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StillKicking

Members
  • Posts

    6
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Basic Information

  • Gender
    Male
  • Country
    United States
  • State
    GA

Hair Loss Overview

  • Describe Your Hair Loss Pattern
    Receding Hairline (Genetic Baldness)
    Thinning or Bald Spot in the Crown/Vertex
  • How long have you been losing your hair?
    In the last 10 years
  • Norwood Level if Known
    Norwood III Vertex
  • What Best Describes Your Goals?
    Considering Surgical Hair Restoration

Hair Loss Treatments

  • Have you ever had a hair transplant?
    No
  • Current Non-Surgical Treatment Regime
    None

StillKicking's Achievements

New Real Hair Club Member

New Real Hair Club Member (1/8)

10

Reputation

  1. I have always had dandruff and when I don't use a dandruff shampoo I get sores on my scalp. Since my HT surgery 4 weeks ago, I have been using baby shampoo. I have developed sore on the scalp. These are occurring neither in the donor area or recipient area so I am just assuming they are my natural tendency. Since historically they have responded well to a dandruff shampoo I would like to start using a dandruff shampoo as soon as I can but dont want to compromise by grafts etc.. All that being said, I have the following questions: 1) What is the safe time to resume a dandruff shampoo? 2) When I do go back, should I use something other than "Head and Shoulders" Thanks
  2. Redchilli007 - Totally agree with all your comments. My impression was that the attention to detail on the facility carried over into the quality of the procedure. And like you I was surprised to have so many working on you at once. Alright I will now chronicle my third and final day. I slept well as I was exhausted from the earlier day. They gave me a special neck pillow and some ATP spray to apply. Had dinner brought in if you know what I mean as I kinda looked really weird with the bandages and all. Went in next morning for the following: - Final hair wash and extensive post care information like hair wash instructions, hat etc...... - After pics with folder including CD of them, airline instruction letter, graft summary by count (singles doubles etc..) and average graft which mine turned out to be 2.1 - Goodbyes..... I ended up hugging them all. Best healthcare choice and experience of my life. I cannot imagine a way to improve his process. My son is preparing for Medical school and I wish I could talk him into a practice like Dr. Erdogans. This experience was an 11 out of 10. I am not a plant or whatever you call folks who plug a doctor just a very satisfied customer. I will help anyone with specifics. At the end Dr. Erdogan presented me with a gift of very special Turkish Delight that can only be found one from one shop in Turkey made since 1777 by one family business. I think this was fitting as the whole experience truly was a Turkish Delight!
  3. What a looooong day! Still could not be more pleased with my choice . Arrived at 7:45am and was offered breakfast but I had already eaten. Was given a locker and key to put my shoes and other belonging in then went through various stages of sterilization areas before reaching the operating/procedure room. First thing was a 20 minute massage to relax me. These guys are overkill on the details from EKGs blood work blood pressure and pulse every hour. You would think I was getting a heart transplant. Very high tech. They decided to go with all 3,000 in one day. I had two extractors one of which is considered the fastest and best in the world. Pain? Well injecting the local anesthesia was very uncomfortable but after that very little to no pain. I was given a great foot massage while they were doing it. Lasted about 30 minutes and was great. The extractions took about 3-4 hours. Then Dr. Erdogan does the punch (not sure of the right term) himself which took around 2 hours. Afterward lunch (pretty good) the very slow process of putting the grafts in took about 5 hours with 3 technicians working on me continuously. Watched a couple of movies and had some good conversation to help the time pass. A long day and a bit of of headache. But I am done and will go back for the hair wash tomorrow and a checkup. One kinda of cool thing. Spanish television was doing a documentary on Dr. Erdogan and was filming the day I was there. I agreed to be interviewed and have my procedure filmed. My big break into TV. It will actually be televised nationally in Spain so I will be interested to see. it. If the results turn out anywhere near the professionalism of the office and people I will be more than happy. Pics of before and after to follow. I just wanted to get this documented while still fresh in my mind possibly giving some insight into the experience.
  4. As promised I will give a bit of a play by play of my trip to Turkey to see Dr. Erdogan. I actually came a week early to rendezvous with my daughter who is studying in Scotland and so we met for her spring break. I am from Atlanta Georgia USA so the flight over was a redeye. We stayed in Istanbul then went on to Cappadocia then back to Istanbul for the procedure. Turkey is a great value and the history, sites and people are amazing. Everyone is very honest and very hospitable. If you have any Turkey travel questions just ask but on to the hair. I just left my initial consultation which took about 3.5 hours. I am going with 3,000 grafts (2100 temporal with 900 on my vertex). Also will be taking Proscar (a cheaper version of Propecia with same active ingredient). Asmed which is the name of the practice for Dr. Koray Erdogan is located on the Asian side so its a quick ferry ride over and short taxi ride. The hotel they use is really nice (Nice Royal Hotel) and I would rate it a little nicer than a Crown Plaza with a better breakfast. You can walk one block to the office or they will send a driver for you. It was raining so I opted for the driver. The first thing that struck me as odd was this crazy heat shrink wrap machine that you put your foot in as you enter the vestibule. It shrink wraps your shoe so no dirt enters the building. Once inside I understood why. This place was brand new, very modern and pristine. All the staff where the same stylish uniform. Lets just say the office is high tech and impressive. After doing a medical history they sent me down to a studio where they did a photo shoot of me with hair. Afterward I met with Dr. Erdogan and three other staff members. One of the staff members who is fluent in english stays with you the entire time in case you need translation. I would say about 25% of the staff knew english including Dr. Erdogan. I was then shown a video of the procedure being done and my photo shots were shown to me and then you drew a first draft of the hair line along for my reaction. After doing a number of calculations and taking measurements etc... we came up with the graft numbers shown above. Time to pay up. I had been withdrawing a lot of cash from Atms in the days before the procedure so it was actually a relief to get rid of it versus walking around. I did it this way since I was coming so early to Turkey and did not want to carry a lot of cash in Advance. Plus, paying up was not so bad as I just thought of how much money I was saving compared to other places and honestly based on my research I was getting one of the best in the world. Dr. Koray charges 2.5 Euro per graft. Then the fun part. They bring you to a high tech kinda of beauty salon room where they shave and wash your scalp. The they use a little machine to photograph your scalp for input into a computer for later computer analysis of the scalp. Back to the photo room where Dr. Erdogan then spends about 30 minutes drawing lines on your scalp. Then shows you a computer analysis of your scalp showing the density of the donor area and and other areas of your scalp. Apparently he is known for his artistry of the hairline and also for achieving really high density. OK, the bald head was not so bad but the blue lines make me look like a space alien. Gotta go with a hat tonight. After the procedure though I cannot where a hat until after the first hair wash on Friday. I would say the only thing that was not impressive was the hat they provided me. Kinda of like a fishing hat. Not my style so I went with my baseball cap. Oh well, I would say everything (but the hat) far exceeded my expectations on day one. Ask any questions you may have. I will update after tomorrow as the first round of grafts are at 8:00am. Photos to follow later.
  5. Hi, Im 50 years of age from Atlanta, GA and think I am a NW 3 Vertex. Kind of going through a mini mid life crisis now so just got back from Costa Rica to get new veneers (great place to go get dentistry done by the way) and thought I would address that receding hair line this year too. I have emailed and spoken to several patient consultants over the phone. I was considering Costa Rica also but just cannot find anyone there I am comfortable with so I have given up on that. I have gotten estimates of 1,000 to 2,800 Fue grafts needed to restore my hair. My gut says that the lower numbers were driven toward getting me in the door and the later is probably what I need. At this point as crazy as it seems, I am thinking of getting on a long plane ride to Turkey and going with 2,800 grafts using Dr. Koray in Istanbul. He seems to have a very good online reputation and his before/after photos are some of the best I have seen. When I questioned him on the number of grafts being so high as compared to others, his logic was that my existing hair is very dense and to look right the hairline should maintain that density. He wants to do 2100 grafts on the temples and 700 on the crown. What do you guys think based on the photos, Is he right? He is almost double what others are suggesting. At 2.50 Euros I can save about 42% over a highly regarded Fue specialist in Atlanta even after travel. What am I not considering?
  6. First post. Thinking about getting some hair transplants to restore hairline and to fill in crown some. Most doctors I have emailed estimate about 400 grafts each side of the temporal recession and 200-300 on the crown (Around 800 to 1,200 total). See photos attached. I am not overly stressed about my existing hair but I have some funds and if I can justify it rationally then I think I would do it. After reading this forum for a while it does seem that this in no way is something you should dive into quickly and life is really not like the Bosely commercial I saw in TV. That being said, I have travelled for cosmetic dental work to Costa Rica and was very pleased with the outcome. I am retired and enjoy travel so I don’t mind going outside the US to do this if it makes sense. I did a lot of research and chose the best dentist and could not be happier (plus I just love going to Costa Rica!). My first thought was to consider going back to Costa Rica for HT. The practice that seems most responsive is Rosenstock Lieberman. It seems though their are relatively few clinics doing HT in Costa Rica and those that are do it as a complement to their plastic surgery practices? It seems to me that most of the reputable clinics in US and otherwise use highly trained technicians and the actual Doctors just supervise. In Costa Rica though it seems the doctor actually does the procedure with assistants help. Question 1: How important is it to go to a clinic that specializes solely in HT? Question 2: Does anyone have any feedback for Rosenstock Lieberman or any other HT specialist in Costa Rica. I want to make it abundantly clear that I understand the argument not to get a cheap transplant and that is not what I am seeking. In my experience though, our US medical specialties are overburdened with tort liabilities and so on and my experience is you can find very qualified (and in the case of my dental work) or more qualified practices outside the US. So I am really looking for very high quality at a value price point. The only US inquiry I have made is with a well known practice in Alpharetta, GA (Atlanta area) which is where I am from Prices go for $6 shaven FUE and $8 unshaven. I am planning a trip to the UK next year and have sent an inquiry to ProHair in Belgium? Not a lot of saving their though ($4.56 FUE). Question 3: Does anyone have any positive HT tourism experiences they could steer me towards. I am in no rush and it seems like there are a lot of passionate pilgrims here so your advice and referral ideas would be much appreciated.
  7. Welcome to our Hair Restoration Social Community and enhanced discussion forum. Feel free to customize your profile by sharing your story, creating blogs, sharing your treatment regimen, presenting your hair restoration photos, and uploading videos. You can also join groups and interact with other members via public chat and instant message those you add to your friends.

    Feel free to ask questions and interact with our members on our new and improved hair loss discussion forum.

    If there's anything I can do to help or make things easier for you, don't hesitate to send me a private message or post on my wall.

    All the Best,

    David (TakingThePlunge) – Forum Co-Moderator and Editorial Assistant of the Hair Transplant Network, the Hair Loss Learning Center, the Hair Loss Q&A Blog, and the new Hair Restoration Social Network and Discussion Forum

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