Patient BaldBeardedGuy's hair transplant review

About

Started losing hair in the early 20s. Accepted my fate for a while and then decided to take some action.

My Surgical Treatments to Date

No surgeries till visiting this network and doing some research. I considered some clinics in Dubai but it was too much of a risk and cost to put the limited donor hairs to unknown doctors. I decided to consult Dr. Damkerng Pathomvanich in Thailand and had my operation on the 11th of March 2009 (after a 3 month waiting list).

I wished to have at least 4000 grafts but due to my thick non-elastic scalp I was only able to give 3575 grafts:

1-hair grafts - 500
2-hair grafts - 2617
3-hair grafts - 304
4-hair grafts - 154

Total grafts = 3575
Total hairs = 6723

My Non Surgical Treatments

I have not taken any medicine or ointments to stop or reduce my hair loss.

Bald Class

Norwood stage 5A

In stage 5A, the hairline continues to progress toward the back of the head.

It really haven't affected my lifestyle but recently after I got married I wanted to have a big change in the way I look. Began to workout and try to loose weight. At the same time I decided to do something about my baldness and I'm still young being 29 years old.

I haven't tried any, too many gimicks on the market such as snake oil and other local tribesman medicines where I live.

I just had my hair transplant 3 hours ago and I have to say that I'm really happy with the Dr. Pathomvanich skills, clinic and staff. I was given all the information that I needed and were happy to answer any questions I had about the operation.

It will be a year before I see the final results so I'll update you once I see them. It seems that a hair transplant is the way to go.

In one years time I'll let you guys know :)

Research, research, research.

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My Latest journal entries

BaldBeardedGuy

Bald class: 5A

Procedure 1

2 Week Post Op I have been babying the scabs on my head for far too long. Till the 12 day post-op I have been lathering the baby shampoo on my hand and then patting it on the recipient area. Last night I started to gently massage the area with the pads of my fingers (no nails!). I should note that I was doing it when the scabs were dry. They were flaking out as tiny black dots with some dead skin around it. I was using very light pressure and took my time. This method was okay for the tiny scabs but not for the bigger ones so my head was still full of it. There was no bleeding at all. I highly doubt that I have dislodged a few grafts but I won't know till at least 6 months from now. Just wanted to document this clearly for those out there.After much research on the website and going over the post-op instructions of my doctor I decided to follow what several members of this forum did. I let my head soak long in the shower followed by working lots of baby shampoo and massaging it into my scalp. I let the lather sit there for several minutes, rinses it off and repeated the process. Once out of the shower I noticed that the scabs were very soft and I was able to gently massaged them off with extreme ease. I should have done this sooner, lol.As of today I am scab-free and the recipient area looks like as if I had a buzz cut.The suture on the back has been a bit raw and raised. I have been touching it every now and then and wondering if the raised part is the scar or the stitches themselves. I also was gently rubbing off a few scabs in the donor area.In the last couple of days I have been more vigorous in shampooing the donor area and noticed a few bloodspots when I patted my head dry. Also, sometimes in the morning I would found a couple of tiny bloodspots on my pillow.As of last week I have also started taking multivitamins and 1.25mg of Proscar on a daily basis (No Propecia in the UAE).NOTE: Currently traveling and don't have a camera but I'll update this entry once I have some pictures.

BaldBeardedGuy

Bald class: 5A

Procedure 1

1 week post op I had the retaining blue nylon stitches removed yesterday. I feel a whole lot better since some tension has been relieved from the back of my head. The donor scar doesn't show with my hair down, a month or so of hair growth will probably cover that area.The grafts has not itched or bothered me yet and I have been using baby shampoo to wash the hair twice a day. Once in the morning and once in the evening. I have been very gentle with patting the lather on and not rubbing the grafts at all. I plan to continue using this technique till the grafted hairs fall out by themselves.

BaldBeardedGuy

Bald class: 5A

Procedure 1

5 hour Post OP These are the pictures taken about 5 hours after my hair transplant in my hotel room. I have hoped that the doctor could extract at least 4000 grafts from the donor area. But due to my thick scalp I needed more scalp stretching. In the end I have received a total of 3575 grafts:1 hair - 500 grafts2 hair - 2617 grafts3 hair - 304 grafts4 hair - 154 graftsTotal grafts = 3575Total hairs = 6723The doctor and staff explained to me what is going to happen during the operation. It took the doc about an hour to remove and stitch the donor area. Afterwards the nurses showed me the strip and what it looked like underneath a microscope. It was pretty cool to say the least.There some minimal pain and that was only when they injected anesthetic above the eyebrows and in the donor areas.One of the staff sat there massaged my feet during the operation and the rest of the staff were very nice and friendly. A pleasant experience overall.After the operation they dressed the donor area and put a headband to reduce the swelling. They recommended that I put a rolled hand towel underneath my neck to reduce pressure on the donor area. Just a few minutes ago, Dr. Pathomvanich called my hotel room to ask how I was doing and asked if I took the medication that they have prescribed. It felt nice for the doc to do that and follow up personally with all his patients :)

BaldBeardedGuy

Bald class: 5A

Procedure 1

Pre Op These are the pictures that I have sent to Dr. Pathomvanich for a graft estimate. I believe to be that I'm a class VI. He estimated that I'll need 4000+ to cover the whole area.