FUT (3000 grafts) with Dr. Meshkin - San Diego, CA

I am in my late twenties and started experiencing hair loss during my early twenties. At 23 I had a FUE procedure with a well known clinic and with a Doctor whom I do not recall the name. It was a small FUE (about 1000 grafts) and I was fairly happy with the results. It looked pretty natural and gave me my hair back (most of the grafts were concentrated in the front and temple areas). Since then and after 3 years of continuous hair loss, I had lost about 90% of my hair in the crown region (the area that was not transplanted). I was able to conceal the crown with a well known hair fiber product and make it look like half decent (at least from afar).

I initially decided to go with Dr. Meshkin for a FUE based on his experience in the hair transplant industry. With over 25 years of hair transplants experience he has seen everything in term of surgical hair restoration (scalp reduction, FUTs, FUEs, robotic surgeries) and knows exactly what works and what does not.

The day of the procedure, he spent more than one hour sitting down with me and explaining what a second FUE would mean for me. He showed many pictures of patients and their donor areas after multiple FUEs versus multiple FUTs. The difference was shocking: Dr. Meshkin's FUT and method of closure left almost no scar even with a very short hair cut (blade 3 or 4). The reason why the scar is so minimal is due to Dr. Meshkin's trichophytic method of closure. First the scar is minimal by itself because of his experience as a surgeon and then (from what I understood) the method allows the hair to actually grow on the scar.

After understanding those facts I instantly changed my mind and for the same price we went from an initial 2000 FUE that would have left me with very poor donor area in the future to a 3000 grafts FUT, which left my donor area intact for at least 2 more FUT procedures.

I came early in the morning for the procedure and was given a valium to relax. I do not have any recollection of the procedure. I vaguely remember being asked to switch face up when the grafting portion of the surgery started. In other words I slept through the entire thing.

Although this review is extremely premature because I am only 4 days post op, I feel confident that my results will be great. More importantly, based on Dr. Meshkin's work, I am confident that the donor area will bear an undetectable scar with very short air. Based on my previous FUE, I can tell that the placement of the grafts looks more natural and the one hair grafts transplanted in the frontal area are much more densely packed than my previous surgery.

A side note on the pain: you will not experience pain per se but soreness and tightness, which can be faily uncomfortable. Keep in my that every scalp is different, which is why it's impossible to predict exactly the level of discomfort that someone will experience.

I don't have any vested interest in doing this review other than being honest with my experience (I already paid and had the procedure). However I am writing this review so that other people like me can make an informed choice about surgical hair restoration. If you consider doing it and especially if you are in the Southern California region, you have to visit Dr. Meshkin for a consultation. He will merely educate you on hair transplant without pressuring you in any way to go forward with the procedure.

I am posting two post-op pictures taken three days after the surgery. Please excuse the angle and the quality of the images. I will attempt to update more pictures at day 10.

I hope that this review can educate and help people making the right choice.

3/4 of the scabs are gone. I will gently rub off the remaining ones on day 10-11 with baby shampoo.

I'm really lucky in that I have no readness whatsoever on the grafted area, which is not common for a fair skin person.

Also on the last picture you can see that the suture line is undetectable because Dr. Meshkin only shaved the band portion of the hair he needed versus most clinics who shave a big chunk of the back to have better visibility. This is a small perk but significant for someone who wants to avoid looking like Frankenstein for a few days!