• Welcome to Hair loss Experiences hair loss forum.

    Free impartial hair loss advice, hair transplant advice, hair loss medications and hair loss news.
    You can contact us directly at [email protected] if you experience any problems.

Start of my UK FUE Journey

C

ChrisN

Valued member
Similar to a lot of other members, I’ve never posted on here, but have been using this forum recently for my own research into a HTP - so figured it was only right to share my journey, with any feedback being much appreciated.

Background: I am 48 years old, and started noticing my hair thinning at the age of 21. Over the next 27 years it has been something that has bothered me but not enough to doing anything major about (other than using Rogaine in the later years). I would say the hair loss has been consistent over the period and consistent with other family members. Although I was comfortable with the look of myself in the mirror (for some reason I see a different hair line), seeing my hair line in photos and more recently in on webcams that have resulted from working from home (WFH), I decided to look seriously at FUE HT, with the ideal scenario being to have the procedure whilst WFH due to privacy reasons. Hence I was keen to make some quick (albeit informed decisions).

So I shortlisted a couple of clinics (Harley Street Hair Clinic hshairclinic as well as the Maitland Clinic) based on what I had read online and sent out a couple of email enquires in mid Sept with the following pictures - note: I would rather pay for convenience rather than travel (I'm London based).

The Maitland clinic were only able to offer a 30min video consultation with a patient advisor - there was a 4 week lead time for this and am being advised that the lead time for a follow up face to face would by another 8 weeks. Not sure what the subsequent lead time would then be for the procedure.
But I have an initial consultation scheduled in a couple of weeks.

However, I was able to get a face to face appointment with HSHC last week with a patient advisor in which I was introduced to the doctor (Dr. Vida) who would be performing the procedure. It would be a 2-day FUE procedure to restore the frontal hairline and temple areas - aim is to extract and place approximately 2000 grafts, with the cost of the procedure being around £8k. One of the many things that impressed me from this visit was finding out that the whole procedure across both days would be performed solely by the doctor. Earliest appointment date would be sometime in January, which I could secure next week through the payment of a deposit. Keen to get a date in the diary sooner rather than later.

So although I appreciate that decisions such as this should not be rushed, I do feel comfortable with the hshairclinic, and although I would like to see what the Maitland has to say, I do fear that there lead times may be too long - I also get the impression that they like to do the procedure in one day, whereas I do get comfort in a 2 day process with 1k grafts sourced and replanted each day.

But I feel it only right to seek the feedback of those on this forum and try to due some further due diligence around the specific doctor, who, other that an interview on ITV This Morning, I can't find a great deal online.

Hence I would be keen to hear any advice you all have on my situation and next steps - either way, I'll ensure I keep you posted.

Kind Regards

IMG_E6616.JPG
IMG_E6617.JPG
IMG_E6618.JPG
 
Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
Hi Chris.
Welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing your story.
I don`t know anything about Dr Vida, most results I`ve seen online only mention the clinic name and seeing that they have a few doctors there's no way of knowing who did the procedure. When you say the doctor does the whole surgery do you literally mean everything as in they will be working on his own or do you mean he will do all the FUE punching?
What is the plan of action as your hair loss is around a Norwood 4-5?
Are you using any hair loss medications to prevent more loss?
Once you have the surgery it will be great if you document your journey here.
All the best.
Bm.
 
C

ChrisN

Valued member
Hi BM

Many thanks for your response - like I said in my original post, any feedback / advice is gratefully received. To answer some of your questions:

- Yes, I was informed that DR Vida would be pretty much working on his own extracting half the grafts (circa 1k) in the morning of day 1 - then lunch - then building one side of the new hairline in the afternoon - repeat day two. I questioned this operating model as, albeit I was happy that one doctor owned the whole process, it seemed you would want to 'delegate' to some extent - but was assured this was not the case.
- Plan of action: perhaps I've been a little laid back here. At the age of 48 I'm not expecting miracles so have a very realistic expectation of what is achievable. Hence I haven't gone into too much detail - the photo below shows the new hairline proposed by Dr Vida and the feedback letter after the consultation simply talks about approximately 2k grafts to 'restore the frontal hairline and temple areas'. Do you think I should be seeking further details?

- I discussed medications going forward and they were not in favour of finasteride in my case, although they said I should continue with the Regaine that I had been using for a number of years. This seemed to be based more on my age and that the hair loss would have stabilized to a large extent - hence the pros were outweighed by the cons. Although I understand the logic, this surprised me a little.

The one reference I see online for Dr. Vida is an ITV This Morning appearance alongside Spencer (Spex) - I note from his website (spexhair.com) that he's been working with The Harley St. Hair Clinic, so I should take some assurance from that right?

Kind Regards.


hshcproposedhairline_02.10.20.jpg
 
Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
The doctor will most likely be limiting it to 1000 per day due to fatigue seeing that they will do the whole surgery by himself.
Hair loss is progressive, even our donor areas can thin out which is why in my opinion meds are very important. If you look at older males in their 60s and upwards you will see they continue with their loss. It`s up to you if you do a HT without meds and run this risk.

2000 grafts will give you a hairline and a little coverage behind. If this is what you want then great but you may decide you want more.

This guy said he was going to Dr Vida but never came back with any updates.

 
M

mike80

member
hi Chris, did you have your surgery with Dr Vida at the end? I'm about to book the transplant with him but also struggling to find any reviews from patients which are not from the HSH clinic website. Thanks!
 
S

SheddinStevens

member
I've seen a lot of doctors say their techs that do specific processes are much better at those process than they are because they have been doing the same specific part of procedure for 5-15 years. I wouldn't be afraid of a tech-heavy htp where the doctor is just observing and/or making the incisions.

A clinic I considered actually doesn't use a doctor whatsoever and it didn't phase me because their results are so good.

If I were you I'd opt for 5000 or more grafts. 2000 spread out in that area will be very very spaced apart. 2000 on the front and temples alone would likely give you quite a good result, but 2000 for the whole transplant would likely leave you feeling unhappy imo.
 
B

Baldingman23

Valued member
I would agree with shedding stevens, 2000 graphs doesn’t seem enough to get a result you would be happy with. Your area to cover seems a little bigger than mine and I went with 3729 graphs. I would probably get some more clinics to give you graph quotes
 
Top