Vpac

Why not ASMED?

All the best Keep us updated but please post photos of your full hair without your hand so we can see what it looks like normally.

My apologies to you that you didn't get a good result. I already posted in this thread before but I went to Asmed three years ago in 2017 and had 4000 grafts and personally I am happy with the result (not mind-blowing out of this world, but I am satisfied). However back then Asmed was pumping out some really good results from patients on this forum, nearly everyone who posted had a home-run. I'm not sure what has changed in the last year or so. Maybe the new technicians they have aren't up to standard and need more training before operating on people. Maybe the Doctor should refuse more patients if they consider them a bad candidate instead of taking the money and doing an operation that they know is a gamble. I don't know the answer but the people at their clinic took really good care me and were ever so friendly it's just a shame to see a lot more unhappy patients with poor results on this forum.

What is your opinion on ASMED and why didn't you consider them?

I had a similar procedure to you with Asmed in 2016 but for 4000 grafts and my results were probably similar to yours, though I had more hair on top so it's not as sparse and when I style i it doesn't look that bad. Crown is still empty however. I am not completely unhappy with it but I was expecting better. Keep saving up brother and find a surgeon that actually does the surgery.

Shocking result, very bad mismanagement of the hairline from Asmed. You said you requested a higher hairline, but it doesn't look it, that hairline still looks pretty low to me. And if Asmed knew that 3000 grafts wasn't enough over that area, they should brought the hairline up. I had my HT with asmed 4 years ago and I am generally ok with the results (not super happy, not dissatisfied, just ok) and was considering going back for round two but all these poor results makes me think I need to start looking elsewhere. Although their staff are wonderful I don't see why they are doing 8 patients a day, that is just madness. Also I found Dr Koray can be a bit abrasive and pushy when it comes to deciding on the procedure "I know best" - yes sir you may well do, but it's my head! Should listen to the patient more but when you're pumping out 8 patients a day he's probably fed up of seeing the same questions and problems and just wants to force what he wants. If I was you, get a refund and go somewhere where the actual surgeon does the surgery.

Sorry to see you are not satisfied - you've obviously had improvement but for 5k grafts everyone would expect better. Your crown/midscalp looks good however. Asmed does seem to have fallen off lately with a lot more poor results, especially their hairline which I've noticed is see through and sparse. I had my procedure with them 4 years ago (I am mixed about my results, it's better than before but not as good as I hoped) and again I also have similar problem with sparse hairline. I had my op at their older clinic. At that time they were performing HT on 4 guys a day, which at the time I thought was excessive. Now I learn they are doing 8 a day (!!!) crazy, just madness. There comes a point where you keep your standards over greed, and looking at recent results Asmed seems to be crossing the line. Back when I was researching they were pumping out some cracking results. But as it's all done by technicians you're only as good as their skill. Their team at that time seemed to be very experienced, I recognised a lot of them from people posts on forums so you knew they had been there for a while. My result was ok, I would say 7/10 but could have been better I had 2500 in frontal third and 1500 in crown which was poor and didn't see much growth there.

Will be lucky if we get another update - results look impressive at 5 months and a year later can only have gotten better. He is off enjoying life now and don't blame him! But just reinforces what a good doc Konior is and what he can achieve with lower grafts compared to a lot of other doctors.

I had my surgery with Asmed in 2017 (2500 in frontal third, 1500 in crown) and very happy with my result. I was thinking of going back as I was told at the time 1500 wouldn't be enough for my crown and Dr Erdogan was right and I could go in for another surgery. My frontal third I am delighted with... but seeing these new updates makes me worry and having second thoughts about returning. I know Erdogan changed his method to something called KEEP method of transplanting the hairs and not sure if that is affecting some of the latest results? Another thing (I knew this before I went) but the more I understand now makes me worry is that they do 3 or 4 surgeries a day. I don't blame them as they are a business at the end of the day and want to make money but there is a balance between making money and ensuring you provide all your patients the best possible treatment and outcome. I don't know if I was 'fortunate' but Dr Erdogan himself spent about 30mins doing extractions on me... Really the doctor should be more involved and although Erdogan does the consultation with you and draws the hairline, after that he creates the incisions and that's all. Also as they operate on 3-4 people a day, that's a lot and say they do 1000 people a year, they are bound to be a small percentage who get bad result due to whatever circumstance but it's very disheartening if you are one of them and feel full sympathy as for a lot of guys it's a lot of money and takes big courage to do it.

Not sure you can question Asmed decision to load the frontal third. The first FUT op looks bad and very pluggy, so it makes sense that Asmed had to correct those areas as that is what most people see when they look at you. Someone suggested they should have thought about giving him a 'mature' hairline ... well that's impossible because the FUT grafts have already been placed and will still remain there in the front hairline and it will just look very weird as we would have a thinning hairline, then density behind it. Once he has the second op and gets some coverage in the mid-scalp it will look much better. His option not to take fin is questionable however considering his hair.

I was on these forums religiously researching and reading up before I had my HT. It was due to the reviews posted by people on this forum and the information available that I chose my doctor, so I can't thank the people and this platform enough. Also, I pm'ed many of the people who had posted their own stories with the same doctor I went with so a lot of the posts and info I gathered was through private messaging. Having said that, once I had my HT and around 4-6 months post-op, the last thing I wanted to do was spend even more time on a hairloss website because I wanted to move on and enjoy my life with my new hair. I had spent a lot of time and energy beforehand whilst I was researching that I needed a break from thinking about hair loss, and focus on other parts of my life. I do like to visit the forums now and then to keep up to date with any new developments, whether any new doctors have been recommended and look at before/afters.

Did you buzz over the HT as well? If I remember correctly you are told not to use any type of machine over the HT hair for at least 6 months, only scissors.

Don't worry about the ugly duckling phase, it's part of the journey. I went to Erdogan too and 1 month after I looked dreadful, but 7 months on I am more than delighted. Can I ask if the implantation procedure has now changed at ASMED? According to a video on their youtube page they have changed the way they implant the hair and rather than doing it with forceps it's now 'injected' into the incision with an implant tool. Does Dr Koray still make the incisions and then implantation occurs afterwards? Not entirely sure if the procedure has changed, so would welcome your experience! All the best.

Great result erkso, so happy for you mate! You can now enjoy your life with one less thing to worry about. Also thanks for all your guidance and advice when I was considering Erdogan. I am currently 6 months in and really enjoying the new hair. For me, it feels like a burden has been lifted off my shoulders and I can now put my energy towards enjoying and improving other aspects of my life. It has also given me a well deserved confidence boost - I hope it's similar for you. Did you notice much of a difference after the 6/7 month mark leading up to 12 months? From what I've read the hair is suppose to 'mature' and 'thicken' giving a better illusion of density during the second half of the year.

Post some pictures of your scalp so we know what you mean and can advise you better.

Yes, when Erdogan is making the incisions you will lie face down. It's like a physio table with a big circle hole where you place your face so you can breath without any issues. I dozed off when Erdogan was doing my incisions! It takes him about 30-40 minutes to do it. Also if you're having crown work done, they may ask you to lie face down during the implantation phase but it will only be those hard to reach areas and lasted for maybe 45 minutes.

The situation in Turkey has gone from bad to worse. Trrorist attacks as we have seen in France, America, Iraq, Bangladesh, etc can occur anywhere and that's a risk all of us face wherever we travel abroad for a holiday, business or for something like a transplant. My biggest concern would be for anyone who is currently in that country as a tourist whether it's leisure or medical/surgical. Secondly, for those who have operations booked in Turkey it raises huge concerns about the travel risk. Thirdly, for the clinics and doctors and their tourist industry as a whole it is about to be severely affected and they don't deserve that, especially the recommended clinics on this site.

Are you able to post a before and after photo so we can see the issue you are facing? I would suggest visiting your doctor if you haven't already. The dermatologist you saw already gave their advice - either remove the hair or live with the inflammation. That is pretty drastic so I would seek another opinion. You said aloe vera helps. In this case I would apply this 2x a day and keep your hair on the short side so it's easier to apply to the skin. If you have an inflammation it may mean you need antibiotics to treat the skin and that it cannot be cured just by creams or injections alone. The most common antibiotic for skin issues post hair transplant is doxycycline which is an antibiotic for skin infections. It is usually 1 months course and that is enough to kill the infection. The side effect is that you will be sun sensitive so stay away from the sun and use SPF protection when taking this medication otherwise you will have sun burn. But go to your doctor first and get it checked.

Thanks Dr Charles - that is very interesting about the identical twin brothers. You say the hair will not grow and be attacked by the immune system if it's not identical twins - has this been tested and has a procedure been carried out between say an older and younger sibling to prove this?

Let's say someone has a really weak donor area but they have a sibling who has very good hair and is happy to 'donate' their grafts to the other. For simplicity sake let's say they are 2 brothers with the same parents. Is it possible and feasible to extract the grafts from one brother and implant them into the other brothers reciepient area and for it to be successful? Or would the grafts be rejected?

Looks great for 3 months erkso. As mentioned by everyone looks on track for what it is expected. Would welcome pics of your donor area in your next update. As you know I'm going to ASMED in June so really looking forward to updates from patients at the clinic. Just a question about disguising your transplant - you mentioned in your original post you used a variety of excuses as to the redness etc. but has anyone cottoned on you've had an op? From the pictures you can see the difference between the native and transplanted hairs.

Do not worry about your hair at this moment in time. It looks fine and suits you. Just think if you get a hair transplant now on the front, and the native hair behind the newly transplanted hair continues to recede, what will you look like then? Stick to propecia and wait until you're in your mid 30s before you begin even considering a transplant. I know that might suck because you want an instant solution but use this time to improve yourself in other ways. Start working out if you don't already, do yoga, begin reading, travel to different places, have fun and stop thinking about a hair transplant.

Did you have an opportunity to do that with Dr Erdogan? I think that is probably the best way - ask the clinic to present you the extracted grafts before implantation begins. The only issue I can envision with this, is that you want the extracted grafts to spend the least amount of time out of the scalp as possible - and it may take 10-15 minutes for you to count the grafts. From the many patient reviews I have read, usually after extraction the patient and team take a short lunch break and then proceed to creating the incisions and then implants of the grafts so you are already pushing it here time wise. Also, with all the meds and painkillers you are on and possible tiredness, the last thing on your mind would be to count the grafts. I've even read of people falling in and out of sleep during the procedure. This sounds really good ... however, and I'm not for one moment suggesting your clinic does this - but to play the devils advocate the clinic can give you pictures of other peoples grafts with similar hair to yours to make up for any shortage. I think a combination of counting the grafts yourself, plus the clinic providing you hi-res photos for you to review later during your own free time sounds like a good solution. How long did it take you to count the grafts in the dishes, and what point during the procedure/day did you get to do this? Counting them once their in your head is possible if you have a hi-res photo and the head is fully clean shaved so you're not mistaking them for any native hairs. You'd have to spend a good few hours zoomed in on MS Paint and use a coloring tool to mark the counted grafts. I've not had a hair transplant so I wouldn't know but the problems I can see with this is ... due to numbing injection you won't feel the incisions being made, thus unable to count. If you are asked a question, or need to speak, you will lose count if you are counting in your head. Also, as stig mentions below, they can create extra incisions if they wanted, but not implant any grafts in there. I have thought of that, but I would imagine the doctor and their team would feel disrespected that you are going to such a length to ensure the correct number of grafts and would question it, making them feel uncomfortable and under pressure. I am talking about all surgeons, recommended or not. Just because a clinic is recommended does not mean one should forego their due diligence. And even if it is a great surgeon, and they look at your hair and know they can achieve a great result for 2500 grafts, but quote you 2800 grafts. And lets say the result turns out brilliantly with the 2500 grafts and you are ecstatic with the outcome. That still makes it wrong in my opinion because they knowingly over charged you for 300 grafts just to line their pockets.

Taking away the 'quality' aspect of hair transplantation, the entire procedure, cost and result is based on the number of grafts implanted. As such, is there a way for a patient to independently verify the precise number of grafts implanted without relying on the clinics information? For the most part we can 'assume' that all clinics and doctors will quote their patients the accurate number of grafts to provide a positive outcome. This in turn enhances the clinics reputation and ensures continued business from hair loss sufferers. Also thanks in large part to the internet, clinics from around the world are now more accessible than ever before so there is more awareness of which clinics are consistently producing positive results. Now I know some people will say there is a need for 'trust' between the patient and doctor, and I agree with this. But the number of grafts implanted into your head is not a matter of trust, it's a matter of fact. If you've had 1500 grafts implanted, but were quoted and paid for 2000 grafts, it is a fact that you had 500 grafts less. It has nothing to do with trust, regardless of how reputable, trustworthy, the awards and memberships the doctor/clinic has collected. Now this doesn't have to be on a ridiculous scale. If a doctor is undercutting on average 100 grafts on each patient, and let’s say they see one patient a day, and charge $5 per graft, in a year they will have made $182,500 from not doing anything! ($5 x 100 grafts x 365 days). And when majority of transplants you see now are between 1500-3000 grafts range, how easy could the clinic get away with giving you 100 grafts less at 2400 grafts instead of the 2500 you paid for? So is there a way for a patient to independently confirm the number of grafts they have achieved, or is this crucial information in the 'trust' of the doctor/clinic? You can go to the best of the best in the world, but out of sheer pessimism if you want to know exactly the number of grafts for your own peace of mind, I wonder if this is possible.

Wouldn't mind a final one - year post op update on this BigP!