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Showing results for 'Dr. Robert True'.
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Good question and post. I've certainly seen a number of top clinics and doctors essentially say that they can accurately guess by microscopically examining the donor zone at a certain age/level of baldness. There was a case with H&W (I think on here) ages ago with this being debated heavily and replies from Dr. Hasson saying as much. I think for the most part, it's probably true, providing that whenever they looked at your follicles under magnification, there had been enough time for androgen activity to visibly affect them. The point is that, no one just starts balding at X age unless there is some sort of epigenetic trigger. For MPB, whatever follicles on your head are genetically programmed to be affected by it, they will begin to be chopped away at from the day you start puberty and androgens began to flood into your body. People just notice it by a certain age as it took that long for their density in said area to drop by 30 or 40 percent (due to cumulative loss from androgen activity in the follicles AR), and now at age 35, 40, or whenever, they're thinking 'oh no, I'm going bald'. With this in mind, well, you should be able to see the signs of miniaturisation being present in all of the the follicles that are genetically susceptible as long as you don't check before there's ever been enough time for it to show up visibly. i.e. if someone is destined to be a NW4 by age 70, this would be a pretty slow progression and if you checked them at 25 years old, I'm not sure if the surgeon would really have been able to tell at that point where they were headed to. Maybe the 'damage' to (or amount the follicle has shrank or miniaturised by) at that point in time was only 5, 6 or 7 percent etc. It's probably not enough to identify these areas as being susceptible even when looking through loupes or a microscopic camera, etc. This is my theory/the way I logically see it anyways. As for the age thing as Asterix says, I personally don't think it matters so much as how early you bald as much as it matters at what speed you do (although I certainly agree that people who bald young generally *correlatively* go more bald than those who notice it later on). If you end up NW3 by 25, then those follicles were clearly very sensitive to androgens as they disappeared off your head in around 10 years pretty much. However, if you at the same time have no thinning elsewhere, or your follicles in your crown/midscalp are 100x less sensitive than your temporal ones, then you're not going to end up super bald any time soon, if ever. Conversely, someone could have all their follicles genetically susceptible to MPB in a NW7 pattern, but their sensitivity and resulting speed of loss might be 10% of the other guys follicles in the NW3 pattern. Even though the first guy was noticeably balding by 25 and the other might not even look thin at all until he's in his 40's let's say, he would go NW7 in the next few decades because all of his hairs were destined to go in the end, albeit at a slower rate, whilst the NW3 guy would still be NW3 when he began balding decades earlier.
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Hello everyone, I underwent a hair transplant from 8 to 10.03.2021 with Dr. Kaan in Ankara and am now 8 days post surgery. As a silent reader, I have been following the posts here in the forum for quite some time and have been able to gather many important insights for my own HT. In this context, I would like to share my experience report with you in order to possibly also serve as a help for others. True to the motto: Give it back to the community! Background - 26 years old - Hair loss for about 5-6 years - Medication: Minoxidil (stopped due to severe shedding and irritation), Finasteride since 2018 Why Dr. Kaan? - Expertise in donor management due to my young age - FUE including manual harvesting - Doctor takes care of all essential processes himself - Very good results in various forums (here, Alopezia, BelliCapelli) - Comprehensive consultation and analysis of my situation including previous history - Friendly and informative communication via contact person Arrival and hotel - PCR test (Corona) and complete blood count in Germany - Direct flight on 7.3.2021 via SunExpress from Düsseldorf to Ankara - Pick-up by the driver went smoothly - The hotel "Atakösk" recommended by the clinic is at most okay, but the location (maximum 200m to the clinic) is great Clinic The clinic is well equipped and very modern. It is especially nice that you are the only patient and therefore really relaxed. It is also nice that you have your "own" lounge. There are various drinks and small refreshments available for the breaks. Planning and surgery Every surgery day started at 8 am. On the first day, after a pleasant meeting with Dr. Kaan, we planned the operation. We discussed the pros and cons of various options and finally agreed on 3100-3200 grafts to fill the front and the midscalp with a density of about 50 per cm2, which decreases slightly towards the midscalp. Afterwards, the hair was shaved and the procedure began. The anaesthesia and the injections are not that bad and were easy for me to bear. The only unpleasant part was lying on my stomach while the grafts were being removed. As far as the timing is concerned, in my case about 500 grafts were taken out and then there was a short break. Then the grafts were inserted. After this procedure there was a lunch break. The food during the lunch break is good and tasty. This procedure was repeated for the next two days and was altogether more bearable than I had expected. I did not need painkillers on any of the days of the operation. Only lying around for a long time is a bit annoying, but since I often fell asleep during the operation, this was not a problem on the whole. It is also important to mention that you have the possibility to contact Dr. Kaan after each day of the operation in case of complications. Aftercare The bandage was removed, the donor was smeared with Bepanthen and saline solution was applied to the recipient. Afterwards, Dr Kaan examined me again and told me that everything looked very good. I was also given the post-operative instructions and given medication and lotion. Afterwards, I was able to ask Dr. Kaan open questions. Conclusion All in all, I felt very well looked after. I was particularly impressed by the doctor's friendly manner coupled with his expertise. The fact that only one patient is treated per day is also a great advantage in my opinion. I have the impression that Dr. Kaan sets the highest standards for himself and does everything for a good result for his patients. I am now hoping for a good result and looking forward to the coming months. I will try to update this post on a monthly basis and post transparent and honest pictures. If you have any questions, I will try to answer them as best as possible. Greetings Tug- 30 replies
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Surgery Date: October 8th 2020 Punchsize: .85mm Treated areas: Front, Top, Crown Price 1.25 per graft Medication: Fin (2+ years) Supplement: Biotin (started a month after surgery) Minoxidil: No This forum has helped me so it’s only fitting I write up a decent and honest review of my experience. When looking for a doctor I was looking for one one in my budget as well as a doctor who put out consistent results. Doctor Demirsoy checked off a few of my boxes with budget, consistency, as well as performing most of the surgery. Also what stood out was he does one surgery a day and has been doing this for over 20 years. I knew going into this more then likely I wasn’t going to get mind blown results. For starters most of my work was being done on the hairline and he’s far from being a hairline king. He’s also very conservative with his hairline approach a little bit to much for my personal liking but I did speak to him before his surgery and told him exactly what I wanted. Also most of his results aren’t over the top amazing. There consistent but most are not grand slam caliber. When drawing the hairline Demirsoy drew up a very conservative hairline and I was like yeah I didn’t travel all the way here for my hairline barely to move. He lowered the hairline and I told him I wanted a rounded hairline no V shape. He made some adjustments I noticed that the marker was a little bit off on one side but I assumed that would be corrected. Instead of a high dense pack hairline, he recommended it to be spread out so I don’t have areas of my hair being inconsistent in terms of density which made sense. Surgery went fine nothing really to report. After surgery I went to use the bathroom I noticed that my left side of the hairline/temple was un-even. I told the doctor as well as his assistant and he pretty much dismissed it quickly. Didn’t even check. He said it’s from the swelling. I took the doctor’s word and didn’t push it any further. After a few weeks go by and the swelling is gone can’t help to notice the uneven hairline. I reached out to the doctors assistant he tried explaining it but I wasn’t really buying what he said. Some will say natural hairlines are a lot of times uneven. Which is true however I’m paying for this and I didn’t want a uneven hairline. With one side rounded and the other one not. It bothered me still does but no point of getting annoyed over spilled milk as there were other issues to follow. Anyway then came the waiting game. During this time I suffered and I mean SUFFERED from Neuralgia. Wow barely could sleep. Barely could get comfortable. Shock waves thru my body. This lasted about 2-3 weeks. If your experiencing this. Take B3 vitamins. I was using baby shampoo and then switched to Nizoral because the dandruff was intensifying. This stuff works immediately. My dandruff was gone in just a matter of a week or two. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. From first pre surgery to currently. Majority of pictures are taken with me coming out of the shower so my hair is wet. Maybe I was expecting too much from one surgery? I don’t know I’ve seen post with people with a lot less hear getting much better results. Maybe I thought I had a more hair then I really did have? Maybe I needed a second surgery regardless? Or is doctor Demirsoy just a mediocre doctor with Mediocre results? This was doctor Demirsoy response as I was not pleased with the density in the front. “ The donor area hairs can be effected from dht. The low yield can be low because of this .after the transfer of the hairs it can be that some of the hairs not survive .Under the skin sometimes can be a lower blood circulation which not support the transplanted grafts 100%. it must be thicken on a second surgery ,he can help you by making a second session . Sometimes finasteride not works 100% and it can be that the hair loss still continue .If you wouldn’t use probably the hair loss would continue rapidly. The front can be thicken on a second session .It is possible to increase the density on a second session. “ I didn’t even respond back. Would never go back. -
Summary (because this review is long): Today is the 9th day after the surgery. I am very pleased with the Dr. Diep and her staff (so far.) Let's start with surgery info: Surgeon: Dr. Diep MHTA Clinic at Los Gatos, California Surgery Date: 11/12/2020 Procedures (graft): FUE (1411) + FUT (1211) Myself: Asian in my 50's with NW4 to 4.5. Start losing my hair since early 20's. Never take any med, tropical, roller, special shampoo, or anything for hair treatment (just too lazy to care.) My hair never give me trouble at work or dating. Live in the Bay Area and 20 miles from Dr. Diep's office. Reason on Dr. Diep: I have been following Dr. Diep's YouTube channel for more than 2 years and am impressed with the results. I also read a lot of reviews here and I don't see any justification for me to travel during Covid to see other doctors. My #1 requirement is not to screw up. #2 is nature hairline with good density at the front. I actually don't give a damn about the back since neither I can see it in the mirror nor I talk to others with the back of my head. Anyway, I decided Dr. Diep is the best fit for me. Cost: I was first quote $17k to perform 2K FUE to fill the front during the zoom consultation with Dr. Diep. When I got to the office, Dr. Diep was worry that I would not be happy with the density and suggest to go up to 2250 grafts. Since I am not a 1%er, I would like to stick with my original budget (I also heard Divorce is very expensive.) Dr. Diep then suggested to fill my front with FUE+FUT for $17k. Since I actually was undecided about FUE or FUT, I liked the suggestion. The Day of the surgery: Arrived at 7:30am shape. The office is at the very nice part of the Bay Area and is much bigger than I thought. The nurse then had me to fill out a bunch of forms that I read two weeks prior (same time the full payment was due.) I then chit chat with Dr. Diep for about 20 minutes about the surgery (procedure, med, and time), work, and also family. Btw, Dr. Diep is younger than me and I beat him on having much older children. Felt good since I likely retire sooner than him. The tech then lead me to a large surgical room (end up spent the whole day there) and Pam the nurse came in to buzz the back, front and the side of my head. (Pro-tip: If you decided to go with Dr. Diep, just have Pam to buzz off all the hair.) She was very nice but I told her not to quit her day job. I was start dozing off from the med and kind of in and out of consciousness. Don't quote me but my surgery probably starts around 10:30am. I aware there were two tech + Dr. Diep when they were getting the donors. The only time I was fully conscious was having my Pastrami sandwich (good), Fries (not good), and Apple juice (best I had ever taste but I think it is because of the med.) during lunch. I also aware that I may be bleeding a bit much (end up with IV) and talk a lot while I was out. I finally came back to full conscious when the two technicians (Kwan and Linsey) was injecting the hair to my head. I asked about the time and it was 11ish at night. We then spent about an hour making fun about the back to back Julia Robert movies (Pretty women + Sleeping with Enemy) on the TV. Dr. Diep would come in to check on us periodically and the surgery ends around 12:30am. Linsey then went through the aftercare package (med, shampoo, bandages, and shoulder pillow) while I pull my IV off my arm. She wasn't too crazy about it. Dr. Diep then spent couple minutes to give me a quick low down about my surgery (a lot of grey hair and it made things harder.) He was happy about the results after all and sent me on my way. After surgery: The pain was pretty ok. I took the Tramadol for the first two days and then just once a day Aleve afterward. I actually have more problems with the swollen and had trouble open my eyes two days later. I did not take any time off and went back to work the next day. I sent my photo to my boss and he told me not to get on zoom. I actually sent him another photo during the peak of my swollen, and he said never send him anymore photos. Things start looking up about four days later and the swollen was totally gone after 6 days. I still take Aleve right before bed time but it is more to do with the discomfort of the back of my head then anything else. Cleaning (day after): I went back to the office the next day afternoon to have my head clean. No appointment was needed. Jenifer the nurse was super nice and answered a bunch of dump questions that I did not ask the night before. It took about 20 minutes in and out. Billing mix up: I got a bill couple days later for some extra charges because my combined 2611 grafts are more expensive than $17K. I called the Monica the office manager and she was able to resolve it with Dr. Diep. Follow up call from Dr. Diep: Exactly one week after the surgery, Dr. Diep called my cell around 9pm to check on me. I can tell he just finished his shift and was getting in his car. He explained to me about the 14 hours procedure and the combination of FUE + FUT just took longer. He also apologized about the billing mix up due to the office manager did not read his note about the no charge. He ended the call to offer me a free ACELL injection ($600 value according to him) due to the billing miscommunication. Next steps: I have scheduled to remove the sutures in two weeks. An appointment with Dr. Diep for the first check up in four weeks. Overall: I am happy with the results and overall experiences. I can be just like many people her to nitpick stuff and expect the doctor to do everything perfect. You probably can tell by now that I don't take shxt too seriously. OK.. Let stop the rambling and see some before and after photos. -
Why I'm Not Taking Finasteride *My Current Hair Loss Regimen
JDEE0 replied to Melvin- Moderator's topic in Hair Loss Drugs
Haha, no worries. For the record though, I don't particularly disagree as I say and actually am with you on your general point. I just don't know if someone who has their donor zone checked as a NW6 at 30 years old for example and it shows no signs at all of progressing to a NW7 will be the same story at 60 years old. I'm aware top clinics check this thoroughly and can predict pretty fairly accurately, I'm just not convinced that what they see will stay the same and hold true in the long term. I believe it was Dr. Wong (could be wrong, can't remember now) who essentially confirmed this in a live on here once and said that they get it right most of the time, but sometimes not, and 20 years down the line the patient has gone full on bald which they did not expect (and I assume did not plan for). Life is indeed a matter of risk vs reward, I'm with you there, but ironically, I think we just see different sides of the coin here as I see this applying oppositely in that the risks of fin are essentially negligible and the rewards are great, and as such the positives heavily outweigh the negatives. Similarly to you though, I'm certainly not for it in all cases or extremely 'pro-finasteride' or anything, and I fully agree side effects are a legitimate risk. I just don't particularly believe that it's anything more than a case of if they do happen, stop and you'll be absolutely fine, so why not at least find out and then all of this becomes a moot point at the end of the day if everything is fine. Either way, I fully see your point and I get not wanting to take a drug for ever, even though fin gives me no issues at all, I would rather not take it, but in reality it's no issue and it's the best insurance policy against hair loss that we have. -
Dr. Dorin performed an initial hairline hair transplant session using the FUT method. 1900 follicular unit grafts were transplanted consisting of 545 singles, 1192 doubles, and 163 threes. -
Hello, Now it's finally my turn to give back to this community by sharing my story, experience and progress of my hair transplant surgery which I did with Dr. Koray Erdogan at ASMED Clinic in Istanbul 9-10th Jan 2020. Background I'm a 29 year old guy from Sweden and I started experiencing hair loss when I was around 22. I started to lose hair very slowly, it was barely noticeable but as baldness is in my family I kind of knew it would eventually turn into NW 5/6 and wanted to do something about it early. So I booked a consultation with New Hair Clinic which was the top clinic in Sweden at the time, but they suggested me to wait a few years before undergoing surgery. I didn't really feel my situation was that critical so I followed their advice and didn't do anything about it, but I did however get useful knowledge about hair loss and about finasteride, minoxidil and the lasercap even if I didn't start using any medications immediately. I was a bit skeptical to finasteride due to potential side effects but started using minoxidil 5% at age 24 and after a few months I could already see both regrowth and thicker hair, it felt really nice and all my anxiety about hair loss dropped, situation was handled. I've read about people that tried minoxidil and didn't see any results (or at least not quick enough) so they became skeptical and eventually stopped it. Well it's true that some don't see as much improvements as others, but for me it really worked and I got great results. I learnt (the hard way, I'll come to that) that the important thing is to be very patient and consistent with it, in the beginning I was using it mornings and evenings every day and held on to it during the shedding phase and that was probably key for me. Unfortunately at age 26 I got a bit overconfident about my hair and got sloppier with the daily minoxidil routine. Mainly it was due to that I had summer vacation and I was travelling a lot so I started skipping days, but then I had also got used to my hair being so full for such a long time and somehow thought that I might have stabilized it and didn't need minoxidil anymore. Which was false obviously... Within a month or so I immediately started seeing my hair fall off again and this time it was getting even thinner and on the crown too. At this time I began researching about hair transplant clinics again and did an online and phone consultation with Dr. Saifi at European Hair Transplant in Poland who I had read some good posts about in a Swedish forum. He quoted me 2200 grafts for the frontal and part of the mid-section area. He had a waiting list of 6 months, but I ended up not booking as I still didn't feel ready and hadn't got the push to actually do it. I started with minoxidil again and was able to recover a lot of hair. This time I applied it only in the evenings as it was messier to apply it in the mornings and I wanted to style my hair without it. I did however apply almost double the dose (maximum daily dose) when applied in the evening. I didn't know if it would still be helpful but I thought to try it out and it actually helped keeping it stable so I continued like that for another 2 years. Then last year at age 28 I underwent a tough period that got me to seriously consider a hair transplant. I stopped using minoxidil as I didn't prioritize it due to personal circumstances and a lot of change happening in my life (including new job & country). I was well aware that I would probably lose hair again but I accepted it and thought that if it would get really bad I'd just shave bald. It took a month or so and I panicked when I saw the hair loss and realized I actually didn't want to lose my hair, note sure what I was thinking before. So I started with minoxidil again and the shedding phase this time was horrible. My hair never fully recovered again to how it was before the shedding and that's what pushed me into actually going for a hair transplant. After having done research online and reading a lot on this forum and seeing good results I decided to contact Dr. Koray Erdogan for a consultation where he quoted me 5000 grafts for the front, mid and crown areas + recommended finasteride to stop further hair loss. I didn't take finasteride but continued with minoxidil (until 2.5 weeks prior to the surgery), and then it took me a year of consideration until I eventually booked the surgery with ASMED now in Jan 2020. The consultation I had my dad with me who is a NW6 and the first thing Dr. Koray did was to go and inspect his hair to see where I'm headed. The bad news was that my dad's hair had become thinner also on the sides and back, and he said that if I would to follow the same pattern then my donor area would not be as strong as it might seem right now. Although I was not happy to hear that I was glad that he noticed this as I will now be careful to not over-harvest my donor in case of future surgeries. He then also inspected my hair and did a calculation of my donor capacity which was estimated to 8300 grafts. He said that I had to start with finasteride as I didn't have enough donor capacity to cover my full head if I were to loose all existing hair in the future (estimated to 8700 grafts). Was not very happy to hear this either, as I had already during the online consultation expressed that I preferred not to take finasteride but that I was fine with continuing with minoxidil as I had seen good results from it. They had then said that they respected this, so I ended up having a small argument with the doctor as he tried convincing me to take it, and that if I didn't he would rather not want to do the crown area right now but use the 5000 grafts on the front and mid-section and then do the crown next time. I didn't like this option as I wanted to prioritize the front and crown as I already have some hair in the mid-section which I hope to keep for a couple of years with the use of minoxidil, and instead consider a second surgery in the future if I would need it. Anyway, as the doctor convinced me that the risk of side effects is very little and that taking it would help against shock loss and improve growth during the first year, I decided to try it out and he supplied me with Proscar for 4-5 months (1.25 mg daily). He drew a hair line which was a bit more conservative than what I had aimed for, but given that I had limited donor capacity and after seeing the pre-consultation photos that were taken by the clinic I realized that my hair loss was much worse than I had perceived it and accepted his suggestion. The pre-surgery care, clinic & surgery days As many other members have already described these parts I will not go into much detail. But what I can say is that everything from the contact with my patient coordinator Andreea, to the pickup from the airport, to the greeting at the clinic and the surgery itself was very professional. I stayed at the clinic for 5 nights and the service was exceptional. All of the staff were very nice and the food was great. Before going I was hesitant whether I should stay at the clinic or book a room at Radisson Blu hotel, but now afterwards I don't regret it at all. It was very comfortable not having to leave the facility, having breakfast, lunch and dinner just outside your room and get to meet other patients that were also staying there in the spare time. They had live music in the evenings, big screen TV, pool table and the basement had a high quality gym and basketball area. What I also appreciated was that for patients staying over the weekend, ASMED arrange a free city tour of Istanbul with a private guide where we got to visit the famous bazaar, the blue mosque and the city center. Hair situation and medication - Androgenic alopecia: NW5/6 - Finasteride: Proscar (1.25 mg) started with the procedure. - 5% minoxidil (topical): Been using it daily for 5 years (Stopped it 2.5 weeks before the surgery but will start using Minoxidil foam in a few weeks) - Daily hair-loss shampoo: Nisim NewHair Biofactors Shampoo (Normal to dry) Graft distribution - Total donor capacity: 8300 - Total transplanted grafts: 5078 - Hair thickness: 61 microns - Ratio: 2.03 hair/graft - Single: 1190 - Double: 2658 - Triple: 1103 - Quadruple: 125 - Quintuple: 2 I think I've covered most of it now and will keep uploading photos of the progress here. Feel free to ask me anything if you have any questions. /KM90 -
Hello everyone, I've been reading the forums at HairRestorationNetwork after stumbling upon this amazing site for a few days now and my mind is blown, in the most positive way. So before I proceed, I thank all the folks who give their time in helping others by sharing their experiences and opinions. My brother got HT with Dr. Koray Erdogan ASMED last year and while his hairline is decent, the crown area is almost left as is. So when I started researching HT for myself, I immediately eliminated Dr. Koray after some initial evaluation. He is good, I guess, but not worth the price in my view. Now, since I wanted to take my parents for vacation to Istanbul, I figured I can probably get my HT and get 2 birds with one stone. After a bit of research, I've finally shortlisted a few clinics and wanted your feedback as to what you think of these Drs and clinics. 1. Blue Magic Group www.bluemagicclinic.com --> Dr. Serkan Kemal & Dr. Selahattin Tulunay. YouTube Channel: Instagram: Bloomberg QuickTake on YouTube: Why I am considering them, well a. the consultant I am speaking with has provided me with a ton of information, practically answered every question I had. b. Featured in a Bloomberg, seems like a good Hair Mill is anything..lol c. Offering me 5500-6000 grafts via the DHI method in 2 days d. Cost is 3850€ e. Very clear and transparent communication and everything looks good, a little too good to be true in fact. f. Initial assessment done by the doctor after he looked my pics. This is not usual, but its great if its true. But when I looked up on TrustPilot and other there were some that explained all that I am seeing right now, in terms of communication and transparency but it turns out that the 2 people who posted the reviews had the most horrible experience. So I wanted to ask if anyone has heard of this place Blue Magic Group in Turkey? -
Anyone heard of Blue Magic group in Turkey?
Portugal25 replied to Mir_a_Mir's topic in Hair Restoration Questions and Answers
This is simply not true. You have to ask yourself why does Dr. Raymond Konior considered the best in the world for FUE does the most Doctor demanding technique which is stick&place if he could be doing a much less demanding technique like pre-made slits and get the same results? If as you say “there’s no benefit from these different techniques” then that would make no sense! Ofcourse a technique in which the Doctor extracts the graft and then implants each graft one at time immediately after making the punch is a better technique than punching thousands of holes and then implanting thousands of grafts. DHI is the evolution of stick&place if done by skilled surgeon and a great team than can properly handle each graft by placing them one by one into implantor pens after extraction and then passing the implantor pen to the Doctor so he can use the implantor pen loaded with 1 graft to make the punch and implant the graft at the same time thus giving less trauma to the graft and reducing the time the graft stays out of the body. To say these techniques means nothing in the hands of skilled surgeons is “nonsense”! Look at Dr. Couto and Dr. De Freitas work doing DHI. The best in the world are doing either stick&place or DHI. -
Hi everyone, I am writing to share my experience having an 1852 graft FUE with Dr. Dorin in New York. I have been helped so much by this forum, and I hope a thorough post can help someone else. The basics: I am a 40 year old man, Norwood 3V with likely progression to 5A if nature ran its course. I use Rogaine twice per day and have recently completed 3 treatments of PRP (with pronox which makes you loopy and indifferent to the scalp stabbings). I am not currently on finasteride but considering it along with switching to oral minoxidil. The plan: After a consultation with Dr. True, we planned for a 1500-1600 graft FUE focused on the front. Dr. Dorin would perform the surgery. Why I chose them: I had consultations with several other clinics. They were not good. One clinic bragged about their celebrity patients, only to reveal you, regular citizen, can't get the celebrity doctor. Another showed before and after pics that looked more like they had expertly adjusted the lighting than the patient's hairline. But from the very first conversation, True and Dorin were everything I was looking for: experts in both science and art with tremendous kindness. Oh, and one other selling point. I am scared of needles, despise needles, and also, to be honest with you, I'm not crazy about needles. But True and Dorin use a device called the CompuMed Wand that greatly lessens the pain of local anesthesia. Really? I asked three or four annoying times. Sign me up. Before the procedure: I had a lot questions and the staff at True and Dorin answered every one, no matter how small, very quickly and patiently. Want to jump on the phone? No problem. Talk to the doctor? Does tomorrow work? The morning of the procedure, they asked me to wash my head with Hibiclens, eat breakfast, and avoid coffee. They send an easy-to-follow list of instructions and call you to see if you have any questions for them. I had a prescription for Valium, and took a small dose (1mg) around 6:30am, an hour before we were set to start. I took another 1mg when I arrived, which I know is far less than most take (5mg to 10mg). The procedure: I got to the office at 7:30am, and the first thing that happened is Peter, a primary contact at the practice, took my before pictures. I didn't realize how emotional that moment would be. Sitting on that stool, I thought of all the times I'd shrink away from and dodge cameras, how many photos I am not a part of, how many memories I won't be seen in because I didn't want to see myself. Now, here I was, having one of the last pictures of me taken looking like that. Each flash made me smile—probably the first time I'd smiled in a photo in years. Too bad for the mask. Then, Dr. Dorin walks in and draws the hairline. He hands me a mirror. I think about this scene in the first Tim Burton Batman, when Jack Nicholson's Joker demands a mirror from his doctor after falling into acid. This wasn't that. To have one of the best in the world draw what he's going to do to help me, I felt a rush of gratitude. It's hokey, sure, but how many times do you know your life is about to change? But I do start to fear what will happen next, which are the dreaded numbing injections to the donor area. I lie face down on what I learn is a new chair, and a very comfortable one at that, and turn my head on my left ear. I hear Dr. Dorin turn on the machine and then...oh God...here it comes...it's...it's...not that bad. Then, Dr. Dorin's nurse, Rita, took over. She is hilarious and warm and the type of person you wish some scientist would clone so there would be more goodness in the world. Sure, the injections weren't my idea of a good time. And they did take a while. But, fellow needle phobes and haters, I promise you, they were easy. Halfway through, my anxiety went down making room for my excitement to go up. Soon, my head felt like a heavy helmet and Dr. Dorin began the extraction. He has great taste in music, so it was Sade radio as I felt a little pressure and heard the instrument whirling out grafts. They were initially aiming for 1500-1600, but we went for 1852. Awesome. The count in the end was 403 singles, 1121 doubles, and 328 triples. Then, Rita numbed the hairline. Now on my back, but lying down, she encouraged me to focus on my breathing, relax my shoulders and arms, and go somewhere else in my mind. That probably for normal people means a happy place like a beach or somewhere with burgers and beer, but I kept reflecting on how sad I had been, how many self-conscious moments I had had, how those days were numbered. During this time, I mentioned to Rita that I was hungry. Dr. Dorin walked in with the food I brought, asked me how long I wanted him to heat it up, and then brought me back my lunch. Yes, one of the world's leading hair transplant surgeons didn't tell me to wait until Rita was done, didn't order someone else to do it, but went and microwaved my food himself to help me. After the lunch break, Dr. Dorin made the incisions. He never dumbs down anything, which I love, but when he explained his technique I didn't understand enough to repeat it here. Between the crunching sound and Dr. Dorin counting to one hundred repeatedly, I fell asleep pretty quickly. But before dozing off, I also had blood drawn for PRP with ACell. I know that PRP is controversial on this forum. Go ahead, I know someone is going to say I set my money on fire. But there is a study that shows reduced loss of the transplanted grafts (at one month, 60% of the patients in the PRP group had greater than 75% density in comparison to none in non-PRP group) and all subjects in the study had greater than 75% hair regrowth at the six month mark. And while Dr. Dorin does not make guarantees, he has posted on this forum some success with PRP during the FUE. I figured it was worth a shot. The hardest part for me was lying still when they implanted the grafts. I was able to watch Netflix, but something about telling me not to move at all makes my leg itch, my shoulder ache, and my feet determined to flop. While trying to do the hard work of keeping still, Dr. Dorin walked into the room and asked if I was cold. I was. He grabbed a blanket, put it over me, and made sure it covered my arms and feet. Look, lots of people can learn science. But I am sharing these moments so you know how compassionate and detail-oriented Dr. Dorin and his team are. I only wish I could remember more of the team's names (there was Lisa, Angela, Marcia, Yanilda, but I know and regret I am forgetting some). They all had the same caregiving approach. The entire process was over at 4:30, and Peter took final pictures. I excused myself to the bathroom for a chance to stare at my hairline. What a difference a day makes. They went over the post-op care. I got a bottle of Liposomal ATP to spray on the grafts and donor every hour, a surgical sponge to blot on the grafts when washing, and a cover for my pillow. They also gave me two Tylenol which was all the pain medication I had to take. Dr. Dorin showed me how to put on my baseball hat so it doesn't touch the grafts, and they warned me to watch my head getting into a cab. (Since it is numb, I might not judge space the same way and bump it, knocking out some fragile grafts.) I was starving and went home and ate a lot of sushi. Follow-up: The next day, I went to the practice at 9am and they cleaned my head and answered some more questions. Dr. Dorin took a close look. We talked about finasteride and he wrote me a low-dose prescription. I am still on the fence and the more I read the less clear I am. I have an appointment with my PCP this afternoon to get her opinion. I bought a 45 degree pillow, and wrapped a hoodie around my neck in place of the travel pillow I should have also purchased. Sleeping has been rough. But there has been zero pain and the redness is already starting to go away, though there's a bit of swelling developing on my forehead. And sure, it isn't an on-off switch. But now I can look in the mirror and not focus on what's getting worse but what's going to get better. Pics: Okay, okay, here are some pictures. -
Hi all, Since everyone on this forum has been instrumental in my years of research for the best surgeon for me, I figured I'd pay it back by making this thread about my 3,200 FUT frontal restoration procedure with Dr. Konior. I traveled from Miami to Chicago for the procedure. Dr. Konior initially scheduled me for a 3,000 graft FUT to restore the front hair line and densely pack. He ended up extracting around 3,200. It's only been 48 hours since the procedure, so I don't have any exact counts yet. I'll ask and get the exact numbers and types of grafts (singles, doubles, triples, etc) during my check ups this week. DAY OF SURGERY: I arrived at 6:30AM and quickly began the in-person consult with Dr. Konior. My first impression was exactly why I consider him to be one of the best in the business. We literally spent over an hour discussing the perfect hairline design for me. He tweaked it every few seconds for at least 20 minutes until it was perfect. As others have noted, he's a true perfectionist. I initially was nervous to ask for a slightly more aggressive hairline, but we both agreed on an age appropriate yet significantly lowered hairline that nicely filled in my temples. I promised to stay on finasteride/minoxidil for life (I already have been on moxidil for 4 years, and topical finasteride for 1 uear) so I can at least maintain my native hairs. After the 1 hour consult and agreement on the hairline, it was time to go into the operating room. I was given medication to help me relax and dose off. Every time I woke up, Dr. Konior was right by my side. I don't think he ever left the room except for when I had my own breaks for lunch and bathroom. I was extremely comfortable. Like others have mentioned, the only slightly painful part was the injection of the numbing agent in the donor area. The best part of this entire experience was that there was no rush. We had all day, I was the only patient he was seeing that day, and he did the entire procedure with only minimal help from technicians (based on what I could feel/hear -- my eyes were covered with a gauze). The primary technician has been with him for 27 years. It was a long day. The procedure ended at around 9PM. So, 6:30AM until 9PM. Since the procedure, I've had some discomfort on the incision line (to be expected) but the recipient area doesn't hurt at all. The pain relief meds have definitely helped tons. PRE-OP PHOTOS: PRE-OP HAIRLINE DESIGN POST-OP (between 1-2 days after procedure): I'm pretty swolen, so I'm sure once the swelling goes down so too will the hairline height. Either way, I'm thrilled thus far. You can tell it's really nicely/densely packed. Once I receive the exact numbers I will update the community. Lastly, I just want to say thank you all for sharing your experiences on this forum. I hope to pay it forward with this post and future updates. Now, the waiting game.. -
Hello guys, I have been lurking on this site for quite some time. Everything pales in comparison with it, anywhere else you go there's potential that you will encounter stigma, lies, and pretty much dreary atmosphere. I have to say that I'm impressed with sincerity of this community that has nothing to gain but thrives where many of us fail, in being noble and giving something valuable to complete strangers. For that reason alone you immediately feel some kind of inner drive to response, to give something back and that's going to be my plan in the future. There are numerous posters here that deserve their credit for keeping this site as helpful as it is. And knowledge gained within it's passages can only be described as invaluable and lifesaving. I'd like to hear your sincere opinions about my case that's currently not so severe but I'm aware of the fact that being diffuse thinner means that you can longer hide your loss and it can look satisfying in some conditions but it can change pretty quickly in the worse possible way. That's way I'll post some pictures with damp hair to make that difference more obvious and to show true extent of hair loss. I've already gathered envious supply of Proscar for continuous consumption. Almost 4 months have passed since I've started to take it every single day. There is also topical minoxidil (Kirkland 5%) that's applied religiously every night before sleep. Currently, I can only report that shedding is becoming much less visible, at least that's how it looks like to me. I'm not rushing into surgery, plan is to stick with medication until maintenance or some regrowth becomes obvious. Depending upon how I react to the medication I'd like to put my head on the operation table for only a handful of doctors in Europe. Number one option for me is dr. Bruno Ferreira. We have already reached an agreement that I should wait and report again after 6 months pass. From all the doctors that I've contacted, he's the only one that gave personalized response from his own account, even sometimes answering on Sunday afternoon. However, don't be swayed by the fact that I've contacted few clinics, that doesn't mean that I want to do surgery desperately. Goal was to start with this marathon by being on the radar of some of the best doctors in the business. Maybe if I respond good to the medications surgery won't be needed at all to satisfy my needs. Shock loss is another thing with diffuse thinners, there's greater risk involved with that. Feel free to comment! -
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There is just an overwhelming amount of information out there now that it's hard to know who to trust. I think the best thing that this forum can do is remain true to its principles of transparency, accountability and trust-building. To quote Dr. Sethi from the article: "Two things are essential here - education of the doctor/clinic & education of the patients." This forum does a good job in providing the education for prospective patients and promoting experienced and ethical hair restoration surgeons/clinics like Dr. Sethi/Dr. Bansal and Eugenix. How come there is no podcast dedicated to hairloss? Or is there? -
I'm 31 years old and have been worried about my hair since 2011. Specifically, my receding hairline. I began taking pictures and eventually got on finasteride in August 2015, and minoxidil foam in September 2016. Choosing a Doctor I feel that I could've spent forever on this step and still not have been confident in my choice. I looked at tons of patient results form tons of doctors, read all the comments, etc. In the end, I wanted a reputable doctor, and ideally someone I didn't have to fly to. I was also pretty set on getting an FUE over FUT. Well, as luck has it, there are some reputable doctors in NYC, which is just an hour from me without traffic, that perform FUE procedures. I only had two consultations; one with Dr. Dorin in-person, one with Dr. Wesley virtually. Dr. Dorin was first. He was honest with me, which I appreciated. As in, he didn't promise unrealistic expectations. He said that with one procedure, it would likely still lack the density that one desires. Apparently many of his patients opt to come in for a second procedure (or more) to add that. It seems that Dr. Dorin does lean conservative with his graft counts compared to others. In some of the example pictures I'd seen from him, the hairlines were wildly curvy. While the one he drew on me also had intentional imperfections, it was a lot more subtle than some of the others I had seen from him. In the end, he estimated 1,200 grafts for me, and claimed that I'd pretty much need an FUE procedure due to my hair characteristics. It cost $175 which could be used toward the procedure. Dr. Wesley was next. This was a virtual consultation with a dated webcam, so of course it wasn't ideal circumstances. But there's a reason for that, and it's that an in-person consultation with him was $400. Granted this could also be used toward the procedure, but I just thought this was too much. For whatever reason, virtual was free, so I went with that. And it went alright. Viewing my webcam, he estimated 1,600 - 1,800 grafts. I did like the idea of potential higher density than the comparatively low estimate of 1,200 from Dr. Dorin. Prior to this, we had actually communicated briefly by email where he estimated 2,000. But there were a few things that turned me off. In contrast to Dr. Dorin, it felt like he was trying to promise me the world. He really talked himself up, mentioning that I wouldn't believe how many celebrities he's worked on, that his practice is the best in the business, etc. Whether or not that's all true, it rubbed me the wrong way. I also didn't like that he noticeably looked down on the fact that I chose to do a virtual consultation instead of in-person, citing that it wasn't a big deal since the $400 could be used toward the procedure. And it felt to me that he really wanted to end the call quickly. And he mentioned holistic medicine which is kind of a trigger word for me. There were others I considered, but they either were too logistically inconvenient, or too unknown, or only seemed to dabble in FUE. What made me end up going with Dr. Dorin was his honesty, reputation, experience, and lower price (although still prohibitively expensive. It's NYC). I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to throw away the initial $175 I had spend on the consultation. I know that's a terrible thing to let impact this decision. My worries with Dr. Dorin: will I be satisfied with the density after one procedure? Is his signature hairline going to end up looking more realistic in the end? The Procedure For better or worse, I ended up going with Dr. Dorin. I managed to get an appointment which was around 2 months out, for September 3rd 2021. After a lot of questions back and forth, to which Peter was quick to respond, the day finally came. My friend drove me early in the morning, and I went in at 7:15 for my 7:30 appointment. There was some waiting involved throughout the day, but kind of your typical doctor experience. I met a nurse first who gave me an orientation. Later on, Dr. Dorin arrived and came in to draw out the planned hairline again, trying to be close to the original consultation. Again, I kind of liked it and trusted that the unevenness would end up looking more natural. I tried to nitpick since it was my last chance, to make sure it wasn't lopsided. He called me on my criticalness and said if I was worried about such miniscule details then I may not end up being happy with a transplant in general, as there will always be imperfections. He did alter it ever so slightly and agreed that if I was going to say something, now would be the time. He measured it and looked at it from a few angles, including in a mirror over his shoulder. I basically went with what he had originally drew out, and Peter took some pictures. Hopefully that was the right move. Then Rita came in and gave me some valium and anesthetized the whole back and sides of my head. This was the most painful part, but tolerable, and she was great. I believe the harvesting stared around 10am, when Dr. Dorin and Catherine came in the room. I pretty much couldn't feel a thing after all the anesthesia, so that wasn't bad. But having to wear a mask for most of it was a bit uncomfortable, as well as some of the positions, mostly face down and on my side. Only way I knew it was happening was that I could hear the whirr of whatever the gadget he was using was, and the force it pushing into my head. But no pain. When I started to feel it, I said something and he applied more anesthesia. The harvesting was done with some breaks. A little over 600 the first time. Then a little over 600 again. As he was finishing with the second part, he said it looked like he could get some more if needed, but we would wait to hear the final tally. The final tally was over 1,300, over 100 more than the estimate. But I told him to use his judgment and feel free to take more if he felt it would improve my results. I was hoping that he would since I had been concerned all along that 1,200 was too low. He did take more. Final Tally = 386 Single / 915 Double / 126 Triple / 1,427 total I was happy that the number grew, although I also new it meant I would have to pay for each of those additional grafts. Quite a bit of money. Nonetheless, this step was done. I had my lunch, which I brought, and then it was onto the next step. Rita came back to numb the hairline. Again, a bit painful but tolerable. Dr. Dorin came in again with Catherine to make 1,427 incisions. Counting to 100 over and over. Again, I felt nothing, just heard the sound of my flesh being stabbed. Or I assume that's what the sound was. This was actually the quickest part, maybe an hour. The implantations into these incisions was done by a few people, but not Dr. Dorin. I believe it was Catherine, Kim, and Alex. I was upright and kind of watching Netflix on the TV for this part, but also nearly falling asleep. Because again I felt nothing and it took a while. It seemed that Dr. Dorin rarely came in to check on their progress, although I can't say for sure. And with that, it was over. Finished around 5pm. I went to the bathroom, looked at myself in the mirror, and got really depressed. My hairline, the density, even the way they trimmed down my hair. I thought I had made a mistake. But I had to go and have Peter take some more pictures. He said it looked really clean and I'd heal fast. Dr. Dorin saw the final results for the first time and said it looks great. Still, I felt really depressed in this moment while I waited for my friend to arrive and drive me home. I was given a baseball cap to wear out, and didn't want to be seen by anyone. I just wanted to be home. Afterward and Current After I got home, I looked at it some more, took some pictures, and I regained some optimism. That's where I am now. Still unsure if I made a mistake. Still hoping it will, at the very least, look a lot better than it did before the procedure, but hoping for incredible results. I've been spraying it every hour with some ATP solution they gave me, as directed. I slept the first night elevated in my reclining couch with an airplane pillow. I was given some gauze cover which I laid on top of my airplane pillow. Good thing, because whenever I woke up, the back of my head was wet with sweat or oozing blood or both. Probably both since it was quite wet but light red. And that's what I will continue for the next few nights. Tonight I'm supposed to dip a sponge in a shampoo/water mixture and lightly pat it over my head. -
2000 grafts - Dr. Keser Ankara, Turkey
JDEE0 replied to freddo1's topic in Hair Restoration Results Posted by Patients
Nothing against Dr. Keser with this reply back to you (he's a great surgeon), but just for the sake of correct information being given, microscopes aren't used only for FUT graft slicing/dissection, that is not true. Lot's of FUE only surgeons (well, their technicians) pass the grafts under a microscope so to speak when sorting after extraction to ensure that they are indeed looking at a one, two, three or four haired FU and also to check under high magnification that there is no damage before placing. Of course, all do use loupes also (well, you would hope so), but this is when dealing with the patients scalp for extraction/implantation and they serve a separate purpose than the use of a microscope does; to see in detail what they're doing (i.e. for the surgeon to accurately be able to see where they're incising, placing, and overall making sure they don't transect the targeted or surrounding follicles) during these stages essentially. -
Age 31, NW3 Medication: Finasteride 1mg/day, Minoxidil 5% 2x/day Hair characteristics: High contrast with skin Cost: ~$21K total, including A-Cell and Amino Fill injections. Not being incentivized to post this Before I get started, MASSIVE shoutout to giegnosiganoe who encouraged me to post here and also helped me so much with depression and buyer's regret that I had following my surgery. He's an awesome dude and I appreciate him so much. Hair loss timeline: 18 - Started to notice lots of shedding but ignored it 25 - Crown balding started to become apparent as well as hairline thinning 28 - Decided to start Fin / Minox, have decided I haven't seen progression since beginning this regimen Choice of surgeon: Dr. Diep was the best rated in the area where I live, I can't travel because I am taking care of my dying mother, and I wanted to get my crown tackled this year. Procedure: Arrived at 7:30am. Staff took me in the back, shaved my head, and then I met with Dr. Diep who outlined my crown, talked to me about my needs, which I said I wanted to only focus on my crown. He gave me my magic cup of pills which I took and then I went back to the original op room where I waited for them to take effect. Afterwards, Dr. Diep came in and began the extraction. During my extraction the chair I was on broke so they moved me into a back office room where they continued the procedure. After he finished the extraction, I ate food and the technicians began implanting my grafts to my crown. There is some stuff that happened here that I am working out with Dr. Diep, hopefully he holds true on his side but I will expand later based on my continued engagements with him. He has offered me his cell phone number and has been very quick to respond to questions which I appreciate, and seems to really care about my results and my opinion of his work. I was not provided a breakdown on the graft types that were extracted, so I do not know how many single, double or triple hair grafts were taken. Recovery: My donor area looked really extreme compared to other surgeons, but I've been told this is because Dr. Diep uses a 1mm punch which results in better success in graft survival. I haven't noticed a single lost graft so there might be something to that. The day after I returned to the office for the staff to wash my donor area and remove bandages. The swelling was quite intense and sleeping was a challenge. I slept at a 45 degree angle for 10 days and applied bacitracin 3x a day to my donor area throughout this time. Day 8 I began removing crustings / scabs and I am about finished removing them all, I am now at day 13. I have asked Dr. Diep to send me my post op photos but have not yet received, but I will share my pre-op, and day after photos. I will also share my updates as recovery continues. Feel free to ask any questions if there is anything I can expand on. Photos: Aug 2, 2020, was trying dermarolling until Dr. Diep told me it could cause more hair loss which is when I stopped Pre-op, with markings Post-op, day 1: Post-Op, day 7: Post-Op, today (day 13): -
Thank you very much baalloss for sharing your experience, very nice by you, and you didn't blame or said anything bad, wrong, unprofessional, in any segment of your review, but in very nice, polite way wrote all, explained and shared your experience. And thanks to Melvin-moderator, adinistration to allow members share their experience, sure for members like baalloss who really in nice, polite way shared experience, by mention good and bad sides of his journes, and it's right of all us who did HT, to do it, what's else point of forums like this . Dissapointed here by attitude of clinic's support - coordinator between patient and doctor, and dissapointed by doctor's decicion not respond before 12 months, imagine you buy new Mercedes car, and call Mercedes oficial dealer, to report engine not work well and you would like they check it or tell you what to do, as you can't drive car in normal way, and they tell you "sorry, but until 12m past we can't check your car, try drive like that" , or company renovated your house, and you found some hole on top of house where rain enter, and then you report it to building company and they tell you "wait 12 months or try fix it yourself until pass 12m" . Serious and good clinics = doctors, will take his responsibility, even not his guilty for ex. if LPP cause, but at least can respond after 6-9m and suggest customer like go check your skin, scalp, visit dermatologist, or whatever, you know sometimes is enough few nice words, that patient feel support and not left alone on road of nervs, depression , etc. Good product without good support, now or later will decrease image of good product, as good support is sometimes 30-50% of good product, same here, if doctor did good surgery, pre-op, op, etc. but post-op support 0, all previously even done good, can become useless... Strange that good dr. like Lupanzula didn't realize it, and i was on his place, will consider about support-coordinator guy, warn him to change his habits in communication by patient, without some treats, better response, and will think as doctor to respond after 6-9m, and not some rule must pass 12m and nothing before... Not cost much few minutes call or few lines writing to patient by doctor and giving some suggestion what to do further, as then bad side-effect as boomerang, that this will mean to much other patients, in decision choose this clinics. After all , coordinator-Scott, instead realize his mistakes, and say sorry to baalloss , apologize in nice manner, accept his responsibility, mistakes in communication, and don't do it future, he came and almost in same way continue replying to baalloss, hope he will learn something by this lesson, that good product, without good support isn't so good, and hope dr. Lupanzula will realize same, but i'm afraid most of doctors see this like "oh it's only 1 of 100 patients, we don't care" , unfortunately it's not true, that way 1 of 100 statistics means more, as many rational people this will mean much. Once thanks forum for allowing sharing opinion for all clinics-doctors , and thanks to baalloss for his honest review and sharing experience. -
I came back from surgery with Dr. Couto at FUEXPERT clinic 10 days ago. There is not true that techs do implanting. Dr. Couto´s technician Esteban collects grafts and Dr. Couto implants grafts with implanter pen. Every single graft implanted to my head was implanted by Dr. Couto personally. Also I had personal consultation with Dr. Lorenzo and Dr. De Freitas in the end of June. Dr. De Freitas use to operate 3 patients in 2 days and the price is 3,50 eur per first 1000 grafts and 2,50 eur per every other grafts. Techs do extractions and Dr. De Freitas implantation. Dr. Lorenzo use to operate 3 patients per day and the price is 5,- eur per first 2000 grafts and 2,50 per every other graft, even if it is necessary 2nd or 3rd HT at his clinic. Techs do extractions and Dr. Lorenzo 80 - 85% of implantation, the rest is performed by his team. -
I arrived to Istanbul on 15th of January 2017 before midnight, after previous online consultation, booking an appointment and paying deposit. I choosed Asmed and Dr. Erdogan for theses reasons: 1. In that time Asmed almost hadn´t bad results on HT forums, 2. on their website they wrote, that they have interpreter from my native language (it wasn´t true), 3. I had good flight conection to Istanbul. After arrival the driver of Asmed clinic wait for me and my patient coordinator Sevinc called me to say welcome in Istanbul and to give me informations about my stay. On the second day, 16th of January 2017, in the afternoon I had an appoitment in Asmed clinic, where I filled the questionary and met Dr. Erdogan. He spoke with me for a while and draw me the hairline. I told him my expectations. Than they made pictures of me and my hair condition and cut my hair for 2 mm. Dr. Erdogan check my donor and said that I need 4500 grafts for hairline and vertex. Previous number of grafts after online consultation was 4000 – 4200 grafts. After that I payed rest of ammount (tottaly 11.250,- Eur for HT). Than Dr. Erdogan came and draw new hairline, but I didn't agree with it. He said that this hairline perfect suits me and asked the staff if he is right. Of course that nobody said that it is not true. Maybe it was my fault but I didn't know that this is final hairline for surgery and I expected that before surgery he draw me new hairline. I found out it next day, but it couldn't be changed (hairline is much worse as he drawed). I had my HT surgery on 17th and 18th of January 2017. Dr. Erdogan made just incisions and the rest (hair harvesting and implantation) were made by stuff. One of them told me that my grafts are perfect quality and my result will be great. After finishing my HT I look to the mirror and I saw that my hairline is wrong and unnaturall. Dr. Erdogan saw that I was not satisfied with my hairline and told that it is due the swelling and when hair start growing it will be fine. On 19th of January 2017 Dr. Erdogan checked the result and I came home. I started to use finasteride 1mg daily from the surgery. I sent my pictures to Asmed after one month, after 3 months and after 6 months from the surgery and they always wrote me back that everything is ok. After 11 months I saw that my transplanted area is still lack and result is bad, therefor I wrote to the Asmed and sent them pictures. They (Sevinc) wrote me that it is normal and everybody has different hair growth and I have to wait to the end of 18 month from HT and if my transplanted area will be still lack I have to write them and they offer me a solution. After 18 months my transplanted area was still lack and there were no improvement, therefor I wrote to Asmed another mail with pictures and asked them why my result is so weak and where the mistake happened. I was very suprised when they asked me to fill new questionary and to send them another pictures. My surprise was much bigger when they wrote me that I need another HT with 2500 grafts, which will be cost 6.250,- Euros. I have been in Istanbul again in August 2018 and I wrote to Asmed and asked them to arrange an apointment with Dr. Erdogan. They wrote me back that Dr. Erdogan is busy due the moving of clinic and he has no time to meet me. After time I published few pictures of my result on this forum with asking for opinion and I was contacted from Asmed for informations who am I and when I had HT in their clinic. I send them answears and they asked me for pictures of current condition of my hair, which I sent them, but I didn't get response. After 3 weeks I wrote them that I didn't get any response and they wrote me that they sent me response on my email adress but I didn't get it. After few days they wrote me that Dr. Erdogan checked my pictures and my result is normal and it was caused due stopped using finasteride (I have using Propecia for 18 months from the surgery). I wrote them that it can't be true, because my original hair are fine and my transplanted area are lack. Also the condition of my hair was same after 11 and after 18 months when I took Propecia, and now when I don't take Propecia. If it will be true, than my transplanted area will be fine and original hair will be lack. I wrote it them and they asked me for another set of pictures which Dr. Erdogan will check again and tell me the best solution. Therefor I sent them another set of pictures with current condition of my hair, but they didn't response for a month. I wrote them that I didn't get response and they wrote me that they sent me response on my email adress but I didn't get it. Another day they wrote me that hair behind the frontline started shedding when I stopped finasteride. Therefore it does not support the frontal part and this is why it looks as it does. I sent them once again set of my pictures and wrote them that I was on finasteride from my surgery to the end of 18 month since surgery and asked them, if bad result of HT in 11 month since surgery and in 17 and 18 month since surgery, where the same weak result was visible is caused by discontinuation of using finasteride after 18 months and asked them where is area of shaded hair after discontinuation of finasteride, which they mentioned. They wrote me back on 13th February 2020, that they will have a meeting with Dr. Erdogan to my case next day (14th February) and they let me know. Because I didn´t get any response I wrote them on 6th March what is happened. They wrote me back, that they had meeting, but Dr. Erdogan had to go to Mexico for the FUE workshop and they didn´t write the report and they think that I need another HT with 2500 grafts (the didn´t mentioned if free HT). I wrote them back that I still don´t know what is the reason of my terrible result of HT. They wrote me back that no using of finasteride is one of the reason and the exact reason is possible to say after analysis in live. On 8th March 2020 Melvin Moderator contacted me and he asked me for informations about my HT and than he wrote to Asmed. On 12th of March Asmed contacted me that Dr. Erdogan will analyze my photos once again and they let me know. Today is 11th April and nothing has change. Nobody from Asmed contacted me for another month. After 3 years and 4 months since my HT I still don´t know what is the reason of my terrible HT result. But I know that the reason is not discontinuation of using finasteride after 18 months since surgery, because the result in 11 month since surgery, 17 and 18 month since surgery and also now is the same. I don´t know if I should wait for some response from Asmed, but I don´t believe for something serious from them because I see that they try to delegate resposibility to my person and dicontinuation of finasteride after 18 months since surgery. And this is NOT the reason! I understood that they didn't want to help me to fix my weak result, but the purpose why they contacted me was to stop me to write negative things about Asmed clinic. From my HT I checked a lot of web sites and forums with this problematic and I saw a lot of results of another surgeons and clinic (in many cases "no name" surgeons and clinics) on theses forums and also on their web sites, where I saw a lot of similar hair loss cases like mine which are great and were solved with less numbers of grafts and I understood that I that I made a big mistake, when I decided to go to Asmed. Density of my frontal area is lack, shape of my hairline is unnatural with gap on one side and total result of my HT is weak and bad. One thing is the result. But another thing is attitude of clinic to their result. And the attitude of Asmed to my result is unethical and unprofessional. I usually do good decisions in my life and just a few of my decisions I consider as bad. But decision about going to Asmed and Dr. Erdogan for hair transplant I consider the worst in my life...
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Yes it is true. I stopped using finasteride 18 months since surgery because of I didn´t see any difference between my result in 12 month and in 18 month (I am attaching pictures). I started using finasteride again in December 2019 because of thinning in my vertex area. Dr. Couto just asked me if I am taking finasteride and how long. Also he told that finasteride is very important for me because of destroyed donor area and after repair HT there is very few grafts for possible 3rd HT and I can´t afford to lose more hair. When I underwent personal consultations with Dr. De Freitas and Dr. Lorenzo, they both considered finasteride as very important.
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HLC vs Bicer
Portugal25 replied to hairtxp's topic in Hair Transplant Experiences and Surgeon Reviews
@Melvin- ModeratorI fully agree that it`s the surgeon and his team that are responsible for the results and not the technique. A average doctor doing stick&place will get a worst result than a good doctor doing pre-made slits. What I can`t agree is that if you have two equally great surgeons; one doing the older pre-made slits and the other doing more evolved techniques like stick&place or DHI (without pre-made slits) they will both achieve the exact same results. I do believe that in this situation the great surgeon doing stick&place or DHI will get a better result. If that wasn`t true then Dr. Konior would also be doing pre-made slits instead of stick&place because it`s a technique that demands much less effort from the Doctor. I just saw that Dr. Bicer is now a recommended surgeon at HRN and I hope to also see HLC on that list in the future because I believe they are the best in Turkey and one of the best in the world for BHT. -
HLC vs Bicer
Portugal25 replied to hairtxp's topic in Hair Transplant Experiences and Surgeon Reviews
@hairtxpit`s true that between these two Doctors you can only compare the cost of the surgery because they have very different techniques. HLC is a Doctor only surgery doing a more refined technique called stick&place which means the Doctor performs the slit and immediatly implants the graft so the slit remains open for just a few seconds before receiving the graft (same technique used by Dr. Konior). Dr. Bicer from what I understood (please correct me if I`m wrong) is doing the same technique as Dr. Demirsoy and many others, The Doctor does all the slits and then the techs (not the Doctor) do the implanting. This means the slit stays open for a much longer period of time and since the slit begins to close immediatly after being opened any surgery doing pre-made slits can`t have punch sizes as low as 0,7mm like you see with DHI or Stick&Place because they need wider punch sizes to compensate for the time the slit stays open. Ofcourse this older technique can alse get good results in the hand of a great Doctor but the best results I have seen are from Doctors doing either DHI and Stick&Place. So for me comparing HLC with Bicer is like comparing a VW with a BWM but come from Germany but have different approches in construction. -
Before I begin, I would like to thank this incredible forum for it's immense wealth of knowledge and diverse experiences. Even being a silent spectator has been great learning journey. Talking about journeys - I've thoroughly enjoyed the excellent write-ups from @MazAB @paddyirishman @rishibostonian @Fluffhead, @Wandererind (Just to name a few) which eventually played a crucial part in deciding to go for a HT. Special Thanks to @Melvin- Moderator for the recent Instagram live with the doctors from Eugenix, India - It was very detailed & insightful.My Background: I have been steadily losing hair from the age of 16 to the point that my hairline has receded quite a lot. I'm 29 (almost 30) now & at a NW grade 3 of baldness. My curly hair helps hide the receded hairline a bit & I had been ok with that up until last year.Eugenix consultation experience: I found this clinic while foraging through the amazing hair transformation stories on this forum. IMO Eugenix is one of the most professional clinics out here in India in terms of communication and business ethics. I love the fact that the doctors here look at HT from an artistic perspective which is very rare in this industry. Since mid last year, I had been dabbling with the idea of a HT and have been in touch with the clinic since then. I never faced any delays from them in answering the numerous questions I've thrown at them. Both Dr. Arika and the consultant I'm working with, have been nothing but patient; Recent Evaluation from Eugenix: 2500 - 2700 grafts on front scalp and Oral finasteride for the rest of the regression.Challenge: I tried Minoxidil when I was consulting with a Doctor from BLR, India. Tried it for 4 weeks. Had minor side effects like migraine and increased palpitations. Post this, we decided to discontinue using Min. Unfortunately, finasteride didn't work for me either. Some side effects cropped up between the 45 - 50 day mark and I decided to stop it completely. It's been close to 6 months I'm off Fin.What are my options going forward?Option A) Try getting back on oral finasteride again before going for a Hair transplant to see if I'm responding to the medication w/o side effects. This option was suggested by the consultant from Eugenix itself. They were completely transparent in communicating that Oral finasteride is the only option to save the existing hair before or after the HT and my side effects were most probably due to over-thinking (may or may not be true). As per the consultant, results from topical fin are not yet proven when compared to oral medication. How long should I be on Fin this time if I take this route? To be honest, I'm a bit taken aback by this and my enthusiasm about the transplant has taken a hit. Option B) Go ahead with the surgery without taking oral Fin This is a pretty risky option in my opinion. The consultant explained that I might end up losing the existing hair in a year or 4 post HT - which might be true and can't be predicted. Any thoughts and opinions are more than welcome. I would love to know if someone has been in the same boat as me. N.B. Please excuse my writing flow. -
7000 grafts Eugenix 21/23 Dec 2019
BoldnotBald replied to Zoomster's topic in Hair Restoration Results Posted by Patients
thanks for letting us all know, amandeep, from what you have revealed about your profile it would be wonderful to see you become a major asset to this forum. in particular this sounds perfect that you act as a full time bridge between patients and eugenix doctors and let us participate in the wisdom and invaluable ht experience of eg. dr. arika and dr. pradeep. as such we all look forward to learning from your knowledgeable answers - answers that add true value and focus on providing meaningful information that go beyond the typical responses of a pr manager with quite often very little or... actually... no... real... content... ps.: as a matter of transparency and honesty it would be good if you could - provide additional public information: add your name above eugenix logo as well a signature at the end of each post (like your colleague abhinay singh does) and that reflects eg. your function etc. - correct the information that you provided on your profile thanks -
Hello my fellow Hair Restoration Network patrons (and the man, the myth, the legend Melvin!) , yesterday I had my procedure done with Dr. Luis Nader of Nader Medical in Reynoso, MX. I had a fantastic experience and feel I owe it to this community to share/answer questions about it. Backstory- I first noticed my hairline had changed for the worse when I entered basic training in 2009 at the age of 23, and had my head buzzed down. I started using rogaine, saw palmetto, and nizoral shampoo after I got out of basic a few months later. I believe these 3 slowed my hairloss down to a turtles pace, and at times halted it. I have a mixed bag or hairlines on both sides of my family. I maintained a NW 1.5-2 my entire 30's, which I considered a massive win. I have a background in college and a brief professional career in a sport which resulted in 8 surgeries and pain that I still feel today at 37. I started using Kratom at around 34 for pain management. From everything I had read it was a safe alternative to opiods, etc. I continued to take the Kratom for a little over 2 years before multiple side effects became impossible to ignore ( that's a real rabbit hole ), but my biggest issue was it seemed to speed up my hairloss from a very slow pace to warp speed. I weened myself off said substance and my hairloss stabilized immediately without any further intervention (even thickening up a little). However my hairline and crown took a real beating during this time and a true recovery did not seem to be in the cards without surgical intervention. At this point I went from a NW 2.5 to a NW 3 V which just didn't look good on me anymore. I used some fibers to fill the crown for awhile, but I didnt wan't to have to do this for the rest of my life, and eventually ended up buzzing it down to a 2, then 1, then 0. I look "ok" with it buzzed down, but I tried to live with it for a year and was never happy with it. I did not take finasteride during this period because of what I had read/horror stories on reddit etc, and because I was starting a family in my 30's and wanted to maintain fertility and not have any possible birth defects. Selecting a Surgeon- I like many of you probably know more about hair transplants, the science, and hairloss than I care to admit. I have been researching transplants for 10 years, and consider it one of the subjects that I can speak on with a great deal of knowledge. I seriously enquired with Dr. Konior, Dr. Panine, and Restore Hair Clinic (within an easy driving distance, and 2/3 are very well respected as many of you know). The prices were pretty staggering, and while I could have financially made it work, it would have hurt. I have a career where I make good money, not great. $20k plus is a hard pill to swallow for many of us. From here I started researching on this website, as well as a couple reddit forums. It was through these that I came across Surgery tourism and began investigating Turkey and Mexico. Turkey was out quickly when I broke down the logistics of cost, flight, time, vacation needed off work, etc. I then narrowed down my prospects to HMR (the cortez brothers), Neopal, Dr. Sara Salas, and Nader Medical. I had serious consultations with HMR, Sara, and Nader. I could never get anyone from Neopal to call me back after repeated emails and calls. I found Dr. Sara salas really delightful when we spoke, but her prices were pretty steep for what I was looking for (also endorsed and trained under dr. Wrassman). The Cortez brothers communicated well and the price was what I was thinking, but I didn't love all the hairline photos I saw of their work. By no means am I slamming them, I think they do great work, and am seeing more and more people sharing positive experiences they have had there. Finally I contacted Nader Medical and it felt right almost immediately. The receptionist/liason Brenda is a saint. She answered my endless questions promptly and was extremely professional. Every single person online that has shared their experience with Dr. Nader came away raving about him. They all spoke of how much he genuinely cared, how this was a passion of his, not all about the money, and the results always looked great. I found all of this to be true as well. Dr. Nader was warm, gentle, extremely knowledgeable, and had a very calming presence about him. After many emails, and calls I decided to book my appointment. The actual surgery and details- Flew into McAllen, which is right across the border from Reynoso, MX, where I stayed at the Days Inn by Wyndham. This hotel is a mile and half from the airport, and was a very basic, yet clean hotel room. Some might be a big snobbish to it (it's no 4/5 star), but through the military and sports I have lived/stayed in some absolute shit holes. This was no shit hole. I flew in wednesday afternoon, had the surgery thursday, and am currently in between flights on my way home on friday. Nader arranged for a very friendly guy named Aaron to pick me up from my hotel, take me across the border, and return me home after the surgery. Aaron has a fascinating life story, and was a treat to talk to on the way there and back. I have read all about the cartel and violence in Mexico, but never once did I feel unsafe. I have previously lived in southern Texas, and traveled extensively around the border, as well as been in various parts of mexico, which possibly made me feel more comfortable than someone without those experiences. I arrived at Nader Medical around 8:30 am, filled out a little paperwork, then proceeded to sit down with Dr. Nader and talk all about my hairloss journey, life, what I wanted, etc. It was a wonderful convo and lasted well over an hour. I wanted a conservative hairline that I could age into well, and my crown addressed. (I started finasteride a month prior to this with zero side effects). We drew multiple hairlines before we got it right. I might add that the facility was very clean, and had a very professional staff of maybe 5 techs. My zones were drawn, head shaved down further, and on to the extraction table for a few hours. They injected lidocaine into my donor area repeatedly, which feels like minor pinches, nothing to worry about. My head was completely numb, and they went to work. After that I was served lunch, with the options being tacos or a chicken salad. I chose the salad and it was very good. From here we moved onto placing the grafts while I watched netflix. I think it took around 3 hours, but I wasn't really keeping track of time, just relaxing and enjoying some netflix. I felt zero pain during this part of my procedure as well. From there I was cleaned up by the tech's, followed by some questions for the Dr, and talk of after care. I literally have zero complaints about my whole experience. I could not have been happier with Dr. Nader, his staff, and his work. I got a picture with the Dr, gave him a hug, and thanked him for everything. He gave me his personal number and we will continue to remain in contact. For those that care, Dr. Nader attended school in the US and Mexico, and speaks perfect english. The driver then took me across the boarder and back to my hotel (zero issues). I purchased a neck pillow prior to this surgery in anticipation for sleeping. It took me a little to find a good position, but eventually I was able to find a comfortable position and actually got some good sleep. I woke up this morning feeling great about my choice to go with Nader. Going through a hair transplant can be an emotional roller coaster, but I felt nothing but happiness and relief. Details of surgery- Total grafts- 2520 Hairline- 1290 Grafts Crown- 1230 Grafts Singles- 221 Doubles- 909 Triples- 1208 4's-217 (Dr noted I had a very good donor area with a bank of 7,000 or so, also commenting on the unusual amount of double and triple grafts I have. People who have cut my hair have always noted how crazy thick the back and sides of my hair are. I guess this finally came in handy! ha Cost- Total Cost was $5,445 US. I used the option for 10% off by bringing a cashiers check for the majority of the cost. Nader will reimburse you for a 2 night hotel stay of up to $250. I'm open to any and all questions, and will eventually post pictures. Thank you to all of you for posting your experiences, it got me through some dark times knowing I wasn't alone. Also thank you to Melvin. I think this guy is awesome. His story, transparency, kindness, and tireless work in this hairloss field has been awesome. I remember being in a very dark place over my hairloss a year or so ago, watching some videos by Melvin, and feeling like there was hope.
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