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Transplant with the Hair Dr (Leeds), Dr Arshad and his team - 18 Aug 2020 - 3500 grafts

P

Priceyrice

member
Hi Everyone

I have been slightly concerned about documenting my progress on here regarding my hair transplant (mainly for privacy reasons), however, this forum was a huge help to me when deciding on which clinic to go for, so I think it's only right I give something back as well.

Background:
I am a 30 year old male who has been balding and thinning since late teens - it's never been a huge issue for me and I had pretty much accepted it, but the more I researched hair transplants the more I sold myself on going down this route. Then when lockdown came it seemed like a perfect time. I was looking to thicken up the density at top of the head and bring the hairline forward a bit while still trying to keep a natural look. I ideally wanted to get the job sorted in one transplant, but appreciate the fact I may need a further transplant down the line, especially if my crown continued to get worse (I am hoping Finasteride will help here)

Choosing a Clinic:
I am based in the south of England so my search was initially focused on London clinics, I wasn't interested in saving money and going abroad due to after care concerns and just some of the horror stories you hear from Turkey (although I appreciate there are good clinics there as well). I had around 7 different consultations at this stage and I found it very difficult with such a variety of different advice offered from the clinics. I whittled it down initially to the following clinics.

1. Harley Street Healthcare - hair-transplant-clinics.co.uk

2. Fortes Clinic - fortesclinic.co.uk/

3. Harley Street Hair Clinic - hshairclinic.co.uk/

I then came across this forum and discovered the horror stories about Harley Street Healthcare, I also realised the advice they had given for two transplants 4/6 weeks apart seemed very strange. Harley Street Hair Clinic (the Wayne Rooney clinic) seemed a bit pricey for 2000 grafts and the Fortes Clinic I just couldn't find that much info about. I then came across the Hair Dr and their results posted across this forum, both from patients and also the clinic itself. This transparency provided me with assurance as to the quality of their work. I would say an important aspect is speaking to the surgeon directly rather than a salesmen.

I had my initial consultation via video chat with Dr Arshad himself, he was very honest from the outset, keeping my expectations realistic and not trying to sell his service or a larger number of grafts. From all my consultations, this was the one I felt most comfortable with and had confidence in the advice provided. The initial advice was for up to 2500 grafts, although I wanted more, the concern raised was for my donor area and not over-harvesting.

Day of Procedure:
I arrived at 8am, had my temperature checked and waited in the reception room with Liam (I hope I've remembered his name correctly!) while the Dr and his team were getting ready. Once the team were ready I had the pre-op consultation with Dr Arshad where we discussed what I was looking to achieve, took some pictures and drew on the hairline. I also raised the point at this stage that I would prefer to have more grafts taken if possible with the Dr saying my donor area was better than he initially thought and he would see how it goes during the extraction stage as to whether he could do more than 2500 grafts - I mentioned I would be happy to pay for more if it was possible.

My head was then shaved and I was taken to the operation room - I was surprisingly calm during this and was looking forward to getting started. I was asked what music I wanted to listen to then the procedure started. I must say the initial stage is by far the most uncomfortable part of the procedure with the local anaesthetic being applied (it felt like staples being put into your head!). This is over relatively quickly though and after this you don't feel anything - the team also pressed the fact that if I felt anything to let them know immediately and they would apply more anaesthetic (an offer I took up a couple of times). I think this part of the op took about 2-3 hours - you're lying face down during this time, occasionally moving onto your side slightly. This part of the procedure was lead directly by Dr Arshad with his team splitting out the grafts between singles, doubles and triples. It was during this stage that the Dr mentioned the grafts were coming out very nicely and he had definitely underestimated my donor area. Once this was complete I discovered they had managed to extract almost 3500 grafts, which was more in line with what I had initially wanted, so I was very pleased.

Once this was over I was given lunch (having been asked early on what I wanted) and I was keen to get back to the op as soon as possible.

The second part of the operation was more comfortable, you're lying on your back and can watch tv. Again, this was lead by Dr Arshad as he made the incisions for the grafts to go into. He then instructed his experienced technicians on where to implant the grafts and left them to do most of the implanting stage, singles for the hairline with the doubles and triples added further back.

Once this was complete we had the post-op de-brief where I was given an aftercare package with lots of drugs, saline spray, ointment for the donor area, bandages and a daily planner for the next 7 days. The clinic also booked me my taxi back to Leeds. PLEASE DO NOT TRY AND DRIVE AFTER THE PROCEDURE, you're depth perception is way-off and you can feel very dizzy from all the anaesthetic. I was also given a whatsapp number to contact and have since has a couple of queries responded to pretty much immediately.

All in all I felt very comfortable throughout the day, the Dr and his team were fantastic at keeping my nerves at bay, being positive throughout all stages of the procedure as well as ensuring my comfort was the number 1 priority. It is a very long day, I know I am not good at sitting around doing nothing, but the day definitely went quicker than I expected and I can't thank the team enough.

Post-op:
My head was pretty swollen after the operation and I did struggle to sleep the first night, mainly due to having to lye on my back and use a travel pillow. However, the swelling went down within a couple of days and I haven't really had much pain in my head - I must say I did think it would be more painful post-op than it has been.

I am now day 4 post-op and I think my head is looking pretty much normal again, I am looking forward to running some water through my hair soon (using a cup) and getting the excess blood off. Luckily my head hasn't got itchy yet and I think everything is looking fairly good. I have posted some pictures from before the transplant, the during the transplant, the day after when I got home and then some pictures from today.

I will continue to monitor my progress on this site and hope it can help someone else as other posters helped me.
 

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B

Baldingman23

Valued member
Glad you had a good experience with Dr Arshad like many of us have on here. I’m now 5 weeks post HT and I’m now starting to see results happening. Keep us posted on your progress
 
P

Priceyrice

member
Glad you had a good experience with Dr Arshad like many of us have on here. I’m now 5 weeks post HT and I’m now starting to see results happening. Keep us posted on your progress
Thanks BM. I've been watching your progress closely since you're not too far ahead of me in the process, looking forward to seeing your next update!
 
Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
Hi Pricey.
It`s good to hear the forum helped you with your research. Thanks for documenting your story as it will help others. Everything sounds like your surgery experience went really well.
You`ve passed the first few days after surgery which is usually the hardest, now things will get easier.
The work looks nice and clean. I`ll look forward to following your journey.
All the best.
Bm.
 
P

Priceyrice

member
So it's now a week since my hair transplant and I think everything is still going well. I have attached some pictures from today.

I had my first light hair wash this morning using a cup of water and the shampoo provided by the clinic. The scabs on the scalp are starting to come off, which can be quite disconcerting as you can see some of the hair falling off with them! I understand this is all part of the process though so trying to not get alarmed by it! I believe at this point the grafts are all fairly secure and it is simply the hair falling out rather than any damage being done to the grafts.

The Donor area seems to have recovered really well.
 

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J

Jamie

member
Best of luck, I'm now 28 days post visiting Dr Arshad and everything is going well. Shedding hairs now, but I was ready for it thanks to Dr Arshad and his team and the people on this site.
 
P

Priceyrice

member
So I am ow 4 weeks post op and thought I would share some updated pictures. The hair has essentially all shed and it looks a bit ridiculous with random bits of hair across my scalp, but this was as to be expected and seems to follow the same process of everyone else on here.

The first two pics were from around 2.5 weeks post hair op, before the hair shed. The later 3 pics are from today.
 

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P

Priceyrice

member
Hi Kingsey. Good to see you've come across this forum while looking at hair transplants. It was a big help for me and I've now seen some horror stories about the place I was going to book before I found the hair Dr on here.

At this point I would 100% reccomend the hair Dr. I can't tell you about the results as I'm only 6 or so weeks post transplant so most of my new hair has shed. But looking at other results from the hair Dr on here I'm excited to see where I am in 2 to 3 months time. After a couple of weeks all my scabs and redness had pretty much disappeared. After 4 or so weeks I started to shed and pretty much I'm now at the stage I was before the transplant. This is all to be expected though, the quicker you shed, the quicker the new hairs start to grow.

The day itself went really well, there's really nothing to be nervous about. The clinic and Dr arshad are all very professional and make the day as comfortable as possible. In terms of post op I've messaged them a fair few times just with the odd queries and sending regular updates on my progress and I get a response almost immediately any time of day.

I did a lot of research before committing to it and I'm very glad I choose the hair Dr in the end.

Have you spoken to many clinics? Do you know how many grafts you will be able to get done.
 
K

Kingsey

member
Hi Pricey. I was not expecting any replies so quickly. I asked about UK clinics on Facebook but all I got was stay away from blah blah blah which I thought very strange. I only got one recommendation for Dr. Reddy by someone who used a clinic in Spain. After a Google search, I found this place with plenty of UK clinics so I thought I would ask patients directly what they thought. This portrays a truer reflection on the UK.
I`m easily needing 3500 when I compare myself to others. I`ve not spoken to any clinics yet but looking around it`ll cost anywhere between 3 to 5 pounds per graft which equates to a hefty sum which I`m ok with.
I`m happy I decided to search and not listen to the comments from Youtube.
 
P

Priceyrice

member
Haha, yes it's quite late as well! Was due to go to turkey in a few hours but it's just been cancelled!
This forum is a good place to have come across, I suspect much more useful than Facebook. There are plenty of patients tracking their progress on here and a fair few topics about UK clinics. I have another thread I posted before this when trying to determine which clinic to go to, I'll try and link it for you tomorrow.
I spoke to Dr Reddy's clinic but the price was one of the most expensive I got quoted. The Hair Dr was probably around mid range of the clinics I got quotes from.
I think its useful to try and have a few consultations. I had various different bits of advice and it did confuse me, but what I liked about the hair Dr is that they weren't pushy and trying to oversell grafts on me. I spoke to Dr Arshas directly during the consultation and he was very frank and honest. He was concerned about my donor area during our Skype call and wanted to limit me to 2500 grafts. It was only on the day of the operation once he saw me face to face that he was happy to do more.
Also, it may be worth posting a couple of pics on here and starting your own topic if you don't mind sharing pictures in public. There are some very helpful people on here.

The price range you mention is the range I was looking at as well, I didn't want to go to a cheap clinic charging me 1 pound a graft or offering me a Groupon discount. There are defintely bad clinics out there looking to make a quick buck. I think it's important you choose a clinic where the Dr is heavily involved in the operation and it isn't left fully to their clinicians.
 
Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
Everything looks to be right on track at your 4 week update. This stage is usually referred to as the ugly duckling phase when your hair is all over the place and you look forward to getting a haircut.
It soon passes, before you know it you`ll be adding pictures of new growth.
All the best.
Bm.
 
J

Jax

member
That's a large area for 3500 grafts to cover. Hopefully you get a great result.
 
bullitnut

bullitnut

4 awesome repairs with SMG
Sounds like the Hair Dr clinic looked after you well.....thanks for documenting your progress on the forum it really does help people.

I look forward to seeing your progress over the coming months.

Take care BN
 
K

Kingsey

member
Haha, yes it's quite late as well! Was due to go to turkey in a few hours but it's just been cancelled!
This forum is a good place to have come across, I suspect much more useful than Facebook. There are plenty of patients tracking their progress on here and a fair few topics about UK clinics. I have another thread I posted before this when trying to determine which clinic to go to, I'll try and link it for you tomorrow.
I spoke to Dr Reddy's clinic but the price was one of the most expensive I got quoted. The Hair Dr was probably around mid range of the clinics I got quotes from.
I think its useful to try and have a few consultations. I had various different bits of advice and it did confuse me, but what I liked about the hair Dr is that they weren't pushy and trying to oversell grafts on me. I spoke to Dr Arshas directly during the consultation and he was very frank and honest. He was concerned about my donor area during our Skype call and wanted to limit me to 2500 grafts. It was only on the day of the operation once he saw me face to face that he was happy to do more.
Also, it may be worth posting a couple of pics on here and starting your own topic if you don't mind sharing pictures in public. There are some very helpful people on here.

The price range you mention is the range I was looking at as well, I didn't want to go to a cheap clinic charging me 1 pound a graft or offering me a Groupon discount. There are defintely bad clinics out there looking to make a quick buck. I think it's important you choose a clinic where the Dr is heavily involved in the operation and it isn't left fully to their clinicians.

That's a bad rap for your trip to Turkey but at least the trip wasn't for your transplant. Why was it cancelled when Turkey is not under Lockdown rules?
I'll take your advice about starting my own topic with some pictures once I take some decent ones with my mug crossed out. The hairdr results do look good, I'm impressed by his work. There are a few clinics that have caught my attention which I'll contact them all in due course.

By the way I would never go to any clinic in the Uk who were charging a pound per graft or selling them on groupon how stupid is that.
Cheers for the reply.
 
M

Matt88

member
Hello mate, thanks for sharing your story on here! Glad to read that you also had a positive experience with Dr Arshad, too. How is your progress coming along?
 
P

Priceyrice

member
Hi. So realised I have been pretty lax at updating my thread here with progress. I am not 5 months post op and fairly happy with how things are going. I dont think I've seen much growth in the last month or so, my hair has been looking like this from 4 months really. I am pleased with the hairline but hoping the hair starts to thicken up soon, I think there's still a fair bit more to come through.

Here are some pics today having just given the head a shave with a 4 all over
 

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yidd0

yidd0

Member
Hi mate . Glad to see your donor has healed up. Did the Dr say how many grafts you have remaining ?
 
P

Priceyrice

member
Hey. No they didn't put a number on it. Just that it's coming along nicely with the new hairs starting to come through. Since I'm only 5 months in I'm still hoping for quite a bit more growth and thickening of the hair
 
B

BaldingBaby

member
Hi thanks for updating, 3500 grafts is not enough for such a large area imo. You still have some thickening up over these next few months but I'd imagine you'd need a second transplant for better density.
 
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