I had a 1500-graft FUE procedure last Friday (June 6th) in Dr. Armani’s Los Angeles clinic. I flew into LA on Thursday afternoon, had a consultation that afternoon with Dr. Armani, and had the procedure the following morning. I went in the following morning (Saturday) to have the bandages removed and the donor and recipient areas cleaned before my 11:00 a.m. flight back home.
I was very apprehensive to even go through with the procedure given the fact that it would be my eighth procedure and did not think that I had enough donor to make a difference.
The Consultation: The bulk of all of my procedures have been placement of grafts in the first two-thirds of my scalp (Zones 1, 2 & 3). After viewing my photos (taken several minutes before the consultation), Dr. Armani recommended that he place ALL harvested grafts in the CROWN. My crown area is quite sparse, to put it kindly. I disagreed and requested that he place whatever he could get from my donor into Zones 1 & 2 (Hairline) to even out the hairline. The consultation lasted a little over an hour. Dr. Armani is very personable and very easy to talk to.
The Procedure: Talk about early! I arrived at the clinic around 6:40 a.m. and was greeted by a whole host of friendly, smiling people who all called me by name (this may seem silly to some, but I have never received this response from any other clinic). I was asked to take off my street clothes and put on some very comfortable PJ’s (Ralph Lauren, of course). They started an IV and gave me several injections in the upper arm. Then they shaved off all of my hair and began the “freezing” in the recipient areas. At no time were there less than four individuals in the room with me, including Dr. Edwards, who did the extractions. Dr. Edwards is an extremely gentle and soft-spoken doctor who knows exactly how to interact with his patients. The donor harvesting lasted until almost 1:00 p.m., at which point I was led to another suite and served my lunch. I sat there for 1/2 hour, ate my lunch and looked out the window into the heart of Beverly Hills (no, I did not see any celebs, damnit). Then came the creation of the recipient sites. Dr. Armani came in and administered the “freezing” injections to my recipient areas and began making the recipient sites. This lasted for several hours. The “freezing” injections are the only part of the procedure that are painful, but are over quickly. The technicians and Dr. Edwards spent the rest of the procedure placing the grafts in the recipient sites created by Dr. Armani. Once completed, Dr. Armani came back in and did a thorough inspection of the grafts and I was sent to another room where my scalp was cleansed, post-op photos taken and a bandage and surgical cap were applied. It was after 6:00 p.m. I got back to my hotel at LAX after 7:00 p.m. Long day! I did not need any of the pain medications that I was given post-op.
The Day After: I awoke early and wanted to get back to the clinic so that i would not miss my flight home. They cleaned my scalp again and applied the Vit E oil to the recipients and the anti-bacterial to the donor. They re-applied the gauze bandages at my request so that it would be more of a “selling point” at airport security. They put on another surgical cap and I spoke briefly with Dr. Edwards. They called me a taxi and I left for LAX. When I got to the security checkpoint, the guy manning the detector said “What in the hell is that puffy hat fo?”. I tried to explain to him that I had just had surgery and could not take it off. He then said “You aint go’in through my line with no puffy hat on”. At this time, I was disgusted and requested a private screening - I was bound and determined not to remove my “puffy” surgical cap. I was escorted into a private room where two other guys felt around on the “puffy” hat and the bandages and let me go without further incident. This is the first time that I have ever been hassled in an airport following a procedure. You get some strange looks from people in the airport when you are wearing a “puffy” hat:-)
I am in the process of creating a blog and will post (with pictures) when available. Thank you for reading my story. I must add that EVERY individual in Dr. Armani’s LA Clinic is a top-notch professional and that when you are the patient, you are the center of ALL of their attention. They are wonderful people.
Hi Jt,
Glad that your procedure turned out well. I had mine done last month in May with Dr. Sara Armani in Toronto. 3552 FUE grafts placed in zones 1&2 and I’ll be going for my second in 2 month mark. My procedure was painless and I was back to work in 4 days. My experience with Armani is the same as yours, everyone at the clinic was super friendly. I would like to see your before and after photos if you have any.
I will be posting my blog shortly with the assistance of Pats205. It will have before and afters. I have never met Dr. Sara Armani, but I believe that she was in the clinic in Toronto when I had my strip procedure in 2002. Good luck with your upcoming procedure. Will it be in Toronto or LA?
No, I did not get ANY swelling. All of my grafts were placed in the hairline, BTW. When I had a STRIP procedure with Dr. Armani back in 2002, my head swelled up like a balloon the day after surgery - so swelled that I did not recognize myself in the mirror. As for this FUE procedure, I have had no swelling, bleeding, pain or discomfort of any kind. FUE is the only way to go, IMO.
I have been considering BHT for many years and have been in contact with Dr. Umar over the past several years. I don’t know if I would consider it at this point, but who knows. I see greater things on the horizon;-)
» Hi Therapy:
»
» No, I did not get ANY swelling. All of my grafts were placed in the
» hairline, BTW. When I had a STRIP procedure with Dr. Armani back in 2002,
» my head swelled up like a balloon the day after surgery - so swelled that I
» did not recognize myself in the mirror. As for this FUE procedure, I have
» had no swelling, bleeding, pain or discomfort of any kind. FUE is the only
» way to go, IMO.
Do you know why no swelling this time? Is that because of FUE?
I was told that the amount of swelling is proportional to the amount of freezing solution used during the surgery. I beleive that during my STRIP procedure in 2002, they used a type of solution that “pumped up” the recipient areas near the hairline which resulted in the horrendous swelling. After just now looking here at my pics immediately post-op from my procedure last Friday, I can see some slight swelling around my left eye, but there was no apparent swelling the morning after my surgery, or since.
I had my 3552 FUE procedure done last at Alvi Armani. It was painless besides few times when they had to use the needle to freeze some the area that they were working on but other than that it was very good. Swelling did develop and I was told it’s from the freeze that they used. I was back to work 4 days after the procedure and by the 5th -6th day the swelling was completely gone. The healing process in the donor area healed quite fast…and the recipient area also healing very nicely. I did consider getting an HT in the past but thank god I didn’t. FUE is painless, no scarring, no nerve damage etc.
Jtelecom, Good luck on your recovery, you are in good hands… You’re pretty lucky to have no swelling at all. I had a little bit but it was gone within 48 hours, no biggie… Good growing to you, I look forward to watching your progress…
Thanks, SDS1977. I will be posting my blog this upcoming week. This procedure was primarily used to refine my hairline a bit given my very limited donor supply.
» I had a 1500-graft FUE procedure last Friday (June 6th) in Dr. Armani’s Los
» Angeles clinic. I flew into LA on Thursday afternoon, had a consultation
» that afternoon with Dr. Armani, and had the procedure the following
» morning. I went in the following morning (Saturday) to have the bandages
» removed and the donor and recipient areas cleaned before my 11:00 a.m.
» flight back home.
»
» I was very apprehensive to even go through with the procedure given the
» fact that it would be my eighth procedure and did not think that I had
» enough donor to make a difference.
»
» The Consultation: The bulk of all of my
» procedures have been placement of grafts in the first two-thirds of my
» scalp (Zones 1, 2 & 3). After viewing my photos (taken several minutes
» before the consultation), Dr. Armani recommended that he place ALL
» harvested grafts in the CROWN. My crown area is quite sparse, to put
» it kindly. I disagreed and requested that he place whatever he could get
» from my donor into Zones 1 & 2 (Hairline) to even out the hairline. The
» consultation lasted a little over an hour. Dr. Armani is very personable
» and very easy to talk to.
»
» The Procedure: Talk about early! I arrived at
» the clinic around 6:40 a.m. and was greeted by a whole host of friendly,
» smiling people who all called me by name (this may seem silly to some, but
» I have never received this response from any other clinic). I was asked to
» take off my street clothes and put on some very comfortable PJ’s (Ralph
» Lauren, of course). They started an IV and gave me several injections in
» the upper arm. Then they shaved off all of my hair and began the “freezing”
» in the recipient areas. At no time were there less than four individuals in
» the room with me, including Dr. Edwards, who did the extractions. Dr.
» Edwards is an extremely gentle and soft-spoken doctor who knows exactly how
» to interact with his patients. The donor harvesting lasted until almost
» 1:00 p.m., at which point I was led to another suite and served my lunch. I
» sat there for 1/2 hour, ate my lunch and looked out the window into the
» heart of Beverly Hills (no, I did not see any celebs, damnit). Then came
» the creation of the recipient sites. Dr. Armani came in and administered
» the “freezing” injections to my recipient areas and began making the
» recipient sites. This lasted for several hours. The “freezing” injections
» are the only part of the procedure that are painful, but are over quickly.
» The technicians and Dr. Edwards spent the rest of the procedure placing the
» grafts in the recipient sites created by Dr. Armani. Once completed, Dr.
» Armani came back in and did a thorough inspection of the grafts and I was
» sent to another room where my scalp was cleansed, post-op photos taken and
» a bandage and surgical cap were applied. It was after 6:00 p.m. I got back
» to my hotel at LAX after 7:00 p.m. Long day! I did not need any of the pain
» medications that I was given post-op.
»
» The Day After: I awoke early and wanted to get
» back to the clinic so that i would not miss my flight home. They cleaned my
» scalp again and applied the Vit E oil to the recipients and the
» anti-bacterial to the donor. They re-applied the gauze bandages at my
» request so that it would be more of a “selling point” at airport security.
» They put on another surgical cap and I spoke briefly with Dr. Edwards. They
» called me a taxi and I left for LAX. When I got to the security checkpoint,
» the guy manning the detector said “What in the hell is that puffy hat fo?”.
» I tried to explain to him that I had just had surgery and could not take it
» off. He then said “You aint go’in through my line with no puffy hat on”. At
» this time, I was disgusted and requested a private screening - I was bound
» and determined not to remove my “puffy” surgical cap. I was escorted into a
» private room where two other guys felt around on the “puffy” hat and the
» bandages and let me go without further incident. This is the first time
» that I have ever been hassled in an airport following a procedure. You get
» some strange looks from people in the airport when you are wearing a
» “puffy” hat:-)
»
» I am in the process of creating a blog and will post (with pictures) when
» available. Thank you for reading my story. I must add that EVERY individual
» in Dr. Armani’s LA Clinic is a top-notch professional and that when you are
» the patient, you are the center of ALL of their attention. They are
» wonderful people.
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