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Very nice. Noticeable difference in just one month. 

Looking nice to me. Happy growing.

Wishing you a happy healing process!

I had a similar experience last month with the same doctor same place . I'll be following your journey.

The worst part was definitely lying face down and bit of the back pain that can accompany it especially for somewhat older people :)

Hello everyone,

First of all, I want to say thank you to all forum members who provide great info for all of us.

Let me share my experience with dr. Bekir Bek, Ankara, Turkey. 

I've been following the forum for  about 6-7 years now and wasn't always planning to go with a HT but the day came and here I am now

ABOUT ME

44 years old with diffuse thinning since age 22. 

Started with minoxidil 5-6 years ago (mostly 1ml once a day) and fin 3-4 years ago (1mg daily) without any side effects that I'm aware of - beside good response in terms of stopping the hair loss and perhaps getting some hair back. 

However, last year decided to go with the HT, contacted few clinics and even scheduled with one of reputable doctors but cancelled eventually due to some subjective reasons. 

I've came across some good reviews from patients that visited dr. Bek - and considering that he was with HLC for few years back I got in touch with him and after some pictures, details and few weeks later we agreed on a date ... and I decided to stay at least 10 days in Turkey - until I recover fully - mainly because I wanted to be close to the clinic for the first critical days and to visit at least once more for dr. to check the progress before I leave the country.

THE CLINIC

We started by discussing my hairline and my expectations - which was: to increase the density and if possible to lower the hairline for about 1 cm. Dr. Bekir said it was reasonable, considering the donor (which was good as per dr.) and the existing hair. Work on the crown we left for future consideration if needed. 

My hair was trimmed - dr. was calculating grafts and decided to lower the hairline for about 1 cm in the middle and 4-5mm on the sides - with density of 50-55 g/cm2. 

For the middle - since there was some hair in place already - dr. will go with 20-25 g/cm2 where possible. 

THE PROCESS

2 days with 4 sessions per day. 

Dr. Bekir does all the work - extractions then incisions and placing the grafts. 

Day 1 (total of 1773 grafts):

 ~ 900 grafts (if I recall correctly) - taken from the back and sorted out by nurses. Break of about 10 minutes and then back for session 2 for placing the grafts in the new front - line by lowering as discussed before. Session 3 :  taking the grafts again (~800+) and Session 4 - placing them to the front and middle.

Lunch break after session 2. 

Day 2 (total of 1790 grafts): 4 sessions again similar to Day 1 

Each day the head is fully bandaged - back to hotel - sleeping in almost the sitting position 

Day 3 - removing bandages - they clean the head give u proper medicine (antibiotics, some pills against swelling, and third one for something else no idea what... and painkillers which I haven't used for first 4 days). Also 2 bottles of saline for the recipient area (every 2 hours to spray) and 2 bottles of some lotion for donor area (4-5 times a day)

RECOVERING

I was at the hotel - literally resting all day every day for first 5-6 days - just going for breakfast and ordering room service. 

Day 1 post op - moderate swelling in the forehead and going down below eyes during next 2-3 days after which it disappeared. 

Day 2 post-op afternoon got this crazy burning pain of donor which was like that for next 2-3 days then subsiding until day 8 when pain was gone. 

I am sharing the photos below and would like you guys to give your opinion please. 

Also, noticed that transplanted hair is growing much slower and are not of the same length - even now, day 16th, some hairs in the front are very small, like they are 2-3 days old. 

Comments are appreciated. 

Also, if you want know more details please let me know. 

1 hour ago, Joe809 said:

It seems it stop. I inly wash my hair every other day and still Im shedding but not as much, I may skip the ugly duckling. On the other hand if you look at my cousin he literally has not shed at all lol.  Good luck and keep us updated yourself. Have you removed your scabs? After that everything gets better lol

Yes, scabs removed and finally sleeping normally  I plan create my own post/thread soon to share the details. Thanks for the update

Very good, like how donor recovered. Your curly hair type also contributes nicely.

Has your shedding stopped?

I've also done my procedure with dr Bek 2 weeks ago, dense packing and all - looking forward for good recovering as well

Good luck. Let us know what they say

Thanks for sharing the details. Beard also recovered very nicely. 

3 hours ago, Rft said:

For the donor zone, they were given a lotion that had to be applied every 4 hours for 10 days and a 0.9% sodium chloride solution for the recipient zone every 2 hours for 10 days, on the 10th and 11th days the crusts were removed.  Coraspin 100mg for 30 days and the doctor said that you need to take it zinc, biotin, D3 and omega 3 for six months. 

Thanks. When you get chance it would be good if you could share some beard - donor area photos.

Also would appreciate if you could explain how was the first days in terms of pains, sleeping etc. 

I like how donor recovered for you. What was prescribed for the postop care? 

Progressing good and gets better

2 hours ago, DeltaQ said:

Going well, see pictures below. After care only some medication for the swelling and 1 day antibiotic that's all.

Looks very nice. No redness as well - pretty good. 

Concerning the medications, I was expecting at least some painkillers and a shampoo  - at least other clinics provide, if Im not mistaken

How is the healing process going? Can you also tell us about the after care support, any medicine they supplied you with?

Any update?

Also, do they provide transportation from the airport and back? What about the hotel?

Thanks

dr. Bekir speaks English, right?

@Lurker 23 very nice. Good donor and good dr. are the recipe for good results  - so seems that you are on the right track. For the front line, I don't see any issues there. Happy growing.

I like the hairline. Happy growing

Could u pls provide more details?

How old are you?

Tell us more about the procedure itself - it was 2 days: how the hairline was planned, any pain after the procedure, swelling?

Has shedding started yet? Any redness? How many days after the procedure the last photo was taken?

Your donor looks strong to me - and I presume you will have good results.

@FUECAPILAR Thank you for the reply. This is why we chose dr Turan in the first place - because of the good reviews and recommendation in the forum. 

@FUECAPILAR Appreciate your comment, however, we don't ask for the personal data to be revealed so don't see any GDPR issue in addressing the particular problems patient brought up here. I'm scheduled  in April and wouldn't like to see dr. give up on me in the middle of the procedure.

I understand it is a routine for dr. which he does every single day but for me and all of us its about one head we have and as @luckyg said: it is a 'big deal' and we want to trust dr. and his team. 

Can @FUECAPILAR comment on this topic please?

@omega5 any update pls?

@baldingbosnian I'm scheduled with dr Turan in April 2024 and this concerns me a bit

On 5/29/2023 at 2:10 PM, FUECAPILAR said:

2) did he request for upper vertex area to be covered ? because he seemed to have hair there ( with slightly thinning look yes)
This was discussed with Dr Turan during the consultation, after the trichoscopical analysis, Dr Turan decided that there was space in between his native hair to increase density without risking any possible damage to his native hair.

This is exactly why I booked with dr. Turan (April 2024). In the proposal he specifically states that he will not damage the existing hair; as someone with diffuse thinning it was of great importance for me. 

Looks great! I also scheduled a surgery with Dr. Turan a few days ago for April 2024—after years of hesitation. Seeing your new hairline makes me even more confident in my choice to go with Dr. Turan.

I also have diffuse thinning, and one of the reasons I chose him is that he specifically states that he won't damage the existing hair. Let's see how it goes