JJ1187

I had my transplant with Dr Yaman at the end of 2019. I was extremely worried about the outcome, but turns out I was a slow grower, and for some reason it took almost two years for the transplant to grow/mature. I am very happy with the results, but the crown area is a concern, and I am considering another procedure to fix it. I am considering Dr Yaman for my next procedure as well, but I don't want to limit myself to one clinic, so I began reaching out to top clinics in North America. Before I get into those details, I would like to include, what happened prior to my procedure with Dr Yaman. I had my first transplant years back, and it ended up failing. I was in need of a repair, so I reached out to dozens of doctor's. What unfortunately kept happening, was that I would tell them the name of the doctor, who did my procedure and in turn, would be told that there is no way, he messed up the transplant, and that the procedure failed due to my Physiology. After countless biopsies, I got sick of it and reached out to doctors in Turkey, which is how I got in touch with Dr Yaman. Now, fast forward to this year. I began consulting with some of the same top clinics, close to where I live. I was hoping to get an FUE+FUT, to maximize my donor, but what I am finding is that I am not being given that option. Clinics that offer both, are only willing to go the FUE route, even though I do have enough laxity for a strip procedure. I have had my scalp and donor hair examined, by a few other clinics. I have even agreed to drop by in person, so the doctors can have a better look, but they don't seem very open to the idea. I have also had other clinics hesitate, because of the fact that I had a repair procedure done already. I don't mind flying back to Turkey, if I have to, but I would much rather get a transplant closer to home. Any other repair patients, go through something similar?

I have been on Finasteride for two years now, which helped stop the hairloss. Unfortunately I was told by my prescribing doctor, that there is a possibility for hairloss to continue down the line, so in case that happens I would like to plan ahead

I had my second transplant almost a year ago, and so far am pleased with the results. I will have to go back to Dr Yaman to increase density in the crown, and I was told last year that an additional 3500 to 4000 grafts can be extracted. However, I am a bit worried since one of the clinics I consulted, Dr Demirsoy mentioned that I am heading for a NW 7 and that my sides would likely drop. If that were to happen how many grafts would be required to fill in the area. This was last year hefore my second surgery, and he also stated that my donor was poor and would look overharvested, so he refused to operate on me. I would like to plan for the worst case, which is why I have still not decided on a third procedure

I had my second hair transplant with Dr Yaman, almost 11 months back. I probably posted on here, but my first transplant with another doctor was a failure, and barely any of the grafts ended up growing. I am happy with the way the hairline has turned out, and the results look pretty good, hairline wise thus far, but unfortunately behind the hairline, the density is an issue. I don't think it would be fair to say that the hair isn't growing because it is. I have been taking pictures, every month and it is apparent, that the hair is popping through. I think the issue in density is due to the slow maturation of the hairs in the midscalp/crown region. While the hair is popping through, it seems to be growing quite slowly, and taking quite a while to mature. I have read online, that most of the results should have come in by now, so I am a bit concerned. Is it possible that it might take a full 18 months, before I see the final results, since I might be a slow grower, or would the lack of maturation of the transplanted hair, more likely point to the transplant failing. I have talked to the doctor, and was told to wait a year, before judging the results, but being a month away, from that point, I don't really expect much change.

Fr a NW 7 the demand is definitely greater than supply even with an above average donor. I would not say that surgery is out of the question, but you will have to make use of body hair in addition to the scalp donor to achieve acceptable amount of coverage. Also, I would not rule out medications unless you are already a Norwood 7. Even with the use of body hair, the density might not be what you expect, so you do need to have realistic expectations

I contacted most of the same doctors as you prior to my hair transplant. The decision came down to Dr Yaman and Dr Demirsoy and I choose Dr Yaman, since Dr Demirsoy did not think I was a good candidate for surgery. He felt that my donor would look overharvested and he mentioned I would proceed to Norwood 6 so he turned me down. I had about 4300 grafts with Dr Yaman and the overall experience was great although I can't be sure yet how the result will turn out yet. I would be cautious proceeding with Dr Acar or Dr Karadeniz. During my consultation with Dr Acar it became apparent that the doctor does not check out the pictures and instead leaves it for his assistants to give you a quote. I was quoted 6000 grafts at first, which immediately changed once I told them I had a prior procedure done. Also looking at my donor there is no way 6000 grafts could have been taken out in one go. With Dr Karadeniz I had a similar problem, I am a norwood 5 and I was quoted 5000 hairs, the same as you. I mentioned needing a bigger procedure of at least 4000-5000 grafts which is about 8000-10000 hairs on average and was told that even with 5000 grafts I would most likely only get 5000 hairs which did not make sense

Definitely don't rush into surgery, which was a mistake I made before my first procedure. I was desperate to get a hair transplant, but it failed miserably. I guess the other thing I will add is that results are not guaranteed. While the success rate for the procedure is high with a good doctor, things can still go wrong and you might end up worse off compared to where you started

I have been on Minoxidil since 2012, when I first noticed hair loss. I initially started with 2% but switched to 5% since I heard it was more effective. At first I was fine, but I started noticing side effects such as a painful scalp, itchiness etc.. I did not think much of it and consulted a few dermatologists that claimed everything was okay. In 2015 I had my first hair transplant, which for some reason failed and I was told I may have scarring alopecia, due to the fact that there were a lot of pimples on my scalp. The biopsy came back inconclusive so I decided to proceed with a second hair transplant. Dr Yaman brought up the fact that Minoxidil might be causing me the side effects, which makes sense. So far, the results have been quite good, but over the past month I started applying minoxidil again and noticed a lot of pimples on my recipient and donor site. I initially thought it may be due to the fact that I was four months post op and reading online pimples are quite common, but I ran out of minoxidil last week and noticed my scalp clear up a few days later. Is it possible minoxidil can cause folliculitis? If so, are there any other alternatives I can use? I am on Finasteride, which I will continue using if minoxidil is indeed causing problems

SMP should help quite a bit, but it sucks that you had to go through this. Hopefully the donor will recover as well in a few more months time. It is a good thing that you are warning others, they are one of the few clinics that always show up whenever you search for hair transplant in Turkey and this will hopefully prevent others from choosing them

I have never heard of that particular doctor, although that does not mean he is bad. If possible, consult with a few other doctors and try to save up a bit more if you can. Seems like a large area to cover so you can't have any grafts go to waste, which might happen with an unsatisfactory surgery from either doctor. Dr Yaman at 1 euro per graft and Dr Demirsoy at 1.25 euro per graft are a good budget option as well, might be a good idea to consult with them

Cinik has some good results but it is dependent on the techs you get. He was one of the few doctors I considered for my surgery as well, but there was a case on another forum, where he transplanted the crown and the results turned out quite poor. His hairline works look good but I would be a bit cautious, there have been instances where multiple hair grafts have been inserted into the hairline, making it look pluggy and fake. The last thing you want is to go through another procedure. Just do a bit more research before committing to him and if you do decide to go with him make sure it is for the exclusive package, where Dr Cinik does the incisions himself. That is one steap you don't want technicians doing

Out of everyone you have mentioned Cinik would be the best option, but even with him it is the luck of the draw. You should ask questions and that will help narrow things down. For example, I asked Cinik's clinic if they use microscopes or something similar to pick out single grafts for the hairline and they ignored that question but answered the other two in the email. There had been cases where the technicians put multiple grafts at the front of the hairline making it look unnatural. I would consult with other doctors and forget about these hairmills. If cost is an issue, I would wait a bit longer and go with someone more reputable. Also, most of these hairmills do a great job at marketing and advertising which is why they are recommended on search engines but if you dig deep you can usually find bad reviews and some of the things they talk about is downright scary, from poor hygiene to medical emergencies not being handled properly

Have you consulted with Dr Yaman or Dr Demirsoy yet? What were their suggestions? When I was deciding on my procedure, the choice came down to Demirsoy, Yaman, HLC, Pekiner or Cinik so I may be able to help out. I ultimately chose Dr Yaman and am happy with the results so far. Out of the five, only Dr Demirsoy refused to proceed with surgery. He mentioned that my donor area was weak and because I was heading for NW 6, he would not proceed with surgery. Also mentioned that if I got 4000 grafts extracted the area would be overharvested. I am about four months post op and I had 4300 grafts done via FUE and there is no sign of overharvesting, plus I can still get another 2000 -3000 grafts. Dr Demirsoy does the surgery himself, but he can be extremely conservative, which isn't a bad thing, but like in my case he underestimated the number of grafts I could get so it might not be the most efficient use of grafts. Dr Yaman estimated my donor capacity at around 6000 grafts and Dr Demirsoy did not think there was enough for 4000 grafts. I think it is important that you have in person consultations to determine your lifetime donor supply and proceed from there.

I don't think there are any other doctors to consider in that region, especially if you are looking for the doctor to do the entire procedure. Still, I think you should consult with a few more doctors, maybe not in Turkey but around Europe, particularly those that match your budget. One thing I would caution about HLC is their graft estimates are sometimes ridiculous. I consulted with them prior to my second procedure and they recommended 3600 grafts just for the hairline and temples, leaving the midscalp and crown with little to no hair. I had a procedure before so them suggesting I needed 3600 just for the hairline was ridiculous when other doctors were quoting way less. This was also suggested to a couple of others NW V and above on another forum so just be cautious. Don't use up too much grafts now in case they are needed in the future.

I agree with you, it was more painful than I had expected/read about but it was okay once the anesthesia kicked in. The work looks good so far, but I am just curious did you have loss in the crown? That seems like a lot of hair for such a small area. I would not worry about the numbers while I was there some people had 2000 grafts, 3000 grafts and some even more. So I don't believe they always quote 4000 grafts. I went in for a wash almost everyday and not everyone had over 4000 grafts. They also give out a sheet which has the breakdown of singles, doubles and multiples and for me at least it added up. They should give it to you before you leave. Hope everything turns out great for you