit of hair fibres on the crown area if it bothers you.
Thanks for the update.
Thanks Bigmac
Could you perhaps tell me more about the hair fibres? Any recommendations?
 
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