Female Hair Transplant for Alopecia Areata

I had my hair transplant on 6th Jan, performed by the lovely Dr Ball and his amazing team at The Ziering clinic in Hammersmith. I have kept this very private, with only close family and a couple of friends knowing.
However as a female looking for information I found it very hard and therefore would be happy to share my experiences over the next few months if it helps others.
I don' t have pictures at the moment, but would be happy to post as I am sure Dr Ball would be happy to provide.
Before my procedure I had blood tests, I had scalp biopsies and very thorough consultations, I also sought out a few opinions and researched thoroughly, it is much more of a grey area for females.
As for the procedure it was long, no more than slightly uncomfortable, a breeze!! I cam mot fault Dr Ball and his team, professional, caring, friendly, the most amount of intensive hard work. It is hard to articulate my total thanks for their dedication and now it is down to me and my head.
Thank you for reading and I'm only here to answer questions and be of help if I can, but if you are a female and have been wondering about this like I have for many years, then go for it!!


Here are my pre and post op picture, plus graft count.
1's 702
2's 1414
3/4's 199
total 2315

Hi forthegirls,

It's really great of you to document your procedure with Dr. Ball & his team in light of so few documented female cases online.

It would be great to get some details of your procedure - what you looked like pre-op and possibly some pics of your head intra op and post op. The size of your surgery and graft breakdown. Dr. Ball will have these details for you if you don't know already.

Hope you are healing well.

Thank you, I feel great so far, I have 2 weeks off work, so can relax.
I will certainly ask Dr Ball for some pics, he was aiming for 1500~1750 grafts, but my donor site (and the team) behaved perfectly and I ended up with just over 2300.
That meant, the parts such as my crown which we're not a priority, actually did get done, the numbers were also good, although I cannot remember details, again if will get this information.

Look forward to seeing pics

I now have some photos, just need to get them on, bear with me! But my burning question is it is day 6 tom, and after 5 days of no touching and hardly moving, how do I suddenly massage with conditioner, very scared. All grafts seem solid with no falling out as yet.
I would be happy to not touch for another week, but the advice seems to be to try and massage scabs out?

Hi and welcome to the forum, good to hear you're happy and thanks for sharing your story.If you have any trouble posting your pictures you can email them to me at [email protected] and I'll add them for you.
Thanks Bm.

forthegirls45 wrote:

how do I suddenly massage with conditioner, very scared. All grafts seem solid with no falling out as yet.
I would be happy to not touch for another week, but the advice seems to be to try and massage scabs out?

Click to expand...

I'm no expert but couldn't you try letting your head soak under a gentle shower to soften them up first.

In addition to what badger says above, I would rub the conditioner solution together in your hands first until it is bubbly. Then when massaging the scalp use only your finger tips where your finger prints are and rub in a circular motion. Avoid using your nails to rub it in.

Again I am no expert however this is what I did and what I was recommended. I was also told to leave the conditioner on for 12 minutes. Are you using a conditioner given to you by your doctor or one you have purchased yourself?

Thank you, am being slightly more forcefull (only a bit)! now, however these first few days are quite surreal. There should be some pictures coming, pre and post, I was doing a good covering up job!

Hi DuffmanThanks, it's great to talk to someone who's been through it. I have shampoo and conditioner that was supplied, and have bought some simple stuff for when it runs out. Will be such a shame to see my hair coverage disappear, I have no shiny scalp at the mo ( something I have lived with for years).
But having read loads on here I know I have to be patient and it will hopefully be worth it.Thanks for the support

Hi Forthegirls45,
I've added your pictures to your first post.
The work looks very good, this should produce a very nice result for you. The other members have given you good advice re aftercare, now it's the waiting game.
Hopefully more women researching hair transplants will benefit from your story.
I'm looking forward to following your progress.
All the best,
Bm.

Thank you
As you can see it was pretty bad, although I managed to cover up the majority of it , I am always very self conscious. Also I work in a very public domain, no hiding!
The problem is with women that if there is an underlying cause then HT is not really a good option.
My hair had always been really thick until around 10 + years ago, when it started to thin. I thought it coincided with a lot of stress in my life bereavement etc and would naturally return. So I ignored for a while, too long I think.

After a few years and me being the happiest I've been I realised it wasn't coming back, it is depressing and as all know, lowers self esteem incredibly, even if those around you say not to worry.

So I had blood tests, biopsies of my scalp which showed some mixed alopecia, non scarring AA and female androgenetic., in the inactive phase.

I did my research and spoke with Dr Ball at length, armed with my results and the fact that my remaining hair is extremely thick, thus making my donor site excellent, he was very happy to go ahead, with AA I think it has to be very stable before even considering HT.

I have realistic expectations, any improvement for me would be a bonus and more well champagne!!

As everybody I worry about shock loss, but also a flare up of an inflammatory response, but I will keep you posted.
Best wishes and good luck to all

Thanks for your pics. It's bad enough being a male suffering with hair loss as your expected to just accept it.....It must be tough for you as a female as i guess its less common in woman than men and with working in public domain even tougher again.....

I wish you all the best with your growth and look forward to your updates!

Good luck forthegirls45

Regards

Tom

Thanks Tom
Will definitely keep updating
BW
FTG

Thanks for sharing your experience. Yes, you were in a poor state pre-op and its great that you at least have strong hairs in the donor area. While it's impossible to get you to where you were 10+ yrs ago, the 2315 grafts should make for a nice transformation. Best of luck. We're all rooting for you!

welcome to the forum, heres to great growth Z:B,im pulling for ya.

Welcome to the forum

You documenting your journey on here for other women in your position to see is awesome. Just by posting about your experiences will be a help to thousands in your situation who didn't realise things could be done.

The work looks very clean indeed and should produce a very nice cosmetic improvement.

Thankyou for posting, Heal and grow well.

Best wishes BN

Thank you both for your replies and good wishes.
Stitches came out today, bliss,
Here"s hoping!

It is a nice relief getting those sutures out, it's quite common for some areas to remain a little tender along the suture line until fully healed.
Regards Bm.

Did it hurt having the stitches out?