After several years of holding off hair loss as if I was fighting off the White Walkers from breaking through The Wall, I flew to Turkey to have a hair transplant. I would like to chronicle my process here over the next year.
My background:
Hair loss run in my family, but I've always had thick, curly hair. In 2012, it began thinning out in the crown compared to the rest of my head. By 2014, I was on Finasteride and Minoxidil. This halted most of the hair loss, but I never recovered any of the lost hair. I could usually mask the thinning well enough, but 4 years later when I turned 34, with FUE becoming more popular, I decided to fix the problem before there was nothing left to fix.
On January 14, 2018, I went in for 2,215 grafts all along my hairline and up into the center of my crown.
Why I chose Dr. Doganay
1. I refused to go to an Indian or Turkish clinic where technicians do most of the work and the results are completely hit or miss. I needed to go to a place that had real reviews on independent websites.
2. Dr. Doganay had great reviews up until about 2015. During that time, he began allowing his technicians to do more and more of the work with mixed results. Dr. Doganay has been open about admitting that was a mistake. To make things right, he dropped his price from 2 euros a graft to 1.5 euros a graft with a promise to be involved in each step of the process. During the surgery, he was in fact in the room performing each part of the the procedure. Even top-rated offices in the US allow technicians to take over some of the work.
3. Again, the price. Even at 2 euros a graft, Dr. Doganay was cheaper than most top-rated surgeons in Turkey, and by far cheaper than surgeons in the United States (around $10 per graft)
It has been 10 days since the operation, and so far I'm very pleased with the hairline and the recovery. The donor area looked completely normal 2 days after the operation. The recipient area is still gradually losing the post-op scabs. There has been no bleeding. I will continue to post updates, answer any questions, and I'd appreciate any feedback you all have. Thanks!