DDAM94

Thanks to you all for these comments, really appreciate it! Very helpful to get the thoughts of others with experience. Will continue to update on progress!

Sorry for the slow reply! Day 1 is just for check-in. I arrived late in the evening and stayed in the room beneath the clinic so I just had to collect the key from a lockbox outside the room - very straightforward. I sorted all of the documentation on the first trip that I made to Istanbul so I didn’t have to worry about this; you might be able to get this sorted on day 1 if you’re planning on doing it all in one trip.

Hi all, Hope you're all well! Sorry for disappearing, things got busy very quickly after my procedure. I'm coming up to five and a half months. I'm reattaching the before photo along with some photos taken today for the sake of comparison. Apologies the lighting and resolution is so poor; I've realised how bad my camera is and we're not getting much strong natural daylight in the UK at present. Verdict so far: in the right lighting (as you can see in the images below) I'm pleased with my result so far. Family members and friends have commented on how impressive things are looking and making the comparison to baseline is uplifting! With that said, the results look drastically different in harsher lighting and I'm really hoping that I see continued growth and hair shaft maturation over the next few months so that the results are equally impressive irrespective of lighting. At the moment the density isn't sufficient for the recipient areas to not look "see-through" in certain lighting. I've attached a second photo beneath so you can appreciate just how different the results look depending on circumstances. I feel like it's impossible to make an overall assessment until at least the one year mark (and arguably beyond this) so probably best to not judge things too much at this point. My only concern is that, unlike between months 2-5, I'm seeing far fewer new grafts emerging, but I'm hopeful that this is just because my hair is longer now making it harder to see the new hairs. I've seen plenty of significant improvements in density for others after month 5, so if the improvements continue on the trajectory they've been on over the last couple of months I expect I'll be delighted with the result. I'd really appreciate anyone's initial honest thoughts! Once it starts to get sunnier in the UK I'll try and get some photos outside for a more accurate assessment of progress. Thanks all.

Brilliant to see your one month update Dom, looks like our messages crossed! Glad to hear you're back to sports, sounds like you're well over the worst parts of it and now it's just a waiting game to see things really start to take off in a few months! I'm really looking forward to getting back to the gym as I had some exams that kept me out of there just before my procedure, and now have another month to wait. I found your pictures really reassuring as I've also got some social events around the one month mark and have been feeling equally nervous about how I'll be looking/the kind of conversations that would crop up. Seeing the length of your original hair at this point, and how the redness in your recipient areas isn't that prominent, is making me feel reassured, especially given we're both quite fair-skinned so more prone to the redness hanging around. Must be good to have most of your old coverage back - I really resonated with your comment in your original post about the getting used to the look of the pre-op shave. I kept going back and forth between feeling a bit horrified and then thinking it looked much better than I'd always imagined! Sorry about the shock loss; from what I can see from the image it doesn't look overly noticeable in the way I've seen from some other shock loss pictures. I think you'll be grand either way whether you buzz it or not, and pleased to hear Dr Biçer's given you reassurance around it. Really looking forward to seeing things start to properly kick off for you in the next few months, I'm sure it'll be happening before you know it! Let's definitely stay in touch - watching this oedema travel further down my face by the hour makes me grateful to be meeting someone who knows the struggle of the early days 😂

Hi Dom, Thanks so much for posting this review - I'm excited to see how things pan out for you as we're a similar age and I had my procedure with Dr Biçer just a couple of days ago! I just posted my review and it seems like we had similarly good experiences at the clinic so hopefully this plays out in the results over the next few months. I hope life's got largely back to normal for you now you're a few weeks in. I only got back to London yesterday but already keen to have my sleep back to normal and being able to go outside again looking a bit less battered! Daniel

Hello! First time posting despite having followed this forum for several years now! I thought it only right that I leave a review of my experience with Dr Özlem Biçer, given the enormous generosity of the forum moderators and previous patients in shedding some light on what can be a daunting and at times overwhelming process on picking the right clinic. I'm mindful that there are numerous accounts of the process at Dr Biçer’s clinic, so while this post is long, I will try and focus on my subjective account and the unique aspects of my experience rather than restating the facts of what happens. BACKGROUND I am a 29 year old from London. I started getting temporal recession in my early 20s. I decided that I would take action on this once I reached a Norwood 3 pattern and the effect on my appearance became more marked. My research on clinics spanned years, and I went through the same process that many of us do in considering various clinics all over the world. I first reached out to Dr Biçer in 2021, and her clinic stood out for the same reasons many others have posted, which are worth restating: one patient per day, heavy involvement from Dr Biçer at the most vital steps, dependable follow-up, an experienced team, and a strong track record of results. One thing that particularly stood out was how accessible Dr Biçer herself is in advance of the trip; at most of the other clinics I contacted there were often barriers in connecting to the surgeon themselves, despite them being the face of the clinic in all marketing. This was not the case with Dr Biçer, who I spoke to several times via video call before visiting with no consultation fee. The communication with the team has been consistently good throughout. PRE-SURGERY TRIP Due to some historical issues with my bloods in the UK (bizarrely I occasionally get false positive HIV results on sexual health screens) I was eager to make sure that there were no unanticipated results that could get in the way of the scheduled surgery and make for a wasted trip. Dr Biçer and I therefore made the decision for me to make an initial trip to Istanbul two months in advance of the surgery to get my bloods done, sort the paperwork and meet the team. The clinic made special arrangements for more advanced HIV testing at a nearby hospital so that they had confirmation that I was HIV negative. Despite this meaning I had to make an additional trip, I appreciated the individualised approach, and I think this reflects well on Dr Biçer’s concern for the safety of her patients and team. A pre-surgery trip isn’t by any means necessary for most, but it was great to visit this fantastic city, to meet the team, and to sort forms/bloods ahead of the main event. SURGERY TRIP I stayed in an AirBnB which was kindly suggested and organised by Özen, Dr Biçer’s fantastic patient coordinator. I would highly recommend this and it seems not much has been written on it in previous posts. It is in the same building that the procedure takes place in and is spacious, containing: a living room (complete with kitchen area); a bedroom with a large double bed that can comfortably sleep two; and a bathroom with a shower. Pictures below. There is air con in the living room which is sufficient to keep the bedroom cool. Being close to the clinic makes a huge difference after a tiring day of surgery, and gives an added sense of security. I recommend bringing some snacks and all of the toiletries you need with you; a member of the clinic team brings breakfast at 8:30am, and you will get lunch on the day of the procedure, but you will need to provide for yourself at other times or discuss with the clinic for other options. The factual details of the procedure have been outlined at length in other posts; I would recommend @DomTransplant's recent post as I found this to be a very helpful, up-to-date and comprehensive account. In terms of my subjective experience: I found the pain very tolerable; someone in a previous post described it as feeling like having a thick elastic band being ‘pinged’ repeatedly against your head (~4/10 pain); I found this to be a very accurate description. It is certainly nothing to get in the way of going ahead with the procedure. My procedure lasted from 10am - 6:30pm. This is a long time to be lying down, but as an able-bodied person with no musculoskeletal problems this was very tolerable, particularly given you are regularly asked to switch positions. Every step of the procedure was clearly explained, and though not all of the staff are fluent in English, their English is sufficient to convey all of the important instructions and to regularly check on your wellbeing. I was very happy with Dr Biçer’s level of involvement, both inside and outside of the surgery itself. She repeatedly checks if you have any questions and provides information/reassurance where necessary. INSIGHTS/ADVICE Some additional thoughts with corresponding advice: I really can’t emphasise enough how important it is to choose a clinic with strong ethical principles that puts patient safety and continuity of care at the core of its practice; Dr Biçer’s clinic is arguably one of the best clinics in Turkey in this respect. Prior to contacting Dr Biçer, I booked with one of the much larger hair transplant clinics that has an incredibly slick social media presence and premises; the deciding factor for me in changing my mind was when I asked for a list of medications they would be using for the transplant. It turned out that they were planning to use a medication which was contraindicated for me given another medication I was taking at the time, despite me having told them about my medications. It was only because I am soon to graduate as a medical doctor that I knew that this could have had potentially serious cardiac complications for me. When I pointed this out it was revealed they hadn't properly consulted the doctor about this, and after a lengthy back and forth it quickly became apparent that they didn't understand the associated risks. The bottom line is to please be careful, even if you don’t have pre-existing conditions and even if the clinic looks professional on the surface. Hair transplants are usually very safe, but you want to make sure you’re in the right hands, and the glamour of a clinic really does not correlate well with the most important factors around patient safety and staff education/experience. It's clear that all of the staff at the Dr Biçer's clinic have an exceptional commitment to their job. The patient co-ordinator, Özen, was particularly helpful; it often felt as if she was on call 24/7, answering messages within minutes-hours the majority of the time. However, do keep in mind she receives hundreds of messages every day. 99% of the time this does not cause any issues, as she seems to have a superhuman ability to juggle this, but do be proactive in reaching out as early as possible if there’s anything that’s unclear or hasn’t yet been discussed/organised. Don’t leave such things to the last minute as this can cause problems. Additionally, in retrospect, I would have asked for all of the pre-surgery paperwork to be sent over to me via email to read before attending the clinic. There is A LOT of information conveyed in the documents (somewhere in the region of ~40 pages, from memory) and you have to sign every page. Given this is a serious procedure, I think it is worth spending a good chunk of time reading over the materials and clarifying anything you’re putting your signature to; I did this at the clinic on my initial trip to Istanbul described above. However, there is a lot packed into the standard three day trip, so if you can at least familiarise yourself with it all in advance before signing it in the clinic, I would recommend this. Finally, it is important to be aware (as noted in the offer letter) that the graft number based on your photos before the trip is a prediction, and the final numbers will be jointly decided between you and Dr Biçer only after your head has been shaved on the day of the procedure. Any additional grafts agreed upon at that point are likely to come at an extra cost, added to the initial amount. Do be prepared for this, especially if you have had significant hair loss progression since receiving your first offer from the clinic. Personally, it did make me feel a little bit vulnerable to discuss increases in the cost just before the procedure, because this introduces some level of uncertainty as to what the final price will be. However, the rationale around being able to best decide on graft numbers after shaving makes sense. Just be prepared for this, and ideally come prepared to be slightly flexible with payment in order to maximise the quality of the outcome. FUTURE PLANS I am not taking finasteride or minoxidil. For me personally, the potential risks associated with 5α-reductase inhibitors like finasteride and dutasteride outweigh the benefits. I may retry minoxidil to preserve my existing hair, but have experienced dizziness with this in the past. I will therefore almost certainly need repeat procedures, assuming the research pipeline for androgenetic alopecia doesn’t deliver any miracles in the next few years. Dr Biçer told me that my donor capacity is excellent and that she expects a great result, so assuming all turns out well with this first procedure, I will return in the future so that we can continue to collaborate on a long term management plan. PRELIMINARY VERDICT My experience with Dr Biçer and her team has been very positive thus far. Of course any HT review isn’t half complete without an end result, so I intend to update this regularly to track progress and come to a final conclusion in a year’s time. With that said, if the results match the quality of the experience so far, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her clinic to anyone who is looking for a highly skilled, kind and ethical team. Thank you to everyone on the forum who has contributed to this being such a valuable resource; I would have felt completely bewildered without it! If you have any questions, please fire away. Thanks, Daniel