I am compelled to Write this review again as Practo edited my review by cleverly hiding doc mistakes by applying their review-posting guidelines. I believe bad practices should be tabled forward to educate mundane audiences like us to become informed and not get swayed away by the buzzword and promises the HT surgeons do.
This is a review of 2 years post-op HT surgery performed in this clinic. Paid 1Lac+, Hair grafts transplanted were~2200 and the method used was FUE.
I can happily say that whatever the obvious errors an HT surgeon must eschew during surgery, the Doc has made those mistakes.
Consequently, those definitely-not-recommended practices took a toll on my look, my confidence and hence my mental state.
Mistakes by the Doctor:
1.Hairline design was Unnatural. 1. There was no attempt made by the doctor to draw a rough sketches of the hairline and temples boundaries before HT to get feel of finalised look. 2. Looks like the doc decided my hairline contours dynamically during surgery which end up giving me bad hairline. Very bad practice. No idea why this way was chosen. 3. Additionally, the doc placed many multi-follicle hair units in the front and this played crucial role in enhancing my overall hair line weirdness. Natural hairlines has single-follicle grafts in fronts.
2.Hair directions were not aligning with the existing hair directions. 1. Transplanted Hair directions on the right frontal side makes an angle of 50-60 degree with the non-transplanted one. 2. Sometimes my right frontal hairs criss-crosses each other producing a Math-NoteBook-type-squarish pattern. 3. Now I am forced to comb towards the right side to hide this sublime math-copy pattern. Touché!
3.Hairs were planted way too much front, way beyond my natural hairline boundary. 1. This feature of the surgery has given me the most mentally telling pain. It outrightly compromised my facial look, my confidence and my extrovert-ness. 2. Natural hairline boundary should approximately be 1/3(of face vertical length) from eyebrows. Roughly this length is 4-5 Index finger’s width wide. 3. Mine was 4-4.5 cm above eyebrows(3 Index finger width wide) giving me an astonishingly odd looks. 4. Every person(my family, my gf, my colleagues and even an interviewer) recognised the glaring eccentricity of this awkward frontal hairline rendered by the surgery.
4. Transplanted hair density was not at all blending with the existing hair density. 1. Transplanted area is visually less dense compare to non-transplanted area. 2. Anyone who is sufficiently near me can tell the density difference. There is very limited blending.
5.Doctor’s negligence 1. In any HT surgery, two stages are extremely critical and the concerned doctor must be present throughout and perform those two stages. Doctor should not be disturbed during these two stages. 2. First is the Hair follicles extraction(extraction process) and second is the hole punching(density and directions are taken care here). 3. During my surgery, I observed Doctor entering/leaving the surgery room multiple times in both the stages. It occurred to me he was seeing other patients in parallel.(Again a horrendous practice)
The funny thing is: most of the aforementioned mistakes were well documented and proven guidelines are available to mitigate the effects they entail.
Mistakes by the patient:
1.Negligence. Did not educate himself or research about the nitty-gritty of the HT surgery. Blindly visited the doctor premise and opted for the surgery based on his degree and ratings in the hope of enhanced looks.
2.Did not ask tough questions regarding HT, its repercussions and how to do post-op caring(POST-OP CARING IS VERY IMPORTANT AND SHAPES YOUR FINAL RESULT, DONOT TAKE IT LIGHTLY).
3.After one year of surgery, I stopped Post-OP caring for 2 months and this backfired me with hair-fall and gradual appearance of my unnatural HT result.
4.Did not do a follow up visits due to complete loss of confidence in doc to update the progress status of my surgery.
Credit section:
1.Just to share a flashback: Before surgery, I had the grade-2(Norwood scale) baldness which means I had a decent donor area.
2.Luckily after the unnatural result popped out, I had enough long hair to hide my weirdness. I am still doing it.
3.And also luckily, after speaking to few doctors(roughly 8 across India), HT repair surgery can be done on me to restore my natural looks DUE TO MY HEALTHY DONOR AREA.
4.DO REMEMBER such luxury of healthy donor area is not available with everyone. DONOR is limited for this life, you have to use it prudently.
Recommendation to the Prospective HT patients:
1.Please do your homework, before opting for such a critical surgery. Read, research and get acquaint yourself with the gory details about the topic.
2.Prepare the list of all important questions to put forward, and observe the response of the doctor while questioning. Google as much as you can, read myriad articles.
3.To find a bonafide doctor, Check his clinic website and look for the HT before and after photos. A good/reliable doctor must have multiple(like 50+) before and after photos.
4.Ask him, how he will design a natural hairline, how he will decide a hairline boundary(Usually experienced docs refers you past photos and your current age to derive the hairline contours), VERY IMP: what procedure will suits your need? FUT or FUE or combo? All are equally good and applies as the case demands. NOTE: Both FUT and FUE causes scars.
5.REMEMBER, a rightly/carefully done HT surgery by an experienced doctor can do a wonder to your life. Please Research thoroughly and then only go for it.