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The Hair Dr. (Dr. Arshad) - 3,480 grafts (11/12/2020)

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ChrisN

Valued member
Similar to a lot of other members, I have been using this forum recently for my own research into a HTP – and I’m pleased to say that it’s finally time to share my journey.

Background: I am 48 years old, and started noticing my hair thinning at the age of 21. Over the next 27 years it was something that had bothered me but not enough to do 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 would see the shadow of my hair line), seeing my hair line in photos and more recently on webcams that have resulted from covid-19 related working from home, I decided to look seriously at FUE HT, with the ideal scenario being to have the procedure whilst WFH due to privacy reasons.

So I shortlisted and spoke to three UK based clinics (Harley Street Hair Clinic, the Maitland Clinic and Dr. Arshad of The Hair Dr.) and settled on The Hair Dr. in Leeds and a Friday 11 December appointment.
I also took the decision to start taking finasteride daily a couple of months before the treatment and will continue to do so.

Drove up from London Thursday night – stayed in the Holiday Inn Wakefield (a 10min drive from the clinic) and was told to arrive for 7am.

Won’t go into all the details of the day as it has been documented in detail in various other posts – but in summary the place is incredibly well managed with all the staff involved being highly professional with everyone working extremely well together as a team.

3480 grafts later and we were done by around 5pm, after which I had a final consultation with Dr. Arshad and a run through of the meds / procedure to be followed over the next 7 -14 days and a WhatsApp contact for any questions concerns.

Drove back to the Holiday Inn where I stayed the night and drove back to London the following day. No issues whatsoever walking into the hotel with a bandaged head!

First night wasn’t the best nights sleep as I got used to a combination of a travel pillow and a number of carefully arranged pillow to both prop me up and keep me away from the headboard. But it has got easier as each night passes.

One thing that I have found to be a good idea is to sleep in a pair of gloves! Sounds crazy, but on the first night having come around half asleep in the middle of the night, you run a risk of scratching your head instinctively. I find the feeling of gloves as you raise your hands enough to stop yourself.

So now I’m coming towards the end of day three – and all looks to be healing nicely. I will attach some before and after pictures and update as I go.

Thanks again to Dr. Arshad, Sommiya and all the team.
 

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ChrisN

Valued member
Day 4 update:
Following the post op care plan to the letter - healing really well after only four days.
Slight swelling now on my forehead but that was expected.
 

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ChrisN

Valued member
Thanks guys - have been really impressed with the speed of healing - Day 7 tomorrow and the big 'hair wash'
 
Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
Hi Chris.
Welcome to the forum.
Everything sounds like your experience was very good.
Nearly 3500 grafts will totally change your appearance. The work looks good. Healing at 4 days looks right on track. Next you will have the shedding stage in a few days time.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Looking forward to following your journey.
All the best,
Bm.
 
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ChrisN

Valued member
Thanks Bigmac & thanks for hosting such an invaluable site.

Day 12 update - all healed up nicely as move into the shedding phase.
 

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ChrisN

Valued member
3 week updates pictures - shedding as expected and not the most flattering look - especially on Xmas Zoom calls.
Was great for once to be in the knowledge that I'd actually done something about the look, and I was looking forward to surprising people in 6 months time !
 

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Baldingman23

Valued member
Hang in there Chris with them thoughts, shedding stage is the worse part but knowing you will have a good head of hair soon will keep the smiles up
 
Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
Hi Chris.
The healing looks like it's all going to plan.
Your hair may look slightly worse once all the shedding is done but you soon get over that when the growth begins.
People who have not seen you for a while will be wowed once you have plenty of growth.
Thanks for the update and I'm glad the forum has helped you.
All the best.
Bm.
 
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ChrisN

Valued member
M

I’m currently only at the 7 week mark so very early days. The shedding phase is done but it was starting to look a bit of a mess with the sides and back growing / thickening up - so decided to get the back and sides (only) trimmed today.
It’s taking longer than expected for the pinkish tone of the new hairline to fade (despite using aloe vera) but that’s not a problem - I have a light above my head so it’s not noticeable on work Zoom calls.
In this respect lockdown and WFH has really made this easier / possible for me.

Please also ignore the cut - I stupidly grazed my head yesterday and looks worse than it is.

As has been quoted on previous posts (and reattached here), it’s going to be at least another 2 months before anything noticeable starts to happen - something I need to keep reminding myself of.

Regards
Chris
 

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LondonMayor

member
Again, it doesnt even look like youve had a haor transplant; this is a good thing!

Now you just have to stick to the plan and patiently look forward to some healthy growth. By summer, sun will be out, we'll (hopefully) be out of lockdown and you get to show off your new hairline

Keep us posted with your updates!
 
Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
Just the waiting game now. The growth timeline you added is a rough average which if followed can help alleviate any worrying thoughts about your own growth.
Sometimes a good shampoo can help with redness. I`ve recently begun to use Pura d`or original gold label. It`s an all natural ingredient shampoo which makes my hair and scalp feel good. Recently I was experiencing scalp dryness/dandruff and this cleared it up in days.
 
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ChrisN

Valued member
Thanks Bigmac - I’ll take a look - I’ve been using Sebamed since procedure.

I suspect the format of my Regaine may be contributing to the issue - I’ve been using the liquid spray as opposed to the foam as I find it much easier to regulate the volume used. But is it true it contains more alcohol that can dry out the scalp ? One of the other reasons I hadn’t changed was that I had a few months stock remaining!
Would be interested in your thoughts.
Many thanks
Chris
 
Harryspotter

Harryspotter

member
Hi Chris, I just had a talk with the clinic and they mentioned something about the hairline under the crown area and that I wouldn't get anything there because during sleep patterns I would over time knock them out. However, looking at your pics, it looks like you did have it. Do you remember having a conversation about this?
 

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ChrisN

Valued member
Hi
This area wasn’t specifically discussed as my preference was to focus on the front hairline first and we could then fill out part of the crown as a second priority (since wasn’t visible to me).
Hence we didn’t get to the area under the crown, which from looking at the attached wasn’t touched.
Hope this helps.
 

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Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
Thanks Bigmac - I’ll take a look - I’ve been using Sebamed since procedure.

I suspect the format of my Regaine may be contributing to the issue - I’ve been using the liquid spray as opposed to the foam as I find it much easier to regulate the volume used. But is it true it contains more alcohol that can dry out the scalp ? One of the other reasons I hadn’t changed was that I had a few months stock remaining!
Would be interested in your thoughts.
Many thanks
Chris


Nizoral works well to combat the dry scalp from minoxidil use. It`s sold in Boots and quite a few online places. About 7 quid a bottle but you only need to use it twice a week between regular shampooing.
 
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