BigBen

Yeah I missed coffee too but at least we could have tea which is also nice.

Are you going to update with photos? I think that the result in month 9 is natural, including the hairline. It frames your face well. You found a nice hairstyle which also looks natural. The hairline design and hairline density which are the most important things in my opinion look great. The density on the sides may not be optimal but it's uniform, that's why I am curious about more recent photos. Besides, it seems that you get the photographs taken professionally, they are so good. Nice reading, too.

I have NW3 and had FUE done recently. I have been seeing different haircuts and hairstyles right after FUE. Obviously, the best ones are the rare unshaven cases where you can have a perfectly natural hair covering the recipient area. But for those that are shaven FUE patients (most of us), I think that you only have two options: 1. You can keep your hair really short until the recipient area looks like the rest of your scalp so you don't have random hairs showing up. 2. You can let your native hairs grow and comb them forwards like an unshaven FUE patient would do since the beginning so you cover the recipient area with them. I would like to know how long do you have to wait for shaving your head after FUE so the first option is totally safe. I am wondering if people have tried the second option, how does it look?

Any updates for >18 months? I am curious about the very front which is the only part that could use some improvement according to the photos. And congratulations!

What is the hair thickness if you know? I checked the first post but didn't see it. You are already blooming in month 3 so great news for you! Everybody will want to see your results because of the huge recipient area, I know I want to see them but it's going to take a long while.

Hey mate, my scabs also fell off quite quickly. Now we have to be ready for shedding. We'll keep in touch. One thing that we should add to the list is that patients should not drink any coffee or alcohol days before and after the surgery. Eleven days later and I still haven't drunk any alcohol.

I think that you are asking Payam but I can share with you my own experience because all I know for sure is about the day I had my HT done and I don't want to make up anything. That day there were three other guys that had the surgery done at the same time so four that day simultaneously and, yes, I only saw the doctor for the incisions.

This is one of my reflections on my thread. It's something that some doctors do several times a day but for each of us is a lifetime investment not only money but most importantly grafts. Sure, Dr Koray Erdogan is very confident and everything looks to be extremely well-organised at his clinic but the other guys I've met shared the same concerns. I understand that he needs technicians, that's something most FUE doctors require and it makes sense because there is work involved for each follicle and on top of that they also need to keep them alive, but do the technicians have to learn by practising on real patients like some people have suggested on this forum and potentially ruining the patient's life? Why doesn't he even do the incisions when he is too busy because of his workload like another patient told me? Why is he only present for doing the incisions, because he does four surgeries at the same time? In my opinion and it seems that many other respected people agree, he should be more involved with each patient because each surgery is something really important for each patient, no matter how well-organised the clinic is. I trust the doctor that I chose and hoping for the best possible result but I believe that the doctor should be more involved with his patients and that the technicians shouldn't carry out the biggest part of the surgery on their own. I also believe that having more than a surgery done at the same time with just one doctor around is too risky. These things you don't read about on their website nor are explained to you at all, it's not something that the patient should actively research about either when they are already choosing a renowned doctor that should have the highest standards and that doesn't involve technology alone.

I posted about the pain on my thread and I was also surprised that very few people talked about it. For me it was almost unbearable for one week when trying to sleep. Fortunately, after a week the pain decreased, because when I asked about this the staff said the pain could last for months... I am pretty sure that (almost) everybody gets a deformed head to some extent but in my case it was two days later and only lasted another two, with the area around the eyes needing an additional day. I also talked about it on my thread. The hotel is nice, I agree, but a waiter (the oldest one) told me a bit rudely that the buffet was only until 10:30, 11:00 in the weekends, because I went at 10:30 the first day thinking it was until 11 because I arrived really late in Istanbul the night before. Another waiter realised that I wasn't comfortable and was extremely kind with me from then on asking me if I needed anything. The room is nice and you have a safe for the cash required by Asmed. There is a shopping centre close to the hotel where you can buy anything, this is the address (copy it on Google Maps or the app of your choice): Küçükbakkalköy Mahallesi, Küçükbakkalköy Mah Şehit Şakir Elkovan Cad Novada Ataşehir No: 20 Kat: -2, 34750 Ataşehir/İstanbul, Turkey *** Let us know how everything is going. When did you undergo the surgery?

I know that you don't give a damn but I am feeling vulnerable and uncertain at the moment and don't need your toxicity at the moment. So you win, I give up. Thank you.

You edited your message so let me tell you two things. Firstly, you are lying in the first paragraph and obviously you are manipulating the reality or have shady intentions. Nothing positive, anyway. Secondly, I will post whenever I want whatever I feel, thank you very much. Do I need your permission? Sorry but the feedback I've received about you is drastically different than your own perception about yourself and even you are proving them right once again.

This doesn't make any sense. At all. I haven't bashed any doctor, all my comments have been encouraging, supportive and positive but of course you haven't read them before describing myself ignorantly and mindlessly, have you? Obviously, I focus on Asmed cases because they are more relevant for a person that had a HT done at Asmed. And yes, I expressed realistic and sensible concerns in a natural way, why wouldn't I? Why would I complain about my results after ten days? Are you being serious? Still trying to find the logic within your brain... You can believe me when I say that you are putting people off in posting and yes, the thing that people that just had the HT done need the least is what you give them.

My HT is already done and you are manipulating my words, and why would I talk about what those doctors do if I chose another one? Do I have to talk about every single doctor or what? You have called people liar and suggest that they are crybabies, are you aware that you are not helping anybody with that, because I would like to know that you are not? Although you were called out for that. Anyways, I don't have the slightest interest in fighting with you. Just be aware that your bad attitude is putting some people off in posting their results and/or expressing themselves freely as they should. I really think that you don't realise this.

I think that your answer is disproportionate and not constructive.

Thanks, I read a few guys thinking so at HT-FUE's thread but it didn't make much sense to me. Besides, the best results I've seen don't have any correlation with the irritation or redness of the patient so I would say it doesn't matter what kind of skin you have, or how soon you heal or your scabs fall off. I'm not a doctor, though.

I just checked and you are right. Quoted from their website: Extraction. Grafts are extracted in a sitting position for the purpose of utilizing all parts of the donor site. The magnifier, worn on the head of the doctor, is of an innovative, patented, cross-polarized technology, so that the doctor can see approximately 1 millimeter below the surface of the skin.

Thank you Melvin. I keep using finasteride and I am eating fruit and taking vitamins. Is it normal that the reddish is gone after 10 days? Because some guys say that reddish means "something is happening". My scalp is healed already and normal colour. After a month I'll start using Rogaine Foam as you do. I want to get Nizoral shampoo as well but I am wondering 1 or 2% and how many times a week? The other days I'll use Sebamed Everyday Shampoo pH 5.5 like the one that Asmed gave me because it's really good for my scalp. Nizoral would be also after the first month. What else should I take and do? I'll try to chill, I promise.

Crossing my fingers then as I was at Asmed with Dr. Koray Erdogan 10 days ago. Did you post your results? I am not extremely happy about doing so but I think I should to help other people as this is very serious decision, even more for used grafts than for money spent. I am really hoping for the best and trying to stay positive but still find a few jarring things about the whole thing.

Interestingly, the crown has improved a lot in your case. I don't know how normal that is but more people have frontal baldness than crown baldness and those who have had the crown worked on say it blooms very slowly. I am hoping that the density improves so your frontal result gets better, as it should. I don't know your exact age but at this stage I wouldn't worry much about finasteride, especially if it gives you strong side effects. It's more important when you are younger. I had to take finasteride because my hair started falling very early, before 20, and sexual side effects remain but my body has adapted somehow, fortunately. I would love to ditch it but in my case it has been decisive. Keep us posted.

Thanks for replying, I love to hear other people's opinions. Perhaps I just need to chill because it's just 10 days after my HT but since the surgery day until now I have been hearing the same complaints, not only here but in Istanbul. Most top FUE doctors have technicians, okay, but my doctor only was there for the incisions and I am thinking about the risks of performing several surgeries at the same time and having a bunch of technicians of different skill level. I would love to hear what others think.

In my case Dr. Koray Erdogan only did the incisions. Isn't a bit weird that the technicians do the extractions and implants in an expensive HT? At Asmed they do several surgeries at the same time and how do we know the skill level of the technicians? I think it's better to talk about it openly and don't make this a taboo because a few guys that had the HT done the day before and the same day were worried about the same thing. One of them told me that a girl did his incisions.

Great progress. It looks nice and uniform already. Let's wait for it to thicken up, hopefully.

Congratulations! Fantastic result and good reading. I am hoping to have a similar result and crossing my fingers, also NW 3-ish hair loss. Although your 2.52 hairs per graft average is exceptional and mine is 1.91, the doctor told me that he takes this into account when deciding the number of grafts per square centimetre. My thickness is 61. Why you and other guys here think that having redness for long is a good sign? Just curious because mine is gone after 10 days. Taking finasteride since forever in spite of sexual side effects. I have been reading recent threads disappointed with Koray Erdogan and that was making me a bit worried... Still I am.

A year later and the density doesn't look good enough in my opinion. However, I praise the OP for his patience and mettle, that's how it should be. I agree with Mick50, now that you have taken the surgery path and once you are ready, at the 18th month, I would contact Asmed again expecting them to provide a plan to achieve a better result. They guarantee that 90% of the grafts bloom and they believe this percentage is generally higher. It was one of the reasons why I chose them. I really wish you the very best and, remember, you are not the first one requiring a touch-up. Keep us posted and congratulations for your thread.

Firstly, I am going to provide advice and share my experience at Asmed clinic for those interested because there are things I wish I knew. After this I may post some photos. I have written this carefully trying to be as objective as possible. ONLINE CONSULTATION Your journey would start here: https://www.asmed.com.tr/ You will get a reply with a suggested area drawn on your photo(s) and estimated number of required grafts (transplanted follicles) and price (€2.5 per graft if shaven). Good-quality photos are important especially if you have diffuse hair loss or hair loss on the crown because that's not easily noticeable. TRAVELLING TO ASMED IN ISTANBUL First of all, make sure what you need to travel there. I just had to pay for a visa that I got online here and that costs $20.55 (bank charged €18.21): https://www.evisa.gov.tr/en/ You can pay up to €3,000 for the FUE by bank transfer and this also confirms your appointment. You will pay the rest the day before the surgery in cash. You can take the money with you in a money belt so you just have to pay attention at the airport security control where you have to take it off. This is not ideal but it's better than looking for ATMs in Istanbul. My coordinator sent me a lot of information but you can also ask any remaining doubts, it's all new for most of us, after all. I wouldn't be afraid of asking anything. As advised by HG1, I bought a memory foam travelling pillow. I bought it at the airport for €20. Asmed will give you one that is not as comfortable. I was told that using euros in Istanbul would be easy but paying in euros there was kind of shady so it's more convenient if you change some money for Turkish liras at the airport. You can also use your credit card in some places, was very useful for having dinner at the hotel, breakfast is included with the room. Basically, you'll need some money for food and transport. We had some issues with the taxi drivers, one of them was driving a long way north and we had to head west and when we told him he got a bit violent so after that we just used the metro and tram which is probably one of the best things I've seen in Istanbul. Just beware, almost nobody speaks English in Istanbul, not even people working at the shopping centres. This is not a problem if you don't leave the hotel, though. ARRIVING IN ISTANBUL A driver from the clinic will be waiting for you. I saw him immediately but be careful because the other patient was called by a random person. That's why Asmed send you a photo of the drivers and the driver displays your name on a tablet. Don't trust any other person. THE DAY BEFORE They take you and welcome you at the clinic's entrance nicely and show you the facilities. There is a coordinator that speaks your native tongue but you'll find that everyone is there to help you if needed. The coordinator guides you through a very well-organised procedure that includes the mentioned tour, making the payment and seeing the doctor. This is my first complaint about Asmed, Dr. Koray Erdogan was extremely quick so I didn't have much time to think or react. I think that he does this when he knows exactly what to do but anyway it doesn't give the best impression. He has a great team but he is the person that made you chose the clinic in the first place and this is a very important decision even though he operates several times a day. The clinic is impressive, just mind the steps. All the girls and guys there were really nice with me and the others and I appreciate that. They are professional, respectful but also natural and friendly and I really loved that, I wish people were like that everywhere. They give you anything that you might need or want before you even ask, which feels so good. They will take professional photos of your head, then shave it and use a Kinect 2.0 camera robot to take 360º photos of the whole scalp. It only left me wishing that I could have shared more than a few minutes with Koray Erdogan. The doctor checked my hair and draw two hairlines, one of them was perfect because it was just like mine ignoring the receding hairline on the sides so obviously I chose that. He praised my temples, that might have helped him drawing the hairline, and warned me that I might need work done on the crown in the future but he firmly refused to touch that area yet and after seeing the photos of the area on his monitor I agreed. He estimated that I have around 7,900 available grafts, I was expecting more because I have a big and dense donor, so I wonder why. After the analysis what the doctor said was confirmed, thickness is 61 microns and hairs per graft number is 1.91. I have some follicles with five hairs because they appear in the photos but they didn't use any of those. Most of my follicles are double, followed by singles and triples in the same quantity. Quardruple and quintpule are present but rare. HT-FUE has very few singles and lots of doubles, triples and quardruples but his follicles are exceptional as far as I know. That means that he has special density above average. Before my hair transplant, I thought that the most important thing is how many grafts they are going to put on each centimetre of your scalp but that is a common mistake. This doctor calculates the hairs per graft average and measures thickness and then maths tell him how many graft per square centimetre you require for a natural look. Let's say that like me, they are going to use grafts with 1.9 hairs each as average and that your thickness is 61 microns. He aims at 5.4 as coverage value so he will decide that you need 48 grafts per square centimetre. Formula: 48 grafts per cm2 · 1.9 hairs per graft · 0.061 thickness equals or exceeds 5.4 coverage value. Coverage value is the fixed value, they multiply the other figures that are personal to get the grafts per cm2 figure. The number of grafts that you need would be 48 multiplied by the square centimetres of your transplanted area. For instance: 48 · 60 cm2 = 2,880 grafts. My area was a bit smaller. SURGERY DAY Koray Erdogan is the person who should do the incisions during the surgery and I asked about this because a patient told me the day before that a girl did the incisions and also a forum member asked me about this. The technicians are the ones that extract and implant but the incisions are the most important part and should be done by Koray Erdogan. Otherwise, I wouldn't even bother choosing him, why would I? He is the master here and one of the best FUE doctors in the world and he should, at the very least, do all the incisions. One of the technicians showed me a few grafts because I accepted to see them. I missed more conversation with my coordinator -my second complaint-, something I read about on the website, during the surgery because I was not able to check my phone or watch films. They gave me a tablet for watching films but I wasn't feeling good enough for that to the point that they called the anaesthetist again, who made me feel better by talking to me and administering additional drug. I felt pain until then but I think he does the right thing by only giving you as much as you need. To be honest, time went by pretty fast because I was sedated and I was in balance between painlessness and consciousness. I was surprised to hear the doctor confidently joking with the girls while doing his job, it is fine for me as long as he stays focused! They were talking in Turkish so I couldn't follow. He looks extremely self-confident and is friendly. Once the job is done, they give you food, drinks and take you to the hotel as always. THE FOLLOWING DAY They pick you up and take you to the clinic where you get your first washing. This is important and you have to pay attention because you will be doing this on your own for the next days. I was a bit worried about washing my scalp and I have had two dreams about grafts falling. In one of them the grafts were like cyborg metallic implants. In the other one the grafts had a tack on the edge. I am a creative person so I'm not surprised about this nonsense at all. The reality is that grafts are natural and carefully extracted as I've been shown and I haven't noticed any of them falling off when I wash my scalp or lying around when I wake up. Washing is actually refreshing and has become my favourite moment of the day and the lotion and shampoo that they give you are soft and comforting. After removing the bandage and washing your scalp for the first time they give you a USB pen drive with photos and a video that explains how to wash your head and everything that you may need for taking care of your scalp including shampoo and lotions, a hat, a inflatable neck pillow, an ice pack and more. SWELLING The day after the HT I flew back home and I recommend that you do the same because the day after that my head was deformed because of the swelling. My head looked normal four days after the HT except the area around the eyes that took one more day but I went outside wearing sunglasses and I felt great. I recommend you to drink a lot of water as I felt that it helped me. I only looked like a monster for two days. I used the ice pack that the clinic gave me but I got a cold because I used it too much. I recovered a few days later so nothing serious, really. I just wished I didn't use the ice pack as much, so note that. PAIN I felt an almost unbearable pain two days after the HT in the donor area, especially when lying in bed, that didn't let me sleep well. This is the healing process, I've been told. I used different painkillers but none of them seemed to work. You just have to deal with it. Melvin told me that he had pain for two weeks. One week later the pain started to decrease, fortunately, and also I started feeling a pleasant tickling in the transplanted area, I don't know for sure but it feels like a positive sign. DONOR AREA Except for the big pain, the donor area looked really good since the beginning and they told me so at the clinic. TRANSPLANTED AREA It was reddish until three days later. Most of the scabs fell off before the eight day. I expected my scalp to be much worse because of my sensitive skin. I didn't have any cracks as some people do but when the biggest scab was gently removed some hairs were removed with it. That doesn't mean that you have lost the grafts but just the hairs that were glued to the scab. No bleeding or anything suspicious so everything seems to be fine up there. TIPS AFTER HT You should contact them for any questions you might have or if you have fever or infection. I didn't have any of these problems or any other, just the pain I described above. Send them photos so they can see if everything is fine, all scabs should be gone before the twelfth day. EVALUATION AFTER HT (IN PROGRESS) My biggest complaint is connected to the second one and it is that after the HT I have noticed that communication with my coordinator is slower and more obstructed than before the HT as I am still waiting for a simple few answers regarding my FUE operation. I feel a bit bad saying this because they were all nice to me and surpassed my expectations, but I want to be totally honest and objective and will update how it goes from now on. If I am totally honest like I am being, I have to say that my coordinator looked unmotivated at moments somehow, specifically when I arrived the second day for the surgery, she was sitting relaxed in the dining room looking at her phone while I was waiting nearby. I felt alone because my new friends were already taken to the operating rooms. Also, during the long surgery session she only talked to me once when I complained about the pain. I felt that the other people cared more for me and I want to thank them a million times. My coordinator is obviously intelligent and skilful so that's why I was expecting more from her and I was disappointed. She could do much better, it's just two days that I am there after all and she didn't have any more patients to attend at the clinic, just me. When I filled in the survey they offered me I rated everything and everyone really high because that's how I feel in general and because I wasn't ready to complain about anything, but my definitive evaluation is this and I will update it depending on how contact with them goes from now on, which is crucial and more important that before the HT, in my opinion. The results will inevitably be rated by anyone if I post them and I am of course hoping for the best possible results and for emotional support during this long process that I still don't believe I am going through. Thanks to all the forum members that have replied my questions and given me advice.