5,5 month update 5000 graft Dr. Koray Erdogan

[acegik]

Hello

 

I had a hair transplant with Dr. Koray Erdogan in Istanbul 5,5 months ago.

I had 5000 grafts transplanted via FUE on 2 consecutive days. 2500 grafts were placed in the front the first day, 1300 graft in midscalp and 1200 grafts in crown on the second day.

 

The clinic is very big and high-tec, and all the staff and the doctor are very friendly and professional.

 

Below are my pre op photos, post op photos.

 

5,5 months photos are in the next post.

Edited October 21, 2014 by acegik

[acegik]

Here are the 5,5 month results:

 

A lot of the hairs have grown and I can now see the shape of a hairline, but the density is still very low, and my hair is very see-through. I know it has only been 5,5 months, but I had expected much more density by now comparing to the other 5-6 months results from this doctors other patients.

 

All the 5,5 month update photos are taken under natural light and with flash.

 

The right side is more see-through than the left side..

 

The general rule is that at 6 months 50% of the results should show, but I would say I have only had 30% results by now at 5,5 months..

Should I be worried??

[Britanium]

Some people are slow to grow. Like you mentioned i too would

Expect more growth though at this stage. You had a lot of grafts

Placed and you did have existing hair also.

Be interesting to see what your ht surgeon thinks?

[delancey]

That's a lot of grafts for a relatively small area, especially considering that you already had some hair in the area. Best of luck to you and please keep us posted on your progress. Was your hair loss classified as a norwood 5A?

 

Are you taking rogaine?

[acegik]

I dont know what Norwood stage I was, but I have miniaturization all over the top from my hairline to the crown, including receding hairline and temples. But i still had a lot of hair on top even though the density was quite low.

 

I have been on 1,25mg finasteride for 3 years, and upped the dose to 2,5mg after the operation. I stopped minoxidil 1 month before the operation and havent been using it since, so maybe that is the reason the growth is slow?

 

I emailed the Doctors rep 5 days ago and awaiting his response.

 

Below are my photos from 10 days post op, which looked very promising at that time :

[Spanker]

I feel like you are on target and I disagree that it's a lot of grafts for a small area. It's a pretty large area. It's an aggressive hairline, he also had crown work done with 1200 grafts and only 1300 in his mid scalp, which looked weak and probably shocked out some.

[lifeisbeautiful]

you may begin using minoxidil which should facilitate your hair growth. Ask you doctor and lets see what he says.

[Garageland]

Hang in there. Unfortunately the timescales for growth are not really accurate as like everything else in transplantation it varies from patient to patient. I think you have had some shock of the native hair as the forelock appears thinner now than before which will be returning about now. Many patients can be concerned at the 5-6 month stage if the growth is not as good as expected as it is such a long time from the transplant we all tend to get a bit impatient.

 

More growth will come that is for sure I can see plenty of tiny new shoots of hair just in the hairline alone. I think you will be much happier at 10 months. BTW 5000 grafts is a big FUE session for 2 days do you have some clear photos of the donor area?

[BUSA]

that is a chitload of grafts in such a small area I agree but chit ur only 5 months out. u look to be pretty much on target from what I can see. ull grow a LOT more in the next 5 months. ull be fine relax.

 

I wud look at SMP as well. that wud surely giv the illusion of more density.

[acegik]

Im worried about starting minoxidil now at this stage, as it may cause shedding for the next few months, and make me loose hair.

 

I also agree that 5000 grafts are not many grafts considering that they were implanted from my hairline all the way to the crown. 2500 grafts in the front, 1300 in midscalp and 1200 in the crown. I remember that I was told I had around 3000-3500 donor grafts left, something in that range.

 

I also hope im on target, but just getting worried when comparing my progress to the other patients who had almost a full head of hair at 5-6 months!

 

Actually my donor area healed pretty fast, and i was buzzing it all the way down with no guard after 1-2 months. Of course it was a little red, but not something you would notice if you dont know anything about FUE or hair transplants. I will post photos of donor area next time I buzz it down, as the hair is long in the back right now and doesn't show anything.

[santos25]

I dont know what Norwood stage I was, but I have miniaturization all over the top from my hairline to the crown, including receding hairline and temples. But i still had a lot of hair on top even though the density was quite low.

 

I have been on 1,25mg finasteride for 3 years, and upped the dose to 2,5mg after the operation. I stopped minoxidil 1 month before the operation and havent been using it since, so maybe that is the reason the growth is slow?

 

I emailed the Doctors rep 5 days ago and awaiting his response.

 

Below are my photos from 10 days post op, which looked very promising at that time :

 

can i just say..thats amazing for 10 days and just the kind of hairline and result i want myself!..have you started the so called shock loss?

[stinger99]

Only 1300 to zone 2'. Seems like a large area to cover with 1300 grafts.

[BaldingBogger]

Hang in there. Still a few months growth to look forward too .

 

Personally though this is way too big a session for one sitting from my perspective.

Is there any documented 5000 FUE in one session which have had optimal growth.?

 

I am seeing a lot of large scale results from Turkey now with growth issues.

 

There seemed to be a better canvas of results when the sessions were smaller.

[Truthfu11]

agecic,

 

I also think Fue hair transplant. How much did it cost with 5000 grafts?. I could not see your post-op pictures, can you reload?

[Cryingoutloud]

Is there any documented 5000 FUE in one session which have had optimal growth.?

 

I am seeing a lot of large scale results from Turkey now with growth issues.

 

 

Damn straight.

 

These Turkish clinics were HT rock stars when they first arrived on the market with their ultra-low priced, densely-packed ops on Norwood 2 guys with ideal donor but lately, I've been reading all sorts of things that leave me a little concerned.

 

Techs being bussed to multiple locations in order to do two or more procedures a day, doctors leaving extractions to techs while they go on extended tea breaks, 5,000 FUE extractions in a day??!!

 

Think twice, folks. Think twice

[decow]

i can quote only my experience..i went ahead with Dr. Koray Erdogan..i was surprised to see all his techs doing the work and in addition there were 3 surgeries in parallel....doctor was only visiting us all the time..i wonder if paying 2.5 euros per graft is worth the real price when all the work is done by the techs.....in the end if my results are positive i would have no complaints..i will hold my horses till my 6th month to come to any conclusion

[acegik]

I have a lot of small stubble on my scalp so probably some more growth in the next months. The 5000 grafts wasnt transplanted on the same area but divided into the front, mid and crown, so I dont see why that would affect the yield... 1300 grafts to midscalp was to few, I know, but I had some hair there and thought that I would just thicken it up, and add more density in a few years. The front and crown was my highest priority.

 

The session was done in 2 days, not 1 day.

 

Decow is right that there were 2-3 surgeries in parallel at the clinic and the techs did most of the job. The doctor himself did maybe 100-200 extractions the first day, but he made all the 5000 incisions himself. I also thought that the doctor would do atleast 90% of the work, but if my result turns out to be a success, i wont complain. Still I think this should be told to the patient in advance.

 

I must also say that my post-op photos show my hair in the worst condition, straight under natural light/sunlight and with extra flash on the camera, so probably look much better in normal light indoors.

 

I will take some new photos next week when I reach the 6 month mark, so you guys can give feedback.

 

I still haven't received any reply from the clinic now after 2 weeks, even after several emails, which is a little concerning. :confused:

[qbn2026]

I am so glad I have come across this post. Acegik, I hope things work out for you. From my readings (first time post here) there seems to be a lack of information to the new guys about the ugly duckling phase and also the mental toughness required to get up every day and go about your business while your family and peers look at you and wonder whats going on with your cranium. It is great this site exists, the amount of support here is unbelievably positive and helpful.

 

I dont want to hijack this forum post,with my own scenario but I have recently approach Dr Koray and his team about a HT. They have responded back that I require 4500-5000 grafts. Now reading about your experience with shock loss, I am concerned that this may happen as well. Apologies if this is a silly question but do the follicles regenerate after shock loss or this is a mother nature thing?

[decow]

this is one of the post that i closely follow.

the reason being i had a similar HT as that of the OP Acegik, here.

So his results will more or less mirror my outcome in the future.

 

i was never aware of the fact that they run parallel surgeries . I witnessed 3 surgeries along with mine..but it the results are positive for me, then i would not have any complaints...i have to wait and see...

[ontop]

I dont know what Norwood stage I was, but I have miniaturization all over the top from my hairline to the crown, including receding hairline and temples. But i still had a lot of hair on top even though the density was quite low.

 

I have been on 1,25mg finasteride for 3 years, and upped the dose to 2,5mg after the operation. I stopped minoxidil 1 month before the operation and havent been using it since, so maybe that is the reason the growth is slow?

 

I emailed the Doctors rep 5 days ago and awaiting his response.

 

Below are my photos from 10 days post op, which looked very promising at that time :

 

Just wondering why did you up your dose 2.5 ? Did the Dr advise you this?

Also was wondering when people have huge HT like this young fella, why don't the Dr give PRP/ Acell with such HT over 2K

Surely that would give it a boost?

Me think that PRP/ Acell should be part of the whole surgery IMHO..& its only about 1 hr on top of the day.

 

Back to the poster I think you be fine your just halfway through so just relax everybody is different but if I was you I would start to you Min now

 

Good luck

[acegik]

I am so glad I have come across this post. Acegik, I hope things work out for you. From my readings (first time post here) there seems to be a lack of information to the new guys about the ugly duckling phase and also the mental toughness required to get up every day and go about your business while your family and peers look at you and wonder whats going on with your cranium. It is great this site exists, the amount of support here is unbelievably positive and helpful.

 

I dont want to hijack this forum post,with my own scenario but I have recently approach Dr Koray and his team about a HT. They have responded back that I require 4500-5000 grafts. Now reading about your experience with shock loss, I am concerned that this may happen as well. Apologies if this is a silly question but do the follicles regenerate after shock loss or this is a mother nature thing?

 

Actually I have been researching for many many years, and knew everything about the ugly duckling phase. But after seeing all the results from the doctor of many patients at 5-6 months post-op, I thought I would achieve the same results. They probably were the lucky ones that have fast growth and maybe 80-90 % results at 6 months, where some of us (me included) have around 40-50% growth at 6 months and have to wait the full 12 months to get to the final result.. Atleast I hope so.

 

I was told that most of the native follicles regenerate after shockloss, but some of the thinnest hairs may not survive. This shouldnt have a cosmetic difference, as the thin vellus hair doesnt make a difference anyway, and would fall out soon even if you didnt have a hair transplant.

Edited November 3, 2014 by acegik

[acegik]

Just wondering why did you up your dose 2.5 ? Did the Dr advise you this?

Also was wondering when people have huge HT like this young fella, why don't the Dr give PRP/ Acell with such HT over 2K

Surely that would give it a boost?

Me think that PRP/ Acell should be part of the whole surgery IMHO..& its only about 1 hr on top of the day.

 

Back to the poster I think you be fine your just halfway through so just relax everybody is different but if I was you I would start to you Min now

 

Good luck

 

I upped the dose to 2,5mg because I was still shedding hair with 1,25mg even after 3 years. I asked the doctor if 2,5mg would be okay, and he said it was fine, but I shouldn't expect much better results. Even if I get 5% better hair maintenance that is fine by me, as I have had zero side effects from finasteride in all those years.

 

I have also bought RU58841, which I will start using at 12 months post-op, and hopefully maintain most of my hair when combined with finasteride.

 

The doctor also performs PRP, but it costs 300 euro extra, and I asked if it would affect the growth or yield, which he said no to. It would help a little with post-op redness, which I didn't really care about, so I didnt pay the extra 300 for PRP.

 

If I am really just halfway through, and there is 50% more growth/maturing to come in the next 6 months, I think I will be very happy with the results. But some people also say that the 6 month results is really all you will get, so that worries me.

[ontop]

Ok...good.

I still think you be fine everybody is different.

You could shave your head down that way it will all look even also it be good to rub some Mic all over whilel you would have short hair...by the time the next 6 mths is up you can grow it out some & should look a lot fuller.

 

Have you tryed Biotin & MSN Tabs ? That would help feed your scalp & make your roots stronger.

 

Again relax your on track.

[acegik]

6 MONTH RESULTS

 

 

All of the photos are taken under natural light (except the last 6) both WITH and WITHOUT flash so the difference can be seen. The photos are named either "flash" or "no flash".

 

I have also taken some photos with my hair standing up and with indoor light to show you how much fuller it looks (the last 6 photos), and how big a difference lightning can make ! These photos are under indoor light and NOT natural light, and are named "dark".

[ontop]

Yep there is defo improvement this last month, hairline looks good & I see your starting to full out more in the mid scalp also.

Your crown is making way also but forwhatever reason from what I've seen & read takes a little more time but still your still on track & I can see you having a full head of hair by 12/ 16 mths.

 

Did you get back on Min? & taking your Fin? If so then keep it up that would protect your investment.

 

Your looking good buddy try not to stress you be fine.

 

Best wishes.