Thailand Hair Transplant Center

Highly skilled | Meticulous | Conscientious

PATIENT (9)

Hi Dr Pong

I write this as a testimonial and background to the journey to your clinic. I am keeping a photo journal also. I hope you are well.

As a pre teenager I can remember noticing how my hair was thin compared to others. I can actually recall being concerned at this young age. My father was bald at 30 but had a comb-over for another 50 years. I always accepted his looks and never questioned his manliness or lack of hair. Despite my hair being thin it is curly so it always seemed to have coverage. Once a girlfriend made a comment after a shower that my poodle looks had disappeared. In my 40’s I lost a little more and in my 50’s I thought I might lose the lot. A shower was a good opportunity to see my precious hairs float away altogether.

My boss was around my age and compared to my loss, his was profound. As a result he and I had many discussions and naturally it was of interest for us there was a family member who had a hair transplant performed in Melbourne and it appeared to be very successful. My boss continued his investigations and decided to get a hair transplant in London and, as he was based overseas I did not see him until sometime after his operation. When he returned some 18 months later he was proudly sporting a new head of hair and apparently had more growth to come. Clearly he had become used to his new hair as he complained some of the new growth was growing curly- I guess you can’t please anyone! He said that some had noticed his new hair and being unable to interpret the source of his improved look, had complemented him on his weight or fitness or new youth. At this time I was in conversation with my nephew who was considering a transplant except he had traveled extensively to Asia, Europe and USA reviewing practitioners. What an opportunity for me to benefit from his research! He provided an overview of those practitioners he had shortlisted and one in particular who had most impressed. I decided to do my own research using one or two against my nephew’s favorite. The result left me in agreement with my nephew. In late May 2014 I contacted Dr Pong at THTC (Thailand Hair Transplant Center) and subsequently forwarded my photos. A quick response confirmed I was a Norwood class 4-5 and would require 3000-3500 grafts. I was quoted between USD 6K, which seemed very competitive.

Before

Between May and September I had time to review my choices. Should I have the procedure or not. One of the major motivators was my age, the relative age of industry peers and my desire to keep working. Sure it is nice to have hair rather than lose it but there are practical considerations. A voice in the back of my head is reminding me that many men, or women, do not place the value on retaining hair as I do. Some have better looks to complement and others may even look better without hair. The point is many people want to keep their hair as it can be a significant change to their looks or may caused others to perceive them as older, in my case, I did not want to be perceived as older, particularly being surrounded by younger people at work.

I decided to commit to having a hair transplant and paid a small deposit whilst locking in a suitable time during my summer break. The location of the clinic was a positive one for me as I had heard of Chang Mai in Thailand in relation to other health related activities, but had not visited as yet. The clinic assisted with information about suitable hotels within walking distance of the clinic, another important convenience in hindsight. I was instructed to continue taking Propecia, which I had started when I decided to go ahead with the procedure, as this would assist growth after the HT. In January I flew from Melbourne to KL then boarded a smaller plane to Chang Mai. I relaxed for a few days prior to my appointment. On the day of the procedure I met with Dr Pong who was very thorough and informed as to the process, signed appropriate forms, and was tested for HIV. The clinic was contemporary, clean and friendly. In the morning donor hair was taken and then I had lunch, which I really enjoyed. In the afternoon I had 2553 grafts and was provided a headband to reduce swelling. At around 4.00 pm I was walking back to my hotel with medication and instructions to manage pain. I had an appointment each subsequent day for 3 days to visit the clinic to have my hair washed and checked-they even managed and extra visit on the Saturday morning of my departure. During my time off I walked around the city, enjoyed amazing massages and visited the markets. At one stage I met another patient of THTC at a department store complex – it was not hard to recognize each other with our respective headbands. I was fortunate that I experienced very little post op pain but followed recommendations for pain relief and found the transplant areas affected were numbed, which further minimized the effect of pain. After a week in Chang Mai I was returning home to await the lengthy process of stabilization and growth. The advice I read online was invaluable particularly from sites like hair transplant network. The anxiety to anticipate progress is a huge factor after HT and then to have extremely slow visible signs of change suggests regular repetition is necessary to remind me that the milestones are 6 months, 12 months and 18 months and not DAILY. I am now 6 months and various persons have commented that I have more hair. Some parts have not developed beyond tiny hairs so clearly I have more to look forward to. All the time I am grateful to those influencers that allowed me to be comfortable about doing something significant for myself. My boss, my nephew, the first contacts from various clinics culminating with the medical team at THTC.

Regards

D.G.

MELBOURNE AUSTRALIA