PRE OP SITUATION
==============
Non Balding with Low Density (due to previous balding by my early 20s)
Age: 29
Color & type: brown wavy.
Actual Hair Style: low density unnoticeable when dry and with hair spray. Just avoid wind and water.
Time to make hair style: 1 hour per day. Hair style architect .

OPERATION
=====
Follicular Microsurgery with cold chain (it helps Follicular Units to survive longer and increases the chance of healthy growth).
Institute: Hair Recovery Argentina (Multinational Enterprise) awarded around the world.
Quality Norms: ISO 9001/2000
Doctor: Anibal Tawstyka (very easy going, simple and professional guy). He didn't want to lower the hair line because it wouldn't be natural.

POST OP SITUATION
=================
The same day: my front and face looked very wide.
Now, 5 days after: the scar is tight, but little pain only around the starting points of the incision.

Transplants: there seem to be some bubbles all around new implants. Color: red when dry, white when watered.

Previous Hair: looks really bad now. It has lost all the style. Must be due to not being able to comb it or being affected by new follicles. I don't know.

Sebastian,

Ok, now that I found your thread with photos, I can comment more: Just in case you didn't see it, here were my comments on the other thread:

Now I'll comment on the pictures now that I've seen them. I'll be honest, I'm not sure what to say...I think the first thing I'll say is...it's really difficult to see the true story of the hair transplant from these photos. If you could perhaps post photos from immediately post op, that might be helpful. I really don't want to cause you any alarm...but based on the pictures, I have a hard time believing that 4000 FUS were transplanted. The fact that your hair is long may also have something to do with the fact that it's hard to tell. But if you have any immediately post op pictures, please post them so we can get a better picture of your transplant.

As I said in another thread to you...expect the first 3 months or so to be a little awkard. You may experience shockloss, temporary loss of the native hair surrounding the transplants. This means you will temporarily go through a stage where you look worse before you look better. Your hair is also going to be more fragile for awhile and will not have the appearance of density that it used to. BUT, as I said, the good news is it will get better, as long as the clinic did a good job.

I look forward to your comments and additional pictures.

Falc

Hmmm. The price was only 1500 dollars. But it's a well known place. Celebrities go there all the time. I didn't take any pictures from the day, but the doctor did.

He said he transplanted around 4000 f.u to everyone. My family was there.

I'll add some photos later, with dried follicles (they'll be red) maybe that way we could determine this question.

Thank you!
You really took a lot of grafts heh.

I suppose they wouldn't be so absurd that they will replace my old good hair with new hair. That's just illogical.

I will add what Falc stated--I don't believe that it could be 4000 FU. Possibly 4000 hairs?? That would be more realistic but still seems very cheap. Not sure. You'll have to call the clinic and get the exact details.

The pictures are not the best quality so it is kind of hard to really see exactly what the surgery looks like. It appears like it was a solid closure.

The grafts look a little large but again the photo is not perfect. You do have to understand that things will be worse before they get better. It is going to take approx 5 months before you see a lot of the hair start to look better. You might infact lose some of your existing hair. It takes awhile for the shockloss but possibly because they did not cut short some hairs were shed with strain of surgery.

It will be a bit of a waiting game to see what the results are going to be truly like. Hang in there and hope for the best.

$1500 for 4000 FU does not sound accurate. 4000 FU in US $ would typically cost about $14000+. I think you better check with the clinic again to see what they really gave you. If the clinic really stated that they give 4000 FU to everyone, something is severly rotten in denmark. Perhaps there was a miscommunication somewhere?

Falc

It must be 4000 hairs then. I didn't know there was a difference.

What do you think by the size of the scar. It goes from ear to ear.

So, Then: 4000 follicular units > 4000 hairs.

I actuallly look much worse than before the operation. I've already lost the hair during the process i think. I suppose the original hair will grow back. That's what the doctor said. 100% reversible.

14000 u$s omfg!!
The operation took 3 hours. So it must be hairs, no FU.

At least i won't give up the fight. I'm still in a reckless state of mind. Tomorrow i have a check at the clinic. I'm gonna tell them right away what you said. So, if you hear about a massacre in an argentine hair clinic it was me

Sebastian,

quote:

So, if you hear about a massacre in an argentine hair clinic it was me

lol man...take a deep breath...all you can do is wait now and see how it all turns out right?

In case you didn't know FU stands for Follicular Unit. Follicular Unit grafts are how hairs grow naturally under the scalp. Hair follicular units typically grow in 1s, 2s, 3s, and 4s per FU grafts. If you take an average hair transplant, typically there are 2.2 hairs to every FU...but remember that's average...it's different for everyone. So if you had 4000 FU, you would have approximately 8800 hairs. However, if you had 4000 hairs, you would have about 1818 grafts. Even so....$1500 for 1818 grafts is less than $1 per graft in US...which is EXTREMELY low. Typical charge per graft is about $4-$5 per Follicular Unit graft. Make sense?

Any chance on posting more pictures of the top of your head, especially immediately post op?

As I said in above posts...expect your hair to get worse before it gets better. Don't be rough with it...be very gentle when you comb or brush. Actually at 4-5 days post op, you shouldn't really even be combing or brushing it...be very gentle with the grafts.

Falc

Ah, I just saw that you posted another picture from the top angle. That does indeed give a better picture of your surgery. I can see there are more grafts transplanted that in appeared from your other pictures, however...I really don't know if that is 4000 FU. You be the judge...take a look at my third surgery link below at my immediately post op pics. I had 3701 grafts. Do you think you or I had more grafts transplanted? Please understand...I'm not looking to compete...I'm only trying to help you compare so you can get a good idea as to just how many grafts you really had.

Additionally...any chance that you have any preop pictures of your hair from the top angle? It does appear from that picture that you may have lost a good amount of hair on top due to shockloss already. Though it is more uncommon to experience shockloss this early on, it CAN happen and has to other people as well. So don't lose heart...hang in there. Be gentle with your existing hair since it is more fragile.

Regarding your scar...based on the length of it, I would say that a good amount of grafts were most likely taken...however, one would have to know the width of the strip as well and your approximate density to get a better picture of how many grafts were taken and transplanted. If I were you, I'd clarify with your doc.

Falc

Sorry i didn't take pics from the operation or directly pre-op or post-op. The doctor did. I'll have to ask him if he could give them to me. Probably pics were taken for control, or to make me feel like if they cared (hope not).

Yeah i added another pic. Don't worry i know we're not competing .
I think the quantity is quite similar. The clinic director said their price is not determined as it is in the usa. So it could be. If they'd charge 15000 dollars, they'd have no market here in Argentina. So, they go for popular public. Being a service, they don't have to cost much materials perhaps. Materials shouldn't be very important in determining their costs and prices.
Otherwise i don't know how to explain it. They have to sell to raise prices. And the region is not the best economically. No real wealth, so they must adapt.

I'll ask him directly tomorrow if he transplanted 4000 follicular units or 4000 hairs.

Shock loss: I guess i must have lost it through the operation process itself (efluvius). I didn't see any form of hair falling after operation. It must have happened on the clinic.

I haven't tried to comb nor brush anything from the scalp yet. Just washed it with the authorized products & methods.

Thank you!