TedsDead

Hey , from experience- DON'T wait a whole year if you notice certain things, like, loss of interest in sex or inability to perform. Some have gotten irreversible issues, luckily after 2 years on it I stopped and after about 3-4 months my libido came back. You hear about the horror stories because they are very real. It does work for hair growth and the sides aren't universal to all. But for me it wasn't worth it, I got a few HT's now and have my own non-pharma regimen I do.

14 hours ago, Berba11 said:

The biggest risk going to Turkey is getting a bad HT, not terrorism!

You’ll be fine with the latter. It’s the former to be most cautious of. 
 

Which clinics are you considering?

Yeah, I meant like in terms of the Israel war mutating and spreading up there or something.. government sites are recommending "high degreee of caution" right now and I knw there's protests going on against western brand businesses, an explosion in Ankara last Oct. But I'm pretty sure the one I'm going to (HLC Clinic) has a thing where they come get you from the hotel and all so hopefully would be without issues...

Asking in this thread because the clinic I want to go to is in Ankara, but would love to hear if anyone had a recent trip to Turkey at all and did you feel generally safe from war and terrorism issues etc.?

Lol hilarious....  yeah I agree that you should stay off psychedelics for I would say even one year since they (esp acid) can constrict blood flow. I was still having growth results at up to 15-18 month mark so even longer if possible. Including shrooms- they've also been proven to decrease blood flow.

On 4/2/2022 at 11:35 AM, Melvin- Moderator said:

I would definitely consider Dr. Mwamba in Atlanta.

I thought he was in Belgium? I just did a consult with his staff last week 

I was going to start a thread similar to this but since this thread is here: How do people feel about the possibility of continued earthquakes causing travel problems or worse? I've decided to go with Dr. Pekiner based on my need for mostly BHT and the results I've seen.

On 10/24/2017 at 2:13 PM, patrick1916 said:

 

Any updates? Would be a big help as I'm booking one soon enough.

15 months post op. Mine feels like a success, so I’m scheduled to go back again in October for another density session in the back. Honestly your result looks pretty good too- without the before pics it’s hard to tell though. We see ourselves every day so it’s easy to not notice but when I look at my before pics it’s night and day. I mean I had NOTHING in the front. Post if you went back!

Yep so far so good, I'm only one month post-procedure so have just gotten past the initial healing and grafts falling out. Yes they are the most bang for the buck you can find for a reputable clinic.. I would have paid triple the price for a similar quality clinic here in the US.

Front after.. and icing my forehead to keep swelling down after the return trip. Will post more pics in a few months...!!!!

Before and after adding grafts to my strip scar.

More pics. Just FYI I asked them to take pics with my phone all throughout the procedure and they were happy to oblige me.

Anyone reading this thread, do NOT listen to the negative haters who love to talk smack about clinics or results without knowing a thing about them! Advanced Hair Clinics was awesome and I'm confident I will have a great result. Thanks to Patrick for creating this thread. I'm sure he can simply have a few grafts placed in the sparse areas on his next procedure. The bottom line is if you do shaven you should not be over-harvested if the technician is good. Here are some before and after pics of my Athens HT.

4500 grafts over 2 days. Shaven. By the end of day 2 I was a little delirious but in my case I needed to get as much done as possible in 2 days. They also improved my front hairline making it more symmetrical and they added some curve to make it look more natural. One thing I really liked about them was the main technician would draw the line- then one of her associates would come in and give her opinion and they would tweak it until it was perfect, before transplanting. At the end of day 2, they added some grafts to my strip scar. I'll include pics of that also so you can see that as well as the harvesting.

Also they left open room to harvest for potentially one more HT- which I will surely need if I'm going to lower the hairline next time.

Not bad man, not bad at all. If you can I would post the before and after pics side by side so people can see the real effect of the HT. I will do that in my next post in a few minutes. Here I am posting before and after of my FIRST HT, done in the states in 2015. Then I'll post the before and after of the Athens HT.

My first one was FUT & I only had about 1800 grafts done in the front.

Unshaven FUE sucks and so do random clinics no one has heard of like the one you went to.

Actually, a lot of people have heard of them.. pretty good feedback I've seen on their YouTube videos which they have several of. I agree with the unshaven part and I think that's the issue with Patrick. A lot of docs I researched say that it almost always results in a lower yield of grafts that can be done and a less accurate pull in the donor area. His expectatIons may have been unrealistic. Dr. Vekris is a member of the ISHRS which shows he is continually staying up to date with the latest trends and methods for transplant procedures. He's done over 5000 procedures and is very responsive to questions. Overall they have been very professional and knowledgable with me so far, and I'm looking forward to my FUE shaven procedure with them next weekend. I've had an FUT and they will also be putting some grafts over the scar. So we'll see what the end result is, but I do have confidence in them! There's been plenty who have had less-than-desirable results with hyped super-pricy doctors so perfect success isn't always guaranteed in any case.

My point is- it's shortsighted to say that just because they're not well-known in this forum that they can't be good. People here seem to love to jump on that bandwagon "I told you so!" instead of doing their own research.

Does not look as bad as some are making it out to be. Based on what I've seen from other doctors, the light thinning in the donor area is probably due to your FUE being unshaven. Several docs I have read up on wont do unshaven as it does have a tendency to be less accurate and more transection occurs. Any decent surgeon should be able to transplant extra grafts in those few thin areas pretty easily on your next procedure though! Definitely do shaven, if you do FUE again. I would not do FUT, just my opinion. I like the result of my FUT but even a good scar is not near as good as a correctly done shaven FUE on the remaining harvestable areas in your case. And the healing process was somewhat brutal. Whatever you do, don't listen to anyone here who hasn't even ever had an HT. Just my 2 cents

Lookin good Patrick. I remember the full regrowth on my first procedure took like 12-15 months. I'm all set to get my next one done in 6 weeks at Advanced Hair Clinic. As far as minoxidil goes, they told me I could use up until the day before the procedure- if you were on minoxidil, did they tell you something similar? I know there's many different opinions and forums on this, but I'm planning to stop one week before, since this seems to be the norm now.. although my first procedure the doctor advised 2 weeks. I just think one day before is not soon enough.

But I'm totally stoked for my procedure with them!!

They just let me know that in order to get maximum density, in my case they will have to shave the entire donor area.. BUT they also said they will be able to pretty much conceal the scar by adding some grafts to it on day 2. I'm getting like 2 procedures in 1! Yeah once I get it done I'll update here- probably a few months out from now..

Thanks a lot for your insight man. Yes post later pics when your density is really coming in. I'm all but certain to go ahead and make a reservation with them. My only thing is, I hope they can shave just what is necessary because I don't want my strip scar to show.

Thanks again

They said based on my pics mine's gonna run a 2-day session and require 4500-5000 grafts.. I'm looking at about 6500 Euros. This sounds fair seeing as my crown thinning area is somewhat large. I'm hoping that even with this many grafts I can still catch a flight out on the 3rd day and not be in too much pain. I've done the strip (FUT) before which was a fair amount of pain in the back of my head... I hope this hurts less!

On your flight back did you wear a bandana or hat? Any trouble at security?

Hey Patrick,

Strongly considering making the Greece trip from the states based on what I've seen so far online about them. Question: How was communication? I don't speak any other languages besides English. Is the doctor hands on or relies on a great team? Also I'm debating flying back the next day or waiting a couple of days... but I heard that if you wait more than one day that it gives more time for the head to swell and could be painful on a flight.

They seem to have a great deal on big FUE procedures.

Never mind just found your other thread for the place in Greece

Ha- notice the haters quit as soon as they realized LA Hair Clinic is legit. Aghh the moderator removed a video I posted of a demo where they walk you through the entire FUE process. It's the most detailed video I've seen of an HT anywhere, and they have many before and after pics on their site now. You can easily find it on Youtube as it's got close to a million views.

However....

I got Greece for €3,000 recently. Only 9 days since the surgery but looking good. They include two nights hotel and pick you up from the airport and drop you back. That's included in the €3,000 and with rate at the minute that's nearly $3,000. If you got a flight for a grand or so it's well worth going. Advanced Hair Clinics it is in Athens, they're on Facebook.

 

They did the unshaved for me but would have got more in one day if I did the shaved and wish I did now.

Patrick,

Thank you. They look legit. Was communication an issue? Assuming at least some of them speak English. Any particular doctor that did yours? Pics whenever you can....!