My Hair Transplant Journey

Healthy, Strong and Dense Hair every man can dream of likewise is the case with me, for any male having these three features is like having a crown full of gems on his head. If you hear any person saying that he is not concerned about his hair even a little bit, you can bet he is lying.


Having said that lets now talk about my Hair transplant story and why I did it? But mind you it’s going to be a long one, maybe you will learn a lot from this I hope. I was not born with dense and thick hair it was never the case it could be because of my mother who to have low density and thin straight hair but, yes I did have the good volume on my head. Since my school days in the 90s, I liked to grow long hairs, I was always fascinated by the mullet look which the Bollywood actors had back then.

I was never on the side of styling my hair though as I like to be as simple as possible. Years passed by I got married got kids and when reached in my early 30s I started to have hair issues loss of hair is the very first I probably thought it could be due to the shampoo or oil that I use so I used to change those quite frequently. I tried many different stuff like Anti-dandruff and anti-hair fall shampoo, ayurvedic hair oil but nothing worked that well yes I could see a little change as the amount of hair loss was reduced but I need the permanent solution. According to the doctors, baldness or Alopecia occurs only when hairs stop to re-grow otherwise shedding 50 strands per day is considered normal in medical science.

After months of in house R&D I finally gave up and decided to go see an expert dermatologist in my area I was skeptical though in the beginning and ditched a lot of appointments. Finally, when I had my first appointment which I thank myself to have one I finally discovered I already had developed a bald patch in the frontal and mid-scalp region. Looking at my condition closely my doctor advised me two treatment to choose from 1. PRP 2. FUE Transplant No no no, don’t keep wondering I’ll explain both the treatment in a simple way so it is easy for you to understand.

No. 1 PRP – PRP is Platelet Rich Plasma – In this procedure, the doctor takes a little amount of your blood known as whole blood puts it into a centrifuge separates the Red blood cells from the clear straw-colored liquid called Plasma add some growth factors and injects it in the affected area. This procedure is repeated periodically based on your condition and recommendation by the expert.

No.2 FUE – Follicular Unit Extraction - 
In this procedure, the doctor extracts the hairs from
the healthy area also called the donor area mainly from the back of your head or from sides in some cases it could be from the patient's chest, armpits even pubes to match with the density. The hairs (Grafts) are removed with the aid of a drill, here one thing needs to be noted the hairs extracted from the donor area will never re-grow and will leave a permanent scar and patch in that area. Thankfully doctors take grafts from multiple sides thereby maintaining the look but yes whenever you shave your head those scars are going to be visible so make a note of it.

 Having said that I chose to go with FUE why? Because I need a permanent solution for my baldness which only FUE can give me. PRP is effective but the result is not guaranteed and on the other hand, it works as long as you continue. 


What Preparation I did before FUE Hair Transplant?

  Post consultation the doctor asked me to fix up a date which I did that is on 03/112019 morning at 10:00 am he also asked me to get a few tests done which is mandatory below is the list. Here I like to inform you guys that diabetic people should not go for this procedure to ask your doctor for the reason. 
  1.   Diabetes 
  2.   Blood Pressure 
  3.   Blood clotting time 
  4.   HIV 
  5.   E.C.G 


  My doctor had advised me to have a heavy breakfast and not to take tea on the day of surgery maybe there could be a medical explanation for that I didn’t ask and just skipped it the day. If you are a drinker or smoker you need to stay away from it for at least a week. Post-surgery for the next 48 hours apart from tea or coffee (smoking or drinking in case you do) rest I could eat and drink other stuff. 

  I was asked to fill a lot of form ticking for any pre-existing medical condition thankfully in my case there aren’t any I was asked to fill in the consent form which is mandatory I guess for all surgical procedures. Yeah! One more thing I like to add here all I did this without informing my parents and they were scared as hell and gave me good bashing later which I don’t mind it’s out of love and care.


On the Operation Table

After filing the form I changed my clothes when inside the operation room. At first, two assistant came took close up pictures of my existing condition to identify and mark the area which needs a transplant. Then they trimmed off that particular area and the entire head, yes I had shaved for the very first time in my entire life and I was looking like a Villain anyways back to the story. I laid down on the table on my chest so they can remove from graft from the donor area in my case it was formed back of my head.

One assistant took little blood of mine as post-surgery they were going for PRP. A total of two free sessions were given as complimentary by them.

The doctor gave me local anesthesia it was a bit painful the injector had a vibrator attached to ease the pain. After a while, I slowly started feeling numbness. The doctor then started extracting the grafts one by one a total of 2000 grafts were extracted and placed. This procedure is quite slow and it took them nearly 2 – 2.5 hours for extraction. It was lunchtime by them I was applied with banded on the extracted area and served lunch.

Post Lunch again I went to the operation room this time I was made to sleep on my back so they can begin the implant procedure. This is really a slow and time-consuming thing and took longer than I expected.  In this, the doctor took the grafts placed into the implanter and inserted right into the frontal and mid-scalp area one by one. A total of two doctors were working on me. Yes I definitely felt the needle inserting in, it’s like someone pinching you may be because the effect of the anesthesia went off but it was nothing major or worrisome. 

Job Done.


Well after 8 exhausting hours the job was done all the grafts were implanted I got up from the table they took pictures of the transplanted area. I was asked to sit for a while to see if I was feeling uncomfortable but nothing went wrong with me I was fit and fine just a little tired. They asked me to change my clothes and asked me to sit in the waiting area till the doctor write some prescriptions for me which I need to take post-surgery.

Post Surgery Medication.

 Apart from the diet doctor prescribed a few oral tablets which I need to take for the next 6 months. Below is the list of tablets prescribed.

1.       HairPro Tablets
2.       Finasteride I.P
3.       HairFact by Fluence.

1. HairPro tablets are a nutritional supplement that helps you to maintain growth and strength. It can be used by both men as well as women. I have been recommended to take this for another 6 months. (1 Tablet per day post-meal.)

2. Finasteride I.P - Even before the procedure I have read in many online articles that it is widely used for the treatment of male pattern baldness.  It helps prevents testosterone to convert into DHT (dihydrotestosterone)  which is the main cause of baldness in men. I will write another article explaining DHT and its effects and how to prevent it in another blog, for now, I have been asked to take Finasteride IP for at least 3 months post-surgery. (1 Tablet per Day post-meal.)

If you happen to skip or miss taking Finasteride to leave it do not try to level up taking two the next day.

3. Hair Fact by Fluence: Hair Fact is an advanced cyclic oral therapy in which each pill should be consumed twice a week.   This therapy is for overall wellness, Healthy hair and focusing on 80-90% of healthy hair growth.

DONOR AREA AFTER ONE WEEK 



 It's been 45 days now since the transplant and I had my second free PRP session after a month i.e on 06/12/2019 and now I can live normal. According to my doctor, I will experience a shedding phase which will last till 4 months and the implanted grafts may fall off from 5% to 80% causing temporary baldness but there is nothing to worry about and it's completely natural  later the new hair will start growing. To get the complete result I have to wait for 12 months.

Precaution & Pain Post Surgery

Post-surgery  I was asked to sleep on my back. No shower was allowed above the head for 1 week. I was asked to not to get involved in any such activity which will cause sweat on your scalp so married guys to take a break for at least 10 days trust me it only for your own good. You will have itchiness but do not I mean do not touch your scalp.
Keep the head covered with medical cap avoid any contact with dust or direct sunlight.
Once the first wash is done by the doctor you need to keep the above things in mind at least for a month take leave if you.

Pain

This is the fun part that no video on YouTube will tell you. It's a myth that you can resume work the next day after surgery slap that guy who said that it takes your entire month if you go otherwise you are only risking your chances to see your hair grow.

You will have uneasiness/ swelling and pain from the donor area, as well as the implanted one but, will ease over a period of one month in my case it's still paining a little bit.

The skin in the donor area will go fluffy due to swelling keep applying ointment I was given Sodium Fustidate Ointment.  
  
The image on the right is my transplanted area post 15 days. 


Well, this was my Hair Transplant Journey which I tried to narrate hope you have a clear picture of the things you need to do before and after the surgery. So far it's completely safe and I can see my hair growth already.

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