Jamesbon007

Post Op 1 Month 1 day – 8th April Just hit the 1 month mark, ive been meaning to put the pictures up but been soo busy at work. Most of the post shedding has stopped and i think i have lost all the transplanted hair. There are some few remain soldiers holding on and growing. The extent of hair loss looks worse in pictures than it is in real life. In terms of pain, its all gone. Although i have significant itching in the donor area, only when i lay down or rest my head. As you can see my hair looks quite patchy in the donor area and i may have had shock loss. When i do feel my donor area i feel some smaller hairs just started to grow. My right and left side of the donor area is still pink and this will take time to subside. Hair is still growing in both sides with new hairs starting to sprung due to minor shock loss. The recipient site i look more bald than i had the transplant. I know i have had some minor shock loss there too. But it will grow back and i have to remain optimistic. The recipient area, i still have no sensation and it may take couple of months for this to return.... having read other peoples reviews. I still haven't had an hair cut since my fue hair transplant and will have one on the two month mark! will update next month.

i had the same and what i did 5 days post op started to use bio oil. if you go to my blogs and see the pic from day 4 - to 10 you start seeing it clear up.Every evening i put aloe vera on as this helped.

Hardest thing is to take the plunge, but if it won't for few members on this site and their pictures and stories, I probably had not gone through with the transplant. Too early to tell what the outcome will be like but i'm staying positive. So far I've experienced probably the same thing as other FUE patients on this forum.

Thanks. Its quite amazing looking at day 1 to day 15 how quick your body heals.

Post Op 15 th day – 25th March First day at work since hair transplant. I had taken two weeks off and was hoping no one figured out that i had a hair transplant. Work colleagues did like the new buzz hair cut and complimented me on it. Its good think i slowly told everyone a month or two that i was thinking of shaving my head. In terms of Post op the recipient area all the scabs are off. There isn't any numbness but at the sametime my recipient area feels less sensitive. But i do feel that i am getting some feeling back. The donor area has healed up very well, i was more concerned with this that someone at work may spot the procedure. The skin is slighty pinkish but not noticebale to my work colleagues. The donor area still feels slightly tender and skin feels slight tighter than normal, pain wise its around 2 out of 10 only when you stroke certain areas. There minor itchiness at the back and during the day i'm too busy to notice and evening its bareable. I have started the gym and doing some weights which i normally do before the operation. This is the first time i've done weights after two full weeks. I haven't gone into it hardcore and only lifting about 60-70% of my max weights that i normally do. i've read on other forums that graft should have fully be integrated between day 10-14. i'm doing mild cardio as well and taking the necessary hair nail vitamins, Ginko, Vitamin D, cod liver oil. I take finansteride as i know i will be shedding more hair in the next week or two as other members on this site have. I'm hoping i don't loose more than i have already, looking at the pictures i reckon i've lost some of the transplanted hair. Its hard to tell as with grade 0 cut i do not have the before pictures. However the managing director did take some with his phone and he will send them soon over. Pictures have been updated. Next blog update on the day 30 1 month mark!

Hi All, Just to let you know i had my hair transplant 2 weeks ago and i'm recovering very well. You cannot even tell i had the procedure done. Its good thing that i took two weeks from work and tomorrow is my first day back. I know am going to be asked about my new hair style with the buzz cut, but will say shaved it myself and got sun burnt. Hence the pinkness around the donor area, which is very mild to be honest! Anyway i like to thank everyone on this site, reading through everyones forums and going ahead with the procedure had pushed me take the plunge. I have created a blog on my profile so if individuals want to see it they are more than happy to subscribe. i've been taken daily picture for the last two weeks and posted on the blogs. i will now only update the blogs on a monthly basis.

Post Op 13th day – 22nd March Virtually all scabs have fallen from the top of the as well as the donor area. Back of the head seems to be recovering and beginning to feel some sensation. However the sides does feel little tender in the donor area. Partly due to number of grafts that were extract. The recipient site I have no sensation on top of the head, probably due to the thousands of small incisions being made and the minor nerve damage. This will eventually will go a way as the donor area has. I have virtually got around 80% of my feeling on the back of my head. I do have minor itchiness around the back of the head, but a lot better in comparison to previous day. I've posted some more pictures.

Post Op 11th day – 20th March Hair is growing faster and thicker. You can really see the extent of how bald you are when you have short hair. Normally I’ve had longer hair which I then top up with Nanogen. Well those days will go now, can’t wait when the new hair sprouts out. In terms of todays pictures nothing additional. Apart from I’ve added Rogaine foam in the morning and night to my regimen. I made sure I waited good 10 days or so before I started this. There isn’t much literature stating that whether it reduces post shedding as there are mixed results. But no harm in trying. I still have itchiness on donor area but with Bio oil in the morning and Aloe Vera in the evening does take the edge on this. I've posted some more pictures.

Post Op 9th day – 18th March First time after the post op I feel that I am really healing well. Usual routine is to take my vitamins, put the last of the cream that the clinic provided. In terms of the donor area the scabs are falling off on a daily basis. Hair is start to grow and cover the donor area. Skin looks still pinkish and it seems that I have eczema. I’ve been putting bio oil on this and it does help with the itchiness. I have in the evening put aloe vera on as well as sometimes the donor area does get itchy and dry. I've posted some more pictures.

Post Op 7th day – 16th March I have no pain either at the recipient and donor area. On this day I have started to take finasteride and some hair nail vitamins. I’m hoping it will reduce the post shedding or assist in any shock loss of hair that might have occurred. Its too early to tell whether I have achieved shock loss but rather be safe than sorry. The hardest thing I have found is that I normally go to the gym 5 times a week. I’m a person who normally doesn’t sit around, unfortunately I am house bound and the weather isn’t all that great. I still do the normal routine of putting the cream on the head and waiting 45 minutes. I’ve added something additional to my routine now. I’ve started to add bio oil on the donor area as it aids in healing and scarring. Its unlikely that I will get any scars but rather be safe than sorry. I have noticed around the donor area that some of the scabs are slowly coming off. The skin is rather pinkish but with my darker complexion hoping it won’t be too noticeable. I've posted some more pictures.

Post Op 5th day – 14th March Sleep has gone back to normal routine pattern now. But sleep at 45 degree angle does take its toll. Head feels like a paper weight when resting against the pillow. I have started get some feeling back in the recipient area. Normal routine is to take the rest of the medication, have the cream on my head for 45 minutes. Then gently wash this. I then normally take the photos. In terms of the Post Op - feeling with regards to recipient and donor area as follows: Donor Area - is healing very quickly and scabs are forming. Pain has gone with no shooting pain. Recipient area - Just feels numb, with no pain. Swelling on the forehead has virtually gone. I've posted some more pictures. I will post every two days upto day 14. Then monthly after this.

Post Op 4th day – 13th March Slept for several hours today. I think sleeping in my own bed with the right temperature was what I needed. It was driving me crazy due to lack of sleep. I don’t think the main cause of this was due to the procedure but the lack of air con at the hotel. Sleeping at my own place I was completely knocked out for 8 hours. I didn’t require any pain killers, but today’s routine was take the medication as prescribed in post op procedure. Have my breakfast and I decided to catchup on some work stuff. Nope I didn’t go into work but dialled in and caught up on those pesky emails. 300 in 3 days. In terms of the Post Op - feeling with regards to recipient and donor area as follows: Donor Area - is healing very quickly and scabs are forming. Pain has gone to 2 out of 10 with the odd shooting nerve pain. The appearance looks like a crusted volcano. I hope this heals very quickly as i will beback at work on the 25th March! Recipient area - Just feels numb, with no pain. Swelling seems to be going down from the forehead. I've posted some more pictures

Day 3 Post - OP: 12 th March Slept slightly better today. i had over 6 hours sleep! Again the heating in the hotel room did not help with air cons not working. However today was the day to head back to UK and arrive at Manchester. Routine was have breakfast with managing director and his daughter. They've been with us from day 1 and met up with us every morning. I cannot thank them so much with the care and hospitality they provided me and wifey. I believe we made some good friends with them and i will certainly keep in touch. I know we are both busy but are willing to take the time and effort. Today was the day the will wash my head and put this cream on on top of my head. I had this on for 30 minutes and this was then washed with saline solution by the clincal team. They were very gentle and used spray action to rinse the cream off and the cup action with their hand to take the rest of the cream off. In terms of the Post - Op donor and reciepient area as follows: Donor Area - pain is reducing and is around 2-3/10 pain wise. i still have small shooting nerve pains but they are becoming very infrequent. Recipient Area - No pain Swelling is still present on the forehead, i hope it doesn't work its way down to the eyes. Otherwise it would look like i had several rounds with Mohammed Ali. Once the head is washed we get ready to head back to the Istanbul airport. The managing director and his daughter will acompany us as they are heading back to manchester to stay for a fortnight. I do get some funny looks at the airport due to exposed donor and recipient area but i don't care since i don't know anyone from their. Majorit of the looks were men who had thin hair or reaching the same stage as i was couple days ago. I think they were intrigued to what i had done. We catch the flight and sleep well in flight for two hours or so. I thank the the managing director and his daughter for looking after us and the excellent care they had provided us. I then pick my car up from crown plaza and head back up north! I prefer not to say as i will be revealing where i work and which city. I have posted day 3 post pics

Post Op 2nd day - 11th March Again only slept for two hours...Not because of the procedure because of the heat in the hotel room. I just spent most of the night browsing and reading on my Ipad and watching some Dexter series. Unfortunately all the air con in the hotel wasn't working and this didn't help. I couldn't open the windows in the hotel as it outside the main road and has significant noise traffic. Also when you do lie down it feels like a metal plate attached to your head or lying on a hard surface. Due to the donor area being anaesthetised this feeling is quite normal and it will get better. Apart from that again the same routine as yesterday, breakfast with the same people and also it was the other chaps last day. I wished him good luck, it was nice to have another patient to correspond with and discuss any issues like pain, dampness during the night in the donor area. In terms of the Post Op - feeling with regards to recipient and donor area as follows: Donor Area - is healing very quickly and looks less like fresh wound. I think the open air without the bandages has aided in its recovery. Pain is around 4-10. i am having shooting nerve pains which i wasn't prepared for, having googled this it is common in fue procedure as there would be some nerve damage. Recipient area - Just feels numb, with no pain. Swelling on the forehead due to the anaesthetics used on top of the recipient area. I've been told that i need to do some forehead massages so it subsides Today i didn't spend most of the day confined to the hotel room. I sat outside and brief meal which assisted in the healing process. Feels better when you have natural hair hitting the donor area. Later on the evening we decided to go out. Since it was my birthday and the managing director and his daughter took me and wifey out to the same restaurant. I was little conscious about the recent operation and was afraid that people would stare. But no one noticed and especially the restaurant was very quite. I even got a birthday cake and celebrated in Istanbul style with nice Turkish tea. I have to say the managing director and his daughter went out of the way and looked after me and wifey. I've posted some more pictures

Day 1 of post op Sunday 10th March, In the morning took the medication and went downstairs to have breakfast. Wasn't in the mood of breakfast but need the nutrients to assist in the healing process. i had forgot to mention on the day of the operation i had met another person from UK who had his operation day earlier (Friday). He helped with the experience as we both discuss this during the morning breakfast. The managing director and his daughter was there and we discussed the operation. To briefly describe the Post Op feeling after the operation on Day 1. Donor Area - Slight mild pain. The pain was more of an aching pain but on a scale 5-10. I has some shooting nerve pains ever several minutes or so, but pain killers provide helped. Recpient Area - Hardly no pain, on a scale 2-10. We went back to the hotel room and the clinical team had taken the bandages off. My head felt cold and slightly damp but my body quickly adpated and adjusted within few minutes. The rest of the day i just watched what was on the tv and also watched some dvd movies that i downloaded. I have to say you need to come well prepared otherwise being stuck in a room does get rather tedious.I mostly felt sorry for wifey as she was very bored but as soon as she started reading her book "hungry games" she was hooked on it. One of the good things at the hotel was it did have a WIFI and excellent bathroom with Jacuzzi, Sauna and all the nice little gizmos one would like. Unfortunately i couldn't use all the facilities and decided to have a warm bath, have the radio on with nice lighting changing. This aided in the recovery and felt that i can take advantage of some of the hospital amenities. Its quite frightening to see what the back of my head looks like but because of 4050 grafts that were extracted I had thick hair but not densely packed. In asian/Indian men hair are usually thicker but less density. Where as caucasion individuals will have thinner hair but more densely packed. The surgeon had told me this whilst during the operation, but he told me he spread the extraction evenly to make sure he did not take too much hair in one area . I have every faith in the surgical team so I’m not overly concerned. I have also taken some evening photos where it started to look slightly better. The pictures do make it look really bad than it is. Mind you all pictures I have taken so far is with Iphone 4 5megapixel camera

I have recently had hair transplant in Instanbul (8th March 2013). I live in the UK and it was big decision for me to go overseas and get this done. First of all a little about me, i've just turned 32 and currently work for the NHS. I've been losing my hair since i was 18 onwards. Over the years i've had always had an issue with my hair by concealing it in various ways, i started to use Regaine and then Nanogen to hide thinning areas. However this has given me comfort but it still is on my mind that someone at work may know that concealing my thinning area around the crown, temples and on the top. I have been working in the NHS for over 11 years and quite familiar with what kind of care is provided. I did look at UK clinics where they offered hair transplant but the price was significantly higher in comparison to overseas. So what made me decide to go overseas? Well it was this website ans some of the individuals who have gone abroad to do this. It wasn't a light decision however the key areas i looked at when deciding to choose Hair transplant clinic was the Quality of the work , also the price and other peoples experience. I decided that i want to do this in Turkey in particular to one individual who had in depth photos and his diary which gave me the confidence to go ahead. I contacted the same clinic as this individual and two weeks post op i have not regretted this! 8th March 2013 I flew from Manchester Airport to Istanbul, acompanied by my beautiful wife who supported me on this. When we arrived to Istanbul i met the managing director of the hair transplant clinic who also has other businesses in the UK and provide other cosmetic surgeries in Turkey. My flight, transfers and hotel costs were all included in the final price and all arranged by this helpful gentleman. The managing director saw me and my wife and picked us up with his driver and we went straight to the hotel. During that evening we were taken out for a meal by the managing director and his daughter. We had a good evening and i picked out that this individual is very passionate about his company and services his team provides. He reminds me oft me! that if you are going to do a job then you give it over 110% and i like that quality. At this stage i wasn't very nervous and were felt at ease understanding how their company works and i could pull out if i wanted to . 9th March 2013 - Day of Operation I wasn't nervous and had a good breakfast at the hotel, signed couple of forms.Me and wife were picked up from hotel and were taken to the hospital. My first thoughts of the hospital were very nice. Glass windows and very clean internally and externally. We took the lift and went to the 5th floor which is where they had there operating theatre. From first glance it looked like sealed door out of military base where you use your knee to push this button to open the door which slides open. This is good as they take hygene and cleansiness in consideration. You do not realise how easily it is to pick up CDiff, MRSA or other forms of infection from hospitals, in particular outside clincal areas. The surgeon came and he looked at my hairline and used his blue marker to work out where the grafts would be placed etc. Then some photos were taken and finally the clinical team changed my over garment and put their version of srubs on. Its point worth mentioning that its good idea to wear shirts as you will have to take your top off before and after the procedure. It was mentioned pre-op instructions to wear loose garments with buttons as this would minimise any disloge of grafts post procedure over your head... hence shirt! I was then taken to a room where my head was clippered to 0 grading. i never had skin head since 2003 and asked my wife before the operation started what she thinks. In her words she called me an "egg head", which is why i need good set of hair in 6 months time . I then went to the operating room and placed on this reclining chair where the interepreter was there most of the time to explain what was going to happen next. Just to let you know the operating room looked very sterile and the room ambience was good in terms of lighting and plasma tv in front of me. The Operation commenced around 11am On the back of my head is where they started working on first. They had put injections on back of my head into my nerves and numb the area before they started to extract the grafts. In terms of the injections felt like sharp shooting pain but very briefly for second or two, on a scale 1 to 10, pain was around 6-7ish. Some people have high thresh hold of pain and i believe i amongst those individuals. I didn't require any injection to relax me. At this point i did become slight nervous but the interpretator started talking about bollywood movies which is equivalent to indian version of hollywood movies. She played key role in constantly checking whether i was ok. The surgeon and the clinical team started to work on me where i was lying flat on my stomach. He used his motorised tool and it sounded like a dentist tool sound when you are about to get your teeth polished. Apart from that they start to punch the holes back of my head and work through this. I don't think i mentioned this but they were going to take 4000 grafts. I didn't have much donor area at the back and they spread this around the sides as well. At 1pm break time After 1pm they had made all the punches at the back of my head and sides, well majorit of them. I then were give some bread, some nice soup and took a break for 30 minutes in the waiting area. I made sure i ate everything including the desert which was hybrid of jelly and rice pudding with nicer smoother texture. Then we went back in the operating room and the clinical team started to extract and pull the grafts from back of the head. Some were disecting the grafts and another two were extracting the grafts. Its like a well oiled supply chain where you have different jobs based on each section. The clinical team were working as a operational factor with each had their specific roles. The surgeon had made some 1000's of incision on top of my head in line with where the grafts were going to go in. I can say each incision felt like or sounded like cutting or nipping a apple but on my head. I had no pain as they had anaethetised the area on top with those dreadful injections again. To be fair they were not as painful as the ones on the back of the head. The clincal team had then started to place the grafts into the incisions made on top of my head. They said i has supple skin and the grafts were placed very easily. I also noticed every 1-2 hours new clincal team will come over and start inserting the grafts. As you are aware its very hard to provide the same quality of work for the next 4-5 hours. So the clinical team changed over, I can see why they did this in order to main quality and also maintain efficiency. The clincal team were absoutely fantastic and i had over 3 people working on me. Finally at 5.30pm Opertation was complete and they started to clean my scalp and spray this with saline water. As it did look like very bloody. On the back of my head the place this cream which would assist in healing and at the same time avoid any infections. This was then bandaged, i sat up on the reclining chair and after 5 minutes with careful observation they said i'm ok to go the waiting area. I was give a glass of water and i changed back to my shirt. I stayed in the waiting area for 15-20 minutes before being given some medication and how to take them. I had antiflammatory tablets, some parecetomol, some steroids tablets for fighting any infection. Its good thing that my wife is pharmacist and she took care of any after care, however the hair transplant clinic also provided extremly helpful instructions. I was then taken back to the hotel. I stayed there where the managing director made sure i had something to eat and went to grab some food for me and wifey! I did feel very light headed and to a point i had lie down. As i recognised that i may have had low blood pressure due to significant procedure that was taken over several hours. I felt light headed, everything going dark so i made sure i layed down and got wifey to grab me some chocolate to raise my blood sugar level. The managing director and brought the food at this time and even though i didn't feel like eating i made sure i had some of the KFC. The food is excellent ingredient to assit the body in healing as it provides the necessary nutirients and aids in recovery. During that night i didn't sleep more than two hours, not because i was in pain i was too concious of ruining the grafts. I was provided with those cushions that you use in aeroplanes and that assisted enormously.

Thanks Guys ?4500 is only for the Fue procedure. Flights, hotel costs and transfers comes out to be ?5500. But with discount, early booking and face pictures they have reduced this by another ?400. So total procedure including flights, transfers, hotel is at ?5100 Bear in mind that my wife is accompanying me, so i don't have to lick my wounds on my own. I narrowed my research down to 2 surgeons. Dr Civas and Dr Eser. Due to location of the clinic in Instanbul its easier for me travel on single flight for Dr Eser's clinic. Dr Civas clinic was in Ankara and required change over in flights although was more cheaper. My final decision was the response i was getting back by Dr Eser's managing director. His response was very professional and also mentioned care quality. Which others failed to add that aspect in their response. As i work in the NHS i know all sorts of regulations in terms of care quality, patient experince and infection rate. Robs result was excellent, i read his hairtransplantdiary, watched his procedure on youtube. Lots of pictures on here which also allowed me to make an informed decision. Yiddo i believe there is some picture on the company's website i will PM you with the link. But i suggest look at Robs profile and Youtube video.

Hi All, Well i'll start with my hair loss. I've been going through hairloss since i was 18. I'm about to turn 32 and plucked the courage of getting a FUE procedure by Dr. Eser Aydogdu in Turkey. Its slightly more expensive in comparison to other hair transplant clinics in Turkey but one or two reviews i've read have been great. I've been quoted ?4500 for 3800- 4000 grafts. I'm travelling from the UK from 8th March and the surgery is booked for the 9th March. I'm not sure if am allowed to put the clinic name here so i'm not going to add this. However they were very flexible in booking my hotel, flights, transfers etc. I'm going there with my wife and they've been courteous and also booked a restaurant one evening. i have few questions, is there anything i need to watch out for or discuss in detail with the surgeon? I've probably asked all the relevant questions and they have given me document what i need to do/dont before the day of the surgery and 7 days before. I've uploaded some pictures and i'll probably write a journal based on my experience and perhaps give others the hope to take the next step.