new post from Nigam patient (part good, part bad)

[hairy]

From a person named Teamplayer (I did not copy and past his images below):

My Donor Doubling Experience at Dr Nigams' clinic (Hair Multiplication & Stem Cells Treatment)
posted by TeamPlayer, 01.03.2014, 06:05

Hey, I'm back with an update, and some recent images at the end. I'm having a really hectic year, so I'll be less comprehensive with my hair loss issues & updates, but would still like to inform you guys about essential matters.

I had paid a visit to Dr. Nigams' clinic in January for my scheduled stem cell & DP cell injections. During this time, there were no remarkable changes. I was told by some of the docs that it appeared as though I had experienced minor shock loss, while others were indifferent about it. I unfortunately support the former opinion.

Thus far, I have both positive and negative things to report and will divide my experiences under these headings:

Let' s start with the negative things first:

- When I returned to the clinic in January, Dr. Nigam told me that if I was to notice any donor regeneration, it should be regarded as "great", as it would imply a major advancement in hair loss treatment. On the contrary, I was initially told to expect significant donor regeneration, hence the term "donor doubling". I noticed him being more cautious about making large claims and think that's the reason behind this rather discouraging utterance.
- The recipient area is still slightly inflamed, and even up until now, there are some very small scabs present.
- Upon close inspection, shallow depressions are noticeable in the recipient area, thus, creating an almost "cobblestone-like" appearance. The grafts were allegedly inserted deeply in order to enhance graft survival, eliciting the uneven appearance after graft retraction. I'm trying to rectify this with the aid of derma-rolling and harsh chemical peels that I'm doing myself, with good results.
- There is some scarring "white dots" in my periumbilical area where grafts were removed for dermal papilla cell culture. This is the result of follicles being removed with a machine punch in stead of a manual punch. Please, if you are paying good money for a procedure, insist on a manual punch being utilised! I'm confident that I'll be able to rid these scars with time.
- I noticed the existence of a potential gap between transplanted hair and my current hairline in the left temporal region. Only miniaturised hair is present in this transition zone. If the stem cells, dp cells, etc are not going to be successful at turning these hair strands terminal, creating a confluence with the existing terminal hairs, the outcome could be devastating.

Positive aspects:

- The were a large number of hair strand that never shed in the recipient area, and since implantation, these have grown remarkably well.
- I noticed a stubble-like sensation in my entire donor area about two weeks ago when I run my fingers through my hair. This is very exciting news indeed! This is most probably indicative of regeneration of extracted hair, but the extent of regeneration is obviously unknown.
- I also noticed the same sensation over the rest of my scalp, but the hair stubble feels less coarse compared to the donor area. I'm unsure whether this is new manifestation or not. I'm compelled to believe it is as I've been palpating my scalp frequently after the procedure and can't remember feeling it before. I still wouldn't put money on it though.
- There are no scars in my chest area where follicles were removed for dermal papilla cell culture. I attribute this primarily to the usage of a manual punch extraction of follicles.

General points of discussion:

- After 3 months, the changes have been minimal, but present, even though no significant/ cosmetic results are overtly visible.
- I'm not only derma-rolling my recipient area, but also the rest of my scalp. This is hypothesised to induce wnt protein expression and could possibly accelerate follicular neogenesis after activation of dermal papilla cells.
- I'm still using Mira oil and occasional Aloe Vera.
- At this stage, I'm not taking any pharmaceutical drugs for my hair, neither topically nor orally.

Some Less Exciting News:

Innovations and changes are always taking place at Dr. Nigams clinic, and it takes time to discover and implement new measures that provide improved outcomes. I don't want to deter anybody or destroy any hopes, but I think it could be preferable to hold off with a donor doubling procedure for some time. Dr. Nigam is extremely devoted to what he he is doing and has so many plans for improving his techniques. I think he will soon have way more advanced and refined interventional strategies. He is working on perfecting his current procedures.

I've been very excited about 3D dermal papilla cells for some time already, and I'd even say it could be considered the holy grail for hair regeneration, but some work is yet to be done at Dr. Nigams clinic to offer this treatment modality in a sound fashion. In order for 3D dermal papilla cells to be viable and highly trichogenic, it is necessary for them to remain in a "spheroid shape" when injected. This is not currently fully achievable at the clinic on a large enough scale to render it as a curative or stand-alone treatment option. He is still attending to this problem.

Images taken on en of Feb & beginning March 2014: The quality is pretty bad, but I could only take it with my iPhone 5, sorry about that. I'm certainly not a good photographer.