DEB1982

I contacted ASMED and asked the question. Their response was that it is better without a headband as swelling is a good sign of healthy blood circulation. The head band restricts circulation which is why the swelling remains above the band but it is imperative for the transplanted grafts to receive optimal circulation.

Cheers Hsrp10, back home now and being as careful as can be. Hope the density is there as you say. Will post some more pics in the morning as redness has faded a little now. The lady on the right is Sevinc and yeah she is really pretty and so nice with it. I have to be careful what I say as they all read the forums!

Photos from last day at Asmed

There are two other guys on my flight who have had FUE procedures and they are both wearing head bands so they have no swelling whatsoever beneath this. I'm sat looking like Sloth from the goonies. Wonder why ASMED don't do this? There must be a reason.

1 day post op Perhaps I am in the minority but I actually managed to get 7 hours sleep. The last two days really took it out of me so I wasn't surprised. I didn't take any pain killers and touch wood am still yet to feel any discomfort. I didn't have to be at the clinic until 12.30pm for my first wash so had a lazy morning. The swelling has started to make its way down my forehead now and is bulging my temple points which is a good look. The staff at ASMED as always took great care of me. They gave me an extra long clean to remove any anaesthetic that had seeped out and also showed me how to care for my hair for the next 10 days. Thankfully I managed to get to say goodbye to everyone including Dr Koray as I was there when they were all on their lunch breaks. I was given my USB stick with all my photos and stats (will upload later) and then sent on my way! Not before I got one last photo with Sema and Sevinc who are the two patient coordinators should you decide to have your surgery there. From a customer service aspect, I honestly couldn't find one fault with them. Obviously the main reason for going is to grow new hair so we will have to wait a little longer to judge that but I have no doubt that it will be an exceptional result. I am now sitting in Ataturk airport business lounge waiting for my flight. Security took 5 minutes and they didn't even question my liquids which was odd. I even tried to show them but they just waved me through. It's quite funny I have seen at least three other guys on their way home who have just had transplants. I was always so self conscious of my hair and here I am now without a care in the world for everyone to see what I have had done. Will upload photos when home later as Wi-fi here is allowing me too.

Sorry I missed this. It's not thin due to miniaturisation. My temporal peaks are a different texture to the rest of my hair. If I were to let them grow they are quite wiry and curly. My grandad comes from St Lucia so think I have him to thank for that. Dr Koray just made me aware that if wanted the temples fixed that he would have to implant hairs into the whole area even where there is already hair so that there wasn't a contrast. He assured me I didn't need it and explained that the hair line he has designed will suit me as I mature further as well. Donor zone they took from the occipital (back) parietal (back corners) and temporal for the single hairs. My donor capacity was 9160 so I still have 4160 if I ever need them!

I think people are just trying to give him the facts and not deter him from doing what he wants to do. The fact of the matter is that once you are in this business you are in it for life. So I think it's good that he is presented with opinions and facts from people who have been there. I do agree with you though mikenguyen when you say you would rather stay away from FUT but this will limit your donor supply. If FUE is the way forward then at this age you have to start Finasteride in my opinion. I started at a similar age to you, 1mg everyday for the past 10 years. 3 healthy kids later and I'm doing fine and never experienced a single side. I think my wife was hoping it might diminish my sex drive to be honest though. What this meant is that I've managed to largely keep what hair I head from 25 through to 35.

Completely agree with HTsoon. I wish I had shaved my hair prior to surgery as when they did it in the clinic I was actually quite pleased with how I looked. Ultimately I still wanted to have the surgery but perhaps if I had done so over the past 10 years rather than try to conceal I would have accepted me for who I was. Our fears are often worse than the reality we are faced with.

That's what the staff at ASMED said as well. Two days of sitting in a room kept constantly at 4 degrees Celsius probably just gave me the chills. Feeling much better today. I fly home later on and I'm sure I'll feel better once I get back to my home comforts. Thanks

As some of you may have read I had 5000 grafts via FUE at ASMED over the past two days. The first day was a breeze and I couldn't believe how easy I found the process. I went into the second day with no worries whatsoever. My experience over the two days was like night and day. I struggled physically and mentally on day two. The last few hours I was in constant pain, not excruciating pain but a constant slight sensation of scratching on my head. My body was hurting from where I was constantly tensing as well. Once I had finally finished they took great care of me trying to get my blood sugar levels up and making sure I was okay before I left. Once back at the hotel I felt cold, I was shaking, felt a little anxious. I appreciate it is a lot of trauma for one person to go through but I'm wondering if anyone else experienced anything like this afterwards. I now understand why so many users recommend smaller sessions. I have a really good pain threshold before that is raised, I'm just curious if any other users experienced anything similar after a large session. I feel much better this morning after getting 7 hours sleep but still a little shakey and cold. I have no fever, I don't feel ill and not experiencing any pain in recipient or donor area. Anyone else feel like this?

You are spot on Jax. Mentally it was so tough towards the end. I even refused anymore anaesthetic, I just wanted them to hurry up and finish. I didn't mind the incision but did find it a little claustrophobic as my head was being held down. Dr Umut was so funny today and even spent half an hour teaching me some Turkish which I impressed Dr Koray with when he came in to do the incisions.

I have to write a short post about the team at ASMED and Dr Koray himself. From the moment I set foot in Instanbul I have been treated impeccably and nothing was too much for me. All of the staff at Asmed are a credit to Dr Koray and they are all so invested in to the clinic and brand. It has a very family feel to it. I am genuinely a little sad to be leaving them all and have exchanged numbers with many of them. Very rare in this day and age to meet such genuine people. I don't work for ASMED before anyone asks but I tell you what I would like too. Dr Koray is nothing short of inspirational and I saw his effect on his staff and patients. I've had a lot of photos with them and hopefully I will see them all again in London or Istanbul soon. Exceeded any expectations I had going in. I am actually going to miss them all and wished I'd stayed a few more days now. Tomorrow I will take some more pictures of the clinic for everyone to see.

Surgery Day 2 - 2550 grafts I was up at 6am as I had to have breakfast and be ready to be collected just after 7am. My neck pillow had deflated in the night and I was precariously close to lying on my newly implanted grafts. Once I got to the clinic I met some new patients who were starting their procedures and had a drink with them outside before being summoned. I'm not going to write as much detail about Day 2 as it was very similar to Day 1 except we were focusing on the mid scalp and vertex. Extractions were exactly the same although the initial numbing up hurt much more this time due to my scalp being already sensitive. Took roughly 3 and a half hours to extract 2500 turned out to be 2550. Incisions again next with Dr Koray and no pain experienced and took about 40 minutes to make 2500 incisions. They also took my blood st this point for the PRP treatment. After this a short lunch break and massage again. Now the implantation stage was a killer today. I could feel pain everywhere and it took 4 hours compared to yesterday's 2. Because of the design of the vertex it apparently takes much longer. My back was in pieces, I kept receiving anaesthetic but it didn't seem to be blocking the pain. Turns out the pain I was experiencing could have been caused by the saline solution they keep squirting on the recipient area to remove the blood. It sting and burns. The last 500 grafts went on forever and everybody could sense my frustration which must have been annoying but I had hit a wall and just needed to get out of that chair. After this I received the PRP injections and cream, bandaged up and upstairs for more laser treatment. Dr Koray came in to have a final check of the work and then I had a very emotional good bye with the team who I can't give enough plaudits too. On my return to the hotel I felt a little cold and shaky but it passed after an hour, I think it was perhaps a touch of shock because of all the trauma. My forehead has started to swell and I look like I've had a few rounds of Botox. I imagine tomorrow that will start to make its way down my face. I have a free morning tomorrow but will just relax in the room. I am being collected at 1pm to go to the clinic for my first wash and then straight off to the airport for my flight back to the London. A few more pics of my hair from today. Excuse the drops of anaesthetic that are seeping out of my incisions. I've been told to just leave them.

I don't I'm afraid but tomorrow I will be collecting the USB stick from ASMED before I fly home so will show pictures then. I've just returned from receiving 2550 grafts into the midscalp and vertex and that was mentally very tough. Last two hours I was at breaking point. A mixture of pain and discomfort. I will write a full post later and add some new photos. Glad it's all over but I'm actually going to really miss everyone at ASMED. They are a class act.

They used 0.7mm and 0.8mm punches for the extractions. I can't comment on the scarring yet as I'm still here so have had dressing on it the whole time. I've been told in time that I will be able to shave to a 1 grade. I was lucky as I had a high density of hair per cm2 in my donor area. They don't do body hair here. Hope that helps.

Here are some other pictures that I managed to take from my day that may be of interest. Just having the implantation part done day two. Day two for me has been a little harder mentally and pain wise.

Surgery Day 1 - 2535 grafts After a pretty poor nights sleep due to nerves and excitement, I had a decent breakfast downstairs at the Radisson and then popped my Xanax .5mg pill at 7am just as we were picked up by the Asmed driver. Once we arrived at the clinic we were asked to change into our surgery clothes which are like pyjamas and then taken outside to a seating area and asked what we would like to drink. It was a good opportunity for all the patients to chat about their procedures and hair loss regimes. You are then led down to the basement levels which are sterile and very cold. First order of the day was 2500 extractions. I was worried about the anaesthetic injections and they do sting a little in places, especially in the temporal region but nothing to worry about and last for only a few minutes. You are sat upright during the process and it is a burden on your neck as it is pushed forward but I had very little pain through out. It took 3 hours and 25 minutes to extract all 2500 which is a speed of roughly 730 extractions per hour. Any time I felt any pain they simply topped up the anaesthetic and I was good to go. My Xanax kicked in and I was struggling to stay away and my head kept falling down so in hindsight maybe this wasn't the best idea. They regularly check your blood pressure and oxygen saturation throughout as well and Dr Umut comes by from time to time to see how you are feeling. I was offered an iPad with films to watched but I played on my phone and we even had some music playing in my room that everyone was singing along too. The TV screen infront of you shows you how many grafts and hairs have been taken. The hardest part for me was just having to sit still, sounds an odd thing to say but it's gets pretty boring and I had to keep stretching my back. I also received a foot and lower leg massage which I would definitely recommmend getting. After the extractions are completed its is then over to Dr Koray to perform all the incisions. For this you are lies down flat and it may have just been me but the room became even colder. You then receive anaesthetic injections along the hair line and again these do sting but nothing that anybody couldn't handle. Most people report this part as being there favourite but it was probably my least favourite. There was no pain but I found it a little claustrophobic as my head was essentially being held down and I couldn't see anything due to the bright light being shone onto my head. The individual incisions are counted by two assistants to ensure that you receive the correct number for your grafts. I did feel slightly light headed during this stage but think that was my nerves more than anything else. It took Dr Koray roughly 40 minutes to make all the incisions. If you listen closely during this part you can here your skin being pierced. After that you are given lunch which is a pretty quick affair. I should say that it's probably a little after 12pm at this point so you would have been in the chair for 4 and a half hours so make sure to stretch your legs, Lunch is varied but all really nice and you are given a shoulder massage after you have finished. As I said lunch takes barely 30 minutes before you are whisked off for implantation. The implantation stage took about 2 hours altogether and you have two technicians implanting on either side of your head. I had Mujde and Vildan who were both extremely attentive and joked with me throughout. They use the KEEP tool to implant the hairs which makes sure they are implanted straight and correctly. You are lying down during this stage and I even fell asleep for an hour. I had 35 left over grafts so they called Dilek as Dr Koray was not available and she made the extra incisions to ensure we used the grafts. I was lastly taken upstairs to receive some laser treatment which helps with healing and I was able to admire my new hairline. The work looked very tidy and densely packed. Dr Koray came in to check me over one last time and then Sema explained the aftercare process which consisted of hourly ATP spray on the recipient area and a cold compress over my forehead every four hours. I was also given a neck pillow and asked to sleep at a 45 degree angle. With that I was on my way back to the hotel and it's was only 4pm. I was so surprised at the ease of the day and how little pain I experienced. I can't give enough credit to the team that worked with me. The right balance of professionalism and personality. I ate dinner in my room and fell asleep early. I awoke a few times throughout the night but think I got about 6 hours sleep. I turned the heating off as well as apparently sweating is not good for the grafts. In terms of the pain I felt afterwards it can only described as tightness in the recipient area. A litlle like sun burn. I did have pain killers but I didn't take any of them. So half way there. Another 2500 grafts into the midscalp and vertex today. My forehead is a litlle swollen so today may be a little more painful. I have attached some photos so let me know your thoughts on the hair line.

Previous post now approved. I'm writing my review of day 1 of surgery whilst I'm halfway through the extraction stage on day 2. Will upload later.

Cheers Ritchie! Roll on 5 months till I'm at your stage!

Cheers Jax, looking forward to keeping an eye for your documentary as well. I mentioned about the bombings in my previous post and it included the Suici** word so I am presuming that is why it was flagged. If it's not been approved by tomorrow morning then I will try submitting again.

Wish a moderator would approve my post so I can upload today's post. Don't worry I intend to update as often as I can as this forum helped me out no end. I've been back and forward about booking a transplant for years but now I've dont it I already can tell it will be the best decision I've ever made. Yes I have met Dilek many times. She is a partner at Asmed so doesn't do as many extractions now. She did perform 35 incisions though. I had some left over grafts. No Dr Koray only did all my incisions. My technicians did the rest. The lady I had Mudje was brilliant and I'm glad I had her. She's been trained by Dilek and Dr Koray and been with them for a number of years. They review the stats of each technician including growth rate frequently.

Here's a quick picture from right after it being shaved. Looks better than with the hair I had previously.

Agreed my crown loss didn't look as bad when they showed me at the clinic. Dr Koray initially said 1500 grafts would be required but now he has said 1200 will get me the coverage I need back there. Yes he said that should enable me to not use concealer. I sometimes keep the concealer on for two days in the row so I'm wondering it that could damage the follicle as when it was shaved I could see more stubble. I would recommend shaving before coming. I wish I had now. I looked fine with a shaved head and it was the part I had been dreading. It was very liberating.

Thanks Wibbles. No mention of Dutasteride but I will ask him about it tomorrow when I'm there for Day 2. I was heavily involved in the design. I thought one side was a little to high and sharp so he soften it for me. I even asked all of the technicians in the room what they thought. I made sure to take my time with this part and I'm so glad as I am so happy with the placement of my new hairline. I have written a post that is awaiting moderation which explains this part but my donor capacity was 9160 grafts via FUE which is good from what I understand. So even if I lost all my native hair I have enough in the bank to cover my entire region at a density of 50 grafts p/cm2. The other post is much more detailed. Hopefully will be uploaded soon.

Thanks hsrp10. I was originally quoted 4500 grafts over two days but Dr Koray said that he felt that 5000 would mean that I wouldn't need a follow up procedure for a long time as long as Propecia continue to do it's job! Propecia did work on my crown but then two things happened. I started using Nanogen and I switched to a generic Finasteride. I've recently switched back to Propecia so it could be down to a few reasons. I have written another post that is awaiting moderation but I have had 50cm2 in the hair line but with a 60 micron thickness so should do the job. I've posted some more pictures so you could see where I started from. My hairline has been bought all the way down to the mole you can see so it's a pretty big movement. I can't commend the clinic enough for their methods.