4,500 FUE Dr Hakan Doganay 07th March 2014

[BFA316]

Hi,

 

Having 'suffered' from hairloss for nearly 10 years, I have finally decided to go ahead and get a hair transplant and have decided to go with Dr Hakan Doganay in Turkey. Thanks to this website, I have been very impressed with results of his work.

 

A little bit about myself, I'm 27, of south-east Asian descent, and have been losing my hair since 18 in a diffuse pattern. I used to have shoulder length hair at the time, pushed back with a bandana (I thought I looked well cool ) but alas my love affair with my hair did not last long . I shaved may hair off and have kept it relatively short ever since. I have tried propecia but due to side effects (even on smaller doses) gave it up after 6 months. I continued to use rogaine for a number years but gave that up last year as I was no longer seeing any benefit. For approx. the last 5 years I have been using a concealer but due to the stage of my hairloss, the concealer has little to grab a hold of these days. I had considered a hair system but did not like the level of maintenance, cost and the lack of freedom it allowed to hairstyles. I then began to look at hair transplants and thanks to this website and the community, I was able to build enough confidence to get an online consult and book the surgery.

 

I was unaware of the great work that was being done in Turkey, and was originally going to stay local in the UK - either Dr Reddy in London or Dr Lorenzo in Manchester. I had a consult with Dr Lorenzo after seeing amazing transformations of his on this website and online but due to the cost and to an extent finding him to be too conservative (this is not a criticism, he is a great surgeon but I refused to take propecia again and he was concerned about future hairloss), I came back on this website to look further a field. It was then i decided to look more closely at the threads on Turkish doctors - specifically Dr Doganay and Dr Demirsoy. Having had an online consultation, they both agreed on ~5000 grafts but Dr Demirsoy suggested having two operations 12 months apart, where as Dr Doganay said he could transplant 5000 grafts over two days.

 

The choice to go with Dr Doganay was not difficult in the end. As much as i preferred the €1 per graft price of Dr Demirosy, the work Dr Doganay has done on clients who are NW5-NW6, of which i am one, meant that he was always my first choice. The customer service at the AHD clinic is also superb. A special thanks to Ahmet and Mustafa who literally replied to every email within minutes.

 

My surgery is booked for the 7-8th March. I will be flying out of Heathrow on 6th March and leaving on the 9th March and will be staying at the clinic for the duration of my stay. According to Dr Doganay i am nearing NW6 but my donor area looks very good. I also believe i have a smaller head size which will benefit me (~7.5 inches crown to hairline and 6 inches side to side).

 

I have attached the pictures i sent to the clinic and based on those, the 4500-5000 graft estimate was given. I have also attached some additional pictures.

 

I just want to take this opportunity to thank all the community. Without this site and its members i would never have had the courage to take this step. I will of course look to keep you all updated on my journey from NW6 to NW?

 

In the mean time i may have some questions leading up to the surgery and would appreciate any help. Thanks.

 

Regards,

 

BFA316

[ukbilla]

Hi,Welcome to the board. I too am on South Asian Descent and have "suffered" with hairloss for since my early teens... Like yourself I too have diffuse thinning. But I would say your donor area has more density of hair than mine. I am considering a HT in the next 1 to 2 years and Dr. Doganay has great results. Good luck.

[TakingThePlunge]

Welcome and good luck!

[BFA316]

Thanks guys.

 

UKbilla,

 

If you're anywhere at the stage I am, NW5-NW6, Dr Doganay certainly appears to provide great coverage for the grafts transplanted in relatively larger areas.

 

I'm now just 5 weeks away and the nerves are starting to kick in.

[cloudy]

Great news, all best! It will be plenty to cover almost everything, you will not recognize yourself in one year from now.

[TOharbourfront]

Just got back from his clinic, you will be happy with your choice. Hes a really friendly guy too

[BFA316]

Thanks guys.

 

Cloudy,

 

I read your thread previously when I was researching Dr Demirsoy. Good luck.

 

TOharbourfront,

 

The best of luck. Hopefully you get the result you're looking for. Will keep up to date with your thread.

 

Regards,

 

BFA

[KO]

Now following this thread. Good luck to OP!

[HARIRI]

Good choice Buddy. Good luck in your coming procedure. Look at this video as this patient had similar characteristics with you :-)

 

 

 

 

[BFA316]

KO,

 

Thanks!

 

HARIRI,

 

Amazing transformation! It was one of the cases that made me choose Dr Hakan.

Edited February 10, 2014 by BFA316

[BFA316]

Hi,

 

I'm now 3 months post op and thought I would update the thread. I had a total of 4,500 grafts on 07th March 2014. The operation in the end was done in the one day after the surgery convinced me that it would not harm the grafts as they had sufficient staff to ensure the grafts would not be out for too long. The breakdown of the grafts are below, along with the density:

 

Single grafts: 1,550

Double grafts: 2,175

Triple grafts: 775

 

Total: 8,225 hairs

Average: 1.82 hairs per grafts (not the greatest I've seen but the surgery say it's quite good)

 

single grafts were placed in the hairline at a density of 25cm2, while double/triple grafts were placed behind at a density of 15-20cm2.

 

Experience:

Overall my experience was alright. The staff were friendly, as were Drs Doganay and Ayhan. As I was originally in for two days, so I had a lot of waiting around on the Saturday and Sunday as I did not go out. I stayed at the hospital my whole visit and it is your standard hospital room, with only the TV for company.

 

There were few concerns I had. Firstly, the whole morning felt rushed. I came down for a blood test, thinking I would then have some breakfast but it was straight to having my head shaved and hairline drawn. This was at most a 3 minute conversation in which only Dr Ayhan was involved with. Originally, I felt the hairline to be way too aggressive and I asked them to withdraw it. Even now I think perhaps I should have put my foot down even more and asked for a mature hairline and saved the grafts for the middle or crown. This is perhaps one regret I have. Dr Ayhan's reasoning was that he wanted to blend the hairline with my natural hair.

 

Secondly, the whole operation was done in like 8 hours with no breaks in between, this left me quite exhausted by the end as I had not eat or drunk anything since the previous night.

 

Finally, and maybe the most serious, I was led to believe that Dr Doganay did all the implantation himself but I found myself waking during the operation to find technicians implanting and was told that Dr Doganay had taken a bathroom break. I was in and out of consciousness for a lot of the operation and I could swear that the technicians were doing the implantation. Dr Doganay was there at the end of the operation. I did not take this concern up with them at the time, but wish I had. In total, I do not know how much was done by the technicians and how much by Dr Doganay.

 

In the end, they did not fill in my crown as they felt that the number of grafts were not sufficient for the entire head. I don't have a problem with this as I would prefer a thicker hairline and midscalp but it would have been nice to have been informed of this during the operation instead of feeling my scalp at the end to find it slick.

 

I attach below my pre-op, 2 week and 3 month post op pictures. Any and all feed back is welcome.

[Mickey85]

4,500 grafts in one day?! Wow. I'm a bit apprehensive about ultra-large FUE sessions in one day but if I see consistently good results with them, I'll happily change my mind!

 

Those concerns about the procedure feeling rushed are very valid. 4,500 grafts in only 8 hours? I'm having a hard time believing this. Certainly the whole procedure was not finished in 8 hours?

[BFA316]

Immediate pre-op pictures

[BFA316]

Taken by myself straight after op.

[BFA316]

.....

[BFA316]

.....

[BFA316]

4,500 grafts in one day?! Wow. I'm a bit apprehensive about ultra-large FUE sessions in one day but if I see consistently good results with them, I'll happily change my mind!

 

Those concerns about the procedure feeling rushed are very valid. 4,500 grafts in only 8 hours? I'm having a hard time believing this. Certainly the whole procedure was not finished in 8 hours?

 

Hi Mickey,

 

I didn't note the start time and finish time exactly, but I started around 9am and finished just after 5 off the top of my head. According Didem, who works for Dr Doganay, they have over 10 technicians who work as a team to extract and take care of the grafts to ensure the turn around is quick.

 

If one of Dr Doganay's reps is reading this, perhaps they could confirm the exact time.

[delancey]

Congrats on the surgery!

 

What is the total area that was covered in cm2?

[Bradford786]

Hello BFA,

 

Honestly my experience was very similar to yours , as you know my treatment was a few days after yours and with your help and support the treatment went smoothly apart from not knowing who was actually implanting my hair , hakan was present at the start but when I came around mid surgery hakan was not there , I remember asking the nurse who replied hakan is on a break, end of surgery I remember saying to Didi I am not happy as I don't know who completed my surgery but I was so tired and drowsy I can't remember her reply. I have not raised this issue again as I have no proof , maybe hakan did complete the whole surgery with a few breaks in between but again not sure . He was a lovely man and seemed very genuine hence no doubts , so far my results are looking good after 3 months but i am expecting to see the main results in next few months and will be closely in touch with the surgery .

[Dutch]

Thanks for the detailed review & the honesty describing your experience. I agree with you that the hairline seems aggressive for your pattern of hair loss & I too would have preferred to have some grafts in the crown or at least a say so in the matter. But look, if the hair comes out nicely then that's wonderful! Reminds me of a Rahal hairline shape.

 

That's a colossal amount of grafts implanted in one day. Never heard of that many in one day before via FUE. It's standard practice that most surgeons let their techs implant the grafts & not do it themselves? Unless you were promised otherwise.

 

Hopefully this grows out really nice for you so you would then be able to address the vertex & crown!

 

Keep us posted!

[Mickey85]

Dutch, the general consensus with the Turkish surgeons is that they delegate/share extraction/punching and implanting duties with techs. Alot of people were surprised to hear this(I was) but it is common practice over there. Dr Erdogan has a tech named Delek(apologies if I spelt it incorrectly) and she is quite renowned in FUE circles, he shares extraction duties with her. I'm not sure on Hakan's specify structure but I know he does not do all the extractions/punching/implanting himself. Feriduni also employs a similar structure but he does all the incisions himself.

[KO]

Thanks for the update, looking forward to your results.

 

Good luck!

[BFA316]

Congrats on the surgery!

 

What is the total area that was covered in cm2?

 

Hi Delancey,

 

Sorry for the slow reply. Unfortunately, I didn't ask for this information. Perhaps in my next emailt o the surgery, I will ask. If they know it, I will post it.

[BFA316]

Hello BFA,

 

Honestly my experience was very similar to yours , as you know my treatment was a few days after yours and with your help and support the treatment went smoothly apart from not knowing who was actually implanting my hair , hakan was present at the start but when I came around mid surgery hakan was not there , I remember asking the nurse who replied hakan is on a break, end of surgery I remember saying to Didi I am not happy as I don't know who completed my surgery but I was so tired and drowsy I can't remember her reply. I have not raised this issue again as I have no proof , maybe hakan did complete the whole surgery with a few breaks in between but again not sure . He was a lovely man and seemed very genuine hence no doubts , so far my results are looking good after 3 months but i am expecting to see the main results in next few months and will be closely in touch with the surgery .

 

Hi Bradford,

 

So far I am happy with my results at the 3 month mark. The surgery have reviewed my pictures and say I have gone through shock loss and to wait for the 12 month mark atleast to review the result.

 

Like you, after the surgery I was tired and drowsy so was not in the right mind to question didem or Dr Doganay about who actually had done the implantation. Dr Doganay seemed like a good guy, as did all the staff, so I will just wait for the results and not question this.

 

How are you coming along? Any shock loss?

[BFA316]

Thanks for the detailed review & the honesty describing your experience. I agree with you that the hairline seems aggressive for your pattern of hair loss & I too would have preferred to have some grafts in the crown or at least a say so in the matter. But look, if the hair comes out nicely then that's wonderful! Reminds me of a Rahal hairline shape.

 

That's a colossal amount of grafts implanted in one day. Never heard of that many in one day before via FUE. It's standard practice that most surgeons let their techs implant the grafts & not do it themselves? Unless you were promised otherwise.

 

Hopefully this grows out really nice for you so you would then be able to address the vertex & crown!

 

Keep us posted!

 

Hi Dutch,

 

At the end of the day, all that matters is the end result. I don't actually mind not having the crown filled in, just as long as the coverage is decent enough for me to style my hair in the midscalp and hairline. It's a case of 'out of sight, out of mind'

 

I will keep the thread updated with monthly updates hopefully.