Hi, I'm John. About age 30 my hair started receding. After trying lots of products I eventually decided on a hair transplant. Now I have my hair back I've decided to share my experiences to try and help others find solutions to their hair loss.
When my hair began to thin, I searched for hairstyles suitable for receding hairlines, but what I discovered wasn’t particularly helpful. What you get is
Greetings, my name is John and in my early thirties, I opted for an FUE Hair Transplant to revitalise my frontal hairline. Below is a
The last few weeks have been amazing! I’ve gone from having about 20% coverage at my hairline, to having about 60% thickness. You can pretty
Today was my fourth visit to the clinic. They are tremendously happy with how well I’m doing, and I feel the same. It appears that
Week 6 Week 7 The span from weeks 6 to 8 has largely mirrored the period of weeks 4 to 6, with minimal advancements to
Currently, I would say that my hairline has reached about 80-90% of its original thickness. I’ve been to the hairdressers again this month for another
It’s currently time for me to attend my third session at the clinic. I’ve taken the pictures required and sent them by email to the
I have to confess, the last couple of weeks have proved to be quite strenuous. Approximately around the three-week interval, a significant portion of the
Today signifies my first check-up at the clinic since my FUE hair transplant. As part of the aftercare regimen, I must send photographs at predetermined
There are different forms of hair loss but the most common is Androgenetic Alopecia, also known as Male Pattern Baldness in men (MPB), or Female Pattern Hair Loss (FPHL) in women.
The hair on the top of your head is genetically predisposed to being vulnerable to hair loss. Men see the effects in the crown or at the hairline first.
Your hair becomes thinner and your scalp may become more exposed, you may even notice hair falling out.
You may see your hairline recede, or a bald patch starting to form at the crown. For some men a small amount of hair loss is completely natural as you age and it may stop.
For others it may continue eventually leading to full baldness on top – unless you decide to do something about it.
The most widely acknowledged cause of Androgenetic Alopecia (MPB or FPHL) is Dihydrotestosterone (DHT).
DHT is simply a by-product of your testosterone. Both men and women have testosterone and the body converts and uses it for different things.
It plays an essential role in your development in your teen years for example. Testosterone is converted to DHT by an enzyme called 5-Alpha Reductase (5AR).
Your skin produces an oily substance called Sebum, which protects and moisturises it. Sebum contains DHT. DHT attacks and weakens your hair follicles. First it weakens the follicles making them look thinner.
Then the hairs start to fall out and not grow back. And then eventually the follicles die and are unable to grow hairs anymore. This process is called Miniaturisation.
Testosterone is converted to DHT by an enzyme called 5-Alpha Reductase (5AR). You can supress the action of 5AR with oral medications like Finasteride (Propecia tablets).
Finasteride is said to lower your DHT levels by 60-70%. I’ve used this medication for years now and it’s by far one of the most effective products.
A common question I’m asked is: I suffer from Male Pattern Baldness, so can I have a hair transplant? The answer is YES you can! Hair Transplants were specifically designed for people suffering from MPB. I suffer from MPB. For me it made my hairline recede at the front. So after lots of research I decided to have a FUE Hair Transplant. You can see my results below…
If you have any doubts about the type of hair loss you are experiencing I strongly suggest nipping to your local GB surgery and asking for your doctors opinion. It’s free and it will take 10 minutes. If it is MPB or FPHL you’ll find some helpful advice in my blog. And you’re welcome to ask me a question!
A hair transplant is a small medical procedure where hair follicles are extracted from the back of your head and implanted into your balding areas, restoring your hair to it’s former glory.
To extract the follicles small disks (grafts) are taken from your donor area. Each disk or graft contains between 3 – 5 hair follicles on average. So 1000 grafts will typically yield 3000 hairs. I had just short of 950 grafts extracted, which resulted in just over 3300 hairs implanted into the front of my head – giving me my hairline back!
This process is called FUE – follicular unit extraction. It is painless and leaves no scarring at all. I have my hair cut very short and you cannot tell I’ve had a hair transplant.
One of the most up to date FUE techniques is called the FUE2 Safe System. The blunt drill takes grafts just 1mm in diameter. This means there is no scarring. It also reduces the risk of damaging the hair follicles during extraction, so 97% of your transplanted hair will grow back.
A hair transplant is a quick, painless and cost effective procedure. Most people will be done in 1 day. Larger procedures may be split into 2 days. When I had my hair transplant I arrived at the clinic at 9am and was completely done by 3pm. So it’s easy to fit a hair transplant into your schedule, you could even do it over the weekend.
Prices in Europe are between 50% and 75% cheaper than in the UK or US. Packages start from £1500 and include accommodation. I paid £2000 for 1000 grafts (3000 hairs) in Budapest, which is less than a 3 hour flight from the UK. I was quoted between £8000 and £12,000 for the same procedure in the UK. Adding £200 for flights I paid £2200 in total - so it is very affordable!
No! A hair transplant is painless. On the day of the transplant you are given a few local anaesthetic injections into your scalp. You may feel the first one or two. From that point on your are numbed and you don't feel anything. Most people actually fall asleep - I did for most of the day!
A few weeks after your transplant your new hair starts to fall out. It then takes a couple of months to start growing again. Between month 1 and month 3 post-op your hair is thin. They call this the 'ugly ducking' phase. This soon passes and it starts getting really exciting. Around month 4 I had good coverage and was going to the hair dressers again. By month 6 you could not tell I had a transplant. When it got to 12 months post-op I was a different person.