Overview

Hello everyone! I received a FUT hair transplant from Dr. H. Rahal on January 28th, 2015  that comprised 1754 individual graphs.

My story: 
My story is different than most here because it was brought about from a need to reduce my high forehead rather than hair loss.  Over the last 9 years, I have had some very minor thinning at the temples, but this second surgery was to add in density from the first surgery.

In 2005, I chose Medical Hair Restoration for my first hair transplant and received ~ 1,200-1,500  graphs.  Never having what I deemed to be a proper hairline, I was ecstatic with the results and still regard it as one of the best decisions of my life.  However, I still realized it was thin and was never as comfortable as I thought I would be pre-op.  Throughout the years, I dragged my feet and tried other methods (concealer, rogaine, propecia, micropigmentation), but at a certain point band-aids just weren’ doing it  and at that time I committed to intense research through several online hair loss sites.   After six months of research, I choose Dr. Rahal for my second procedure based on his ethics, his hairline philosophy, cost, and consistent results. Hopefully after this procedure I can forget about hair loss for the next 5-10 years since I am taking propecia/proscar, and rogaine.

Medications:
I started taking Propecia and rogaine fairly consistently at the beginning 2012. I have not noticed any changes due to the fact that I was not thinning anywhere else other than my hairline and the temple regions. I am only taking it to slow down future hair loss (family history of crown loss later in life).  I have also added Biotin to my daily supplements as well as using Nizoral once a week.

My decision:

As I mentioned above, I chose Dr. Rahal for my second hair transplant due to several factors: Mainly because of the consistency of his results, especially the ones that were posted by the patient. His results were constantly “wow” results, as well as the price was right. The USD is strong against the CAD and compared to prices I got along the east coast, it was far cheaper from a guy with a (from what I can tell) flawless reputation.

I went with  FUT instead of FUE because I already had a FUT scar and it was drastically cheaper (for me). Another reason is that my hairstyle never brings my sides or back below a 3/4, which is usually enough to cover the scar.  I also plan on doing micropigmentation on the scar to make it near-invisible.

My  Rahal Experience:

Payment – If you’re paying with a CC, find out if your bank offers 0% foreign transaction fees. My card did NOT have free foreign transaction fees, so I wound up getting charged around $140 from Chase.

Travel – I traveled by car to Ottawa, Ontario.  It was about an 8 hour drive. Not bad.  No trouble at the border, but make sure your phone provider is set up for data roaming. I crossed the border around 1am and did not have GPS for a time period.

Lodging – I stayed at the Brookline Guesthouse. I highly recommend this lodging arrangement for a couple of reasons. First, it is cheaper than the other places around town (according to my research). Second, it is sooo nice talking to other hair transplant patients. I felt so alone after my hair transplant with Bosley (like no one in the world could understand what I just experienced), so talking with sympathetic persons was a true blessing. Third, the place was stocked with breakfast food which can be eaten at all points during the day. It was nice knowing that food was available when I didn’t want to go out and buy something. Fourth, the place was set up for hair transplant patients. I believe every room had a reclining couch which is necessary for the first five days after the surgery to minimize swelling.

Surgery Experience – What can I say other than the Rahal surgical team is a perfectly oiled machine. Dr. Rahal is a true master at his craft. I don’t know about rankings, but he must be at least one of the top hair transplant surgeons in the world.
6:00am – I entered the Rahal facility and immediately met Mike, the lead surgical technician. He is a really good guy who  gave me the consent forms to fill out and had them completed by 6:30am.

6:30am – Pictures with a member of Dr. Rahal’s staff

7:00am – I met with Dr. Rahal in his office who looked at my facial characteristics and drew a line where he believed the hairline should be placed and filled in.  I agreed we walked into the surgical area.

7:30am – I was prepped for surgery and given numbing shots to my donor area. These shots are somewhat painful, but they give you good distraction techniques.  Once Dr. Rahal determined that I was ready, he began to remove the strip. There were a lot of surgical staff members in the room ensuring I was cared for during the whole process.

~8:30am – an enormous team assembles to cut up the grafts for transplantation. This step took about 2 hours. I fell asleep for most of this.
~9:30am – Dr. Rahal came in to make the recipient sites while his staff separated the grafts.  Still sleeping pretty much

~11am – Three surgicial staff members went about placing the grafts into the recipient sites. Zzzzz

~2pm – Done! I was amazed with the speed and efficiency of the Rahal team.

After the surgery: Not much to note. I actually didn’t experience much pain at all. But please do not think this a normal scenario. I was and am currently following the post-op instructions down to the smallest detail. Take at least a week off if possible.