AA1989

9 hours ago, Gatsby said:

WTF?😟

You do know that barbers, taxi drivers and Syrian refugees have all worked and do work as techs in Turkey do you not??

We need to be mindful that being a refugee does not preclude you from being a talented and well trained medical professional in their home country. Someone who forced to flee their country because of persecution, war or violence deserves an equal chance to build a life. Clearly, refugees are often exploited, but regardless of where they come from or their nationality, they need to be trained and competent before performing a HT.

It looks very natural, and it must feel amazing to have hair where you previously had bare scalp.

I agree with the comments regarding the lack of yield. We are a critical bunch on here, but given the standards attained by Dr Bruno in his previous presentation, we have high expectations. None of this should detract from your satisfaction of having your face framed by a new natural-looking hairline. With additional density, it would look even better.

3 hours ago, fatboy said:

Of course I will not settle for a barber puncturing my head. I was under the impression that there's reputable clinics in Turkey and asked for guidance in that direction.

To sum up, your opinion is that Turkey procedures are not worth the risk, am I right?

You sound pretty wise to the bad side of hair transplants in Turkey.

The problem you, I or anybody else going to a Turkish clinic have is, how do we really know what the techs were doing last year? perhaps they were a barber or a taxi driver. I'm pretty sure the clinic will not tell you that.

HT's is big business in Turkey. A combination of manipulated reviews and slick marketing produces a steady flow of willing victims😏 There is so much competition that price becomes the deciding factor for many prospective patients. This pushes otherwise reputable clinics to enter the hair mill market aka 'stack'em high sell'em cheap'. A race to the bottom. The lack of official oversight by the authorities means there are little or no consequences for poor results/malpractice.

Your head your choice. You're not in a desperate situation with time on your side. Think long and hard before 'rolling the dice'. Unlike many, you know the risks.

• A calm head is required at this stage. There is either problem or not, neither of which will be established definitively until later into the development of the HT.
• The post-procedure photos from the clinic are required ASAP.
• @JDEE0 Can you PM me next weeks winning lottery numbers🙂

7 hours ago, eccoj said:

And yeah, my head shape is the saving grace in all of this, I look pretty good with a shaved head (it's what I usually do, but I let it grow to get a look of what my hair looks like right now), and have been hitting the gym for a while now so I can pull off the bald look. It's probably not as good as a full head of hair would be, and I look a bit older and that puts me off a bit, but what can you do?

I think you know what you need to do. Buzzing it off and moving on.

No scars, no pills, no concealer and fibres (even after a HT, they'll be required to maintain a sub-par illusion of hair). 

It will feel liberating to put it behind you and focus on qualities that make you stand out. Qualities that you can have control over, rather than the endless pursuit of hair.

The buzzed look may add a few years in the short term, but if you stay in good shape and take care of your skin, time will appear to stand still for you while your peers seem to age before your eyes.

7 minutes ago, JC71 said:

Besides, even when they do arrive here they won’t take our advice. 
Sometimes I have had given a lot of advice here and PM and still they will go off to a mill… 😞 Only a while ago someone did just that and then came back asking about a repair… we can but try…. 

That's quite shocking. It must be a combination of slick marketing and cheap prices. I know these clinics come in for stick and rightly so but when price is a the forefront of people's mind, it becomes a race to bottom.

I think nowdays it's considered a pejorative term but back in the 1950's it was probably cutting edge. The term graft is as much to do with distancing themselves from the past. In essence the process has just become more refined & reliable (in skilled hands) allowing for single hairs rather than clumps of hairs to be transplanted.

8 hours ago, JC71 said:

It’s so frustrating we are not able to help these guys before they get decimated, last few days and 2 cases where Asli Tarcan patients have arrived here having already has the usual 5.5k 😢

The marketing gets to them first and we generally deal with the aftermath 

It's called 'selective bias'. They see what they want to see. There is plenty of negative feedback on these clinics if they choose to be objective.

I appreciate some of the well-established members who have had bad experiences in the past but would those same members have made their mistakes in 2022 when there is so much information available at the press of a few buttons?

This is no way diminishes tireless help given to people who find this site and get great advice or the visceral pain felt by recipients of a poor HT. I only wish more people would turn off their social media feeds and type   'hair transplant forum' *   in their search engine before committing to these clinics.

* btw HRN is 3rd in a google search.

4 hours ago, JoeMan said:

6 weeks post op:

Feel free to comment and tell me that I'm crazy for seeing small hairs at 6 weeks. 

 

Go full hair nerd and get yourself a cheapie USB Microscope off ebay/amazon😊

On 2/18/2022 at 2:55 PM, digi23 said:

Yes its getting better and better, she is amazing really the woman who is doing the treatment, she is abit worried with removing too much so we take it in steps, she get the idea that the darkest ones should be removed but we go slow forward. 

Also a problem with this Electrolysis blend method is that you cannot target a specific area too much, it will damage the skin so when it starts to turn red you need to stop and then wait for another 2 weeks, so the process is abit lengthy but well worth it because you can precisely remove them one by one.

I'm pleased you went with the electrolysis option. The idea of punching graft in such a prominent and delicate area is a risk I would not take.

The other benefit of a staged approach is hairs grow in phases. Punching grafts in one session may miss multi-hair graft waiting to push through.

Regarding any repairs - Make NO compromises on getting what YOU want. We all live by our decisions, you made a mistake, but you have options.

As a footnote, I'm surprised any board recommended doctor doesn't equip their staff with magnification. It doesn't matter if a tech has been with you 6 years. It is precision work. That's 6 years for their eyesight to deteriorate. While it is good, they acknowledge their failings. They should also follow up with how they intend to prevent it from happening again in the future.

Back 2020 @Zach Black in answer to a question by @JC71 said:

https://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/topic/57380-recent-transplant-at-hair-dr-clinic-leeds/

@Marko7t4 Was Dr A as equally involved in your procedure?

11 hours ago, Marko7t4 said:

Just had my hair cut shorter, so here’s a photo photos. The lighting is slightly softer than the last ones, so the lack of density doesn’t look as severe. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Indoor lighting tends to be more favourable than outdoors. It looks better short, and on the positive side, no one would suspect you've had a HT. I know you are in dialogue with the clinic, so keep us posted on that and any improvements in density.

Great idea!

Name of the show? Steer clear of anything that sounds sales or marketing. Nice and simple 'Hair Restoration Network Podcast' . It keeps it consistent and refers listeners back to the forum.

Show format? I would suggest Q&A with a panel of doctors. It would be interesting to hear the different perspectives and may even encourage some discussion between the doc's, which would be very interesting.

Source of questions? I would suggest the questions should originate from the board. So often, you have a lively discussion between board members where the view of a professional would really add to the debate. 

Which questions? Is there a way for members to upvote a selection of questions? The most popular questions are then addressed in the podcast.

Role of PRP?

Pay for the Doctor's international vacation/ pension fund😊

@JDEE0 great progress... the latest photos really give a good perspective on how the temples are filling in.

43 minutes ago, JC71 said:

One of the few times I can honestly say the no shave was the right choice. 

Totally agree - most of the time partial shave looks like a dog dinner😁

10 minutes ago, Icicle said:

10 weeks

You're very much in the 'ugly duckling' phase, combine that with the horrible experience, it's bound to take its toll. Even people that have had a great experience with a top surgeon start to feel anxious at this time.

Did you check out that guy on YouTube latest update vid? against the odds, it looks pretty good, and he's happy with the result. From week 13 - 17 you should start to see noticeable improvement.

17 minutes ago, Icicle said:

Body hair. You familiar with this?

The problem with body hair is the growth cycle is really short compared to head hair. It's the reason body hair is so short ... it's constantly reaching the end of its anagen phase and falling out. It can be done but really no good for your head.

How many weeks since your transplant?

1 hour ago, Icicle said:

Thanks, I’ve reached out to you privately as well. But publicly, do you or does anyone know anything about donor restocking and how if at all successful it is?

Where is the stock coming from to restock the donor?

1 hour ago, mmokin said:

yh i know right its insane, there are many hundreds of millions of men (and some woman) with hair loss but only a few dozen decent surgeons 

Part of the problem is doctors chasing the $$$$. When a Dr becomes successful, their services are in high demand. The temptation is to scale the operation, passing the painstaking, meticulous work to 'trained' staff. The further you dilute the involvement of the principle, the less reliable the past record becomes. There are examples of successful, competent doctors becoming little more than figurehead for the clinic and standards plummeting.

Oh the irony.....

48 minutes ago, Icicle said:

I’m not going to sit here and pretend that money is not a factor in getting a hair transplant but there are some really cheap clinics in Turkey that I definitely chose to stay clear of. In doing my research I thought I chose a happy medium in terms of results and price. 

To be brutally honest, you rolled the dice and had a bad experience. The good news, at least in the YouTuber I referenced, is he generally pleased with results at 7 months, if not the process of getting there. He paid $2200 got 3000 grafts, his meds, 2 X PRP, hotel and transport and thought he was getting SMP in at that price too. THATS CRAZY CHEAP.

I don't know much about the clinic you went to, but even without actively researching them (I wouldn't entertain a hair mill), I do know it has a reputation of rushed consultation, hard sell and overharvesting.

You may not want to hear this, but part of the recovery process is accepting responsibility for YOUR choices.
 It doesn't absolve the clinic of their responsibility, but as the saying goes...
'If looks too good to be true, then probably is!'

28 minutes ago, Icicle said:

That’s definitely why I wanted to watch people go through this in real time. If I would’ve seen anyone suddenly disappear without a trace after following them for a while I would’ve definitely gotten suspicious. 

When I googled Asli Tarcan a youtube video came out on top by I AM RIO P. (Hair Transplant Experience & Update | Asli Tarcan Hair Clinic | Istanbul, Turkey 26 Oct 2021).
 

I jumped to the consultation, and there was a lot of similarities to your experience, including the infection.
Have you seen his channel?

2 hours ago, ConnorCrosby said:

We're looking at a homerun result in the making! 

Go buy yourself a machete. You'll need it in the jungle of panties that'll be thrown at you!

Better be careful the missus doesn't see this with a machete lying around😁

1 hour ago, Icicle said:

I won’t be comfortable with my head being seen until after my second operation which is scheduled for October this year.

Sorry to hear about your experience. Hopefully, it is of some small comfort that documenting your experience can stop others from ending up in this situation.

On a practical note: Most reputable Doctors will have waiting lists, sometimes a year or more. It would be worth doing your research now and getting something booked. The clinics that can book you in at short notice are more likely to be the ones to avoid.

1 hour ago, LondonRamen said:

Good stuff! To touch on the topic about his marketing, he does actually have a lot more results on his instagram. I just realised my 10 month photos I gave to him a few months back ended up on there.

Some of those IG results are 'WOW'

Hopefully,  @JoeMan you'll be up on the IG hall of fame👍