Jinemed - 2 FUE procedures - very good experience

[newton]

Jinemed

 

I had a 2500 graft FUE at Jinemed in Istanbul, Turkey in December 2011. This the review of this, the first Jinemed procedure. I'll add information about the 2nd procedure later.

 

* In 2009 I had 2000 graft strip at Dr Devroye's clinic in Brusselles, Belgium. * read about that here:

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/137830-my-1974-graft-fut-april-2009-dr-devroye.html

 

I did lots of research before both. With Jinemed I couldn't actually find many personal stories, but saw some good photos and and video work.

 

The package was very inexpensive. ? 2000 British Pounds, less than half of the cost in the UK or Belgium.

 

Contacting Jinemed and booking procedure:

Contact with the Jinemed online was quite straight forward. Mr Ugur answered all questions I had in a very matter of fact way. I sent some photos for online evaluation.

 

Booking was made, I transeferred a small deposit and waited for the time to come around. A general timetable/itenrary was emailed to me. Confirmation of my flights, driver

 

arrangements and so forth.

 

The package includes;

a room at the hospital for 2 nights/3 days with 3 meals a day

collection from airport by driver

return to airport by driver

consultation with the Dr

the procedure itself

all medications necessary during and after the procedure

 

You will need to arrange your own flights. I went on British Airways and it cost me around 150 British Pounds, return.

 

Travel to Istanbul:

Flight to Istabul was just under 4 hours. On arrival at airport I headed for exit and saw many drivers waiting holding notices, I couldn't see the Jinemed driver amongst so many.

 

I phoned the clinic who called the driver and he came found me at the Information booth within 2 minutes.

 

Transfer to Jinemed:

Took about an hour in evening traffic, but nice to see abit of the city. Driver speaks very little English but is friendly and helpful

 

Arrival at Jinemed:

Driver showed me to the room and settled me in. Told me someone would come greet me shortly.

 

Some food was brought in to me very soon after and shortly after Romina arrived to greet me. Romina is lovely. Speaks great English and was very warm and welcoming.

 

She confirmed the timetable for the consultation, procedure, etc.

 

Not many Turkish people speak English, including almost all of the Jinemed staff. Please don't let this put you off. Romina is extremely helpful. Importantly there was an

 

I had an interpreter during the whole procedure!

 

The room was basic, hospital type bed, small sofa, neat shower/toilet room.

 

The food was terrible!!!. I kind of expected it to be so I took some energy bars and some crisps. But really, I couldn't eat almost any of the meals. Luckily there was a bread roll with each meal.

 

There is a cake and coffee shop in the lobby, so I made use of that. Order pizza via Internet, they'll deliver right to the room!

 

The hospital is located footsteps from plenty of shops/restaurants, etc too.

 

Remember, this is a hospital... not a hotel so don't let the food put you off either!

 

The hospital is in a great location and I went for a really long walk down by the river. Incredible views.

 

Consultation:

I was driven about 10 minutes to the Doctors very nice offices, greeted by 2 ladies in reception (they don't speak great English but it wasn't a problem). The consulation was

 

brief. I've had a strip procedure before so I didn't have loads of questions. Then driven back to the hospital.

 

Procedure:

I was given a surgical robe (open at the back type). You can't wear anything you need to pull over your head (for obvious reasons) for several days.

 

Romina took me down to the room and introduced me to the 3technicians and to my interperter. (sorry, I've lost their names)

 

They were all very welcoming and friendly. The translator translated everything before and during the procedure.

 

Head Shaving:

I'd buzzed my hair down to about a couple of mm but this was still too long. They shaved my head, all over.

 

Be prepared for that! You can wear a baseball cap to get you home without too many stares, etc but you will need to allow time for the hair you had to get back to a length you are ok with for friends, work, etc.

 

The consultation with the Doctor either hadn't been passed to the technicians or they were double checking as they asked me to go over it again. I wasn't too concerned as

 

they seemed very knowledable, picked up quickly what I was hoping to acheive and were very open about what they could do.

 

Injections:

They had to numb the donor area. I don't mind injections but some will find this uncomfortable. I was told that a lot of people yelp during this bit. Several needles are injected

 

with anaesthetic then others deeply inserted to pump up the scalp to make the grafts easier to see and extract. It is sort of numb but feels like your head is huge.

 

Removing donor grafts:

FUE takes longer than strip. They had to cut 2500 donor grafts from my scalp, one by one. This is pinpoint accurate stuff and takes hours. I had to lay face down for a long,

 

long time. It gets very uncomfortable, but hey, what can you do?

 

It's not painful having the grafts removed but it is arduous staying completely still in uncomfortable positions for long periods of time!

 

Preparing recipient site:

More anaesthetic to numb the recipient area. I was having the crown filled in.

 

The technicians then made 2500 tiny cuts on my scapl to place the hair grafts into. This again takes a long time. The have to get the gaps looking natural no straight lines or grids, the swirl of the crown has to look right, the correct angle for the hair coming up out of the scalp, etc.

 

Again, long periods of keeping still, face down in uncomfortable psotions. This is by far the hardest part. Laying still sounds easy but I found it arduous.

 

The technicians and interpereter did their best to keep me motivated. Chatting about everything from where I had travelled from to policitics, to music, etc. They are very nice, friendly but hardworking dedicated professionals. I know they were finding it as arduous as me.

 

Placing the grafts.

Again, long, slow, they worked as a team, all 3 at a time. Making sure each precious graft was at the correct angle, depth.

 

Procedure overview:

The technicians worked brilliantly well as a team. Swapping tasks so they could take breaks without having to stop the procedure.

 

I had a 30 minute lunch break (food was OK!!) and a 2 minute toilet break during the 6 hour (yes, 6 hours). They took more or less the same.

 

I can't fault their work ethic, professionalism and curteousy.

 

Recovery:

They took me back up to the room and settled me in. Expalined what to do that evening. How to sleep with my head propped up so I wouldn't damage anything, medication, etc.

 

I spent a sleepless night. I wasn't in any pain but I was painfully aware of the grafts and how easy they could be damaged.

 

I realise now I should have taken my towelling hooded robe with me. Rolling the hood makes a perfect brace for my neck to be propped up safely. I might have gotten some

sleep!

 

Returning home:

I spent a relaxing morning listening to music, another terrible breakfast was delivered to me (take some snacks with you or buy some from local area!!)

 

Romina came in and went through the after care stuff with me, gave me medication, shampoos, etc and confirmed all my flight times, time driver etc.

 

When it was time she came to collect me, take me down to the driver and wish me a good voyage. She really is a lovely person to have working there. Very professional but caring.

 

Driver took me to the airport and I waited for the plane.

 

I wore a hat. Obviously be careful not to dislodge any grafts but it made me so much less self conscious.

 

You might get asked to remove it at security. I explained on way through I had a procedure and showed them the meds and instructions from hospital, they were very understanding.

 

Arriving home:

Again found it difficult to sleep. Hadn't quite worked out the best position. By chance I realised my bathrobe hood could be used to prop up neck.

 

I still didn't sleep through. I was cat napping about 15 minutes then waking up very aware of my preciuos grafts. I found sitting up in bed watching TV then nodding off occasionally was bearable.

 

Aftercare:

I started the meds as instructed. The antibiotics taste foul. I wrap them in a tiny bit of bread then gulp them down with water.

 

There isn't really any pain, but it is slightly uncomfortable. I think mostly because I'm so aware of the grafts and not wanting to damage them.

 

Photos:

I took some photos on my phone so I could see the placement. I'm very impressed! The density looks nice and the swirl pattern is very natural.

 

I just have to wait now and see how it takes!!

 

I'll post more updates.

 

Friday

 

Got a better nights sleep last night. Still sleeping upright. Donor zone is still uncomfortable and the dread of dislodging any of my precious grafts makes it a very anxious

 

process... but... I think I had 5 or 6 hours pretty good sleep.

 

Recipient area is still very pink. It appears the transplanted hairs are growing but I read that they are just being pushed from the follicles.

 

Washed my hair for the first time. Well, trickled some water over it.

 

This FUE seems to be a slower healing process than my Strip procedure. I guess I do have 5000 wounds on my head as opposed to 1974 and one big wound last time.

 

I'm very aware of how it looks at present. Sore, unpleasant. The strip looked almost undetectable straight away. I'm glad I still have 2 weeks before I go back to work. I'm still not confident it'll be undetectable by then.

 

That's not a critism of the job Jinemed did. I just wasn't expecting it to look quite so obvious as my strip one fooled people within a couple of days.

Edited June 8, 2014 by newton

[newton]

added photos here: Hair Restoration Social Network - Hair Loss and Transplant Photos

[newton]

Overall I was really pleased with the first experience.

 

I was a little anxious at first but it came clear very quickly the technicians knew exactly what they were doing.

 

Romina who looks after you is amazing, she'll be your go to person.

 

Hospital was very clean, modern and efficient. Location was brilliant to do a bit of sight seeing first!

 

Procedure was tiring, arduous and uncomfortable but not painful.

 

Placement of units was excellent!

 

Cost of procedure was very good value for money.

 

Efficiency of staff from booking, to driver, to Romina who looks after you, to technicians was excellent.

 

Food was terrible! Take snacks, order food online. I ordered pizza and they brought it right to the door of my room!

 

Don't expect everyone to speak English! Despite most staff not speaking English I managed to communicate. All the staff were really friendly and supportive.

 

My head was very red and sore looking (it didn't actually hurt) so allow 2 weeks before you need to go back to work or see family and friends.

 

The immediate results were great. Recipient area started growing straight away. Most of It did shed then regrow later. Some of it just kept growing!

 

Long term results are excellent. Looks like all units survived and are growing.

 

I was so impressed I booked another procedure with Jinemed. I'll do posts for that soon.

 

I had a great experience with Jinemed and am very pleased with long term results. More photos to come.

[newton]

2nd procedure I had 2000 FUE at the same clinic, Jinemed Instanbul.

 

The technicians were different this time but just as efficient.

 

Romina was there to make it all go smoothly. She really is an asset for them.

 

I won't do a big long description but will just say I am as pleased as I was the first time.

 

I've added photos here:Hair Restoration Social Network - Hair Loss and Transplant Photos

 

Both my procedures were excellent at Jinemed. They were great value and the staff are excellent.

 

Based on my 2 experiences I'd recommend them.