Before & After picture
of his own result for Dr. Athanasios hair transplant
Hair transplantation with Athanasios Christopoulos
I graduated as a plastic surgeon 25 years ago. Even before this, I had a special interest in the hair transplantation procedure so, I was performing hair transplantations even with the existing at time methods. I had already noticed hair loss to myself, and I had in my mind that probably in some stage I would perform hair transplant to myself. There were 2 reasons for which I was not doing it. Firstly, it was the lack of time that made me continuously postpone this idea. The second reason was that my hair loss was very gradual, and because of that, I was getting used to my look. The combination of these factors did not allow me to decide undergoing the procedure, over many years.
Once I was specialized in plastic surgery, my first job was in a hair transplantation clinic. There, I was performing hair transplantations every day and nearly all these people were asking me why I did it for others and not for myself. Obviously, it is impossible for somebody to perform a hair transplantation to himself but probably somebody whom I trust would do it for me. I was trying to find different justifications, but the reality was that, as mentioned before, I got used to my looks and was not feeling the necessity of growing hair. On the other hand, if somebody could do it for me, I would not resist.
So, the years were passing over and my hair loss problem was getting worse, but I did not realise that. I ended up to an almost complete hair loss and these few hairs that I had on my head were giving me the false impression of still having enough hair.
Suddenly one day, 20 years after I had performed my first hair transplantation during my summer holidays, this happened; I had a hair transplantation scheduled to perform to a young gentleman. A few days before the treatment, he called me and told me that he wished to postpone the procedure due to personal reasons. In that moment, an idea came in my mind. Everything had already been organized for my patient, my team was ready to perform the procedure and at the same time a period of holidays would follow for me. “So why not do it?” I thought. I shared this idea with my wife and she was very enthusiastic about it and pushed me into doing it.
As a result, I let my team know that our patient postponed his operation and that I would undergo the procedure in his place. My team felt very happy about it too, since over the years they were mentioning that I was a very good candidate for hair transplantation, and it was a pity to do it for everybody else but myself. The days before my procedure, I had a few transplantations to perform so during these, I had the chance of showing my team exactly what I wanted to be done for me.
Finally, the day arrived. I was stressed because I knew all the details that had to be achieved in order for me to obtain the perfect result, but I trusted my team and I was very happy that my time had come. I had to do draw my own hairline. I took the marker and started designing. Usually, it takes me about 3 minutes to do so, but in this case, I spent half an hour in front of the mirror. I was constantly changing my mind because I could not picture myself having a different hairline than I did at the time. You see, after all these years I could not imagine myself in a different way, as I had gotten used to my existing look. In the end, I made the decision about my hairline after drawing and erasing it by more than 20 times.
My head was shaved, and the procedure started. It was a very interesting experience because I got the chance to have an idea of how my patients feel, and I can now understand and imagine their emotions and feelings during the procedure. I am even more careful with each and every moment of the surgery because it reminds me of my own experience.
During my transplantation, I held a mirror, following every step of the process. I even took pictures with my mobile phone, magnified them, and showed them to my team, explaining exactly what I wanted. For example, where I wanted the hair follicles to be implanted, in which density, inclination, and all the other factors that I considered to be important to obtain a natural result. I was the most anxious patient they had ever treated, as they later confirmed. Usually, our patients go to sleep during the procedure, or we discuss random topics. In my case, I continuously discussed the way I wanted the procedure to be performed in great detail. The procedure took 15% more time than usual. We stopped, discussed, and changed our plans, so I think I really gave my team a hard time. Once the implantation started, I remember feeling more relaxed as the most important steps had been done. We had already opened all the holes which determine the density and the quality of the result. The implantation is crucial to the procedure, but it is more of a routine process.
The surgery finished late in the evening, and I thought, “Finally, I have done it!” I went home, talked to my wife and daughters about my experience, and went to sleep. I did not feel any pain, but I still did not sleep well that night. I dreamed that my hair was coming out of my scalp and woke up every hour to check if everything was okay.
The next day, I immediately went to look in the mirror. I was reassured that everything was fine, so I relaxed and went out for a walk with my family. I did not cover the area, and it was pretty obvious that I had a procedure performed on my scalp, but I did not mind at all. People were looking at my head, but I did not care. I remember enjoying the behavior of other people looking at me in a strange way. I am sure that everybody would like to ask me what had happened to my head, but they were embarrassed to ask me any questions. Some of them asked, and I explained to them what I had done, but after a while, I got tired of it and stopped.
The days after the procedure, I behaved as if nothing had happened. There was a point when I myself even forgot what I had done, and when people were looking at me in a strange way, I could not understand why. Then I would remember that I had the scabs of the hair transplantation on my scalp, and at times, I would explain my looks to them. Time passed, and as I usually say to my patients, I did not see any difference for the first 3 months. Before undergoing the procedure, I was continuously replying to this specific comment “Doctor, I don’t see anything yet,” explaining repeatedly that patients would start noticing the results 3 months after the procedure. I used to wonder why they asked me the same question so frequently. With my case, I realized why. Although I knew this as this is my job, I used to ask myself the same question: “Are the new hairs going to grow or not?” And then I used to reply to myself, “Yes, they will grow.”
Even 3 months after the procedure, when the new hair started growing, I once again did this thing that all my clients do. I was very anxious to see the final result and I was telling myself: “Be patient, you will see the final result 9 months to 1 year after the procedure”. Even though I knew that this is going to happen, I was still feeling anxious.
One year after the procedure, I finally obtained the result I was already dreaming of. I was so happy and again I told myself what nearly all my clients tell me “Doctor I should have done it earlier. Why didn’t I?”. Every day now that I look at myself, I feel happy and that I have done something extremely important for me. Taking care of yourself is something that you own to your personality.
The reaction of the people around me, in my office at the hospital etc, was very warm and positive. Some of my patients could understand that I had a hair transplantation performed but most of them just had the feeling that I had something changed in my looks without being able to realise what that was. My result came gradually, but as I have many times noticed, not many people have the ability of spotting differences. They can feel that something has changed but they cannot exactly describe what that is.
Now, I let everybody know, because I am proud of it, and they all have a very positive reaction. They tell me I look 10 years younger, but most of all, that I have a better symmetry to my face. Hair transplantation was always something that was on my mind and I wanted to do, but only when I finally did it, I understood how much I wanted that change. Probably, unconsciously I did not want to admit how much I wanted it because I was trying to convince myself that I was ok with my pre-existing look.
Now that I see the final result, it makes me more and more happy every day when I look in the mirror and I see a result that I enjoy and that I feel extremely happy about and plan to keep forever.
