Here is my experience, not going into much details, just the most important things to mention. DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH, CHOOSE THE DR/CLINIC THAT YOU ARE MOST COMFORTABLE WITH, there is a risk to everything we do in life, and this is just another one.
This is my own personal experience (not a review of the clinic), I have appreciated others posting their own personal experiences, it helped a lot when researching, so here is to paying it forward and help others.
I had a pleasant experience at Dr. Yaman’s clinic. I went for the doctor not the clinic. Shout out to Fikret, he was very helpful and made it happen with a short notice.
Expect dizziness might happen to you while in surgery, but don’t panic, it is a clinic and they will have the proper care in case you need it. Unlike some other clinics. Do your research and make your own decision.
Be prepared for a long day, I arrived at the clinic around 9:30 am, done by 9 pm, almost 12 hours. One thing is interesting about Dr Yaman if you have done your research, he does the incisions first, it is a very important step, as the next step is extracting the grafts. This important step reduces the wait time between extracting the grafts and planting them.
Watch out for your head after surgery, I was advised to do so, yet I bumped my head in the shuttle, luckily it was the crown area and lost few precious grafts and bled a bit, it was at the moment we arrived at the clinic for the first wash.
If you are traveling from the America’s or any place too far, I would advise to stay at least 3 days in Istanbul after surgery, I traveled the very next day after the hair wash and man did I regret it. Istanbul is relatively cheap, and few extra nights at the hotel won’t break the bank, this way you will have an even better experience. Do sleep at 45 degrees, it helped push the swelling to the back of the head instead of going down to your eyes and cheeks. Minimize tilting your head forward for the first 3 days. The headband won’t do anything more than help you limit the face swelling, but the liquids injected during the procedure has to go down somehow and get flushed through your system. So to reduce swelling of the face follow the steps I mentioned.
I had 4380 grafts:
-singles 625
-doubles 2772
-multiple 983
Medication:
Biotin and saw palmetto multivitamin complex
I might use rogain, haven’t decided yet. It is is to be used after 3rd week.
I am on day 9, it seems my experience is a bit different than most people, I have a high pain tolerance in general, the pre surgery injections were not a problem, I didn’t struggle at all. But starting day 5 I felt the upper side areas of the back (donor area) are hurting a bit, as numbness started going away and day by day, it seems though the pain is getting worse especially on the right side. I mean I am struggling with finding a comfortable spot to sleep. My skin is super dry too, I ordered Aloe Vera gel and doing some massaging and icing and hoping it will help. The left side seems to do better. the pain is tolerable but I am not getting enough sleep because of it.
Anyways, pictures here, I will update monthly after that.