(Transplanting hair follicles just like planting seedings)

For those who have met me after following my social media accounts, my male self can be quite jarring. I look quite the Singaporean uncle and very different from Isabelle, with one of the biggest difference being my receded hairline. I have tried to chalk my receded hairline to being a middle-aged guy problem and ignored it for a long time, but recently the hair loss got the better of me. Looking in the mirror and seeing the bare skin where hair should have been made me increasingly uncomfortable. I decided that it was necessary to address the problem ASAP, since losing more hair would mean potentially more money to restore it, assuming I hadn't crossed the point of no return. Topical minoxidil was tried in the past with little success, so the next solution was to take Finesteride pills daily to retain the hair I had remaining and go for hair transplant surgery to fill out the bald spots.

For those considering doing the same thing, I would suggest you do your research before spending money on it. This video from a food blogger and an actual hair surgeon's reaction video to it are an entertaining way to start. One thing to know prior to considering hair transplant; you have to be ok with taking pills for life, specifically Finesteride (1mg/day) and/or Minoxidil (1mg/day). Otherwise, the transplanted hair will continue to be there, but your hairline will continue to recede, resulting in a very strange look worse off than before.

I started off exploring my options for doing hair transplant locally, since it would be the most convenient (and supposedly safest) option. There are many hair transplant clinics in Singapore but a quick google showed that they generally charged the same steep price of $5 per graft, with the highest going up to $7 per graft. I picked a clinic that seemed ok and went for a consult (had to pay $90 for it, which was understandable but annoying). For my situation where the hair loss at the front had progressed a fair bit, the doctor estimated that I needed at least 3000 grafts, meaning a whopping $15,000 at least. The final quote was $18,500 after adding in other charges. 

While I went into the consultation expecting a high number of grafts, the very steep price got me to seriously consider doing hair transplant in other countries instead. Two popular and budget friendly destinations known for hair transplant are Thailand and Turkey. Since Thailand (Bangkok) was just a 2+ hour flight away, it was the natural choice. A quick google of prices suggested that this option would cost me between $5k - $10k, significantly more palatable than doing it locally.

After doing a bit of research and deciding on a clinic, I did a virtual consultation with the doctor, who assessed my situation, estimated the grafts needed and did a run through of some of the important things I needed to consider. The Thai doctor was fluent in English so there was no communication problem at all. The best part?  No consultation fee. I paid a 20% deposit to secure the nearest appointment date 2 months away (goes to show how popular hair transplant is), and waited in anticipation for my trip.

My hair transplant surgery was scheduled 1 day after arriving in Bangkok. I went to the clinic at 11am, filled in some forms, did a finger pin-prick test to confirm that I was HIV-negative, before I was led to a small room to lock up my belongings and change into a patient's robe. A clinic staff then led me into another room where photos of how I looked was taken from multiple angles (front, top, 45deg, side, back). I returned to this room multiple times for phototaking later on; before shaving, after marking of areas to be transplanted, after shaving, immediately after transplant, and 1 day after transplant.

Before the surgery, there was a consult with the doctor who had a close-up look of my hair density and quality, discussed about my intended look, and marked out the areas to be transplanted, making minor adjustments based on my feedback. Once the transplant area was confirmed, an accurate estimate of the number of grafts was made, so as to confirm the final price of the surgery. The doctor then ran through a standard slideshow with photos of how the transplants would look, risks of surgery, downtime and post-surgery things to note. I agreed to go ahead with the hair transplant based on the drawn area and paid the clinic the remaining 80% payment for the surgery.

(Transplant area drawn with blue marker. The wavy parts are to create a more irregular look)

For ease of harvesting, the donor area at the back of my head had to be shaven. The shaving was slightly traumatic, bringing me back to day 1 of enlistment into the army as a recruit, because the staff took a shaver to my head and went Brrrrr 😫 I didn't like such close shaves. 

It was finally time for the surgery. I lay down on the surgery bed and the assistants covered me with blankets as it was very cold. There were essentially 3 stages for hair transplant surgery; creation of recipient sites, harvesting of grafts, and planting of grafts. Multiple injections of local anesthetic were used to numb the donor and transplant areas. This was the only part of the entire surgery that hurt, but man were there a lot of injections.

I returned to work after spending 6 days in Bangkok. While some of my colleagues did comment that I seemed to have a very shorn look, with the back of my head shaved "a bit too straight", that was about the only comment I got which was great. Guys really get away way with looking like crap much more easily than women do. 

When I explained that my trip to Bangkok was for a hair transplant, the reaction was surprisingly positive and curious, instead of an "Omg why did you go for that?" response that I had expected. Some of my colleagues were even supportive of taking action to look better. 

(Back view. Hairstyle was too straight and shorn to look good. You can see the red spots where hair was harvested)