HairInspector

Nothing to worry about at all yet. Right on track with some new hairs starting to sprout in the transplanted area.

You said you shaved your head to a zero guard and can't see any scarring. Would you mind sharing pics of your donor area?

Awesome result! I think your donor area looks more patchy because of the lighting actually. I'm not seeing any noticeable scarring at this length and your previous 10 month pics make your donor look great. This is exactly the type of cut I plan on myself so happy to see it looks so good post-transplant.

This is honestly one of my favorite results because your new hairline improved your appearance dramatically.

Thanks for keeping us updated, looking great and happy to see you're still seeing progress even at this point. Makes me VERY excited for this time next year at which point I will hopefully have my own results to show off from ASMED.

Any updates Will?

Can you please upload pre-op photos? Honestly I think this looks like a good result and I could see someone making a thread with the exact same photos talking about how happy they are with their new hair.

I had an in-person consultation with Dr. Konior and we talked about FUT vs FUE. I need 1500-2000 grafts and Dr. Konior told me that he would choose FUE for me without a doubt because of the way I like to style my hair (keeping it very short on the sides). He explained that there have been many advances in the FUE procedure over the years and he now thinks it yields excellent results.

I didn't go in to the consultation requesting FUE, and even though I prefer FUE due to less visible scarring at shorter hair lengths, I was open to the idea of getting FUT if Dr. Konior thought that was my best option. He didn't, and confidently reassured me that FUE was the right procedure for me.

Dr. Feller, I know you have a fantastic and well-deserved reputation for your FUT results, but in my honest opinion, using such strong, emotional language like "FUE ... rips the graft from the scalp", "FUE is internet hype", and "FUT [allows for] the least amount of trauma known to man" doesn't really help your case.

When there are top-tier surgeons like Konior, Hasson and Wong, Rahal, Erdogan, Lorenzo, Bisanga, Feriduni and many others recommending FUE and getting home-run results, it’s hard to make such strong claims against FUE without inferring that you also believe these surgeons are running unethical practices.

Finally, speaking from a personal point of view, I have no problem with the *idea* of FUT. I’m not concerned at all about having a strip removed from my head. I’ve had larger medical procedures done and to me FUT surgery seems like no big deal.

My biggest concern, by far, is that the FUT scar prevents me from wearing my hair short on the sides. I’ve seen some FUE patients with undetectable scarring at a grade 1 which I just don’t believe is possible with strip. I want as few limitations as possible after my hair transplant, and for me I think FUE is the way to go.

Thanks to your original post I already applied for Global Entry! I'm in the "Pending Review" phase now. I also already have my flights booked, nonstop to and from NYC. Very excited and nervous at the same time.

I booked an aisle seat on my flight home so I can get up to use the restroom without bothering the person next to me every hour. I'm assuming I'll need to be regularly spraying the grafts on the way home and want to make it as hassle-free as possible.

Thank you for the update HairDew! So happy to hear that ASMED has been good about staying in touch with you, makes me a lot more confident about going there for my procedure (I have a little anxiety about traveling from NYC to Turkey for the operation). Cases of necrosis happen with even the best doctors, but the important thing is that they do the right thing by staying communicative and doing what they can to make it right. Sounds like Dr. Erdogan is handling this perfectly, especially considering he offered a touch-up for free.

Hang in there and best of luck to you!

@HairDew, I know you may be in a difficult place right now and I'm really hoping that you're OK. Would really appreciate an update from you on how you're doing.

As I'm sure you know, many future ASMED patients are watching this thread and hoping that the clinic responded to you promptly and professionally. I'd be greatly disappointed if this was not the case, and it would cause me to seriously reconsider my upcoming procedure there.

Please keep us updated on your situation HairDew, I'm hoping that Dr. Erdogan and the clinic are very responsive and helpful to you. I know you've been around here for a while and have been planning a hair transplant for many years (much like myself) so I'm wishing you all the best and hope everything works out well for you.

Ya, this is honestly very worrying to me. Scalp looked fine before surgery, and in the post-op photos you can notice areas that turned dark blue, the largest of which is where the dark area in the scabbing photos is. I would definitely email the clinic about this to see what they say.

Like Gasthoerer said, definitely don't want to worry you unnecessarily, but I haven't seen many scabbing photos with areas that looked like that. And as someone who is booked with ASMED myself, it's concerning.

Thanks for sharing, great read! I'm going to ASMED in November and love reading about everyone's experiences. I think I've read every Erdogan thread on this whole site haha. Looking forward to seeing your results.

Kiraly, I understand you're a little frustrated by your results, but I honestly think your hairline looks fantastic and I personally don't see any of the issues you mention aside from the fact that your hair is coarse. Can you point out where you see follicles with multiple hairs?

I have coarse hair as well, and I'll also be going to Dr. Erdogan, so I'm expecting my hairline to look somewhat similar to yours which I would be very happy with. To me it looks very natural and I don't think anyone other than you would be able to tell you had a transplant.

I checked your previous thread and compared to where you were before, the difference is remarkable. I'd love to see more photos if you have them, particularly how it looks without the camera held so close to the hairline.

I agree with JeanLucBergman, it has only been 5.5 months and I've seen countless posts on this forum where people are worried about density at this point and then it just continues to get better and better.

I was in the exact same situation and I had the same problem with Transferwise and the non-SEPA country alert that didn't allow me to proceed. Instead I went through OFX and it worked great. Allowed me to send 1000 Euros to ASMED in Turkey with no issue. Also connected right to my bank account and pulled the money from there.

I have a hair transplant scheduled in November with Dr. Erdogan in Turkey. Several of the post-op instructions are really confusing me and I thought I'd make a post about it here.

For example, Dr. Erdogan recommends discontinuing minoxidil for a month before surgery, and then not to use it again until after 4 months post-op. That's at least 5 months without minoxidil. I've been on minoxidil for about 10 years and I'm thinking that I may see adverse effects if I suddenly stop using it. If I do indeed have to stop using it for 5 months, wouldn't it be smart to stop using it NOW so if I do notice adverse effects, at least they'll occur before the hair transplant and Dr. Erdogan can fill in the weak areas. Does this make sense?

Also, no styling products for 6 months? I mentioned this to JustJax in his thread, but I just cannot see the reason for this. How am I supposed to go 6 months without using any sort of styling products in my hair? It will just look messy and I can't afford to look like that for so long. JustJax mentioned a clever alternative using a mixture of aloe vera and almond oil to style the hair, both of which are approved by ASMED post-op, but if possible I'd like to use my regular American Crew styling product as soon as my hair gets long enough to do so (3-4 weeks post-op).

Post-op instructions are very confusing to me overall because they seem to differ wildly from doctor to doctor. Some doctors advise using minoxidil as soon as a few days after surgery, and others, like Dr. Erdogan and Hasson and Wong, recommend several months off. Others say styling products are OK to use as soon as the grafts settle in, around 10 days.

Any thoughts on this? Should I just stop minoxidil now and hope for the best? Did anyone else here go without styling products for months after their transplant?

EDIT: Hmm, according to their post-op instructions at https://www.hairtransplantfue.org/postoperative-instructions you can start using styling products after Day 15. Still not sure about minoxidil.

Brilliant result. Super impressed with Dr. Wesley's work.

However, a little workaround/hack is to mix Aloe Vera gel and almond oil (both of which are approved by Asmed) together and use that as a styling gel. The Aloe Vera goes a little stiff so the combo of the both together worked quite.

Ah, that's a great tip, thanks! I'll make sure to talk to Dr. Erdogan about the styling products when I go but glad to have this as a backup option.

HairInspector, I also have booked in to visit Asmed in November, which date do you go?

I'm booked for November 7, what about you?

Looks great JustJax! If I have results like yours when I go to Erdogan in November I will be very pleased.

Quick question - did you have to stop using styling products for 6 months after surgery? My email from ASMED states:

"The usage of hairstyling products such as hair gel or cheratine fibre (for example: Toppik) can be used again once 6 months has passed following the surgery."

This sounds crazy excessive to me. I don't plan on wearing a buzz cut for 6 months after surgery so how am I supposed to go out without looking like an unkempt mess without using any sort of styling product? Surely a little bit of hair product can't hurt once the grafts are put in place? Did you go 6 months without styling your hair?

Hi, I actually just posted this on the main forum Can new hair shed again within months? - Forum By and for Hair Loss Patients but to answer your question here, it doesn't feel like its really improved since around month 6 if I'm honest. People do talk about density improving in the latter months so I am hopeful that it might still improve. I will post some new pictures after I have it cut on Saturday.

Got it, thanks JustJax. Honestly I think your hair looks great now but I can see you wanting a bit more density to fill in the hairline. I have reviewed tons of hair transplant photos and there does seem to be a maturation effect that takes place up until month 12 so there's definitely still a chance that can happen. Good luck to you!

JustJax, have you noticed any increased density in month 9?

DEB, looking great man! Love the layout of photos you did tracking your progress month to month, you can really see how the density increases each time. My bet is that you continue to see thickening over the next few months, although honestly your hairline at Month 7 is already looking enviable. Wish my own hairline looked like that!

This is the thread that finally made me bite the bullet and book a transplant with Dr. Erdogan. I had my initial online consultation with him over 3 years ago but wasn't really ready to go forward with it then. I also had some reservations about flying to Turkey since I live in NYC and it's a 10-11 hour flight. But after reading this thread, and seeing all of the impressive results ASMED has been pumping out, I finally emailed Sevinj back to book the surgery. Now I'm impatiently waiting to hear back from her!