TheGreatPretender

I always like to make use of 2% for effectiveness, plus also my dandruff can be a bit agressive so its double the strenght.

I think once should be good enough tough I always been following the twice a day as a standard just to eliminate any doubts on my mind. 

19 minutes ago, H.K said:

i don't use minoxidil , but as far as i know , it may lose effectiveness in term of growing  more hair , but if you stop using it , you will lose the gains you got from using minox.

 

It will lose effectiveness in case you dont use Finasteride, if you combine these two you have a lifetime to lock those hairs for good. People may start Finasteride and wait for a year to see the results. If they are not happy then add Minoxidil to it.

Usually you would start Finasteride/Minoxidil 1/2 years previously to the surgery and reevaluate later but with topical meds I would do the same as your user said. 

Traditional medicine suggests that after 10 days aprox (I think) the hairs should be well secured so anything you shed is more likely to be just hairs but not the folicles themselves.

Yeah, uggly duckling is right at the door, stay strong mate. Hopefully in a few months you will be getting better. 

12 minutes ago, JC71 said:

Like most Hair Mills they will literally tell you everything you want to hear. Yes sir we can give you the best Tech teams,  no sir this will be much better result this time… your first result was actually fine etc, etc. In reality? Same thing will most likely happen... it’s a mistake you don’t want to make twice. 

This is the "foul me once, foul me twice" kind of situation. If this was a reputable doctor I would give it a go since they have a reputation to defend. On this case its just not worth it, I know it sucks to take the L but I guess op will have to accept that the clinic didnt give him the results he needed, this is why reesearch is very important. 

See a derm ASAP, in case of MPB start Finasteride ASAP. 

You got good coverage at this stage so stopping it on its early tracks would likely settle you for the rest of your life if you have MPB and are willing to commit to medications. 

20 hours ago, HairtransplantPT said:

This is amazing and gives me some more confidence. 

I have to say to you all that I ended up going with Bicer and I’m currently 1 hour post-surgery and would love to hear your takes on how it went 🙂 Could you help me? 

I may do a full review if you think that’s worth it!

thank you so much for your help and dedication to this thread! 

 

 

 

 

 

Congrats for your transplant. 

Its a bit early to say, wait a few days until the scabs are out and you may be get a better view but as I said you should be ok. Bicer has a good reputation and its probably one (if not) the best doctor(s) in Turkey. Would be a surprise not to have a good result. 

7 hours ago, JC71 said:

The ugly duckling stage sucks but just think In a short few months you will be over it. Just think of the hairy summer you will be having 👍🏽

As my Uni tutor used to say, its about the journey not the results. One will define the other. 

And it looks good even at an ugly duckling stage from the way the hairline is constructed I wouldnt be surprised if you got great results. 

13 hours ago, Vann said:

I am also in a similar position to you. I have a few of the same choices that you have listed that I am considering. But in my position I am in the states so travelling to any of the countries is not much of an issue sine it'll be a small part of the long term process.

Out of what you listed I think Eugenix, Pekiner, and HLC would be my top choices in terms of how soon I would be able to get something done. I think Ferrira and Pinto's wait times are over a year? So I wouldnt consider them as an option (mainly because I reached out and heard nothing back so I assume they arent taking online consults?).

Both Pinto and Ferreira are off limits for now but said they would be opening consultations soon. 

On 2/20/2022 at 10:09 PM, HairtransplantPT said:

Hi guys,

I’m from Portugal and soon I’ll be traveling to turkey in order to get my first hair transplant. I’m 28 and have been balding since my early 20s. I’m currently a Norwood IVA. After many hesitation, I’ve booked my procedure and the day is coming. 
 

I’n getting anxious about the procedure and although the results posted here are great I feel that if things don’t work out for me, there’s no going back. I’m currently diving into some more reviews and I saw someone referencing that Bicer’s Hairline design does not include temple restoration. Could you please confirm me this?

Also, could someone who has already done the procedure with Dr.Bicer advise me on the best way to pay? From what I could check with the clinic, Credit Card is accepted but I’ll have to pay 10% more due to bank fees. I really want to avoid the 10% commission, but don’t feel safe traveling with all that money in cash. How have you done to manage the payment? 

Any fellow Portuguese who has gone trough the same?

Thank you for your help in advance! 
My nerves are building up minute by minute.

 

I am on the same situation as yourself. Started on early 20s, currently 27. I honestly think you had two great doctors in there for the proccedure which IMO are a few leagues ahead of Bicer. I think you could get away with Pinto having a similar price if I aint mistaken. 

But I still think that Bicer is a good doctor herself so hopefully you will be ok. 

BTW portuguese myself, currently residing in the UK, its good to see some portuguese people around these parts. 

Boa sorte

21 minutes ago, JC71 said:

The Spanish + Italian forums. I can’t link them here. But Google 😉

Thanks, I think I have an idea already. 

On 2/18/2022 at 12:23 PM, JC71 said:

Most are under the forums recommended list:

https://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/Consult-a-Physician/hair-transplant-surgeons.asp?sr=HRN-MOB

 

Is there any place to see Villa's results? I know she has been involved with Lorenzo in the past howeaver I can't see much photos around here. 

I just reeched out to both of them today to see if I can get evaluated. 

8 minutes ago, JC71 said:

Totally agree ! 👍🏽

Il second that. 

Just be mindfull that they have been both facing a lot of trafic lately so you will need to be wiling to wait for a while before you get a consultation. I know that because I am in a similar situation, remember to do your reesearch as well

21 minutes ago, JC71 said:

It’s a no brainer if you can travel. Access to the best and the most cost effective. Much as I would love to have a elite choice here in the Uk it’s just not happening… 

We have Reddy, Ball, Arshad, Farjo and now I see Dr Raja emerging. Beyond that though ? Absolutely not comparable to the top options in Spain, Portugal + Belgium. 

True, even those doctors arent even on pair with De Freitas, Bruno Ferreira,Bruno Pinto, Lorenzo, Couto and so many besides costing a lot of money. Its not really worth it going for a surgery around here though I will give you that it is a great place to spare money in the first place if you can get a decent job. This was my main reason for veting the return to Portugal, because I knew here I would have conditions to earn for a great transplant. 

9 minutes ago, JC71 said:

We have a few Drs/clinics here in the Uk… but if you look to Europe then you would then have the option of some of the best worldwide. As well as being more affordable than their Uk counterparts.. Say anywhere between €2-5 per graft. 

Also, consider the currency, paying in Euros has its advantages too making it cheaper for a better result in a lot of cases. So in theory you could be paying lesser money for better doctors for better results if you search wisely. 

I consulted a local surgeon here and honestly he was a great guy and seemed very ethical, howeaver its not just about ethics. Its also being able to show that you can pull out great results consistently for which there aint much evidence unfortunately. 

I remember being very desesperate and looking to go directly for a transplant but he stopped me from doing so and suggested to start medication before even thinking about it which could have very well have saved me from a disastrous result. 

I live here in the UK and I thought once just as you do, howeaver after doing further reesearch and finding this forum I realized that you cannot restrict yourself to just your location for this kind of surgery. Trust-me, there are enough repair patients because of this. 

48 minutes ago, Rahal Hair Transplant said:

FYI, DHi stand for direct hair implantation.  There is a large hair clinic/chain also named that but essentially, the DHI technique is the same as FUE which refers to a donor harvesting technique.

What happens after harvesting the donor can vary from the clinic to clinic.  DHI actually refers to the implantation part of the procedure.  Typically, an implanter (there are various types by the way) is used so that the technician doesn’t have to use forceps to essentially grab the graft.

If the implanter is used correctly it can reduce the risk of placing too much pressure on the graft and eliminate the risk of crushing it.   Since the surgeon and/or technician use the implanter and don’t have to use forceps or another tool to take and place the graft, it is typically referred to as a “no touch” technique.

I wanted to clarify this because need to understand is that if you FUT/strip and FUE Ashley refers to how the donor hair is harvested and not how the grafts are handled afterwards.  DHI is FUE with a “no touch” graft implantation process.

I hope this helps.

Rahal Hair Transplant

Thanks Rahal, that was very informative. I will add this to my notes as it is important to start understanding each proccedure for what it is instead of having misconceptions before booking a surgery. 

12 minutes ago, mmokin said:

i already said use the derminator 2 and the thing with microneedling is that it is side effect free unlike finasteride, there are no drawbacks to it apart from pain

Sorry,  I didnt properly read your coment. Yeah, I always contemplated doing it, it just scared me making things worse because of possible inflamation but doing it once a week should be fine hopefully. I was thinking about using a normal Dermaroller or Dr Pen from Ebay but will see if I can find the derminator. 

42 minutes ago, mmokin said:

yeh its always going to better than just minoxidl on its own i reccomend using a microneedling pen like derminator 2 at 1.5mm setting once a week 

I know alot of the majority of great results with minoxidil come with Microneedling, howeaver from my understanding it seems like there wasnt enough cientifical evidence that could put Microneedling on the same page with Minoxidil and Finasteride so I holded it off. Is there any specific dermaroller that I should use?

On 2/11/2022 at 9:19 AM, mmokin said:

i do not agree you can dermaroll at depths of up to 1-0.75mm for systemic absorption of topical drugs but these do not reach the stem cells bulge in the hair follicle that triggers hair cell regeneration and the growth of new hair in the hair cycle you have to be at a depth of 1.5mm or more usually to reach the bulge.

the mechanism for dermarolling at 1.5mm relies on the addition of new growth factors to the hair during wound healing and the stimulation of the stem cell bulge in every hair follicle the affect is compounded with minoxidil, it is not just systemic absorption. also your skin heals wounds from dermarolling extremely quickly if it was sizeable in anyway it would scab up in a matter of hours 

I did have some thickening using Minoxidil for almost a year, could Dermarolling add Regrowth to that if combined with the Minoxidil?

4 minutes ago, jackiema said:

So in regards to DHI vs FUE, whether the surgeon or tech extracts has nothing to do with it. Here's a video explaining the difference. 

Also, I don't want you to misunderstand. If a follicle is not good, like it was completely transected (which means that the hair bulb was completely cut during extraction), then they should NOT be putting that in and should be discarding it. I think you may have a misunderstanding of some of the terminology. Transection is NOT a good thing, and there is a spectrum on how bad the transection is. A good clinic can make a judgement whether the hair is a good graft to put in or not a good graft and should be discarded. A bad clinic will put all the grafts in, regardless of whether they are good are not. Keep doing research and through the forums as I am sure most of your questions have been answered in one way or another. 

Thanks for answering this. And yes I do agree that transection is bad, howeaver if there is a slight chance for the folicle to grow then it should be placed back, unless its completly damaged beyond growth then I guess discarding its the only choice. 

5 minutes ago, jackiema said:

I am a little confused on your usage of DHI vs FUE. My understanding is that the extraction is no different in either technique, the difference is how they implant grafts in the recipeient site. 

With that being said, after a graft is implanted, a good clinic will have microscopes they use to assist them transect the grafts and it is under the microscope they can see if the graft still has a good root bulb or its just a hair shaft in their. Bad clinics can't tell the different and they just insert their rootless hairs in the recipient area that obviously don't grow. I know that sometimes there might be damage to the root and I would imagine they would at least just put it in on a less critical area (like the crown) to at least have a chance to grow. But that's just me guessing. 

I believe DHI is when the surgeon makes the extraction and the implantation, in FUE techs may get involved with at least one out of the two. Please correct me if I am wrong but this is my understanding. 

But yeah, I would guess that it would still be a waste to just dump the transected folicle instead of trying to put somewhere were they might see use for it. I mean, good clinics are supposed to try and maximize the results of a transplant so placing a few folicles in places where it might fit would only make sense. 

So obviosuly I know that when opting for these proccedures surgeons extract the folicles either manually (DHI) or through techs (FUE depending on clinic), dissect them before placing it back on the recipient area.
Since there might be a transection between extraction and implantation is there a way that the surgeon or techs are able to identify possible transected folicles? 

If so, are they still planted back to the recipient area or do they get simply discarded? I have done some reesearch on this and there is some evidence that corroborates that even if there is some damage to the folicle there is still the prospect to grow back so logically doesnt really make sense to discard it, unless its really bad and even then.

Obviously different clinics have different guidelines howeaver I am just looking for the general consensus.