missingtemples

Such a valuable discussion. Many posters here advise against transplant without Finasteride if you aren't close to your final NW pattern. They mention chasing the hair loss is a bad idea because you will look bad as you keep losing behind the transplanted area. But as I'm browsing the forum, examples I've seen aren't convincing.

@JayLDD made some great points and articulated them very well. I'm also leaning towards the idea that if you don't have too aggressive hair loss, chasing it with a conservative hairline starting from front moving to back is actually a better look than being bald. I'm observing that the society isn't too obsessed with hair loss like us. Their perception is mostly more black and white which is bald or not bald. And having some density starting from the front with a thin/bald crown is "not bald' and totally acceptable, especially for older men. 

One variable in this that I'm not sure of is what people who had transplants think about the all the hassle. Obviously a transplant involves shaving your head and some pain and swelling but more importantly months of scabbing, shock loss, healing and looking worse than before the transplant until your hair starts growing. I guess what I'm asking is if people who had multiple transplants think it is worth it to have smaller, multiple procedures and go through all this process over and over.

1 hour ago, TrixGlendevon said:

The fullstop after "avoid" makes it pretty clear (along with, as you suggest, a modicum of common sense) I think.

But a lot more of the latter than the former and even the former are controversial. Why go through the stress? This is really one of those things where you really do get what you pay for. Stick to North America and Europe. A quick look at the repair jobs on this site alone shows you that the majority are people are those that have cut corners to save a few euros and gone to Turkey, Lebanon or India and have now ended up having to go to Europe or North America anyway for the repair job. 

I have been following this forum for a while and I really admire the quality. I've seen this claim being repeated many times and I initially thought there must be some truth to it, coming from people so experienced in hair transplants. So I kept browsing to find the proof to help me with my decision to get a hair transplant in the future. So far, I haven't seen anyone being able to support the idea that Turkey should be avoided altogether in a meaningful way. What happens is, people link to posts of poor results coming from Turkey but they don't seem to consider that every clinic has bad results and what matters is the ratio. I'll try to address some arguments I see being repeated here as far as I can remember them.

• Clinics in Turkey has a higher chance of producing bad results.
  The reality is that Turkey has great hair transplant clinics with great success but it also has awful ones out to get your money. This is typical for anywhere. The difference is that hair transplant is a big business with thousands of clinics in Turkey so the number of bad clinics is higher. If you choose a good one, there is no reason to think it would have a higher chance of failing compared to any other country. There was a topic here and a member analyzed ASMED cases which admittedly seemed to be slipping recently and found out they still preserve a very high ratio of success.
• Turkey must be avoided at all costs. There is no regulation in Turkey. A cab driver can be operating on you.
  I admit that the standards of this business is not as strictly enforced as say, the US. There are people who aren't real doctors that own hair transplant clinics and make it look like they are doctors. But, these are so obviously shady you would recognize them from a mile away. It doesn't make sense to believe that a reputable clinic would hire a random person to operate on patients. In general, I find this claim really absurd because when someone agrees to have an operation at a certain clinic in Turkey, then that is it. It is not like they will be kidnapped at the airport and forced upon a HT at another shady clinic.
• Hair transplant is cheap in Turkey so it must be bad.
  What people fail to realize is that especially after the recent economic crisis, the value of Turkish lira has plummeted. The minimum wage is around 300 Euros and more than 40% of the working population is getting paid the minimum wage. So, a clinic which asks for 2 Eur/graft actually makes so much money in Turkey it makes sense for them to keep their prices at this level to keep the business flowing. Because their rent is in Turkish lira, they pay their staff in Turkish lira. Most of their expenses are in Turkish lira.
• To minimize the risk, a hair transplant must be done at the best of the best in the world or not done at all. 
  This I see is a controversial topic. I myself would not spare money and I would go to the best. But I also know that there are so many people who would not be able to get a transplant in these top clinics in their lifetime because they will never be able to afford it. The Turkish forum is extremely active in terms of results being posted. And majority of these operations are performed in more affordable clinics most of you probably don't know about. So after browsing hundreds of topics here and there, I now believe there is a middle ground. The risk is worth taking in some of these more affordable clinics if you can't afford the best. There are clinics charging reasonable prices and still producing a high ratio of success, but obviously not as high as the best ones.

To conclude, I think hair transplant is an important decision and it should be approached with cold logic and not sentiment. And logic dictates that we should research the individual clinics as much as we possibly can and consider all the good and the bad results. Turkey has some awful hair mills with no ethics. It also has amazing clinics with doctors passionate about their work and then many many inbetween.

On 12/27/2020 at 12:37 PM, halo said:

Hello to everyone. I saw on  youtube amazing hair transplant results clinics in the country of Turkey. There are many clinics there that do offer surgeries. As you know there are many bad clinics. But there are good clinics there too. Which are the most reputable and best clinics there that you can recommend?

To answer your question, the best in my opinion are Muttalip Keser, Kaan Pekiner, HLC and ASMED. These are also the most expensive.

2000 lira is definitely excessive unless you are planning to do some shopping. In a regular restaurant, you can have a meal for about 20-50 TL or a nice one for up to 100 TL. Room service shouldn't differ too much. A taxi in Istanbul would cost 200 TL tops from one of the airports to the city center only because the airports are far.

Thanks for the solid advice everyone. I'll take all this into consideration and even if I proceed with a ht, it would be a very conservative one. 

On 6/3/2020 at 11:53 PM, Doron Harati said:

As international representor of HDC clinic, I definitely 100% agree with Melvin!

It's too early for you to have a HT now, you are barley Norwood 2, and how the heck clinics offered you 3000+ grafts?!

You maybe maybe can get 1000-1200 grafts, but it still not worth it, I mostly accept patients that at least Norwood 3, very rare I take Norwood 2 patients, 4 months ago we took a Norwood 2 paitent BUT he was 42 years old, his balding was stabilized, only needed to his hair line like you, we did him 1200 grafts, btw the procedure was done by Dr. Christina (we got 2 doctor teams).

As you said in your post, you want to have 2-3 procedures, so wait and be patient for the right time.

Also, don't waste your money on those "boosters", I NEVER recommend my clients to use these stuff, no Vitamins, no rollers, no PRP, waste of money and hopes.

Only Minoxidil help to some ppl in the crown some a bit, Propecia I am against, it helps some ppl but it sure can effect your fertility, it hurt mine over 10 years ago.

 

Hope that helps.

I find that puzzling too. I see great results from some doctors using 1000 - 1500 grafts whereas others use way more than that for a similar area. So, yeah I definitely dont want to use that many grafts at my current stage.

15 hours ago, Gabreille Nelson Mukhia said:

 

Hello,

Hope you are well.

Keeping your plan in mind, 1500 to 2000 grafts would be more than sufficient to fill in the receding fronto-temporal areas. More number of grafts would be required only if you would want to lower the hairline. The fact that you will not be taking Finasteride makes it clear that you will have further progression of baldness in the future. It will also look odd because the transplanted hair stay and it will look like two horns coming from the fronto-temporal areas. Plus your crown is already thinning. All of this effort would be for nothing.

You could use Finasteride gel available in Italy. In our experience, it seems to have good results but there is no scientific literature for this . Oral Finasteride is obviously better with regards to the results. The following link could take you to their website: https://www.farmaciaparati.it/ 

Also, you should use the gel everyday instead of 4 times a week. 

In my opinion, going in for just the fronto-temporal areas without Finasteride should be avoided. It is not a good approach to keep going for more surgeries. Also, you could supplement your applicable Finasteride by taking Finasteride 1 mg pills twice a week. 

I cannot stress on the importance of Finasteride more in your case. Prevention of any further progression of baldness is the best possible thing to do in your case right now. 
 

I wish I belonged in the group of people who dont get sides but I tried it with varying doses. A lower dose hit me with similar side effects after some time. That is why I'm experimenting with a much much lower topical dose even though it might be useless.

48 minutes ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

It’s clear you will develop an aggressive balding pattern in time. I would caution trying to lower your hairline and restore your temples. I can see thinning in the crown. As for surgeons, I would broaden your horizon, Dr. Bisanga is a great option in Athens, as is Dr. Maras with HDC. 

Thanks Melvin. My dad is a Norwood 5 - 6 with some thin hair on his crown. He lost a lot of hair but spread across many years. Our patterns look similar. Given that and the fact that I don't want to use fin, would you recommend waiting for my hair loss to progress or getting a small operation now?

Hey everyone,

I'm looking for some advice regarding a potential hair transplant and progression of my hair loss. To give you some information about me:

• I'm 30 years old
• I believe I started losing my hair around 6 years ago.
• My hair loss hasn't been aggressive so far. My temples are receding and I've probably lost some thickness but not to the level that I would consider it diffuse thinning.
• I've been using Rogaine foam once a day for 4-5 years. 
• I use a ketoconazole shampoo once or twice a week.
• I dermastamp once a month, if I don't forget.
• I prepare a topical solution with 60 ml minoxidil and 4mg of finasteride(4 propecia pills) and use that twice a week. Now I know this is an extremely low dose and I'm fully aware that this might not be doing anything at all. But I tried finasteride before, once with the recommended dose which started giving me side effects in a month and once with .25mg twice a week which gave me side effects after 7 months. So I prefer this very low dose topical solution with potentially 0 benefit to using the pills. I might even stop this.

As you'll see in my photos, my temples are receding. I'm not actually that displeased about it. But, I know I'll most likely keep losing and there will come a time where I'm displeased and want an operation. So instead of waiting and having a larger operation done, I'm thinking about starting small and using my donor very conservatively and most likely having 2. and 3. operations in the future. I know these will be needed especially because I'm not on finasteride. Honestly right now even a tiny restoration done on my temples would satisfy me. So I'd really like to hear your opinions about this plan. Does it make sense to go down this path without being on finasteride? If so, how many number of grafts would be required in your opinion for a small operation?

I'm Turkish so I would go to a clinic in Turkey. I've been doing research here and on the turkish forum and I've decided to reach out to a few clinics.

- ASMED: I've filled out their detailed form and mentioned I want a small operation and don't want to use finasteride. They replied saying that the final evaluation would of course be done at the clinic but from the photos I've sent, they are proposing 3000 - 3500 grafts and recommend finasteride. The hairline they drew was quite at the front too. Now, this number I feel is too big for a plan like mine and I got the feeling that they didn't really read what I had written in the form.

- HLC: They acknowledged my plans to be conservative in their reply which was great and offered to transplant 2500 - 3000 grafts. They said they came up with this after considering my donor and my hair loss progression.

- Dr. Keser: I am waiting for a reply. Honestly, his results are what I want. Low grafts, high yield and great hairline design. But it looks like Dr. Keser isn't as available these days.

- Dr. Pekiner: I am going to send an email to see what he thinks.

Last two photos I've attached are with wet hair and camera flash. Thanks for reading up to this point. I would appreciate any advice.