GLHF

Thanks mate. I really hope you're right!

Solid result so far, I'm hoping mine turns out as good as this. 😁

Coming along really nicely mate. Still months for it to improve too

Yeah fair one, I've just checked your thread out. Looks like good work! I'm really happy with it so far to be fair, donor area seems to be covering up nicely, hair line is great (even though I originally wanted it lower, it's looking good now the swelling has gone down) and hopefully the crown turns out good! I'll keep updating regularly

Looks like good work man. Look forward to seeing your results.

Thanks man, I'm probably over analysing already haha.

Day 9 update So I've removed all donor area scabs and the majority of recipient area scabs. I'm happy with how it's looking so far but maybe wish I'd placed more of an emphasis on my crown during the consultation, but I'm happy so far. 😁 What does everyone think?

I just got back from Turkey after having an FUE with Dr Demirsoy and had no issues at all. Re covid19 - everyone wears masks indoors and the vast majority of people do outside too. Aircon is banned across the country (shopping centres etc). Huge contrast to the uk. Hope this helps

Happy days man. Glad you're happy with it! Have you posted a thread?

Pictures to follow 😁

Day 6 Little update, scab removal from the top starts tomorrow...It's pretty dry at the minute so hopefully its an easy job. The scabs look ready to jump off my head!!

Thanks dude, happy with it so far! Where did you end up getting it done in the end?

Cheers pal. The itchiness is now real.

Thanks mate Yeah fairly bad swelling but its just started to reduce today. Hoping by the end of tomorrow It'll be back down!

Day 4 update As you'd expect not much has changed but scabs are forming and I've started using E45 on the donor area to soften them up a little. How is it looking so far?

So after quite a bit of deliberation I decided to book up with Armamed - Dr Demirsoy, based on some of the reassuring work I have seen from him recently, along with the fact that I was working on quite a firm budget so didn't want to go crazy in terms of price. The booking and organisation of everything was done through Muzaffer who is great, he is so genuine and helpful. As with most clinics in Turkey, you send your pictures to them and they send you a quote back with a rough graft number required. The cost of the surgery is 1.25 EUR per graft and you can pay in pounds. From my experience (and others), Demirsoy generally quotes a higher number than what you'll end up needing, which is useful as the surgery will end up cheaper! 😁 I originally booked for 23rd July but I told Muzaffer I could travel at short notice if anyone rearranged or cancelled, luckily someone rearranged their surgery, so I booked my flights and ended up getting sorted 2.5 weeks earlier! Boom, back of the net. Transfer and Accommodation You are able to organise your transfers and accommodation through Muzaffer, which I opted for as you're unlikely to find it much cheaper than what he can offer it for. The transfers to and from the airport are done by a company which Muzaffer organises for you, then the subsequent shuttles to and from the clinic are done by Muzaffer himself. The hotel is a really nice 'boutique' style hotel in the Asian side of the city which is about 15 minutes away from the clinic. Even if you do find transfers and a hotel for cheaper, I'd still be inclined to book through Muzaffer for convenience. You literally have to do nothing other than turn up to the airport. Arrival day + 1 I arrived on the Saturday and ventured out to a local shopping centre, I didn't fancy going too far as I had a lot of cash on me. Similar on the Sunday, I just ventured out but not too far. Surgery day Breakfast 0730 followed by a pick up by Muzaffer at 0800 sharpish, the clinic is about 15 minutes away. When you arrive at the clinic you have some forms to fill ill and sign which are fairly straight forward. Muzaffer then takes you into an office where he will explain the procedure and show you pictures of before and afters etc. This is just to give you an idea of what to expect. Dr Demirsoy then introduces himself and carries out your consultation and draws on the hair line and where grafts will be placed etc. He is a really good bloke and comes across genuinely interested in giving you a good result and not just saying yes to everything you ask for. I originally wanted my hairline lowered a little bit more but to preserve my donor area for a future procedure (which I will no doubt need due to fairly aggressive family balding) and to give a realistic hair line for my age, he advised against it. Although I originally wanted a slightly lower hairline (specifically the corners), looking back at the pictures I think he's done me a service by advising me against it, better density per cm2, more grafts left in my donor area and the hairline is age appropriate. Happy overall. You have your head shaved and then the surgery starts with local anaesthetic, administered by the nurses. This bit, as you would expect, was slightly painful but you get over it pretty quickly and it takes effect within 20 seconds or so. Not a big deal, just slightly stings. Dr Demirsoy then removes the grafts with a micromotor extractor (not sure if that's exactly the correct name) which takes a couple of hours. Once this is complete you have a quick lunch break. This part is completely painless. Then into the incisions, again this is carried out by Dr Demirsoy and it takes another couple of hours (or so). Completely painless again. Once Dr Demirsoy has completed you have a very short break and the nurses start working on placing the grafts into the slits. This bit was probably the only part of the procedure which I found uncomfortable, especially the last hour or so. I had a small section of my head which just didn't want to go numb, even after additional anaesthetic it didn't help so it was fairly painful. But other than that, it was straight forward. Surgery day + 1 The day after surgery you go back to the clinic for a head wash which is painless. Maybe some minor discomfort in the donor area when the shampoo is applied but it's minimal. Muzaffer then talks you through the aftercare and gives you antibiotics, painkillers and shampoo. You'll need to split the shampoo down into smaller bottles if you don't plan on checking a bag onto your flight as its 200ml. I'll be posting update pictures regularly. Really hoping for a good result, but fingers crossed. Pre-shave Pre-Surgery Post-Surgery I'm currently 2 days post surgery so still early days but updates to follow. Let me know what you all think?!

Sorted it

Fair - can someone tell me how to turn off notifications then? 😂

I appreciate all the feedback but I've made my decision and this has turned into a bitching fest.

Thanks to all of those who have given advice/feedback. Admins - can you please delete this thread? It's went slightly off topic 😂

All - thanks for the info, it is all really useful and I'll take it all into consideration for sure. I hadn't looked into Dr Cinik but I'll take a look at some of his results on here. I hadn't really explained in my first post that my budget is £5000, I have other life commitments that make it difficult for me to justify spending any more on hair restoration. This excludes many surgeons I know but I'm not willing to go any higher.

Thanks for the reply Sam, I tend to agree that Demirsoy does the better work, however I do also like Yaman although he's some negative press about donor area work which is essentially the bit the technicians do...which does put me off slightly. They both seem to create really well designed hairlines with strong density which is great. I'll look into that, thanks dude.

About me Firstly I'd just like to say hello, my name is Alex, I'm from the UK and this is my first post in what will be an exciting journey towards a hair transplant. My plan is to carry out a thread on this forum (along with others) and a Vlog on YouTube, so that others can benefit from a genuine review which is thoroughly documented, something I believe is extremely valuable when taking such a big step. Without boring you all too much, my hair loss began (roughly) at the age of 21 but I didn't become aware of it until the age of 23 (bad family and friends ey). I first went through a bit of an ignorance phase, thinking there was little I could do to slow down / prevent further loss, I didn't really act on my hair loss until the age of about 27 when my crown progressed quite a bit and I started using fibres to cover up the thinning. I eventually started using Minoxidil 5% foam around 4 months ago and have just started finasteride 1mg today. Relevant info Age: 29 Location: UK Norwood: 3 Vertex (I think) Minoxidil: Yes (4 Months) Finasteride: Yes (Started today...) Current research - I must stress that this is just my opinion based on my own research, I welcome experienced advice to correct me where I am undoubtedly wrong. So like many people who are interested in a hair transplant, I started my research with no idea what was actually important when it comes to hair restoration (and admittedly I still know very little, but certainly starting to build an understanding). I initially focused my research on UK clinics, with some time spent looking at Turkish clinics but put off by the mixed results of people I know. However, after spending the last 5 weeks during Covid-19 UK lockdown carrying out as much research as possible (my head hurts a little), I have managed to come to the following conclusion(s) and shortlist of surgeons; Key points - My deciding factor for selection will be results driven. - Do not get sucked into the marketing vortex of 'all inclusive' hair transplants (with some exceptions). - Know my budget and find the best surgeon/clinic for that budget, this ties into my first point as we don't all have £10,000 to spend etc. - Research as much as possible, make a shortlist, do more research, narrow the shortlist down, do more research. - The fewer the # of patients per day the better. - Extractions and incisions should ideally be carried out by the surgeon. I have probably missed stuff out here, but that is the framework I have set myself when narrowing my search. Shortlist So my shortlist is as follows; Surgeon Grafts Price Extractions performed by surgeon Incisions performed by surgeon No of patients per day Quality of work Dr Erkan Demirsoy (Armamed) 3500 4575 EUR Yes Yes 1 8.5/10 Dr Resul Yaman 3500 3500 EUR No Yes 2/3 8.5/10 Dr Emre Karadeniz (AEK) 5000 (Hairs) 3000 EUR No Yes 1 ? 7/10 Dr Levent Acar (Cosmedica) 3500 £3250 No Yes 4 + ? 6.5/10 Dr Tayfun Oguzoglu (Get Hair) 3500 £3599 Yes Yes 2 6.5/10 Dr Attila (Hair Palace) 6000 (Hairs) £4095 Yes Yes TBC 8/10 UK Hair Transplant Clinics 2200 £4400 Yes Yes 1 8/10 Obviously this list will become smaller and smaller as I continue to research and from any feedback given in this thread, I have disregarded many clinics, both cheap ones and anything above £5000. The list isn't necessarily wasn't mean to be in any particular order but my top 4 choices are currently Dr Erkan Demirsoy, Dr Resul Yaman (who both design great hairlines from what I've seen) followed by AEK/Cosmedica...Any guidance would be appreciated! I'm leaning towards Dr Demirsoy because of the 1 patient per day limit, his results seem to be extremely good, he performs the extractions and incisions himself. Whereas Dr Yaman also seems like a great choice, however he dedicates less time / patient although his results seem great. AEK/Cosmedica are more appealing due to the lower price tags but for such a modest increase in price I'm feeling that it's worth spending a little extra. I have read countless threads on all of the above, but if anyone would be able to drop me a PM with their own experiences with the above that would be really appreciated. Legends