Best hair transplantation – my story
My story about my hair transplant
I can well remember the day, even though it must be 24 years ago. Picture the scene, friends of mine gathered in my flat for a quiet get together when the girl who cut’s my hair arrived for an appointment I had forgotten about. I didn’t like hairdresser’s much and was relieved to have someone cut my hair in the privacy of my own home. So with friends present and in full view clipping began, then Michael walked by and said “looks like you are losing your hair on the top”, I nearly died on the spot and defensively replied “I have a double crown”.
You see right from an early age I had rich dark brown wavy hair, I was always getting my head ruffled by strangers or a compliment for my “glorious hair”. I actually hated all this unwanted attention for having curly hair, schoolmates teased me; old women envied me, not the best combination for a young boy.
When I was about 18, in the early 80′s, it was the fashion to have a perm, suddenly I was in vogue and though I hadn’t had a perm many took some convincing otherwise. Hair jell exaggerated the curls and now for the first time in my life I was enjoying all the attention my hair got. What had been a curse was now turning into a blessing!
So the very thought of loosing my hair was in fact to me like loosing my identity.
It must have been at least 3 years later when I heard another comment about my thinning hair. I had now moved from England and was living in Ireland, Dublin to be exact. One day whilst working on a building site, as I came up a ladder, my work colleague, whilst looking down on me commented on how much scalp of mine was visible. This time I dismissed it with “it’s the hair jell I use…”
That very night I got a hand-held mirror and then stood in front of a full length mirror and closely examined my hair from all angles. I was shocked at what I observed, my hair was thinning!
I immediately stopped using jell and kept my hair brushed, brushed strategically to help hide my problem. I had my curly hair cut shorter to help the effect and started to use a hair thickening shampoo.
One day I stumbled across an advert for hair care at a clinic in Dublin. I called them and made an appointment. I was so efficient with arranging my hair that the man I met with upon seeing me said “why are you here”. A closer examination had him advising different suggestions, mainly being drugs or a spray to slow down hair loss. I tried these for a while, at least one year and saw no positive effects. I was slowly getting despondent about my situation. Then on the back of a national Irish paper I saw an advert that gave me new founded hope, a promise that lead me to believe that I could have my own hair and go bungee jumping the next day! It took 3 attempted phone calls before I summed up the courage to speak to the receptionist who then put me on hold. I was full of questions but it was made clear to me that I would have to come in and have everything explained to me when there.
It felt too good to be true, but I was getting desperate and this was light at the end of a tunnel.
The time had finally arrived for my appointment and I was excited and nervous all at the same time.
When the realization sunk in that what was being offered me was basically a wig being glued to my scalp I sank into my chair in total disbelief. I actually felt angry as I felt this company’s wording in their adverts were totally misleading, no wonder they wouldn’t explain their technique over the phone!
When I came up out of this basement salon into the daylight it hit me that there really is no cure and I felt totally disillusioned and crushed.
The best thing I could come up with was a hair thickening spray in dark brown, as sad as it was this was now the only option for me. For what ever reasons the situation with my hair was slowly becoming a real issue, I couldn’t talk to anyone about it as it was now too sensitive for me. I wanted to get away from people, hide myself. Could I get a job as a lighthouse keeper I wondered? I wanted to keep a really low profile, totally out of character for me, a person who at one time enjoyed being the center of attention.
Finally I met and married a lovely Swedish girl who I was able to confide in about my fixation with my hair loss. They say a problem shared is a problem halved and that was what exactly happened to me plus, in the 2nd year of our marriage I took the big step and shaved my hair really tightly, getting praise from my wife, making my mother upset. Well you can’t win them all.
I noticed a difference in me now; I could finally talk about my lack of hair, even laugh at myself, but still deep inside it pained me.
The years have passed, we relocated to Sweden and we have 3 lovely children, the energy I have spent worrying about myself and how I look I have tried to channel back into my family. With age I grew to realize there is no greater critic than one’s self. People see me differently to how I see myself and I am well aware of that. Tears well up in my eyes on the occasions when my kids have hugged me and said they love me with or without hair, it doesn’t matter to them as has been the case with my wife.
Yet despite all this reassurance and love if I could choose I would do something about my hair. I don’t know what possessed me but I recently searched the internet for hair care/clinic and wanted to see what the latest and newest method is. I saw words like FUE and STRIP among others. I was aware of some of the terms from watching various documentaries, but because of my own experiences I had become somewhat cynical and mistrusting.
In search for the best hair transplantation
Then I searched within Sweden and stumbled across a FUE IM method in a town I had never heard of before. I knew little if anything of the technique used but took the time to read their web pages through in English. I liked what I read. I wanted to talk with them. The time span between my very first phone call to a hair clinic and calling this new clinic was about 18 years! I still can’t believe I actually summed up the courage to call them; this must be the 6th clinic I have approached, would they be the same as all the others? Would they put me on hold? Would they speak English well enough? I can’t remember the name of the girl who answered my call, but she was friendly, helpful and fun to talk with. Imagine that, I was completely relaxed, talking to a complete stranger openly about my hair loss problem, even making jokes about it. Her manner with me gave me the confidence to make an appointment with them. I was delighted that the clinic was so near beautiful Stockholm and only an hour from my house. Within a week of the initial phone call I went down to get a free consultation.
They say 1st impressions are important, the setting, decor and ambiance in this clinic made me immediately feel relaxed and confident, confident that I had finally found what I had always been looking for but didn’t believe existed. Everywhere I looked I saw quality and cleanliness at a standard of which I have never encountered before in this line of treatment. The way the staff was with me made me feel like I was a friend rather than a customer. When I met Dr Ilter for his professional appraisal I sensed warmth and I liked him immediately plus I was impressed with his credentials and involvement with hair replacement methods. He has dedicated years to this subject, giving lectures all over the world about it as well. I was informed I would need about 2500- 3000 grafts and I knew it wouldn’t be cheap, but I felt I would be getting the best treatment available. With a treatment like this 2nd best was not an option for me so the money side wasn’t such a big issue. I reasoned with my wife that if I had opted with the glued on wig method all those years ago that would have cost a lot more by now, in money and maintenance for what was a far inferior cure. I liked the idea of quick recovery time, little if any scarring and my own hair being used permanently.
When I walked out of that clinic I knew I would be going back, I had a confidence in me now. It took just 2 weeks before I had the hair restoration treatment, but it wasn’t a decision I made hastily, I was off from work and there was a vacant slot. Don’t forget I have researched this subject on and off for the past 18 years. The day itself went exactly as expected, everyone friendly yet professional, the time flew by. My treatment went exactly as the clinic had said it would, no nasty surprises. They involved me during the whole procedure to help create the results I wanted and went to great lengths to achieve it. No sense of rushing, quite the opposite in fact. I am writing this short account about myself 2 days after the treatment in disbelief that I have gone through with it yet with a glow of happiness at the same time.
For a lot of men as with me, the thought of talking about hair loss with other men was taboo. I don’t feel that way anymore. This treatment has”released me” in a sense. I believe there could be other men out there who may be able to relate to something I have written and I write with the desire of reassuring you that despite what you might think there is help out there, there are professional people who can and want to help you and I feel fortunate that I met the team here at the Ilter Clinic who did just that. It was worth the wait! I’m really looking forward to seeing the final results. Do I have any regrets? Yes, that I didn’t come across this clinic earlier. I am so impressed with what I have seen and now experienced that I would really like to work with the family that took me in and cared for me in a way I thought not possible. I feel it could be good for a clinic like this to have someone like me who’s “been there” among there staff reassuring prospective clients and I have mentioned this to them. Their thinking is so fresh and open that they actually agree with me and want me to go back and meet with them to discuss this further. Wow. Is it worth all the effort of traveling from England or Ireland?
From what I have experienced, absolutely since I believe it is the best hair transplantation method available right now and performed by one of the worlds leading surgeon’s in this field.
Tim
