Dr. Felipe Pittella | 10.939 (incl. 2.002 BHT) grafts | 35 years old

[Antonfarat]

Were you on Minoxidil pre-surgery? Do you feel like it helped much? Get and sodes?
 

After my consult with the Dr. I started but I swear my body hair started going nutty - getting really thick back hair? whilst my head is I feel almost the same, just growing faster. 

[Northwood]

12 hours ago, Antonfarat said:

Were you on Minoxidil pre-surgery? Do you feel like it helped much? 

I started with both oral and topical Minoxidil a few days after the consultation. I haven’t noticed much difference at all, but bear in mind, it only took five months from consultation to surgery.

[Rose17]

On 8/16/2024 at 7:54 PM, Northwood said:

Hello, HRN!

I am «Northwood» from Northern Europe, I am 35 years old, and two weeks ago today I underwent a long-awaited hair transplant surgery with Dr. Felipe Pittella in Vitória, Brazil. This is my journey:

During university, in my early twenties, I noticed my hairline starting to recede, and some classmates even pointed it out. As a result I started wearing various types of headgear more and more frequently, and I honestly don’t think anyone, apart from my wife and kids, have seen me without wearing one since my late twenties. 

My HT research started at the very moment my hairline was no longer complete as I knew I was going to go through a future hair transplant one way or another. Being bald was simply unthinkable, but also inevitable. My dad and his dad has perfect hair (NW I), but my mother’s father is a NW VII, and I look just like him using that «old man» filter on Snapchat, it's uncanny. 

As a child, I remember vividly my mother giving me a buzzcut in elementary school, and oddly enough this experience was traumatising to me and one of several reasons why having no hair on the top of my head in the future was out of the question.

After years researching HT’s on national websites and forums, I reached out to Dr. Feriduni in 2019 who advised me to wait with a HT until turning 35 and to start clinical treatment with Finasteride. I took his first advice, but decided against the clinical treatment due to the potential side effects.

After turning 35, I decided to contact a few doctors in Europe to get their assessment: 

• FUExpert with Dr. Couto had no capacity and recommended me getting back to them in late 2024 / early 2025.
• BHR Clinic (Dr. Bisanga) rejected me and recommended SMP instead because of my advanced hairloss.
• FueGenix with Dr. Ahmad was absolutely brilliant, replying to my every e-mail personally. Unfortunately his €/graft was out of my price range.
• Dr. Zarev had an opening for an in-person consultation in December 2025 at the earliest, with surgery being another two years after that.

I figured maybe Europe wasn’t the place to get this done, and contacted both Eugenix (Dr. Sethi / Dr. Das) and Dr. Felipe Pittella who I knew handled high Norwood patients with impeccable results with Dr. Pittella being my preferred surgeon due to his portfolio here on HRN.

In February 2024 I had a Zoom call with Dr. Pittella and immediately felt at ease. This! This was the guy I wanted to restore my shattered self-esteem. He advised me to start taking both topical and oral (2,5) Minoxidil, Biotin and Cetoconazole shampoo. He did NOT ask me to take Finasteride or Dutasteride.

Incredibly enough, and to my big surprise, they had an opening for a two day session in early August the same year(!). I couldn’t believe my luck and accepted it without hesitation. The following day, I purchased the plane tickets, and started counting down the days. I was finally going through with something that had been eating me for well over a decade.

Flying to Vitória from the small city I live in close to the Arctic circle was unproblematic. I had two layovers and total travel time from exiting the door to my house to landing in Vitória took just under 30 hours.

The clinic had a driver pick me up at the airport. The lovely Fernando, «o gordo», made sure I got from the hotel (Sheraton where four nights are included and paid for by the clinic) to the clinic every single day. He was also available if I wanted to go for tours, etc. He didn’t speak a lot of English, but sharing a love for sports and music, we spoke through the Olympics, and through samba and bossanova. The man also loves Rod Stewart!

By the way: Few people speak English there. I would advise learning a few phraces and basic words in Portuguese before leaving. Also, withdraw some braziliqn reals as not every place takes all foreign bank cards. It was a bit embarrassing when I had Fernando take me to a café called Clericot Café, offered him something to eat and drink, only for having all my cards declined, and for him having to pay for my food and drink instead. I paid him back in cash the day after, of course, but nevertheless: Withdraw some cash.

I landed in Brazil on a Tuesday with the pre-surgery consultation scheduled for the next day. When I arrived the following day, pictures were taken before the doctor was ready. The assistant told me I had an average to good donor.

I met the doctor shortly after, and after some colloquial words, we went down to business. He showed me the ScalpScan and we talked about my goals before drawing the lines on my head. I said I didn’t care too much about the back of my head, so we decided not to make it as dense as the rest, but to fill in some hairs anyway. He said he would need to use some beard hair (mostly from the neck) and maybe some chest hair, and estimated around 10,5 to 11.000 grafts to be used during surgery as I had some thinning in the lower vertex as well. The PRECISE scale was 7,57. 

I slept very well the night before and woke up just before the alarm went off. I had some breakfast and travelled to the clinic five minutes away ready for two big days at 6:30 AM.

At the clinic (day hospital) they had a room for me to leave my belongings as I changed into something more comfortable. They shaved my head, beard and parts of the chest and gave me the pre-meds. I had a brief chat with Dr. Pittella who told me I would probably sleep for 80 % of the surgery, and he was right. After the most uncomfortable part of the surgery had passed, the local anesthesia, I fell asleep shortly after and didn’t wake until it was time for lunch around 3:30 PM. We then continued until day one was completed at 8:00 PM, before I was driven back to the hotel to get ready for day two. From now on, I had to sleep on my back using a neck pillow. This went surprisingly well.

Day two started like the first at 6:30 AM and ended at 7:00 PM with 10939 grafts implanted with 2002 of these coming from the neck beard. They did not need any from the chest. These 10939 grafts resulted in 22340 hairs as I had a lot of two’s and three’s.

Imagine being in the OR doing this for so many hours week in, week out. These guys are machines! I guess it’s quite fitting for a frequent bearer of headgear to use the phrace «hats off» to them all.

I stayed in Vitória for six more days post-op. Most days were spent at the hotel as you must avoid the sun and rain, although the hotel had umbrellas I could borrow if I needed to take a stroll to the supermarket or mall. Because I couldn’t do much head tilting, put my head down, or exercise, I brought my own shoehorn. Some days I also walked very slowly on one of the two treadmills at the hotel. After the sun set, I took short walks outside. Honestly, I would be so bored if it wasn’t for the Olympics, so bring a book or something to watch as everything on tv was dubbed, except for two channels: CNN and Fox News.

Every day I visited the clinic for a head wash and assessment of the head and neck. As you can see from the 3 day post-op. photos, the head is yellowish because of Rifocin that is applied the first and second day post-op. in which creates an anti-bacterial shield.

Flying back north across the Atlantic proved to be unproblematic once again, and if anyone else contemplates travelling all alone for thousands of miles to Brazil (or any other country for that matter) to get their HT done, like I did, you’ll be totally fine. Vitória is very safe indeed.

As I write this, it has been two weeks, and I have an enormous sense of «graftitude» (I’m coining that) towards Dr. Pittella and his magnificent team who accepted me as their patient; from Eduarda in the reception, Dr. Marisa who tended to my precious grafts post-op, all of those in the OR, and of course, the genius that is Dr. Felipe Pittella.

Last, but not least, I would like to thank this amazing community where I have learnt so much over multiple years without being a member. If it wasn’t for you guys, I would never have met Dr. Pittella, and I’m sure I’d still be sitting here sulking over my bald head with a hat on my head, even though I am currently sitting here by myself. 

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

These are the photos I sent before the Zoom consultation in February this year: 

 

From the day before surgery six months later:

 

Just finished surgery: 

 

 

3 days post-op: 

 

 

1 week post-op: 

 

 

Head full of sunflower oil. Today, 2 weeks post-op: 

 

 

Thank you for reading. I'll keep you posted. 

 - Northwood

Hey man how were you able to sleep in the Sheraton hotel?

 

I got a room with no couch and the chair doesn’t recline. Did you stack pillows and use a neck pillow at 45 degrees or?

 

I finished my 2nd surgery day about 8 hours ago. 

[Northwood]

1 hour ago, Rose17 said:

Hey man how were you able to sleep in the Sheraton hotel?

I got a room with no couch and the chair doesn’t recline. Did you stack pillows and use a neck pillow at 45 degrees or?

I finished my 2nd surgery day about 8 hours ago. 

Congrats! Looking forward to (hopefully) reading about your experience.

Sounds like we got similar rooms. I stacked pillows in the bed and wore the neck pillow almost constantly. I also put a couple of pillows under the knees for stability.

Although sleeping on the back was something I never did prior to the surgery, I slept surprisingly well during the following fortnight.

[Northwood]

It has now been two months since surgery. «Ugly duckling phace»: Here I come!All photos were taken with a blitz bar this one:

[Al - Moderator]

23 hours ago, Northwood said:

It has now been two months since surgery. «Ugly duckling phace»: Here I come!

 

Yes. This is the real crappy time that is rough to go through. It will start getting better in another month.

 

[Approach]

On 8/16/2024 at 5:54 PM, Northwood said:

Hello, HRN!

I am «Northwood» from Northern Europe, I am 35 years old, and two weeks ago today I underwent a long-awaited hair transplant surgery with Dr. Felipe Pittella in Vitória, Brazil. This is my journey:

During university, in my early twenties, I noticed my hairline starting to recede, and some classmates even pointed it out. As a result I started wearing various types of headgear more and more frequently, and I honestly don’t think anyone, apart from my wife and kids, have seen me without wearing one since my late twenties. 

My HT research started at the very moment my hairline was no longer complete as I knew I was going to go through a future hair transplant one way or another. Being bald was simply unthinkable, but also inevitable. My dad and his dad has perfect hair (NW I), but my mother’s father is a NW VII, and I look just like him using that «old man» filter on Snapchat, it's uncanny. 

As a child, I remember vividly my mother giving me a buzzcut in elementary school, and oddly enough this experience was traumatising to me and one of several reasons why having no hair on the top of my head in the future was out of the question.

After years researching HT’s on national websites and forums, I reached out to Dr. Feriduni in 2019 who advised me to wait with a HT until turning 35 and to start clinical treatment with Finasteride. I took his first advice, but decided against the clinical treatment due to the potential side effects.

After turning 35, I decided to contact a few doctors in Europe to get their assessment: 

• FUExpert with Dr. Couto had no capacity and recommended me getting back to them in late 2024 / early 2025.
• BHR Clinic (Dr. Bisanga) rejected me and recommended SMP instead because of my advanced hairloss.
• FueGenix with Dr. Ahmad was absolutely brilliant, replying to my every e-mail personally. Unfortunately his €/graft was out of my price range.
• Dr. Zarev had an opening for an in-person consultation in December 2025 at the earliest, with surgery being another two years after that.

I figured maybe Europe wasn’t the place to get this done, and contacted both Eugenix (Dr. Sethi / Dr. Das) and Dr. Felipe Pittella who I knew handled high Norwood patients with impeccable results with Dr. Pittella being my preferred surgeon due to his portfolio here on HRN.

In February 2024 I had a Zoom call with Dr. Pittella and immediately felt at ease. This! This was the guy I wanted to restore my shattered self-esteem. He advised me to start taking both topical and oral (2,5) Minoxidil, Biotin and Cetoconazole shampoo. He did NOT ask me to take Finasteride or Dutasteride.

Incredibly enough, and to my big surprise, they had an opening for a two day session in early August the same year(!). I couldn’t believe my luck and accepted it without hesitation. The following day, I purchased the plane tickets, and started counting down the days. I was finally going through with something that had been eating me for well over a decade.

Flying to Vitória from the small city I live in close to the Arctic circle was unproblematic. I had two layovers and total travel time from exiting the door to my house to landing in Vitória took just under 30 hours.

The clinic had a driver pick me up at the airport. The lovely Fernando, «o gordo», made sure I got from the hotel (Sheraton where four nights are included and paid for by the clinic) to the clinic every single day. He was also available if I wanted to go for tours, etc. He didn’t speak a lot of English, but sharing a love for sports and music, we spoke through the Olympics, and through samba and bossanova. The man also loves Rod Stewart!

By the way: Few people speak English there. I would advise learning a few phraces and basic words in Portuguese before leaving. Also, withdraw some braziliqn reals as not every place takes all foreign bank cards. It was a bit embarrassing when I had Fernando take me to a café called Clericot Café, offered him something to eat and drink, only for having all my cards declined, and for him having to pay for my food and drink instead. I paid him back in cash the day after, of course, but nevertheless: Withdraw some cash.

I landed in Brazil on a Tuesday with the pre-surgery consultation scheduled for the next day. When I arrived the following day, pictures were taken before the doctor was ready. The assistant told me I had an average to good donor.

I met the doctor shortly after, and after some colloquial words, we went down to business. He showed me the ScalpScan and we talked about my goals before drawing the lines on my head. I said I didn’t care too much about the back of my head, so we decided not to make it as dense as the rest, but to fill in some hairs anyway. He said he would need to use some beard hair (mostly from the neck) and maybe some chest hair, and estimated around 10,5 to 11.000 grafts to be used during surgery as I had some thinning in the lower vertex as well. The PRECISE scale was 7,57. 

I slept very well the night before and woke up just before the alarm went off. I had some breakfast and travelled to the clinic five minutes away ready for two big days at 6:30 AM.

At the clinic (day hospital) they had a room for me to leave my belongings as I changed into something more comfortable. They shaved my head, beard and parts of the chest and gave me the pre-meds. I had a brief chat with Dr. Pittella who told me I would probably sleep for 80 % of the surgery, and he was right. After the most uncomfortable part of the surgery had passed, the local anesthesia, I fell asleep shortly after and didn’t wake until it was time for lunch around 3:30 PM. We then continued until day one was completed at 8:00 PM, before I was driven back to the hotel to get ready for day two. From now on, I had to sleep on my back using a neck pillow. This went surprisingly well.

Day two started like the first at 6:30 AM and ended at 7:00 PM with 10939 grafts implanted with 2002 of these coming from the neck beard. They did not need any from the chest. These 10939 grafts resulted in 22340 hairs as I had a lot of two’s and three’s.

Imagine being in the OR doing this for so many hours week in, week out. These guys are machines! I guess it’s quite fitting for a frequent bearer of headgear to use the phrace «hats off» to them all.

I stayed in Vitória for six more days post-op. Most days were spent at the hotel as you must avoid the sun and rain, although the hotel had umbrellas I could borrow if I needed to take a stroll to the supermarket or mall. Because I couldn’t do much head tilting, put my head down, or exercise, I brought my own shoehorn. Some days I also walked very slowly on one of the two treadmills at the hotel. After the sun set, I took short walks outside. Honestly, I would be so bored if it wasn’t for the Olympics, so bring a book or something to watch as everything on tv was dubbed, except for two channels: CNN and Fox News.

Every day I visited the clinic for a head wash and assessment of the head and neck. As you can see from the 3 day post-op. photos, the head is yellowish because of Rifocin that is applied the first and second day post-op. in which creates an anti-bacterial shield.

Flying back north across the Atlantic proved to be unproblematic once again, and if anyone else contemplates travelling all alone for thousands of miles to Brazil (or any other country for that matter) to get their HT done, like I did, you’ll be totally fine. Vitória is very safe indeed.

As I write this, it has been two weeks, and I have an enormous sense of «graftitude» (I’m coining that) towards Dr. Pittella and his magnificent team who accepted me as their patient; from Eduarda in the reception, Dr. Marisa who tended to my precious grafts post-op, all of those in the OR, and of course, the genius that is Dr. Felipe Pittella.

Last, but not least, I would like to thank this amazing community where I have learnt so much over multiple years without being a member. If it wasn’t for you guys, I would never have met Dr. Pittella, and I’m sure I’d still be sitting here sulking over my bald head with a hat on my head, even though I am currently sitting here by myself. 

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

These are the photos I sent before the Zoom consultation in February this year: 

 

From the day before surgery six months later:

 

Just finished surgery: 

 

 

3 days post-op: 

 

 

1 week post-op: 

 

 

Head full of sunflower oil. Today, 2 weeks post-op: 

 

 

Thank you for reading. I'll keep you posted. 

 - Northwood

What does the Sunflower Oil do?  How often do you use it?  

Thank you

[Northwood]

15 hours ago, Approach said:

What does the Sunflower Oil do?  How often do you use it?  

Thank you

The sunflower oil was applied twice a day and helped loosening the crusts by humidifying the scalp.