Dr. Erkan Demirsoy 4850 Grafts FUE - Istanbul Turkey

[karaefe]

Hi folks.

I have been waiting for about a year and a half to post this article. I have been snooping around the form for quite some time but did not want to post until I had a fully documented case that is worthy for all to see. So I do hope that this post will help in anyway those of you considering hair restoration and I would like to thank the good people that made this environment possible for us to utilize.

 

First off I am a Hair Loss Sufferer then I am an avid supporter of Dr. Erkan Demirsoy and yes I am also a non-physician treatment provider as I am an authorized agency for Dr. Erkan Demirsoy. When you read my full experience I believe you will understand why I became a hair transplant agency.

 

Topic:

Erkan Demirsoy – 4850 Grafts – FUE Technique, Micro motor 0.7mm

 

So Here Goes:

I started loosing my hair in my early 20's. I knew the day would come as my father was loosing his hair also. I knew the genetics would be a major factor. My hair started falling but I never thought of Hair transplantation as a solution. I used products for my hair and scalp to slow down the process and it helped, Rogaine was a major helper. In 2010 I started working for Dr. Erkan Demirsoy at Armamed Hair Transplant Clinic as the Head of IT. Every day I saw patients with slimming hair lines entering the clinic and having their procedure then leaving. Still at that point not once did I think of hair transplant as a solution. At one point I realized that patients where asking if I was going to have hair surgery, my reply was "no I do not think so". One day Dr. Demirsoy and the nursing staff asked me if I wanted hair transplant surgery and I politely asked him to explain to me the steps, the pros and cons of the procedure and finally concluded that I would make up my mind and get back to him. I started doing research on Hair Transplant and the FUE technique; there were many resources available on the net. I finally made up my mind that I would do the hair transplant and I would definitely trust Dr. Demirsoy for the procedure.

 

Our Pre-Conversations:

Since at the time I was working in the clinic I pretty much had access to the doctor at all times. So about the consultations I am not going to be able to post much. But at the time I was 31 years old, a heavy smoker, no health problems, doesn’t drink alcohol and using Rogaine as a supplement. I really don’t want to go into the clinic and the staff much because what I write is going to be bias and I want this article to be about my hair restoration only.

 

As I was an IT professional I did not know much about the process and had a preconception that a patient would have 4000 grafts of donor area and that was all. At the time I was thinking that my hair was going to continue to fall as time goes by and I only had one shot at this.

 

Dr. Demirsoy explained to me that this was wrong information and that the amount of donor grafts that any patient has varies from person to person. When he examined my donor area he concluded that I would very easily be able to have 4000+ grafts done and that I had enough donor for a second operation if I ever needed one in the future.

 

So he designed a solution that benefits me in the long run. Dr. Demirsoy would transplant 4000+ grafts in a wide area so that as my hair continued to fade I would not go bald per say, my hair would only thin as the transplanted grafts would continue to grow in their locations.

 

This sounded very pleasing and gave me a moral boost to go on with my hair transplant. We set a date for the transplant.

 

The Surgery:

The day of my surgery I went into the clinic not as an employee but as a patient for the first time. One thing that stuck in my mind was that nobody in the clinic treated me as a fellow employee but they treated me as a patient, I had no more or no less amenities than any other patient that Dr. Demirsoy treats.

 

April 25 2012 – My first day of surgery:

 

Dr. Demirsoy welcomed me into his office and we had some small talk, probably to ease me. Before my head was shaven Dr. Demirsoy started outlining my general hairline while explaining to me what he was doing. After this step all hair was gone Ha-ha (I was laughing then and there because I was very nervous). After my shave Dr. Demirsoy continued to draw his full map onto my scalp, this included the outline and lines that showed how my hair should grow thus resulting in the pattern and the angle that the grafts should be transplanted. And the first needle, yes folks I did feel that and it was annoying. The first day of my surgery resulted in 2400 grafts from my right side donor area transplanted to my crown.

 

April 26 2012 – My second day of surgery:

 

I really did not want to continue the operation because it’s a very time consuming process that results in boredom and stress, thanks to the nurses (they chatted with me the whole time so that my mind would not autofocus on the surgery and get stressed) I was again relieved of my stress and the second day of surgery began. This session of surgery resulted in 2450 grafts from my left side donor area transplanted in a wide spectrum top vertex and front area.

 

For both days Dr. Demirsoy and his accompanying nurses spent about 3-3.5 hours harvesting my grafts from the donor areas. Dr. Demirsoy using his instruments harvested the grafts and laid them on my scalp, one nurse would pick each graft up and lay them in the petri dish and the other nurse was keeping the area that the doctor was working on clean. After the harvest we all took a smoke break for about 15 minutes then had lunch for about an hour then back to surgery.

I was given another shot again from a nurse about 10 minutes later Dr. Demirsoy entered the room and started opening the canals for the grafts to be placed in. One nurse was counting and grouping the harvested grafts based on how many hair follicles each graft had and the other nurse was keeping the doctors work area clean. This step took about 2 hours to complete and finally transplanting the grafts into the canals. Before the final step we all took a smoke break again for about 15 minutes. Finally the transplant started and this process took about 4 hours to complete and my surgery was over. My donor area was immediately bandaged and covered once my surgery was over.

 

After the Surgery:

Right after the surgery Dr. Demirsoy gave me a briefing on what all had happened in surgery. The number of grafts, the strength of my donor area and general care of my scalp for the next critical first 3 days.

 

For the next 6 days I had my wash done in the clinic, as it was accessible to me. Dr. Demirsoy mandates a checkup and first wash to all his patients but prefers to do the wash for 5 days if possible. By day 6 all the scabs on my scalp was gone.

 

My first 2 nights out of surgery was very pleasant with no apparent discomfort, I was wearing my headband so the swelling would not drop down to my face. The 3rd, 4th and 5th days I had random itching on my scalp that I was able to get rid of with just lightly placing my hand on top of my scalp. I made a mistake by taking my headband off on the 3rd day because it was annoying me more than I could take and the swelling dropped down to my eyes. It was not so bad but I would have been better off keeping the band on for a week.

 

With all said and done I am very pleased with the results of my surgery and the way that it has affected my life. The boost that I gained from this whole experience is just simple priceless. Having gone thru this process, knowing Dr. Demirsoy personally for a long time and working for him I decided to form my own agency.

 

Before the surgery:

 

Post-op:

 

Post-op 11 days:

 

Post-op 120 days:

 

Post-op 15 months:

 

 

I have posted a couple of pictures here on this post but the full pictorial of 80+ pictures is on my personal article here. If any of you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask so that I can share more details that I may have forgotten to add here. Thanks again for taking the time to read my post cheers!