Negative and positive experiences: All hair transplantation Reviews and Testimonials from Andreas Krämer
Hello and good day,
as the initiator of Hairforlife and owner of the Hairforlife advice center, I would like to report on my negative and positive experiences with hair transplantation in Germany and abroad on this sub-page and put all the experience reviews and reports about my own six performed surgeries online, which experiences were the main reason for my decision to become active in this sector myself and to help other hair loss sufferers on their way to new hair.
After my own hair transplant experience and several years of intensive study of all relevant topics and facts about hair transplantation, I founded the Hairforlife consultation center in 2004 and have been working as a freelance consultant ever since (read more about Andreas Krämer).
A hair transplant as a last resort for hereditary hair loss, receding hairline, and baldness: The decision for the first hair transplant
Like you as a reader who has most probably found Hairforlife as a hair loss sufferer, I was also affected by hereditary hair loss and beginning receding hairline. Drugs against hair loss can slow down hereditary hair loss and in the best case even stop it, but on already bald areas such as receding hairline and on a bald head, this usually does not result in new hair.
Already at the age of 17, increasing fear and worry that one day the baldness of the father will be reached
Already at the age of 17, I developed a real fear/worry of reaching my father’s baldness one day, and when the first receding hairline appeared at the age of 22, I wanted to do everything possible to prevent the impending baldness. I simply did not want to make friends with the larger receding hairline and this was the reason why I decided to have my first hair transplant in 1997.
The first Review with hair restoration surgery: An surgery with the strip & MMG technique in 1997 at Medical One in Germany and the first negative experience
My report starts with the first experience I had with hair restoration surgery at the age of 23 in November 1997 at Medical One in Germany. This was carried out using the FUT technique. I had 250 mini/micro grafts inserted at Medical One to thicken up the corners of my receding hairline. Unfortunately, I no longer have any pictures of the first hair transplant. The scar resulting from the FUT operation was 7 cm long and 0.7 cm wide and shaving a bald patch will no longer be possible as a result. In the beginning, the Medical One result seemed fine to me. But with time, when the natural hair around the planted grafts had thinned out, it was noticed that the hair transplant performed by Medical One was thicker mini/micrografts with sometimes -up to 7 hair and a dissatisfaction about the result arose.
Negative and positive experience: My second and third Review. The Second hair transplant from Andreas Krämer with the FUE method at DHI in November 2003 and the third hair transplant as a FUE repair, also at DHI in June 2004
Unfortunately, I also had a negative experience with my second HT of my total of 6 transplants. I had a second FUE procedure in November 2003 at the DHI Medical Groupe in Athens with the “DHI procedure with Choi Implanter” which is still often mentioned on the internet. Unfortunately, I was not satisfied with the result and therefore had an FUE repair (with positive experience) in June 2004.
Please read about my two surgeries reviews – testimonials with DHI on the more detailed subpage Report by Andreas Krämer on DHI hair transplantation with negative experience
Reports by Andreas Krämer: 4th and 5th hair transplant with the FUE method in August-November 2004
In August and November 2004 I had my 4th and 5th hair transplant with the FUE method.
I had two “mini-FUE” treatments performed. On the one hand, Dr. Er transplanted some hair onto my scar – left behind by the first strip HT with Medical One – and on the other hand, thinning areas behind the receding hairline were thickened.
Review from my 4. Hair transplantation with FUE in August 2004: Planting of the scar which resulted from the first Hair Restoration with the FUT strip method
My first hair transplant with the strip method left a 7 cm long and 0.6 cm wide scar, which bothered me very much. I decided to have it covered by Dr. Er and to have follicular units inserted into the scar. It is now known that there is a good chance that most of the implanted hair will grow into scars.
Lateral slits were used, which tend to heal well. Incidentally, this is the same technique that Hasson and Wong use and achieve good results with (although they only offer strip and not FUE).
I was curious about the healing. I thought that the healing on the scar could be worse than on the normal scalp. Anyway, I had 243 grafts transplanted, which corresponds to a density of about 55 grafts per square cm. As you can see from the pictures, the healing was good and after only 10 days, almost nothing was visible.
Picture before the scar correction:
Image directly after scar correction (243 follicular units)
Image after 4 days of removal
Picture 8 days after extraction: (I think you can also see the good healing here. After 10 days, all the crusts were gone and nothing could be seen.)
(Red bordered is the extraction by Dr. Er, blue-bordered is the extraction from the first FUE with 1.20 mm at DHI)
Measured under the microscope, +- 44 grafts per square cm are now growing, i.e. approx. 85 % growth rate after 6 months. I hope that there will be more, but so far I am very satisfied.
The 5th transplantation by Andreas Krämer: Mini-FUE in November 2004
If you look closely at the pictures of my hair operation in June 2004, you can see a small strip on the right side between the newly placed and natural hair. This bothered me a bit and I know this may be seen as petty. But as you know, it is always in the view of the beholder…
This was an area of about 3.5 x 0.6 mm= 2.1 sq cm, so “nothing big”. I think I still had about 20 FU’s per qcm there. I was then implanted with about 80 FU’s, i.e. 40 FU’s per square cm, so I should have about 60 FU’s per square cm there later. They planted a total of 140 FU’s (60 on the left and 80 on the right). About 60 FU’s were planted on the left side for compaction.
This surgery confirmed what had been indicated during the scar correction. The healing of the slits was quick. After only 10 days, absolutely no traces were visible. My research in American forums showed that several doctors now work with the lateral slit technique.
There is often a discussion about which insertion technique heals better and faster. In my case, the slits tended to heal a little faster than the holes. However, in my case, too, it was a repair job where the surrounding skin was additionally stressed by the FU extraction. It is therefore difficult to make a fair comparison. It also seems to be very individual which technique heals better for whom.
Picture 1 day before
Picture left side day of the performed FUE (As you can see I shaved my hair in between)
Picture right side on the day of the performed FUE
(this is the side where the strip was before. Approximately 80 grafts were inserted exactly there)
Picture of the extraction on the day of the performed O.P.
Picture after 9 days left side
Picture after 9 days right side
Picture after 9 days removal
Review and Testimonial from my sixth hair Transplantation – The last surgery of my six transplants in May 2005
In May 2005, Dr. Keser performed a total of approx. 610 FU’s with “FUE & FUI”. About 250 FU’s were placed in each corner of my receding hairline and about 110 FU’s were placed in my scar for further thickening. Here is a picture of me in March/April 2005:
Picture after the first day “from the front
Picture after the first day “removal
Picture after 5 days “from the front
Picture 5 days later “removal” and after another shave after a few days.
Donor after +- 8 weeks after complete shaving
Picture of me in January 2006: The corners are now a bit deeper and I trimmed the middle a bit. As a result, the hairline now has a clearly different shape.
Hair Transplant Reviews of Andreas Krämer: Picture gallery of all hair restoration surgeries and before-after images
Some before and after pictures taken in January 2004 and one from September/October 2003
After: Here are pictures showing me in spring 2005:
Left side close
Right side close
Front close
Here pictures in January 2006
From left close
Close from the left
Right side close
Front close
Scar grafting: Comparison of the scar before and after, scar Andreas Krämer before and after two graftings on the scar
Scar before
Scar after/after 6 months
You can see that the scar has already decreased in width and length after 6 months and that some hair has already grown.
Measured under the microscope, +- 44 grafts per square cm are now growing, i.e. approx. 85 % growth rate after 6 months.
Hair transplant Reviews and Testimonials of Andreas Krämer: UPDATE of all HT reports – Current hair situation after the last surgery in 2005: Fortunately, the hair situation is still stable and baldness has not developed – as feared at the young age of 17
I am happy to post an update of my experience report online. The following pictures show my current hair status. In the meantime, my hair has become a little grey, especially on the sides and partly in the front (more so in the middle), but since my last hair operation in 2005, my hair situation has fortunately remained stable and no further operations have been necessary so far. Fortunately, the fears and worries that I would one day be bald like my father have not come true. However, it is worth mentioning that I have been taking the active ingredient finasteride 1m per day for 17 years as a preventive measure against further hereditary hair loss (read also the following (read also the article regarding finasteride as a therapy for hereditary hair loss.)
More reports about hair restoration surgery
Please feel free to read further reports:
TV report by Alexander
Television report from Marco
FUE Hair transplant Experience Report from DJ/Producer J.J.Hansen