cr1mson

Hey Gang! As per my last thread, I recently went to Turkey to Dr Bicer and will be writing a full review in the coming days in terms of my overall experience. I am now 19 days post op and wanted to get your general thoughts on what to expect on my result. I have attached pre op, immediately after as well as current day photos! Let me know!

It has definitely thickened up my existing hair. I have a ton of my native hair, its just very thin and wispy. I plan to increase the dosage to 2.5mg this week to speed up my HT results

Hey gang, I am finally going to turkiye next Thursday for my HT with DR Bicer. I had an appointment in late 2021 and couldn't figure out a date to reschedule. Her coordinator Ozen reached out to me a few weeks ago and said there was a cancellation. I thought about it for a day and pulled the trigger. Pretty excited! Looking forward to not having put fibers in my hair and flood it with hairspray on a daily basis. Any tips or recommendations for my first time? So far, I got a pretty good neck pillow and entertainment/resources to focus in the days recovering in my hotel room. As someone who has gotten a HT in Turkiye or in general have any pointers you wished you knew prior to yours? I have stopped oral minoxidil 15 days before as well as drinking. I stopped smoking weed today and will not smoke until two months after the surgery. I plan to stay on finasteride and I have been taking it for ~ ten years.

hey fam! I have booked my last minute transplant with Dr Bicer and am VERY EXCITED. I am in the process of booking my flights and my best option is 4 days after my transplant. Would you consider this too early? I can also push it to 6 days if necessary. Let me know!

Hey guys, Been a few years since I been here. About two years ago I have been exploring the option of a transplant and now have a potential appointment coming up late in December. I have been putting it off as I have a few weddings since then and didnt want to look bald for 5-6 months waiting for it to regrow. I was planning to book a date for December 2024 but this just popped up and I am seriously considering it. Some background information: I am almost 36 and have been dealing with hairloss since I was 21. I will attach pictures so you can see the current shape of my hair. I have been on finasteride and minoxidil for 14 years together. I got off both for 2.5 - 3 years about 5 years ago and my hair lost alot of density. I have since got back on and regrew a little and I think stabilized my hair loss. Around that time, my older brother also got off all meds and threw in the towel. His hair is noticeably thinner and he is heading toward NW6. I know if I get off the meds that is my future as well. Right now basically style my hair as a buzzcut with a fade. I grow the top longer and brush it down and it kind of hides some of the thinness. I then use har fibers to mask the thinning even more and it barely looks acceptable. I still have alot of hair but it is pretty thin all over. My weak areas in my opinion are my hair line and temples, and the middle crown going back all the way to the crown. The crown is by far the worst area on my scalp. I know typically in HTs, folks like to get the first frontal third done and then work on the crown and midscalp. I was hoping to strengthen the front and create a hairine, add some hair to the midscalp and thenm yabe 1500 grafts to the crown. I am hoping to create a strong front, and match the crown and midscalp to make it look more uniform. The goal is to put some fibers there to hide the thinning in those zones and have my front thick enough in a fringe style with no fibers hopefully. Is that a realistic expectation if I do 3500 - 4000 grafts? Also, given I have a ton of hair left on the top, how does the surgeon plan where to put the follicles. Do they just arrange it and ignore the current weak hair there? Or do they plant in between those hairs? Given how thin some of the hairs on my scalp are, do you think there will be any permanent shockloss? I also think I have a weak donor, but am willing to use beard and chest hair if thats an option for a second procedure down the line. The daily routine of trying to volumizing my hair, putting a ton of fibre and then using even more hair spray to hold it in is getting really tiring so I am hoping to be able to get it thick enough to only put a little fiber in the crown and midscalp. I need to make a decision in the next few days so really hoping some of you experts can chime in! Any and all help is appreciated it!

I am a diffuse thinner, so still have alot of hair, but its really thin. I think I will try and a small dose of oral minoxidil and go from there! Thanks for your input

I was thinking the same. I tried to research as much as possible on my own if marijiuana can affect a hair transplant but I never found anything concrete supporting or against it. Dr Bicer really recommends postponing the surgery so my gut is saying to take her advice. The thing is, when I reschedule the surgery, I am not sure if I will be able to stop smoking for 3 months prior, as I have been a habitual smoker for so long. I have never smoke cigarettes by the way

Thanks for your note! Are you a diffuse thinner as well? Dr Bicer kept saying that there is a real chance some grafts will die because of my smoking weed daily. She also said to avoid alcohol a week before as it causes too much bleeding, as well as cigarettes. I am leaning on rescheduling, but it will now have to be in the fall which is extremely dissapointing, but again I dont want to pay this much money and risk precious grafts dying.

Hi guys, thru all the commotion of getting a last minute appointment with Dr Bicer, and booking last minute flights and coordinating logistics, I forgot to ask Dr Bicer a very important question. When her coordinator Ozen told me all the things to avoid before surgery ( drinking alcohol, using blood thinners, smoking cigarettes), I forgot to ask about something I use everyday. I am from Canada and have been smoking marijuana every day for a few years. She told me today that she wants me to postpone the surgery as she recommends not to smoke marijuana three months prior to the surger and 6 months after. She said that the smoking marijuana, especially daily smokers, will constrict blood flow and affect survivability of grafts. She says that in her professional opinion it is not a good risk to take but ultimately it is up to me. What do you guys think? Idk why I thought I can stop smoking a week before would be ok, but now I have a decision to make. I told Dr Bicer I would let her know by the end of the day but most probably will reschedule it to fall 2022 as I have a few weddings between May - October so dont want to get it done close to that time. I thought I would create a post and get some feedback from some of the vets!! What should I do in your opinion?

Hi ,I have taken rogaine foam over the last 10 year and it worked alot in the first few years. Since then I just use it as it helps style my hair, I doubt its helping tho. Do you think oral minoxidil might help me?

I am not too sure what this means! Can you elaborate?

Wow, doesnt look like anything was taken from your donor!! Did it take some time to heal like this or did it look worse in the few months following thesurgery?

hey! for the first couple days did you spray anything on your head? I noticed Bicer doesnt recommend the saline spray so wondering what does she have you apply to your recipient area the days right after the transplant

Yes, they still need the negative test! I will try to sort that out the day that I land. I will be in Istanbul a full three days after my surgery, then leaving saturday morning ( Christmas day) so hoping the flights are not too packed. If I end up not wearing the surgical or baseball cap, should I spray the saline solution in intervals while I am on the plane? I also usually wear a baseball cap backwords and it doesnt touch the top of my scalp, would this be an option as well?

I plan to go on topical dutasteride post surgery, do you think this can thicken my crown a little? I know putting some grafts in there isnt probably the best decision but my crown has been my worst area since I started losing area at 21. I have the hair just under it longer so when I brush it up it covers the bottom half. So i was hoping to put 5-700 grafts in the top part of my crown so it matches the area right ahead of it and doesnt look barren anymore. Do you think this would be unwise? I never really considered SMP, but after reading some threads on this forum, it sounds expensive and only lasts a few years. Would SMP even make a difference in my crown?