Hair Transplant with Dr Bhatti in Oct 14 - Part 2 - The Procedure

sorry for the late post, had problems logging in.

What a Journey and what an Experience of having HT from Dr Bhatti.

There are many words that describe Dr Bhatti….but I will just use one word… AMAZING!!

Background Info:
I had my first HT about 4 years ago and that was FUT (1800 grafts to front scalp). Almost 3 years ago I decided to look around for other clinics for my second HT. I searched most of the hair forums to decide which surgeon was best for me. This time round I wanted to have FUE as I felt this method was best suited to me and it's healing process is also much quicker.

HT Discussion with Dr.Bhatti
I was lucky enough to meet Dr Bhatti back in June in Europe for a hair consultation and he suggested I would need between 2000 to 2500 grafts from hairline to mid scalp. I mentioned that I wanted some beard hair in my forelock area, making it heavy in density, Dr Bhatti agreed to this and I was told that that around 400 – 500 grafts would be needed. A hairline was drawn that Dr Bhatti and I were happy with.

Day before my procedure
I arrived in India a day prior to my HT. Dr Bhatti's driver Sachin (fantastic guy) picked me up from Delhi Airport and dropped me off to Altius Hotel in Chandigarh at 10 am on 20th October. He agreed to pick me up the same afternoon for my meeting with Dr Bhatti. At the meeting we discussed the final aspects of the HT procedure and also redrew the hairline. This was to mainly accommodate any changes that may be required. Meeting Dr Bhatti again at his clinic was immensely comfortable and he put me at great ease regarding the procedure. I was delighted to learn that the procedure would go ahead, as previously arranged, on 21st Oct starting at 10am.

The clinic carries out 2 procedures a day, big procedure of 2500+ grafts starts around 7.30am and second procedures usually for under 2500 start at 10am.

The day of the procedure
As advised I arrived at 10am, had my blood test done first, once I passed this …lol then I was good to go. My personal belongings were put in a safe and I was told to change into an operation theatre gown.

My hairline was redrawn and then Dr Bhatti gave me a lovely haircut, after this the nurses/techs took over and they washed my hair with special Shampoo.

After this I was taken to OT for harvesting. I was told to lay face down in the operating chair so that Dr Bhatti could apply the anesthetic to the donor area. The pain of receiving anaesthesia was tolerable. Also, it wasn't too difficult finding a comfortable position while the grafts were being extracted although I was lying on my stomach and my head was being turned from side to side.

While Dr Bhatti was making the punches, his tech picked out the grafts from the donor area. In the end, Dr Bhatti was able to get 1888 grafts from donor area. A local anesthetic was applied to the beard area, which I think was the worst part. I was in a lot of pain but Dr. Bhatti was very efficient and carried out the whole process without any issues. In total 465 grafts were extracted from the beard area.

The harvesting procedure took just under 3hrs. Then slits were made in the scalp for the grafts to be planted from the hairline going back to mid scalp. While Dr Bhatti was making the holes, I was getting a weird sensation as I could hear a crutch noise for each hole that was being created, so I heard this over 2000 times…lol. However no pain or discomfort was felt.

Then there was a quick coffee break and some lunch after which it was time to implant the grafts into their new home by the techs. I clearly remember that the implanting started at 3.15pm and we finished around about 6.45pm. During the process Dr Bhatti had to extract a further 200 grafts from the donor area. He also kept an eye on the proceedings by visiting the OT room every 10min or so.

Dr Bhatti kindly enough planted some grafts to my FUT scar, around 50 grafts on each side of the scar.

I must mention that the staff at the clinic are wonderful, each one knows what role they have to do from Admin Manager to Tech implanters. I believe the grafts implanter was Ms Parneet and assistant nurses were Tina and Pooja. I would like to thank them for being patient with me and for keeping my mind occupied while I had the HT procedure.

My break down of grafts (I think this is right, waiting for clinic to confirm)

Singles: 288 + 401 from beard
Doubles: 964 + 64
Triples: 636

Total of grafts 2353

Once the procedure was over I was given explicit instructions to spray saline solution every 20mins to my grafts till midnight. I was told to sleep on a chair, as I could not rest my head against a pillow due to having some grafts in my scar. I was back in my hotel by about 7.30pm. Now after having to spray every 20mins I must have slept only for 1 hour. Next morning Sachin picked me up at 9am for my first hair wash and I was given medication for the next 14 days.

Dr Bhatti also supplies other medication such as Botin, finasteride, Mintop (Minoxidil foam 2% and 5%) for about ?50 pounds, which will last 6 months.

There is a very short video that Dr Bhatti kindly firmed of the techs planting the grafts in my scalp, hopefully I will have this soon from the clinic.

Any questions please ask.

I do not work for any surgeon in regards to HT

It is now been 1 month since I had my HT with Dr Bhatti in India

The grafts have settled in well in their new homes now….lol. I guess I have been very protected since my HT, not scratching my recipient area for the first 3 weeks, washing my head very carefully and gently.

I’ve started to shed most of my transplanted grafts now and my native hair/previous HT grafts have started to grow well. The donor area can get very itchy some days but it’s healing well day by day.

I’m very impressed with my beard donor area, I can’t see any visible marks of extracted grafts, even my partner was surprised how well it looks after I month.

I have attached some photos that were taken today after my shower, please note I did not bush or comb my hair before I took these photos.

At the moment I’m only taking Rogaine foam and Biotin tablets. I’m still not sure if I want to take finasteride tablets.

Thanks for reading and I’m happy to answer any questions.

Ive also created my own website www.myhairtransplant.info, were I will update on a monthly basic with new photos.

Looks good ,congrats and best of luck with the healing process .
i assume you lost a lot of the implanted hair due to shedding now and will have a better idea by month 4-5 .

i see the doctor has implanted hair on the sides as well ? Is this something you requested or was it decided/suggested by the doctor ?
Any idea how many grafts were used on either side ?

Hi Vinnytr

Many thanks for your kind words. In regards to your questions, yes Ive shed most of the implanted grafts now and its a wait game for 5 months or so.

It was Dr Bhatti idea to put some grafts in my temple points as he felt it would look better on me as he was going to lower my hairline by half cm or so.

While I was recovering from my procedure I decided to visit other HT clinics and see what they had to offer. The clinics that I visited were:

In Ludhiana
AK Clinic
Satyam Hair Transplant Centre - DR KK Arora
Kyra Clinic


In Chandigarh
Studio 6 Clinic
Walia Clinic

I spoke to various surgeons about HT procedures offered at their clinics. We discussed issues such as what they could do for me in the future, what equipment they use, punch size of holes, what extraction machines they use, recovery time and the probable results. On the whole I was sorely disappointed and was extremely happy with my decision to choose Dr Bhatti to carry out my HT procedure.

Dr Bhatti clinic, staff and a copy of medication Cert. that Dr Bhatti gives to all his aboard patients, just in case the custom officers stops them.

While I was out in India having my HT, I wanted to stay in 3 hotels that Dr Bhatti suggests for his patients. I wanted to give Dr Bhatti prospective patients a better understanding of what to expect from these hotels.

So my first stay was in Altius Hotel, in Chandigarh (Home), this hotel is abit further out from Dr Bhatti clinic but very nice, a new hotel with very good exterior, modern and stylish establishment. Very tastefully designed and decorated.

The food is excellent. Service is really good. The staffs are very courteous and charming. If you decide to eat there, they do room service or you can go to the 6th floor where you get lovely views of chandigarh. Good sitting place for family and friends and to party. They are few party nights on the 7th Floor that can get loud.

As a patient of Dr Bhatti, I paid about ?35 per night including taxes and Breakfast, I stayed for the first 3 nights after my HT.

My overall view if you have a reasonable budget than his hotel is very nice to stay in, I had no problems at all apart from being far out from the clinic. There is a Shopping Mall (Elante Mall) 2 mins drive from the hotel, which is fantastic.....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrfVYKE2tDw

My second hotel was in the heart of town centre, Sector 17, ABs 17c Hotel located at Sector 17-C

The stay at Hotel AB's was Superb. Their service and food was excellent. I would like to suggest every prospective patients that if you want somewhere close to stay to Dr Bhatti clinic, than this is the hotel for you. This hotel is no more than 5-10mins walk from the hotel to the Clinic, I was so comfortable there that I decided to stay there till end of my journey. The staff are very friendly and very helpfully, I made so many friends during my stay including the owner of the Hotel and Hot Millions, Mr Bunny…very respectful guy who is willing to chat to his customers.

Hotel ABs 17c provides basic facilities like front desk, room service, security, travel desk, doctor-on-call and parking. The in-house restaurant (Hot millions 2….Welcome to Hot Millions | Restaurant | Hotel | Bar | Rooms) has so much to offer, from pizzas, Burgers, Gilled Sandwiches, soups, south Indian to Chinese.

The rooms are luxury and elite rooms for accommodation with relaxing atmosphere. The room amenities include air conditioning, nice big television, mini bar, telephone, in- room heating, tea/coffee maker and writing desk.

Again as a patient of Dr Bhatti, we get discount rate, I paid 18 pounds per night including taxes but breakfast was not including in this price, breakfast is extra 3 pounds per day if you wish to have it there.

Close by to Dr Bhatti clinic there is another hot millions restaurant upstairs serving lovely food everyday.

I would highly recommend all patients to stay here, you will have no problems at all and mostly important you are walking distance to the clinic.

myhairtransplant.info
Meds Im taking
At present I have decided not to take finasteride tablets, instead to take the following:
Biotin
Zinc with Copper
Nettle Root oil
Regaine form
MSM Powder
Omega liquid
Coconut oil
Emu oil
Baby Shampoo

Its 2 months since I my HT, not much to report back, new grafts are still sleeping, but some can be seen from the scalp. My native and previous hairs are going back well.

My donor area has recovered very well apart from grafts taken close to my scar, my scar feels abit saw some days. The numbness on the scalp getting better each month.

Happy Xmas to all