FUE Hair Transplant

Hello everyone. I would love to hear your thoughts on my operation and answer any questions. Key information Age: 31 Norwood: Every clinic I contacted that gave me evaluation said NW3, although I feel like I am on the advanced side of 3 Meds: 1mg finasteride daily 3/2022-6/2023. Stopped my hairloss from progressing. No side effects apart from increased libido at first and watery semen. I wish I had started a lot sooner! 0.5mg dutasteride daily 6/2023-present. I had minimal side effects on finasteride so decided to switch hoping for further regrowth. I had some testicle pain at first, at which point I decided to switch to every other day. The pain went away, and after two weeks I began taking daily. No further side effects except maybe like 5% decreased libido, which is honestly fine by me. 2.5mg oral minoxidil 6/2023-present. I'm considering switching to 5mg as after the first few days I have had no side effects. Collagen + biotin supplement 6/2023-present. Balding history: first noticed thinning around age 20. Progressed gradually first at the hairline and then the midscalp/crown until I started finasteride. Family history: My dad is full blown NW7. We have similar hair and appearance generally. No one on my mom's side has hairloss, nor does my younger brother. Price: 65THB / graft, for a total of 271,750THB or ~$7.8k. 20kTHB deposit over Wise, then the remainder with Visa or Mastercard after surgery for no additional fee. Included a PRP injection. Grafts: 4,178 total. 1,257 triple, 2,292 double, 315 1.5 (I actually don't know what this means), 314 single. 9,299 hairs total. Decision process I first started thinking about a transplant 3/2022, which led me to start finasteride after a consultation with a local surgeon. I made the decision to get a surgery 4/2023. Budget was not really a consideration for me, but I didn't feel that the results from top clinics were significantly better so I focused on doctors in the $3-10k range. Location was not a major factor, but I am based in Asia so Bangkok was a positive. I felt ready for the surgery and didn't want to wait, so I preferred clinics with short waiting periods. After seeing many good results from Dr. Laorwong on here and Reddit and positive initial communications with his clinic, I decided to go with him. I also appreciated that they provide 5 full days of aftercare. Consultation and lead up I communicated with the clinic over Line in mid May. I believe I was talking directly to Dr. Laorwong the whole time. He provided me with an MS-paint style hairline drawing a 4k graft estimation. There was some availability in June and July with significant availability in August-October. Due to my travel schedule, I decided on 8/4 and confirmed the date with a 20kTHB (~$572) deposit. I was told to stop oral minoxidil one week before surgery. I arrived in Bangkok a few days before the operation after a diving trip in Koh Tao (recommended place to visit). I met with Dr. Laorwong on 8/3 at 3pm for the in-person consultation. To be honest, his hairline designs were I thought the weakest part of his performance in reports that I had read, but I liked the first one he drew on me. The hairline went down to my retained forelock, which was what I wanted and expected based on my facial proportions. After a bit of discussion, we decided to slightly increase the arch so that I would have a bit of widow's peak to slightly improve hairline density and generally be conservative. He measured my donor area and confirmed that I was all good for surgery.They took pre-op photos and did a finger prick HIV test as well. I was told to eat breakfast the following day but avoid coffee and to not drink that night. In general, I found Dr. Laorwong to be concise and business like, but he happily and thoroughly answered all of my questions. They gave me antiseptic shampoo that I used that night and in the morning before surgery. Surgery I arrived at 8am on 8/4. I changed into surgery attire, then a kind nurse checked my blood pressure and gave me medication. I think it was amoxicilin, arcoxia, and two valium. Then Dr. Laorwong came in. He redrew the hairline and marked up my scalp, then proceeded to shave my head with the help of a few nurses. We proceeded to the surgery room where I laid face down for extraction. They massaged my calves and used a vibrating machine on my head while administering the anesthetic. It didn't hurt much at all, maybe a 2/10. They had music (I think Thai music? It was vaguely dancy and pretty good) on in the background and chatted a bit, but generally were pretty quiet throughout the operation. The valium began to kick in and I was in and out of consciousness for most of the morning. The most uncomfortable part was lying face down for so long. The gel pillow was nicer than a massage pillow, but still felt uncomfortable against my forehead. I had to lay my head on its side while they extracted from the parietal area, which was aggravated my neck (perpetually stiff from too much desk work). Overall, though, not too bad. We broke for lunch around 1:30pm. I had requested chicken pad thai, which I ate in the room where they shaved my head. After 30m or so we restarted. For implantation I sat in the same chair, face up this time. They drew blood for PRP then covered my eyes with a gauze blindfold. They administered more anesthetic to my forehead, I believe just above the center part of each of my eyebrows. Also about a 2/10 on the pain scale. I could feel the doctor making the initial incisions which stung a little, but when the anesthetic fully kicked in I didn't feel anything. Again, I drifted in and out of sleep for most of the operation. I'm not sure who performed most of the implantation, but I know that Dr. Laorwong was present for much of the time as I recall hearing his voice on a number of occasions. I was conscious for the last hour or so as the valium wore off and started to feel pretty bored, so I was quite happy when Dr. Laorwong told me that they were all set. They It was 8:30pm when we finished, for about 11 hours of surgery time after accounting for the lunch break. The same nurse who checked my blood pressure bandaged me up. They served me a light dinner, gave me medication (amoxicilin, arcoxia, prednisone, and tylenol, which I didn't end up needing) and instructions, handled payment, and sent me home. After enjoying a delivery smoothie, I took a valium and went to bed. Per their instructions, I slept on my back with two pillows supporting my head and a towel under my neck. Again thanks to the valium, I enjoyed a good night's sleep. Overall the surgery was a bit more comfortable than I expected. The entire team acted with utmost professionalism and kindness. If I could offer one piece of feedback to the clinic, I would have appreciated some progress updates as the surgery proceeded.  Aftercare I went back to the clinic at 3pm on 8/5. The same nurse who had gotten me settled the previous day undid the bandages and washed my head. She spoke decent English and had a warm, positive demeanor. The doctor came by for a checkup and confirmed that everything had gone well the previous day. They gave me a headband to wear for 3 days to prevent swelling in my face and a very comfortable black bonnet. I also did about 30m of low level laser therapy (LLLT) on the donor and recipient areas. They gave me a saline spray to use every hour until I went to sleep, which I adhered to carefully. They told me to resume oral minoxidil on this day. I returned to the clinic the following three days for further cleaning and LLLT. I saw different nurses on these days who were still kind but didn't speak much English. As a minor complaint, I had to wait in the lobby for over an hour past my appointment time on one of the days. Today, my last day before I depart, Dr. Laorwong checked up on me again and confirmed that things looked good. I thanked everyone for their excellent service and went on my way. In general, I felt pretty good after the surgery. My donor area was a bit sensitive and stung for the first two days, and there was some blood on my pillow after the second night (first night without bandages). The clinic said that this is normal and not something to be concerned about. The recipient area feels quite numb, which I understand is common. I also felt like I had to clear my throat a lot for the first two days after surgery, kind of like I gotten water in my windpipe. However, this could be allergies or just me being bad at eating. Logistics Bangkok is a very comfortable place to recover from surgery. Food and grocery delivery is cheap and tasty. I stayed at Pattern hotel and would recommend it -- kind staff and excellent breakfast. I have been to Bangkok before so didn't do much sightseeing, but there are a number of high end malls with air conditioning and good food courts that are nice places to kill time. I saw Oppenheimer in imax at Iconsiam and have to say it might be the nicest movie theater I've ever been to. Miscellanea Some of the post-op instructions were different from what I've read about with other clinics. In particular, I am a regular snus user, and the doctor told me that it was fine to resume using the day after surgery. He also told me that I can start exercising 7 days after surgery as long as I avoid contact sports. I was not instructed to sleep sitting up or anything like that. Overall impressions Although I reserve judgment until time reveals my results, I had a very positive experience. The doctor and his staff came off as consistently competent, professional, and kind. They were responsive to my concerns before, during, and after surgery. All details about pricing and logistics were presented clearly. The clinic is modern, clean, and fairly conveniently located. Assuming that my eventual result is positive, I would happily return if I need another procedure as well as recommend to family, friends, and strangers on the internet. Thanks for reading my wall of text. I plan to update with photos periodically. Implantation summary 4 days post-op 4 days post-op 4 days post-op 1 day post-op 1 day post-op 1 day post-op 1 day post-op Pre-op Pre-op Pre-op