Mak Sergejev

Hey, thanks for you answer. What type of specialist do I go to, to check for these things. Whom do I go to, to ask for Finasteride prescription anyways, does this fall under GP? I was thinking to go to Dermatologist that could monitor change in my folicule perhaps, not sure if that makes sense?

How long after the surgery should alcohol and cigarettes be avoided. I do not mean getting hammered drunk and smoking 2 packs, but occasional beer or 2-3 glasses of wine and one-two cigarettes here and then. I do understand the logic of "the more you abstain the higher your chances, so just dont do it bro", but being realistic, there will have to be some compromise after few weeks, so I just need to understand what time period is an absolute red zone, and where are things considered ok in moderation.

I can only say that for me Minoxidil resulted in quite a noticeable initial regrowth (started ca 5 years ago), but with years the progress reduced and I lost most of that hair. I know its anecdotal evidence, but fits into the narrative. I started topical finesteride alongside this year but not much noticable progress tbh.

After trying topical finesteride without any noticable difference after 5 months, I would like to try oral, just to see how do I react. This is also prior to FUE procedure I am having in November since, as I understood, it reduces the risks of shock loss, and would therefor want to start using it now. Dr. Bicer told me to check certain things in my blood as well as sperm count, before and after the Finesteride use, but I did not write down what exactly should be measured. Does anyone here have experience with that, what is affected by Finesteride that might be relevant to measure? Which practitioners are the ones that I should turn to regarding this anyways? What is an appropriate amount of time to wait after the start of use to go for a check up?

Sorry it took some time for me to respond. I have made a summary of results I found on different forums regarding Sahingolu and also I have spoke with Dr. Bicer about him, after I decided in the end to go to her. She said they are good friends and that he is indeed a very good and qualified surgeon with many year of experience, which is something I never really doubted in the first place. Since a lot of patients go to Sahinoglu thru Mr. Clemens Weber from Germany, there are several german forums where one can find reviews of his work. What I initially liked about him, but eventually pushed me more in the direction of Bicer, was the fact that he does very conservative hairline designs, and does not generally do transplant of more then 3500-4000 grafts. He also doesn't prescribe people Finesteride, but claims that he does hairline design that doesn't rely on it. (I never understood what does that exactly mean). I found this approach quite good and reassuring, however I found in turn some of his results to be not so striking of a difference. On one hand, internet is full of these ridiculously exaggerated before/after photos, and its nice to have some honest and realistic photos, but I would still like to see some rather noticeable difference after 3000-3500 transplanted grafts. I think he is very ethical surgeon with many years of experience, certainly not a hairmill, and also think he is in that mid-category pricewise between cheap and expensive. (not a hairmill, but still 1€ less per graft then e.g. Dr. Bicer) I attach the file where I summarized some of the results, mostly to ask for friends opinion, therefor there is complete lack of structure. Hope you can make some sense out of it. Also, I hope this is ok regarding people who's results are in the presentation such as user BaldBobby from this forum. Otherwise I will remove. There is some more results I found but had no time to put it in there. EDIT: I cannot attach .pptx but you can text me and I will send you privately.

I have been wondering, what is a good and reliable source for topical Dutasteride? There have been many discussion about relevance of the source (how is mixing the solution), what is the agent - is it gel or liquid etc. I got recommended FUE clinic, however, there have also been some debate about their services being a bit shady. Any opinions/recommendations on this?

I looked into some of the options from the list and in my personal research I have seen a few bad experiences with doctors on the list whereas with Sahinoglu I haven't yet found one, tho admittedly overall number of people I spoke with is about 10 or bit less. (or experiences I read) What I dislike a bit about results I found, even though I appreciate his conservative approach to hairline design and avoiding larger procedures, difference in before-after is never very striking and I wonder if I would be content with it. Some mid-ground is what I would aim for and I am considering to go to Bicer. Dr. Yaman gives me fairly less confidence then Sahinoglu to be perfectly honest, based on what I read, and he is on the cheaper end then him.

That is certainly true to some extent, eventhough partly I got in contact with Dr. Sahinoglu in the first place because of all above mentioned, and I liked his "conservative" attitude towards designing hairlines. He prefers moderate sessions and opts for hairline design that wont be very striking but also would age better with progressive hairloss (since he is not a big proponent of finesteride). I came very naive into the whole story, and was offered much cheaper options then Sahingolu (he would be about 5000€ for around 3000 grafts), but luckily started to investigate and now few months later am glad for averting potential catastrophes, but still in decision phase whether or not to go for him as an option. He certainly is not a hair mill, and is possibly a good doctor that hasn't been so hyped yet, and this brought me to this forum (and few others), where I try to read more about his work and come in contact with his former patients. Everyone I managed to reach so far was quite content (6-12 months later most of them). I am a bit frustrated that HRNS doesnt allow new members to directly message other members as long as they dont reach 10 posts or more, as I found a few of his former patients here that I would like to ask for their opnions. I understand that the point of this is to prevent spam, but also prevents me of reaching quite valuable information at this point. But sorry, its a bit off topic

Also, I have read that there is no standardized definition of what does a punch size mean. Some sources I stumbled upon say that different doctors/clinics will refer to different diameters (either outer or inner). I would post images I found from Dr. Sahinoglu's patients I have found on other forums, where people commented on the large punch size, but I am not sure if it is inline with the forum guideliness.

Thank you for your answers. I was hoping of discussing with doctor going to 0.8-0.85 mm but not sure if that would make significant effect. I have a very thin and weak hair, therefor I somehow believe that there might be no reason to use same punch size for me as for someone with thicker, stronger hair. On the other hand, if the doctor is used to using 0.9mm punch size, perhaps he is not as skilled with lower punch sizes, hence insisting on it might result on higher transaction rates. Based on your comments, I perhaps just stick to 0.9mm.

Hi HRNS, Here goes my first post... I am about to undergo my first FUE procedure and I am naturally quite nervous about it, and the more I read, the more I am concerned about the scarring. My hair is quite weak and light, and I am of quite pale complexion, which could be good for the reasons of contrast but still might leave scars easier exposed. In anycase, I have opted to undergo my surgery with Dr. Kayihan Sahinoglu in Turkey, as he does 1 patient per day, personally performs majority of the procedure, opts for more conservative hairlines and has many years of experience behind him (member of ABHRS). One thing that I found a bit concerning while researching his work (not much available) is that pictures put online by his former patients all display pretty large punches. While speaking with the doctor, he informed me the punch size is 0.8mm on the sides and 0.9mm on the back. He claims that this has proven to work the best in his experience, maximizing the graft survival compared to lower punches. His attitude was also "Do you plan to cut your hair short, e.g. undercut? No? Well, then you shouldnt really be concerned." I find it a bit overly nonchalant of a comment, considering its possible scarring for life, and was contemplating to either continue my search for other options or negotiating with him to use the lower punch sizes. I dont want to argue with 20+ years of experience, but in the end it is the trade-off I perhaps wish to go for. Or perhaps I shouldnt cause given the higher graft survival rate, I might never have a need to really go short, which renders doctors comment valid to some extent. (P.S. most of his patients I managed to contact personally never seen the donor area with short cut)

I agree. I also wonder why does Sahinoglu register as Hair Mill. I chose him for my upcoming FUE procedure as imo he ticks of a lot of boxes for being relatively thrust-worthy choice. He seems to have a lot of experience behind him (order of magnitude 20 years), done several thousand surgeries, does one-patient-per-day approach, personally does 75% of the work (extractions and incision I think), allegedly works with few same assistants for a very long time, opts for very conservative hairlines and smaller number of grafts per session and, I guess least relevant, but still a bit reassuring - is member of ABHRS. I also personally contacted some of his former patients whom I found on the german forums, to ask about their experience, and still have not hear any bad comment. Most of them are 6 months to 1 year in post-surgery. Only thing that put me off a bit was his attitude of not prescribing Finesterid to patients, due to his bad personal experience with it, and justifying it by doing "very onservative hairlines". I failed to understand how can this really compensate for progressive hair loss after the procedure. Other then that he uses imo relatively large punch size (think it is 0.9mm , and I am quite concerned about the scarring). This is what I figured out about him in my limited research, but would be very happy if someone could provide me with another information and angles on this.

I opted for Sahinoglu based on things I read about him and would really appreciate if I get some feedback on him from his former patients.

I am going to have an FUE procedure with Sahinoglu end of March and would be very curious to hear your opinions now when enough time has passed. I am also quite concerned about the scarring, especially since he seems to use quite high punch size. Did you get to see you donor area scarring by now?

Are you talking about Pekiner or Sahinoglu?