The following are written comments made by a 40 year old male patient who received over 1500 Neograft hair transplants at Sound Plastic Surgery in Seattle

1. The pre-op consultation was very thorough. They went over what the process would entail, who would be performing the transplant, preparation for the donor and recipient sites as well as what my overall expectations are and what the expected outcome would be.  

2. The intra-op experience was really quite boring. You arrive, get prepped, get medicated and numbed and then are good to go. You are awake, but medicated and numbed for the procedure. It initially hurts (burns) until the numbing solution kicks in (<1 minute of actual pain) .  The procedure itself felt like hot pin pricks on the back of my heard as they plucked the donor hairs from my head. Really more annoying than painful. For a 1500 graph procedure it took about 4 hours to harvest all the follicles. While the implants took about just as long- the discomfort I felt after the procedure was like having a sunburn on your scalp. I was a bit swollen and would recommend sleeping in a greater than 45 degree angle.  Tylenol was really sufficient for dealing with the discomfort but I have a higher threshold for pain so it may vary depending on your tolerance. 

3. My post op routine to conceal my donor site and recipient site was fairly easy. I wear my hair long on top so it lays over the recipient site. One to three days after the procedure, scabs had already formed on the donor site and within a week my hair had grown back enough to cover the donor site. Washing your hair has to be done very gently.  Pat dry and if you need to style make sure the comb does not touch your scalp. 

4. How you felt 1 day: I felt like I had a sunburn and I wanted to scratch. Don't do that!  Using the water bottle to spray the recip site and the cream for the donor site really helped. 3 days out I was out of bandages, washing my hair ( really just pouring water and baby shampoo over my head) wearing a loose fitting trucker hat backwards and went back to work with none the wiser. After 7 days post op I was back to gently fixing my hair, using styling products that didn't touch my scalp( spraying my hands with hairspray and forming my hairstyle over my scalp.) it was after a week before I wanted to risk sleeping flat again. 

5. How you feel about the decision to transform your life and appearance with Neograft. I have no regrets. 1 month out I am fully healed with a little bit of itch on both sites. Don't scratch! I can see and feel all the little hairs.  I have even been to my hairdresser and she could tell where I had the donor site, but she can see and feel all the new little hairs as do I. While I know some may fall out and regrow, others are growing as is and I'm excited to see my full transformation. And while patience is not one of my virtues, I am very happy to wait for this.