Hello Everyone,
Do I Recommend Dr. Bicer & Her Team | Yes - 100%+
I just returned to the United States after completion of my 2nd FUE Hair Transplant procedure with Dr. Bicer and in the interest of giving back to others for all the help I received through the information on this forum, and also in appreciation and gratitude for my excellent results and the great experience I had with Dr. Ozlem Bicer and her team, I have decided to join the network to share my experience and results here. In brief, Dr. Bicer is an excellent, professional, highly qualified, and ethical physician who really does put Patient's First, and I would definitely highly recommend her to others considering treatment. Like many of you, I researched, spoke with, and consulted many Doctors, Clinics, and Procedure options before proceeding (~20, down to top 5, & finally selected Dr. Bicer) and I am very glad I did.
Quick aside. I did not see many reviews on the forums with Drs. performing transplants with very thin, blonde, and English-Scottish genetic heritage background of mine. My follicles and grafts were very thin and difficult to work with, yet Dr. Bicer & her team had the microscopic glasses, tools, and experience needed to still perform the procedure with a successful outcome. I think it is much easier for clinics to work with thick, dark hairs (easier to extract, hold, insert, and more post-op blood flow/nutrients) and therefore its my belief that obtaining positive outcomes may be more likely, and mistakes or inexperience more forgiving. However despite the challenges with my hair & low head blood flow circulation, I would guess that 95%+ of my grafts still survived and are now thriving (Possibly 98%+).
Other Quick Advice
I'm going to skip all the little micro-details about travel logistics to Turkey, stages of the procedure, or non-material details about extraction tools used, etc. and share my quick thoughts about these things based on my experience. If you want to make a 'Turkish Vacation' out of this and explore Istanbul as I did, then do it all on the front end before your procedure. Don't make the mistake of trying to see the sites and explore the city by spending an extra week in Istanbul after the procedure like I did after the 1st session. Get your procedure done, visit them at the clinic around lunch time the next day for post-op review, and then head directly to IST Airport for a late afternoon or evening flight home. The first ~5days after the procedure are the most important to rest, recover, be healthy, and follow their instructions perfectly in order to maximize graft survival, health, and procedure outcomes. I spent 5 days in an Istanbul hotel, but home would have been better.
As for stages of the procedure, the only part of the procedure that "Hurts" somewhat is the anesthesia of the head phase (~30min). They first apply topical numbing cream, then use a pressure pump gun about 50times across your entire head which as people say, feels like a rubber band being snapped hard against the scalp (try it!). Then they proceed with a heavier anesthesia needle to poke around your head and find any areas not completely numb. When they find an area that is not yet numb, this also stings and hurts a bit, and feels like ... well a needle poking into you head. I probably had about 20 little pricks and additional anesthesia shots injected which is not fun, but you are already 50% numb in these spots from the prior punch gun anesthesia and its MUCH BETTER than finding out an area is not numb at some point later in the procedure when they are extracting grafts. They are generous and thorough with the anesthesia which is great, because after that, the rest of the day is pain free and rather relaxing actually.
Finally, as for all the stuff related to deciding which procedure 'tool' or technique is best between micro-motors, manual punches, sapphire blades, regular blades, etc., in my opinion almost all of this is distraction and meant to confuse the customer for marketing and sales purposes. If you are on this forum, then you likely are not going to a factory line hair mill clinic anyways. Any reputable doctor you choose will have a variety of tools and use them as needed, in various sizes, depending on the unique nature and design of your procedure given your hair situation. Sure, ask them about it to make sure they use the right sized extraction and insertion tools appropriate for the thickness of your hair & grafts, but it is ot as important as making sure the grafts are not over harvested, handled carefully outside of your head, and most importantly that the hairline design and angles and placement of the slits where the grafts will be inserted are done in a thorough and appropriate manner for both density, design, & graft survival. Dr. Bicer did great with this and I had no concerns.
Ok, on to the good stuff.
Procedure #1 | Nov. 15, 2021 | 3670 Grafts | Frontal Hairline & Top of Head
Procedure #1 Pre-Op Hairline Photos - Photos of me in Blue & White Checkered Patter Shirt
Procedure #1 Immediate Post-Op Photos - Close Up Photos of Extraction Sites & Graft Placement
Looks like nasty closeups but it was all good and no problems with healing or over harvesting in this area. That being said. ~3700 grafts was a bit more than I expected and I would not recommend doing more than this in a single session. The procedure lasted from maybe 11am to 8pm with a lunch break, and by the end everyone including myself was pretty exhausted. If you need two procedures anyways as I knew I did, I'd recommend requesting the doctor roughly split the graft counts 50/50 between sessions.
Procedure #1 Results - I did not take consistently regular photos of the hair in the year following the first session, but I will try to date any good photos I find as best I can.
5 Days Later
10 Days Later
6 Weeks Post Op
4 Months Post Op - I shaved my head again 2 months post procedure, so this is only 2 months of hair growth post haircut & 4 months post operation. A few of the transplanted grafts are beginning to fill in, but the vast majority are still asleep and dormant.
7-Month Mark - Here We Go. Grafts really filling in and showing up now. Granted my hair still appears thin and scalp is visible but as mentioned before, I have extremely fine and thin hairs which made it difficult to do the transplant with as well as a bit more difficult for coverage and density. Also my hair, my scalp, and the lighting are all light colors. Apologies for the shirtless selfie photo as it was very hot and I just got back from a run.
10 Months Post-Op - Haircut trimmed up a bit more now. Cheers to good wine & new hair!!!
I hope this was helpful to those considering Dr. Bicer or to those with a hairline, hair type, and genetics like mine. Again this is only Procedure #1 and an update with Procedure #2 details and photos from August 29th 2022 will be posted shortly once I receive some of pre-operation pictures that were taken from Dr. Bicer's assistant Ozen.
Cheers Everyone & Best of Luck on Your Hair Clinic Research. And congratulations to England & France winning their world cup matches today. France is going to make a strong run for the cup I think if Mbappe keeps playing and shooting like he did today. Best goals of the tournament so far!