Shawnintheusa

3 months

profess is coming in fast.  This past month saw a lot of growth and I still feel a ton of little spikey hairs growing out of my scalp.  Even with the minimal crown work Dr. Yaman did, the crown is coming in nice.

My left side temple area saw a lot of ingrown hairs and I couldn’t help but to mess with some of them.  They finally cleared up and the hairs are coming in.  The right side had no issues.

I am excited for the upcoming months 

Check out my other thread, im posting progress there

10 weeks

Reading online vs taking doctors recommendations…

can’t blame yaman if directions aren’t followed bud 

13 hours ago, diegoyrenny said:

Any cobblestone? Ive seen other cases of his here were some people are having this issue

None on my end 

31 minutes ago, Reina said:

Happy growing. Great description of the whole experience with the clinic. It will help other members who are looking to have a hair transplant with dr yaman. How many grafts did dr yaman propose for the second hair transplant ? Also can you tell us the cost of your hair transplant ?

Thanks, hoping for the best!

the second transplant will be same amount of grafts, another 4000-5000 with a good portion of it coming from the beard.

Cost was what most others have mentioned here, $3250.

Did this doctor tell you it was ok to put clippers to your hair and shave it after 9 days?  
 

it seems that your skin healed when you let your hair grow and thus the irritation went away.  So it’s doubtful it would come back after just one shave/trim.

if you keep shaving/trimming it the way you do over the course of the next few weeks and the irritation doesn’t come back, then I think it might be fair to say there was an issue with the prior doctor.

If the bumps and irritation come back, maybe you should seriously consider giving the shaving/trimming a break as many others have suggested.

TLDR

Surgeon: Dr. Yaman

Surgery Date: Feb. 10, 2024

Number of Grafts: 4,570

• Single: 870 units
• Double: 2240 Units
• Triple: 1460 Units

Overall experience:  Great doctor and experience, would recommend

Hey everyone,

so this is my review of the surgery and experience with Dr. Yaman.  It’s a bit lengthy, but I think Dr. Yaman and the clinic deserve a round of applause and proper acknowledgement for such a pleasant experience.

I have been researching doctors for a couple of years and one thing that was clear to me was that I knew I wanted my procedure to have doctor involvement on some level.  Knowing that Dr. Yaman was involved in the incision process of the surgery, which is the most crucial step in my opinion,  and seeing countless results on this forum and other places of his work, I knew I would be in good hands and felt comfortable enough to finally book my appointment.  As mentioned, I have been researching this process for a couple years and have been communicating with Dr. Yaman’s office for the past year or so.  My coordinator and liason throughout the process was Ihsan.  It seems that Ihsan and Doga are the main points of contact for consults and I got to meet both of them, both were super cool dudes.

Consult

I sent over the typical photos and waited for Dr. Yaman to give me an initial understanding of the scope of work and the number of grafts to expect.  After a little bit of back and forth between procedure options, we decided that a two-procedure approach was the best route. 

The first procedure would take care of the hairline and front to mid scalp with approximately 4200-4500 grafts. The second procedure would focus on the crown and filling in density using a mixture of remaining donor area hair and beard hair, with a graft count to be determined later.

Once I felt that I had exhausted all of my other options in terms of Doctor choices, I went ahead and booked my procedure for Feb 2024

Trip to Turkey - 2 days and day before operation

I left LAX for Istanbul on a Thursday afternoon and flew direct with Turkish Airlines.  The flight itself was uneventful, and went by pretty quick.  Had the typical food on the plane you expect that wasn’t half bad, took a small nap, and the next thing I knew I was in Turkey.

I landed on Friday, about 1pm, and the clinic sent over their driver, Toojai, who was awesome and badass.  I know I am butchering the spelling of that name, sorry!  But he was super cool, and even with a little bit of a language barrier, gave me a warm welcome to Turkey.

One thing to keep in mind is Dr. Yaman’s clinic is outside the main parts of Istanbul you see and hear about.  Given this, I spent the first night of the trip in Old Istanbul.  The remaining two nights I was there I stayed local to the clinic but chose to book my own hotel as opposed to the one offered by them.  Just a personal preference.

After getting dropped off and settling into my room, I spent the rest of Friday walking around the city a bit and taking in some of the historical sites.  It helped to ground me a bit and calm some of the nerves and anxiety I had going over there, especially given I was traveling solo.  The idea of having surgery in another country and not having anyone there got me a bit tense.

I had dinner at a local restaurant in the neighborhood and then went back to my room at Hotel Amira.  I tried to get some rest before heading to the clinic in the morning., but some of the nerves crept back so it was a bit of a sleepless night.

Operation Day

 Saturday morning came and my boy, The Toojster, came to pick me up from the hotel to take me to the clinic around 8:30am.  It was a really pretty drive and the weather was perfect so I dozed off a bit.  About a half hour later we were at Dr. Yaman’s office and I was led to the third floor of a multi-floor medical clinic.  There are different procedures being done on different levels of the clinic by other associate doctors it looked like.  The hair clinic itself was very modern and clean.  Everything was bright enough to keep you alert with good natural lighting to keep the atmosphere less hospital like.

As I waited for Dr. Yaman to show up for my consultation, Ihsan showed up and formally introduced himself and started to explain the process a bit.  There were two other people there that day with me as well, and I got to talking with one of them and his father about why we chose Dr. Yaman and our personal/friends/families experiences with different doctors in Istanbul. 

Around 9:15/9:30 the man himself, Dr. Yaman, showed up and said hello to everyone and that is when I had my in-person consult with him. 

We went through my hair, looking at and speaking of the donor area and and measured my hair thickness.  We touched on the hairline and a list of other questions I had for him.  Each time he answered them thoroughly, patiently and in well spoken English.  Even if at times the right words couldn’t be expressed, he exuded enough confidence in his approach and answers to my questions to leave me no reason to second guess the procedure.

I got all my questions settled, settled on an initial hairline design and then we all clapped our hands and broke out of the of the office as if we were a finely tuned NFL offense ready to score a touchdown.

I was taken downstairs for a blood draw for the PRP portion of the surgery and then from there it was off to their prep room.  I changed into a surgery gown, the clippers came out to shave off the hair and then a final rinse before being led off to the operation room.

Once in the room, I met the techs that would be working with him during the procedure and I was put through some initial steps prior to the start, including getting my blood pressure checked, heart monitored and an IV line prepped for a saline drip.  They had to stick me a couple of times to get a vein, felt like the techs struggled a bit and werent too familiar with how to find a vein.  I could also have been dehydrated, who knows.

The tests wrapped up and then Dr. Yaman came in and reviewed the results.  He gave the all clear, proceeded to draw the final hairline, reviewed it with me and another aesthetician that was there, got my approval and off we went to start the procedure.

I was given a Xanax to calm my nerves a bit, they put on some Turkish music and from there Dr. Yaman gave the initial numbing shots into the hairline and scalp.  These shots weren’t as bad as the ones that came in the back of my head later on, but I am sure at this point that everyone is sensitive in their own ways to them.

I started to drift in and out of sleep as he went through the PRP and then the incisions.  And before I knew it, that part of the procedure was done.  From here, the techs took over, and had me turn over and lay face down, they proceeded to give me those painful shots into the back of the head that I mentioned.  I did have to grit my teeth a little bit and take some deep breaths but after about 30 seconds or so, everything went numb and it was just pressure I felt.

What I really liked about the way they gave their shots was that they constantly check to make sure I was pain-free in any spot they were going to operate on, injecting more where they needed to.

When I was sufficiently numb, they started to begin the extraction from the donor area.  About 20 minutes or so through this part of the procedure, I started to get uncontrollably itchy on my face, probably a reaction to some of the meds, or maybe even the Xanax that I took. I was moving so much that it was affecting the techs ability to properly extract, so I had them stop and we called in Dr. Yaman to check out the situation.  He ended up giving me an antihistamine and within a couple minutes I was calm, and we continue the extraction.  

Once the extractions were done, they applied the bandages and they gave me a decent lunch that included chicken skewers, rice, and a salad.

The final part of the operation came after once I was all wrapped up with eating, as I went back into the operation room to begin the implanting phase of the donor hair.  The techs had the hair sorted and ready to go, and this portion of the procedure took about two hours or so before all was said and done.  Throughout the entire time the techs were working on me, Dr. Yaman came in multiple times to check in on me and the work that was being done. I had no doubt that he was overseeing his techs me with the same he has himself.

Once it was all done, he came in for the final look of the procedure, and he ended up remarking that it looked much better than he had even hoped it would.  They gave me all the time I needed to recover, got me changed, and The Toojster took me to the hotel that I would be staying at the rest of the trip, the Wyndham Grand Istanbul.

Post Op Day 1

Sunday morning I was picked back up and taken over to the clinic for my first washing. The clinic has no operations on Sunday, so it was pretty quiet. The office staff proceeded to give me my first wash and then the medicines that I would need.  They walked me through step-by-step on how to wash my hair and the regimen of medicine.  I have to say one thing not mentioned enough on here is how tender the donor area is during the first wash.  It definitely caught me off guard and was one of the more uncomfortable parts of the entire process.

We took another round of pictures and I was out of the office about 45 minutes after I got there.  I spent the rest of the day out near Taksim Square and then called it another early night.

Post Op Day 2

Monday morning was very much the same as the day before.  The clinic was a bit busier but I was taken back for my second and final wash.  As I waited, Dr. Yaman came in and gave a Quick Look at my scalp and said everything looked great and that he wished me good luck and was looking forward to seeing me again next year.  And just like that, the legend was off to save the day for other patients. 

Once my second wash was all wrapped up, I said my goodbyes to the staff and we made the final trip through the city and to the airport.  I gave the Toojster a final dap and hug, and we said we would see each other in 12-18 months when I’m back for Round 2.

Six Weeks Post-Op

Just over five weeks since the operation and a lot has transpired.  My hair has shed a lot and the shedding started heavy around the 2-3 week.  It felt out fast and strong but the shedding also stopped pretty quick.  I didn't have any significant issues, no major pain or pimples, but I did have some scabs that took a while to come off.  My donor area did feel like I had a really bad sunbrun for a while as the skin was super tight.  I do get tingling sensations on my scalp from time to time, but I am sure those will subside over time as well.  I did use some hydrocortisone cream on my donor area after 4 weeks and it helped tremendously with the itching and the donor healing.

The biggest issue I faced during recovery was the swelling on my head and in my face.  It slowly worked its way down my face, to the point of having two black eyes.  That started around day 4 and lasted 3 days.

As of today, my hair is starting to fill back in and I see a lot of little hairs that I hope will sprout into proper size.  I still get the occasional itching on the scalp, but I try my best not to scratch the itch, can't say I am always successful in not doing it, but I dont see to have done any damage yet.  My left side is definitely lagging behind the right, and I am for sure anxious over the potential results, but nothing to do besides sit back and let these bad boys grow.

Overall Procedure Experience

I have to say the entire experience was much more than I could have asked for, especially given all then nerves I had.  I never felt like a number with Dr. Yaman and always felt like someone was looking out for me.  It’s really hard for me to find fault in anything they did and time will tell with results.

I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Dr. Yaman to anyone considering a hair transplant in Turkey.  I know his price may seem budget, but his work is top tier.  I think others, including Melvin, have mentioned he is under priced for the level of detail and care.

Hopefully I’ve covered most of everything, I would love to hear thoughts and comments from everyone.  I am also willing to answer any and all questions you guys might have, hopefully I can convince some of you out there on the fence that the journey is worth it!

Thanks everyone, wish me luck! I’ll keep you all updated with progress pics!

Pre-Op Pics

Post-Op Pics

1-day Post Op

2-days Post Op

1-week Post Op

2-weeks Post Op

3-weeks Post Op

1 Month Post Op

5-weeks Post Op (Current)

My god…

58 minutes ago, Jakefromstatefarm said:

Hey how you been? I believe I ran into you at Yaman's and had surgery the same day on Feb 10. I tried messaging you so we could keep in touch with updates but the website doesn't allow me to send messages for some reason. The bumps I was seeing was a false alarm so I think we're good for now 

Hey bud!

I figured I’d run into you on here 😂 

good to know on the false alarm.  I’m coming along great, but I’ll post a detailed review after the first month

On 2/22/2024 at 2:53 PM, Jakefromstatefarm said:

Awesome results. I'm on my day 12 and went to Yaman as well. I feel like I'm starting to see small bumps and I'm freaking out it might be cobblestones. Did your bumps get better? And how early did you start noticing the bumps? Also are you using fibers in your most recent update?

What day was your surgery with Dr yaman??

2 hours ago, Z-- said:

Middle Eastern here as well with diffuse thinning like yourself and same loss pattern. My advice is to avoid lowering the hairline. Work in a way that is conservative and plan for 2 / 3 surgeries. I'd probably go fewer grafts in your fast pass. Maybe 3 - 4k just to see how it would grow.

Have you had a transplant?

Hi everoyne

My surgery with Dr. Yaman is in one week, super nervous but excited to get it done.

here is an updated picture of my donor.  

From the back it definitely looks like the Oral minoxidil is working, my hair has thickened.  I last cut my hair on October 30 and have let it grow out since.  I’ve trimmed about an inch from the back and side because it’s got super long.

I am hoping the hair gods are on my side and I get some good results!

Btw, my hair is wet in these photos

23 hours ago, patronovski said:

Thank you and also other members for their replies. 
 

Yes i went to the clinic months before the surgery, but back then they said that i would need 1000 grafts to add density. I was like no way i am gonna do that. Because i didnt want to waste my donor just for the hairline only. Remeber, i already did 2400 grafts in turkey for the hairline.

Couple months later, my hair grew more and more. It was also thicker. This time, i send them a photo via email (so no personal consult) and they said that now i only need 300-400 grafts based on the photos of course. This was like 12 months after my first surgery. 400 grafts sounded reasonable and i could have that. 

As for the graft count and price, yes i did pay the jackpot, because they will open the surgery room only for surgeries above 500 grafts. Otherwise it is not profitable. They normaly charge like 4-6 euros per graft. In my case, i needed 300. So they offered me a fixed minimum price, which is 2000 euros. That means that you can implant 300 grafts or 10 grafts, doesn t matter. You pay the same base price. 

Like i said, initial plan was to implant 300, but at surgery date we decided to implant 150 due the low survival chance, so it was like a test. If the clinic told me this before, i would never book a date for surgery, because this was realy new information on surgery day. My hair didnt look to bad and i would never take that risk  i did take it now because i already took days off from work and traveled to belgium and was mentaly prepared for it.

Dr. Bisanga did a good job with the extraction as you can see, very spaced out. But my initial idea was not to take from the sides, because the hairs on my sides are very thin and also lacks density. I had always this problem. So every hair you take from that area counts. Its all about ratio, you can take 10 grafts from an area and create a patchy look if that area only has 15 hairs for example. So its all about ratio. Dr Bisanga wanted to take from those places, because those places were not touched during the first surgery.

In my right side there is 1 bald spot where they took 50 grafts. The left side is even worse, they took 100 grafts and it looks very patchy now. My hair doenst grow dense there as compared to the back, which results in a weird haircut. The barber cannot do much about this, only trim it shorter. But then, the patchiness of my back donor will be visible. I cannot go lower then 6mm clipper  

i am very worried now. An yes, i do apply topical minoxidil twice a day. I also take hair vitamines. 

You guys think this is an easy fix with body hair? I realy dont dare to take any scalp hair to repair this. I am afraid it would create the same problem elsewhere on the scalp.

i realy hope this is a shockloss, but my experience with the first surgery says it isn t. Because after the first surgery, the clinic also said it was shockloss for my back donor. But it never grew back. If i trim the back with 6mm or lower, you see the patchiness. Thats why i keep my hair long now. 
 

PS: yes, the hair is longer on the before photo, because i did go to the barber because of the crazy look. They shaved the sides and back, and the top was too long compared to the rest. i did look like Bad Pit from the movie Fury. The barber took a little off from the top to reduce the crazy look. 

Thank you all again. I will keep you updated with new photos. And if this will not get better in 3 months, i think i need to fix this with BHT. 

Be patient young Daniel son 

Which model of the neck pillow did you buy??

11 hours ago, Random27 said:

 

• You need a REALLY good neck pillow as it’s tough to sleep for the few days post surgery without one. There were a couple other people who were getting their wash done at the same time as me and they were complaining about the quality of the neck pillow provided by the clinic. I was recommended the Cabeau neck pillow by someone and thought it was fantastic

On 1/2/2024 at 5:04 PM, Kamran10 said:

Shawn, 

age mitoni  Shomarato email bede behem 

kamran.ak1366@gmail.com

Barat ferestadam 

Alright everyone, after a lot of back and forth, I ended up finalizing my procedure with Dr. Yaman in Istanbul.  My gut jut said to go that route.

I also decided to go with the original two HT route, with the first HT in Feb 2024 for 4500-5000 graft and a follow up procedure 12-18 months down the road if all goes well for an additional 2500 grafts or so.

I am super jittery and nervous already, but excited to get this done.

13 hours ago, Kamran10 said:

Shawn , how many session and grafts did eugenix recommended . Zang zadam behet . Payam Gerefti? 

5500 grafts over three days

1 hour ago, Kamran10 said:

Shawn , I’m living in California too , can I send you a message in PV . Maybe we can share some thoughts in this journey ? I’m not sure how I’m able to send private message in this froum 

55 minutes ago, Kamran10 said:

Shawn , I’m living in California too , can I send you a message in PV . Maybe we can share some thoughts in this journey ? I’m not sure how I’m able to send private message in this froum ? 

Hi Kamran,

I don’t  think we can message each other in private due to forum restrictions from moderators.

8 hours ago, Kamran10 said:

Shawn, 

im NW6 and kinda have your situation , the past few months I have done a lot of research and actually I had to cancel my ticket to Turkey because I realized that many of the clinics are not specialized in high Norwood and they are good for Norwood 4 and below. I have seen some impressive results  on YouTube on Norwood 6 from Indian clinics such as Eugenix , DHT (regrow clinic ) , and new roots hair transplant center.I have seen people talks about Eugenix but not sure if all packages are good . Top tire Drs , Dr Pittella and zarev are extremely expansive and I have heard their waiting list is plus +1 to 2 yrs . 

Yup sounds about right.  The doctors in Turkey don’t usually deal with high Norwood cases.  Dr. Yaman has a couple of high Norwood cases, but if I’m going to spend 5-6k to have a couple of sessions done in turkey, I’d rather spend the same and go to Eugenix where they specialize in this kind of thing.

all Eugenix packages have doctors that do the important channeling and hairline planning/hair design.  The only difference between the packages is the skill experience of the doctors.

the current doctor for their comprehensive package, which is their entry level, is Dr. Vinita Dubey.  I did some forum searching and she def has some cases on here, but I don’t see any high Norwood cases on the forum for her yet, maybe I’m overlooking?

in any event, I had a long conversation with their office about their methods and procedure and was blown away by even the initial contact and level of care.  It’s like pulling teeth to get a Turkish clinic to get on a phone call and give you details.  

That definitely was not the case with Eugenix.  They encourage you to ask questions and implore you to really look at options before making a decision on who to go with, even if it’s not their clinic.

in any event, I’m definitely leaning more towards Eugenix at this point.  Trying to get my finances lined up to make it happen.

On 12/14/2023 at 12:17 AM, Gatsby said:

How long have you been on finasteride? I would give it at least one year to see how well you benefit from the drug. 4,500 grafts will not be enough for a Norwood 6. You need to plan for the future. You really are looking at Dr Pitella or Dr Sethi. I can't see you achieving your goals without utilizing your beard grafts.

I had a long conversation with Eugenix today.  They def go further than the Dr. Yaman’s office in terms of explaining the procedure, process and potential results.

I am starting to lean towards going to Eugenix, but can only afford the entry level package with their newer doctors.

would you recommend sticking with Yaman or entrusting a newer doctor at Eugenix?

4 hours ago, mr_peanutbutter said:

dr.yaman is a good budget option but has dr.yamam provided good norwood 7 results? i know eugenix and pittella definitely have

I’ve seen good Norwood 6 results, don’t think I’ve come across any Norwood 7 cases from him yet 

2 hours ago, Bald47 said:

Thank you, I am very pleased with his work. 

i am contemplating the same two day surgery, was the cost the same regardless of graph count? May I ask how much you ended up paying?