BigP

Hi Guys, I just got a 5000 graft transplant 2 weeks ago. When is the earliest position that you can start buzzing your hair? My doctor said to wait at least 6 months, but some people do it after the 1st month. Like you guys, I am worried it will look stupid so what have you heard or experienced? When is the earliest it is safe to start buzzing your hair? THanks

Thanks buddy, hoping for the best. Just glad to have got it over with and move on with life! Hope you have good results too!

I don't think it's possible to extract that many in one day, not just for the team, but also for y body. PRP was ok, I got it for free as a courtesy due to a booking error that happened some time ago, which was nice. I would have paid for it as well. I think 2 days was just right, gives you some time to go away and look at the progress and mentally prepare. We started at 7 and finished at 7 for 2500 grafts so don't think it would have been possible to do it properly in one day.

Hi, yes second day was much harder as you are mentally and physically tired: - Day 1 is very long, you will lose some blood from procedure, blood test etc. THen you have lots of medicine so you crash. Then I had trouble sleeping at night even with sleeping tablet as air pillow is uncomforable and it feels weird to sleep on the donor area. - In the morning of day 2 I don't think I had a very good breakfast! So I was already tired from lack of sleep.Also they take some blood for PRP. Then I had an empty stomach by mid morning. I felt very dizzy and had to stop the procedure. After the anasthetic one of the team was pressing my head and it felt really claustrophobic. He was holding on to my head so that the tech can get the grafts out but I didn't like the feeling (not painful, just numbness). It was giving me a headache so I asked him to stop, had some water and food and felt much better, once he changed the position. - Afternoon I had a head and foot massage and also watched movies, but I was getting bored and tired after so many hours - However the teams were the same, same number of grafts etc. ASMED team were great, and they were always checking me to make sure I was fine and stopped when I wanted and gave me some painkillers, and moved the TV/ DVD collection around so I was entertained! I was even singing some Turkish songs in the afternoon! - Summary; If you are going to do what I did over two days, I would say make sure you spend more time in bed after day 1 to get max amount of sleep beforehand. Also have a big breakfast with food like porridge or slow releasing energy food. Also prepare mentally for the length. You may think 10 hours will go quickly, but when you are there for the second day, your mind will be harder to entertain! Just get some good DVDs. Also make sure that you ask the team to stop whenever you feel dizzy. I was perhaps trying to be too macho and not ask for breaks but you can make it worse if you don't pace yourself. But I was sooo happy when it was over!

Can you please take you arguent with BUSA to a private message. I want this thread to be helpful to others who are interested in the experience rather than your argument about something different. Thanks

Ok, apologies. I see you didn't start it

Guys, I want to keep this page as a help source for others. If you want to argue please take your argument to personal messages. If you can't be helpful or informative to the community then please don't post, as I want this page to help others, not become a typical internet argument.

Here are the pics at day 10, fully cleaned of scabs. As you can see, some redness, the crown wasn't as dense as the initial post ops suggest, but that is understandable. If I grow it out a bit more it will look a bit more dense. Possiblly a BHT in the future but for now I am happy with the coverage given how advanced I was at the start. I will post pics every few months, don't think it will be helpful to post every month, but let's see how it goes. Wish me good luck please http://s1383.photobucket.com/user/BigP1985/library/Day%2010%20Pics

Haha yes, I am not sure to be honest. I work in a small team and we always have team meetings, or they come over and talk down to me in my chair. I was always nervous they could see the disaster zone that was my hair full of nanogen hair powder. I think it looked really messy and for such a client facing role I think they would appreciate a much cleaner look. Wehn I go back, I wont say I had a hair transplant. I would just say that I always had bad hair, and wanted to shave it off and deal with losing hair. And leave it at that. If they ask then I will say yes probably, although the English are generally quite polite about that kind of stuff! I am uploading some pics at day 10. You can see that it is still red, but the ASMED team made it look as realistic as possible. Hopefully the redness goees down and my hair shedding wont be too advanced. But let's see finger crossed. To be honest, I am so releived I finally no longer have to wear Nanogen, I don't care what they say, in 6 months it will look alright, god willing!

Thanks, fingers crossed for a good result. I actually had no swelling. I was preparing myself for it, but its different for people. They said its usually on the 2nd or third day, but I didn't notice anything. Clinic did not charge me for the wash. They are very good at making you feel welcome into the clinic - you will see. Radission special rates apply for 4 days only, then it goes back to their normal price which is 110 i think. I moved to Flora Suites which is about 55 a night for a fantastic serviced flat about 10 minutes walk away from the clinic. Yes, thedoc actually uses a weird measuring tool/ ruler/ compass thingy which measures your face into thirds and then shoots a laser out to determine a natural looking hairline. He drew a couple of options for me, one was what you see, and the other was bit further out in middlee and less on temples. I thought my one looked a bit better. I'll upload my 10 day pic tomorrow once they email it to me. You can see it more clearly.

Yes, sorry that was 300 Euros. The hairline is probably the main discussion point with Dr erdogan. Every 1cm you bring the hairline down is an extra 1000 grafts. So i have limited donor area, and advanced hairloss, so for me and the DR, we wanted to be conservative. Good luck with your decision

Thanks BUSA, yes very impressed with the efficiency. Spoke to other patients there, and they were happy as well. I wanted to stay there in Istanbul as I wanted to rest without wanting to see anyone in the airport, at home or at work etc. Strange city no one know you, I walked around with a lose fitting cotton hat and had a relaxing holiday! But I did budget in an extra 400-500 Euros for that extra bit. Total for 5000*2.5 EUR = 12500EUR. Then add 300 for medicine and 3000 for PRP (which is optional, but I took it). Also 80 EUR for each night at Radission and 30 for all transport to and from clinic. So you are looking at around 13,300 Euros. It's quite expensive but in my opinion this is something you don't want to get wrong. ASMED is doing this operation day in, day out, so they are really expert in this. I think BHT hairs look a bit more unnatural so I thought I'd do this HT first, then see how that grows out, then see if I can use BHT to add volume. Personal preference. Also I am not that good for donor area as you can see from pics, but I have anough chest and beard hair for decent crown coverage later on. Istanbul has two main airports, Ataturk and Sahiba Gokcen. Asmed is between both so doesn't matter. I went there in November to meet the doctor so knew where it was. So I didn't pay 60EUR for transfer to there. And I got a normal taxi back from my own hotel to Ataturk. Asmed is quite hard to get to so you need taxis, and a map to show taxi drivers who don't speak good English! I would take ASMED's service if you are new to the city. From hotel to clinic is 30 Euros for entire time of procedure, so all three days. THey pick you up from reception to reception. They take money in TRL, or EUR or GBP. They google the exchange rate at the time to find rate. So for me in November it was GBPEUR 1.25, so I was happy it rose to 1.30 Euros per pound! I had to pay 1000 EUR depoist. I paid this from my current account to their account. They need this deposit to book a date. I went to see them in Novermber, and then they offered me some dates in February but then they had some dates in January. I then took the January one to stop myself procrastinating on the decision. It's just one of those things where you just have to do it. Hope that helps. Let me know if you have other q's.

http://s1383.photobucket.com/user/BigP1985/library/Before%20and%20Post%20Operation Day 10 to be uploaded soon

Dear all, I have benefitted from this forum in the past and am repaying the help by posting my experience on here. Feel free to ask any questions. I am 29 years old, Indian, but grew up in London. I started losing my hair when I was 19. By 22-23, it was very advanced, and I started taking propecia and minoxidil. I also had a laser comb but could not be bothered to do this anymore. I feel that my hair loss was genetics, but also a very bad diet when younger, being nocturnal, partying too much, some depression/ anxiety throughout my twenties and also working at an investment bank, where I was working 18 hours a day with a very great deal of stress. I have made some changes now and am trying to live much more healthily. I used nanogen (toppik alternative) between 26-and 29, and I hated using it and think it contributed to some hair loss. Wearing Nanogen hair fibres was really inhibiting my social and professional life, as the powder had less and less to hold on to, so my hair always looks powdery and I was paranoid at people staring at it. I was always concious of it, so once after a particularly windy and rainy day I said enough was enough of the and decided on a hair transplant! I was always against the idea of having a hair transplant as I thought it was a bit vain. But I think you only have one life, you want to feel confident and look your best. With hindsight, I am so happy I finally took the plunge after a year of really researching it. I preferred FUE rather than FUT as I don't want a scar. I can see a scar on someone a mile off. FUE scars are smaller, you can still see it, but it's not as dominating in my opinion My Expectations I had my head shaved when younger and think it actually suits me. However being a NW4/5 with a shaved head makes me look 40. So I was very realistic. I only wanted a decent coverage on my crown and a natural looking hairline. I was going to keep my hair at grade 1-3 from now on, so though some hair top-up would be good. So, in looking for a doctor, I wanted someone who would give me a good hairline and make it look natural and give me aesthetic coverage on the crown, making a little bit of hair look like a lot Choosing a doctor Online forums are very important, as you all know, and so I looked at what people said and looked at before and after pics. I decided to narrow to Dr Reddy (Private Clinic, Harley St), Dr Erdogan, Dr Bisanga and Dr Doganay. I met all the doctors face to face. I met Dr Reddy twice, both times he said 5000 grafts, but all in the front. Dr Bisanga said 2500 grafts initially in the front, and Dr Doganay also said 5000 but spread over. Dr Erdogan said 5000, 4000 in the front, and 1000 over the crown. He said you wont have too much on the crown, but better to focus on the front hairline, which I agreed with. I chose Dr Erdogan because I really liked the brand new clinic, I also met a previous patient there who had a very good post-donor area (no scars), and the staff seemed really professional. Also I preferred manual extraction rather than use a robot. I also thought their price was reasonable. Dr Reddy was GBP2.5 per graft, Bisanga was EUR5 for first 1000 and 3 for rest, and Doganay was EUR 2.5. But cost really wasn't an issue. An extra 1-2k here and there is not as important as having a good doctor who will give you a good result for a long number of years. Better to go with the best than settle and regret I think. Procedure Sevinc was my coordinator / translator. She was fantastic throughout the whole experience - very good English, lots of advice and guidance. I worked with her to sort out all the logistics, she was prompt and reliable. I booked 22/23 Jan 2015. I arrived in 21st, and went for blood test, BP Test, and hairline design by Dr. Erdogan, and then head buzzed down to grade 0. It was permanent marker. I also paid in cash and then was picked up for the HT on Thursday at 715. I stayed at Radisson Blu hotel which is fantastic (80 EUR for each night, and I took 4 days) I can't remember all the times and names as I was under anasthetic but I'll give a summary below I arrived early morning, had some breakfast at the clinic. Then I went downstairs, changed into their clothes, then went to the basement floor where there is a patient waiting room, leading to three operation theatres. In the waiting room, I met the anasthesiologist doctor who was able to give me some pills for painkilling. I then chose two movies to watch (Hangover and Social Network) and then went to the oepration theatre. I was very nervous at this point! However they took my blood pressure and it was time to start. Day was split into four parts, extraction, graft hole creation and then implantation and then a final check up with Dr Erdogan. Quick point now about the language issue - you will have a translator with you at all times, so it was never an issue. Most of the staff in the operation room have limited English but the translator is there throughout the day to communicate to everyone and it never was a problem, which I thought it might be. Extraction: In the room you have four people with you, the translator, one person to take the grafts out through manual extraction, one person to gather the grafts and one person to check the grafts were good. They started with local anasthetic. This was quite painful and they applied it to the left side of my donor area and eventually that side went numb. However from time to time you will feel pain, at which point you tell the team that they need to apply a bit more anasthetic there. This lasted 4-5 hours to take 2500 grafts. It was very long and I admired that the team was so efficient. They were going very quick. I only felt pain perhaps 4-5 times, but that was just a little pain, whch goes once they apply some anasthetic there. I watched the movie and then another one. The anasthetic doctor kept checking on my to make sure I was fine. Dr Erdogan also came in to check everything was fine. As well my operation, I think there were two others going on at the same time as well. Once it was done, they bandaged up the donor area. Then I went back to the patient room and had a very nice lunch. I was feeling a bit dizzy but the team always checked on me and gave me some muffins and juice. Graft hole creation After lunch, I went back to my operating theatre. First involved putting in local anasthetic to my front line recipient area. It was again quite painful. About 12-15 injections to the front of my scalp and it became numb. Again it is important to make sure you are happy with their checks (where they poke you to see if you feel anything), otherwise you will feel a pain when the Dr is making the holes. Once the injections were done, the Dr began to create the holes for the grafts. This took about 40 mins. Implantation They immediately started putting the grafts in to the holes after the Dr finished. In the room there was the translator, the person handing out the grafts, and the implanter. This laster for about 5 hours I think. I was done by about 630. THis wasn't painful but I did get some back pain from being not mobile for so long. However I watched some movies and was able to stop the procedure and sit up a few times. The tema were very nice and accommodation to my requests to stop when I wanted. I also admired their ability to go for such a long time! In the day I also got a neck and foot massage which was nice. I was very happy it was done. I saw in the mirror how it looked. It looked bloody but I was very happy how it looked. Dr Erdogan came in and checked it was fine and signed off. I went back to the hotel, applied the spray and the ice pack, and slept on the airpillow which was hard. My head was sore, but I eventually fell asleep. Day 2 Same as day 1. Tis time extraction from the right side of my head. In the morning I had a point where I thought I was about to faint. I am not sure if I had enough food that morning, but I stopped the procedure and had to sit up. I seriously felt I could not get through the day for a minute or two and got scared. But then I got a painkiller, ate a couple of cakes and juice and then felt much better. NOTE: It is very important to have a good breakfast, full of fibre and slow releasing energy. I think I had just pancakes and sugary crap at the Radisson hotel! The pain related to someone holding my head whilst they were extracting the donor grafts. I felt a bit claustrophobic and they gave me about 15 mins to recover, which helped. In the afternoon I actually fell asleep for a while! 5000 grafts over two days is long procedure, but I really think the clinic did it very efficiently. For extraction they make patients sit up which I think is good. Other clinics have you sleeping all day long. Once it was done I was very happy. Dr Erdogan came in and checked it was fine and I was happy and I went back to the hotel. Same ATP spray, and Ice pack procedure. My head felt numb, it felt stretched. But hey, I just went through a massive procedure where my head got pricked about 10,000 times! It is bound to feel strange. There wasn't too much blood loss. I stopped minoxdil 1 month before the process, which I think may have caused some bleeding, given that they request you stop it 2 months before. I will not be using minoxidil any more after the procedure. I want to reduce the amount of the time I spend tending to my head, after the nanogen era! I just want to pop a propecial pill and vitamin tablet and got on with my day. Day 3 I came in on Saturday for the bandage removal from donor area. They washed the recipient area and put antiseptic cream on the donor area. I then went back to the hotel and tried to get to sleep! I got good guidance on how to wash the area. Post Operation days 1-10: I am writing this on day 10! I decided to stay in Istanbul for ten days as I had two weeks off, I needed a holiday and I also wanted to make sure I was washing the area correctly for the first 10 days. I was having real problems with the airpillow for the first 5 days. You can't sleep on the side or on you face as it may dislodge the grafts. I Was paranoid I would sleep on it, so I made sure I was always face up. It was very hard to sleep for more than 2-3 hours at a time, but I did sleep and have naps through the day. Also the donor area was very sore to sleep on, so I had to take some paracetemol. Every day I went to the clinic in the morning to wash the hair and remove the crusts. The clinic was fantastic in making sure it was done as perfectly as possible. I was paranoid that as my scalp was still numb, i wouldnt be able to tell how hard I was pressing, so I decided to get their help doing it, which was perfect. It was so relaxing to get this done, after resisting the urge all day to touch your head! BY day 6-7 the donor area crusts were coming off. By day 10, the clinic washings meant thay all the crusts were off over my entire head. I have to admit that for a couple of days my donor area was so scatchy I couldn't resist rubbing it, and have the donor scabs fall off. Once they fell off, the area became less scratchy. I am on day 10 now, And I really like how it looks. I realise that most of the hair may fall off soon as part of the process. However it looks great and just how I thought it would look. I think that as only have 2000 grafts left, I may decide in 6 months to get some body hair transplant to the crown to get some extra coverage, but that is just an idea. I am happy with it now I will keep posting pics every couple of months. On a side note, I spent days sightseeing around the beautiful city of Istanbul and eating as amazing restaurants. Message me if you want any tips! Verdict on Dr Erdogan and ASMED clinic: I can 100% recommend ASMED clinic for a hair transplant. They are simply fantastic. Sevinc was an excellent patient coordinator. The Dr was fantastic and gave me a very natural looking hairline and density. The technical staff/ nurses/ hair washing team were efficient, kind, friendly and knowledgable. Every person passing you in the clinic gave you a smile and you felt really taken care of. Every wish you had, they would address and take care of you. The clinic itself was state of the art, brand new, and shiningly clean (if that's a word!). All in all, excellence from top to bottom and I would whole heartedly recommend that if you want to go for a hair transplant, you should consider Dr Erdogan. Let me know below if you have any questions