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Wimpole Clinic - Dr. Malkani

M

mhf23

member
Hi Guys,

I thought I would leave my experiences on here - I've just found this website after having my HT, however did my own research prior. I'm a bit surprised there are no threads on Wimpole Clinic, as I figured it was one of the bigger/older/more established clinics, hence the reason for writing this.

Anyway - I figure I was a Norwood IIIV. I have an identical twin brother who was similar - he went to Turkey (not sure which clinic) 2 years ago to have his HT and is very pleased with his results. Due to his job, he is unable to take post-op medication, and he tried Regain but didn't like the feeling it left in his hair. He has no regrets from his procedure, though.

For a few reasons, I preferred to give a UK clinic a go. I started by having an online consult with a clinic that seems to operate around the country - the 'trichologist' on the Zoom meeting only seemed to be paying half-attention to me, was almost as though he had a memorised script, was a bit smarmy and felt like he was talking me into an FUT. He ended the call by saying 'so as you seem more interested in the FUT I'll put you down for that, but when you come to book if you want FUE then that's not a problem'. I categorically had not shown any interest in FUT, and left with a bad vibe.

Straight after I started looking at some other clinics. Another local clinic to me charged per graft, which I didn't like the idea of, so I decided to message Wimpole. I remember seeing their adverts on the tube from when I lived in London, and so it was a name I recognised (although I wasn't sure if 'Harley Street' would be within my budget. James (I'm not sure his actual title, but let's say 'Client Care and Sales' ;-) ) immediately responded and offered me to come and meet him and see the clinic - I really liked this suggestion, as it seemed very open. I went the next day (I'm fairly impulsive) - James seemed very nice. The clinic wasn't as salubrious as I was expecting (/hoping?), but I got to meet the surgeon Dr. Malkani briefly as well, who also seemed very nice. Dr. Malkani drew an idea for a hairline (which I thought looked pretty good; I didn't have strong opinions on what I wanted, preferring to take his suggestion from experience), and he suggested I would need 1600 grafts. He agreed with James that the grafts should be focussed in the frontal area and that I should start medication for the crown (Finasteride and Minoxidil). From what I had read, this all seemed consistent, so overall I was very happy with their plan. James messaged me later that day with further pre- and post-op instructions and availability, as well as a cost. We had a bit of a negotiation on costs, and I booked for two weeks later.

James called a couple of days before to offer me an appointment for the day prior to my planned procedure, which I couldn't make due to work. I was initially due at 07.30 on the day, but was changed the night before to 08.30, which was fine with me as I was driving myself down and meant an extra hour in bed. NB. I arrived a bit early, and was greeted by James - it was nice to have this consistency. There was a bit of a wait at the start - I'm not really sure why, but overall I figured it was due to another guy having his procedure started before me - maybe he was a last-minute addition and hence the start time change? Anyway, no problem for me - I had urgent Handforth Parish Council Youtube videos to watch (although I appreciate more anxious people may not have liked this aspect). Lunch was offered (more a suggestion than a choice), and the procedure got underway around 09.20. A few diazepams and prednisolone beforehand, and an intramuscular midazolam injection at the outset made the whole start super-smooth. I had my whole head shaved - although this was optional and was the only real part I was dreading, I thought overall it made sense for spotting little thinning patches behind the hairline, and make the whole process easier.

The procedure was a slightly different format to what I had read, in that it started with Dr. Malkali making the incisions at the outset. Thinking about it, this seems to make more sense as it limits the time the harvest grafts are out (and presumably prone to damage?). Then I turned over, and had a little snooze while a technician/nurse (sorry not sure of title) harvested the grafts. There were a few noises about her working on this part on her own - more of inconvenience/dismay rather than concern for the overall procedure. More people seemed to arrive soon after, and were doing what they do (counting/sorting the grafts). I presume usually this starts immediately as the grafts are harvested, but the other girls seemed to have been in the other procedure next door. Lunch followed the harvesting.

Unfortunately lunch was the biggest disappointment of the day (which I guess is the best complaint to have...!). A packeted sandwich, multipack Walkers crisps, Penguin bar and Capri-Sun(?!) - I felt like I was back at primary school! Quickly back in after for the implanting, which was done by a team of 4 girls (sorry) - I can't remember their names - initially two Brazilian girls who were nice, and soon after taken over by an English girl and Hungarian girl, who were really, really, really great. Good chat, immediately calling for top-up local at any discomfort and really knew what they were doing. I think the English lady said she had been doing it for 15 years?! Very impressed, and she showed me how the grafts look. Having two people work at the same time also was great - not sure if this is standard in clinics? Dr. Malkani popped in a few times to check on progress, and seemed happy at all points - he had obviously given them clear instructions on what he wanted and where. The technicians also made lots of comments (to each other, I don't think was for my benefit) about how great the incisions were and how in their opinion (of all the surgeons they have and had worked with) than his incisions were by far superior.

Standard post-op instructions and meds gone through and I was off home. Started around 09.30; finished around 16.15, 1750 grafts. I'm now 5 days post-op - there has been ZERO pain, ZERO bleeding/ooze from the donor site (which already is hardly noticeable), MINIMAL scab formation at the transplant site and overall I'm really pleased with how it is looking. I did have some swelling around the eyes and face 2 days post-op, which I was warned about and was mainly comical.

Pros: Nice friendly team, impression of a very experienced clinic, no peri-or immediate post-op issues, quick booking times, rapid correspondence, stress-free
Cons: Disappointing lunch :-( , some apparent disorganisation on the day with timings and staffing, half-filled promise of medication (a 3-month supply of both Finasteride and Minoxidil was promised, but only Fin was given).

NB: I do not consider the fact that Dr. Malkali did not perform the whole procedure himself as anything other than procedural. As I surgeon myself, I am fully aware that not only is it necessary for the surgeon to do every single part of a procedure, but also that technicians are often better at some parts than the surgeon..!

Pre-Op, on an especially bad hair day...
IMG_5548.jpg IMG_5553.jpg IMG_5551.jpg

Immediate post-op
tempImagemklWAZ.png tempImageoFOzmJ.png

Day 1
tempImagekLFGKB.pngtempImage8xfvU0.png

Day 4
IMG_5743.jpg
 
Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
Welcome to the forum mhf23 and thanks for sharing your experience with The Wimpole Clinic. There have been members asking about them on here, hopefully, your story will be useful to them. Everything sounds like you had a good experience with the exception of the lunch and the failure to give you minoxidil. I`m sure they could forward the minoxidil if you let them know.
The work looks nice and clean. 1600 grafts over the area covered won`t provide great density but it should be enough to create a nice illusion. The hairline being made complete will help frame your face.
With some luck, the meds will improve and stabilise your crown and other areas.
It will be good to follow your progress and see how the work of Dr Malkani turns out.
All the best.
Bm.
 
yidd0

yidd0

Member
Work looks nice and clean . I haven’t heard anything about the wimpole clinic in quite a wile. I remember having a consultation there around 20 years ago. I think it was Dr Michael May that was the surgeon .

So who performed the extractions ? Was it the Dr or the technicians?
 
U

UnicornHorn

member
Hi Guys,

I thought I would leave my experiences on here - I've just found this website after having my HT, however did my own research prior. I'm a bit surprised there are no threads on Wimpole Clinic, as I figured it was one of the bigger/older/more established clinics, hence the reason for writing this.

Anyway - I figure I was a Norwood IIIV. I have an identical twin brother who was similar - he went to Turkey (not sure which clinic) 2 years ago to have his HT and is very pleased with his results. Due to his job, he is unable to take post-op medication, and he tried Regain but didn't like the feeling it left in his hair. He has no regrets from his procedure, though.

For a few reasons, I preferred to give a UK clinic a go. I started by having an online consult with a clinic that seems to operate around the country - the 'trichologist' on the Zoom meeting only seemed to be paying half-attention to me, was almost as though he had a memorised script, was a bit smarmy and felt like he was talking me into an FUT. He ended the call by saying 'so as you seem more interested in the FUT I'll put you down for that, but when you come to book if you want FUE then that's not a problem'. I categorically had not shown any interest in FUT, and left with a bad vibe.

Straight after I started looking at some other clinics. Another local clinic to me charged per graft, which I didn't like the idea of, so I decided to message Wimpole. I remember seeing their adverts on the tube from when I lived in London, and so it was a name I recognised (although I wasn't sure if 'Harley Street' would be within my budget. James (I'm not sure his actual title, but let's say 'Client Care and Sales' ;-) ) immediately responded and offered me to come and meet him and see the clinic - I really liked this suggestion, as it seemed very open. I went the next day (I'm fairly impulsive) - James seemed very nice. The clinic wasn't as salubrious as I was expecting (/hoping?), but I got to meet the surgeon Dr. Malkani briefly as well, who also seemed very nice. Dr. Malkani drew an idea for a hairline (which I thought looked pretty good; I didn't have strong opinions on what I wanted, preferring to take his suggestion from experience), and he suggested I would need 1600 grafts. He agreed with James that the grafts should be focussed in the frontal area and that I should start medication for the crown (Finasteride and Minoxidil). From what I had read, this all seemed consistent, so overall I was very happy with their plan. James messaged me later that day with further pre- and post-op instructions and availability, as well as a cost. We had a bit of a negotiation on costs, and I booked for two weeks later.

James called a couple of days before to offer me an appointment for the day prior to my planned procedure, which I couldn't make due to work. I was initially due at 07.30 on the day, but was changed the night before to 08.30, which was fine with me as I was driving myself down and meant an extra hour in bed. NB. I arrived a bit early, and was greeted by James - it was nice to have this consistency. There was a bit of a wait at the start - I'm not really sure why, but overall I figured it was due to another guy having his procedure started before me - maybe he was a last-minute addition and hence the start time change? Anyway, no problem for me - I had urgent Handforth Parish Council Youtube videos to watch (although I appreciate more anxious people may not have liked this aspect). Lunch was offered (more a suggestion than a choice), and the procedure got underway around 09.20. A few diazepams and prednisolone beforehand, and an intramuscular midazolam injection at the outset made the whole start super-smooth. I had my whole head shaved - although this was optional and was the only real part I was dreading, I thought overall it made sense for spotting little thinning patches behind the hairline, and make the whole process easier.

The procedure was a slightly different format to what I had read, in that it started with Dr. Malkali making the incisions at the outset. Thinking about it, this seems to make more sense as it limits the time the harvest grafts are out (and presumably prone to damage?). Then I turned over, and had a little snooze while a technician/nurse (sorry not sure of title) harvested the grafts. There were a few noises about her working on this part on her own - more of inconvenience/dismay rather than concern for the overall procedure. More people seemed to arrive soon after, and were doing what they do (counting/sorting the grafts). I presume usually this starts immediately as the grafts are harvested, but the other girls seemed to have been in the other procedure next door. Lunch followed the harvesting.

Unfortunately lunch was the biggest disappointment of the day (which I guess is the best complaint to have...!). A packeted sandwich, multipack Walkers crisps, Penguin bar and Capri-Sun(?!) - I felt like I was back at primary school! Quickly back in after for the implanting, which was done by a team of 4 girls (sorry) - I can't remember their names - initially two Brazilian girls who were nice, and soon after taken over by an English girl and Hungarian girl, who were really, really, really great. Good chat, immediately calling for top-up local at any discomfort and really knew what they were doing. I think the English lady said she had been doing it for 15 years?! Very impressed, and she showed me how the grafts look. Having two people work at the same time also was great - not sure if this is standard in clinics? Dr. Malkani popped in a few times to check on progress, and seemed happy at all points - he had obviously given them clear instructions on what he wanted and where. The technicians also made lots of comments (to each other, I don't think was for my benefit) about how great the incisions were and how in their opinion (of all the surgeons they have and had worked with) than his incisions were by far superior.

Standard post-op instructions and meds gone through and I was off home. Started around 09.30; finished around 16.15, 1750 grafts. I'm now 5 days post-op - there has been ZERO pain, ZERO bleeding/ooze from the donor site (which already is hardly noticeable), MINIMAL scab formation at the transplant site and overall I'm really pleased with how it is looking. I did have some swelling around the eyes and face 2 days post-op, which I was warned about and was mainly comical.

Pros: Nice friendly team, impression of a very experienced clinic, no peri-or immediate post-op issues, quick booking times, rapid correspondence, stress-free
Cons: Disappointing lunch :-( , some apparent disorganisation on the day with timings and staffing, half-filled promise of medication (a 3-month supply of both Finasteride and Minoxidil was promised, but only Fin was given).

NB: I do not consider the fact that Dr. Malkali did not perform the whole procedure himself as anything other than procedural. As I surgeon myself, I am fully aware that not only is it necessary for the surgeon to do every single part of a procedure, but also that technicians are often better at some parts than the surgeon..!

Pre-Op, on an especially bad hair day...
View attachment 19541 View attachment 19542 View attachment 19543

Immediate post-op
View attachment 19544 View attachment 19545

Day 1
View attachment 19546View attachment 19548

Day 4
View attachment 19547
Hi - thanks for your story. I am considering Wimpole. Could you share a photo of it now that it has grown in? That would be extremely helpful, and are you happy with how it now looks?

Many thanks
 
D

DucatiP

member
Work looks nice and clean . I haven’t heard anything about the wimpole clinic in quite a wile. I remember having a consultation there around 20 years ago. I think it was Dr Michael May that was the surgeon .

So who performed the extractions ? Was it the Dr or the technicians?
Also interested to hear from a Wimpole clinic patient on this, they appear to have been round for a while. Can’t see anyone who’s been there to confirm that the doctor does the FUE Surgery bit. I’ve read lots on places that let the assistants do it but I’mwary of that. Surely somewhere old like Wimpole would have the doctors doing the surgery bit. Anyone add ?
 
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