A question about FUE prices in Turkey

[JimHal]

So, I've been doing my research and have been quoted differently from different surgeons. And would love your opinion on the matter.

 

I've contacted FUE Hair Transplant Turkey Asmed - Cheap Follicular Unit Extraction in Istanbul - numerous good reviews for a free consultation, and they estimated that I'd be paying 12,500 euro for a 5000 graft FUE operation.

 

While some members here have done operations with Dr. Maral, for example, and have paid 1800 euros for a 3500 graft FUE. And have noticed this with other clinics as well in Turkey.

 

Why the big discrepancy? Am getting what I am paying for?

 

Are there reliable clinics that anyone can recommend that would do a 4000-5000 FUE for a reasonable price? Your recommendations are always welcome.

 

Thanks,

[1966kph]

Hello jimhal..

You need to research as we all have our own preferences on which dr to go to.We all so have our own budget that might limit our choice.

If I were you I would research while emailing lots of clinics and seeing how their responses are to any questions you may have.

If you've done your research you should have a idea which one would be best suited to meet your goals.

When you've made your choice I wish you all the best.

Have a nice day

[PupDaddy]

JimHal,

The reason for the dramatic difference in price quotes as between the two clinics you mentioned is that at one of them, a hair transplant surgeon operates on you (Asmed - Dr. Koray Erdogan) whereas at the other, technicians operate on you (The Maral Clinic).

 

Dr. Erdogan is recommended by Hair Restoration Network, as are several other Turkish hair restoration physicians.

[JimHal]

@PupDaddy ok that makes a dramatic difference. Thank you for your answer.

[PupDaddy]

My pleasure, JimHal. Good luck!

[GraveD11gger]

JimHal,

The reason for the dramatic difference in price quotes as between the two clinics you mentioned is that at one of them, a hair transplant surgeon operates on you (Asmed - Dr. Koray Erdogan) whereas at the other, technicians operate on you (The Maral Clinic).

 

Yeah we all know, Maral plans, organizes and supervises the surgeries, his team performs,

 

And, technicians also operate for extractions and implantations in another clinics including mentioned one, see here; http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/178006-why-do-some-people-think-doctors-do-fue-better-than-techs-4.html

but;

 

Did you ask about the reason -for the dramatic difference in price quotes - and learn about it or is this your fabricated story? The reason may be so different than your imagination. Arguing from anology does not work everytime. Maybe Dr. Maral thinks that his patients are smart enough, ha, is that a possibility also?

[KO]

That is not true. In which recommended clinic do technicians do implantations? In some good clinics, technicians do extractions, which is a different step from graft insertion. You are deliberately making the distinction murky to make it seem like "Maral does the same thing others do", which is NOT true.

[GraveD11gger]

Jim Hal,

 

My recommendation; contact with Maral, learn the truth, then open your thread here to educate this whelp. My pleasure.

[GraveD11gger]

You are deliberately making the distinction murky to make it seem like "Maral does the same thing others do", which is NOT true.

 

You are wrong now. You fabricated a story, imagination. I did not do this, I did not even imply this. I know Maral personally. He never does the same thing others do. You can be sure of that.

 

Anyway, you should accept the fact that, only opening the channels by a doctor is enough here to get esteem, but does this justify X5-10 costs? And what about if the doctor is a simple medical practitioner with no surgical training and legality?

[KO]

The costs are what patients are willing to pay. Given that the best clinics have plenty of patients who are willing to pay, they think it does justify.

[GraveD11gger]

The costs are what patients are willing to pay. Given that the best clinics have plenty of patients who are willing to pay, they think it does justify.

 

Agree with that. Congratulations, you sneaked off wisely.

 

Will you reply my 2nd question?

Edited January 9, 2015 by GraveD11gger

[PupDaddy]

JimHal,

If you're still following your thread, please don't be misled by the likes of GraveD11ger. There are no surgeons or clinics recommended here, in Turkey or elsewhere, where the hair transplants are performed entirely by technicians. In particular, no surgeons or clinics recommended here permit technicians, rather than a licensed physician, to perform the artistically and cosmetically critical task of cutting the graft recipient incisions (slits or holes, sometimes called "channels") into the patient's scalp. As Dr. Bhatti, a HRN recommended physician from India, stated here just yesterday: “Where harvesting is a skill, slit making is an art.” The Maral Klinic has technicians perform this task as well (along with all other parts of the hair transplant operation), which is why it can charge such low prices. The doctor whose name is on the clinic has no hand in the hair transplant procedures. He performs face lifts, nose jobs, and other cosmetic procedures, not hair transplants. His technicians do the hair transplant operations. Buyer beware.

[JimHal]

Thank you all for chiming in. Some people got pretty defensive I must say! But yes it makes perfect sense. Doctor > Technician makes a huge difference, "supervising" doesn't really work here. I dont want to do this 10 hour operation more than I have to.

 

I found a few clinics, and have come across some great results with doctors using the lateral slit technique .. Although many of them are being vague if they actually take out a piece of skin like they do in FUT, can anyone clarify this?

 

Thanks again guys.

[MikroFUE]

It is true that our clinic is inexpensive but this has nothing to do with technicians and whether they conduct the operations or not. HT is another plastic surgery operation like the others ,ie: rinoplasty.Dr. Maral follows a price policy accordingly in order to be fair and balanced.

 

Prices are the same for Turkish and foreigner patients. Maral Klinik HT team technicians have at least 6 years of field experience. The chief technician who opens channels has 10 years of experience.

 

Dr. Maral's contribution and involvement in operations has been summarized very well in this thread: http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/177919-4th-hair-transplant-3700-grafts-maral-clinic.html. He has to do with the hardest work of HT.

 

Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it. -Henry Ford.

[GraveD11gger]

The costs are what patients are willing to pay. Given that the best clinics have plenty of patients who are willing to pay, they think it does justify.

 

KO, My question, waiting your reply;

 

What about if the doctor is a simple medical practitioner with no surgical training and legality?

[GraveD11gger]

Thank you all for chiming in. Some people got pretty defensive I must say! But yes it makes perfect sense. Doctor > Technician makes a huge difference, "supervising" doesn't really work here. I dont want to do this 10 hour operation more than I have to.

 

I found a few clinics, and have come across some great results with doctors using the lateral slit technique .. Although many of them are being vague if they actually take out a piece of skin like they do in FUT, can anyone clarify this?

 

Thanks again guys.

 

Jim Hal,

We all respect your decisions and convictions. Anyway you should understand the fact that unfair belligerence agains Maral has produced pretty defense here.

 

I am just wondering if you would be certain that you would have the same or better result, would you prefer to have just your channels opened by a non-surgeon doctor, and willing to pay x5-10 more just for that?? (Extraction and implantaton will be done by technicians anywhere)

[JimHal]

Jim Hal,

We all respect your decisions and convictions. Anyway you should understand the fact that unfair belligerence agains Maral has produced pretty defense here.

 

I am just wondering if you would be certain that you would have the same or better result, would you prefer to have just your channels opened by a non-surgeon doctor, and willing to pay x5-10 more just for that?? (Extraction and implantaton will be done by technicians anywhere)

 

Thats a really good point, but in my case I just would rather be safe than sorry. Presently I am looking at Dr. Hakan who seems like an excellent surgeon. In the operation experiences everyone mentions that he is helped by his staff during the operation, but they all note that he was present the whole time and did the heavy lifting, which is something really assuring for me.

[GraveD11gger]

JimHal,

If you're still following your thread, please don't be misled by the likes of GraveD11ger. There are no surgeons or clinics recommended here, in Turkey or elsewhere, where the hair transplants are performed entirely by technicians. In particular, no surgeons or clinics recommended here permit technicians, rather than a licensed physician, to perform the artistically and cosmetically critical task of cutting the graft recipient incisions (slits or holes, sometimes called "channels") into the patient's scalp. As Dr. Bhatti, a HRN recommended physician from India, stated here just yesterday: “Where harvesting is a skill, slit making is an art.” The Maral Klinic has technicians perform this task as well (along with all other parts of the hair transplant operation), which is why it can charge such low prices. The doctor whose name is on the clinic has no hand in the hair transplant procedures. He performs face lifts, nose jobs, and other cosmetic procedures, not hair transplants. His technicians do the hair transplant operations. Buyer beware.

 

Only plastic surgeons are licensed physicians for HT in Turkey. And Bahatti as a plastic surgeon does the same, operates Aesthetic Plastic surgey clinic (Darling Bud?) and performs cosmetic surgery operations as Maral does. All the same.

 

But, here agresiveness is just for Maral, why?

 

Just because he does not open the channels? -His partner with 10 years of experience open channels all the time as mentioned by clinic representative, and they proved that she can open 5000-5500 channels in one setting.

 

PUPDADDY, , prove your authority as a senior member,

 

Here are 2 examples of channels by lateral slit technique, which one is correct and why?? (I received both pictures from the forum)

[GraveD11gger]

Thats a really good point, but in my case I just would rather be safe than sorry. Presently I am looking at Dr. Hakan who seems like an excellent surgeon. In the operation experiences everyone mentions that he is helped by his staff during the operation, but they all note that he was present the whole time and did the heavy lifting, which is something really assuring for me.

 

OK then, you will be in good, experienced hands as Maral's. Good luck, hope you will start and post your thread.

 

You will see this PUP and KO will not answer my clear legitimate questions. Do you bet?

[KO]

Thats a really good point, but in my case I just would rather be safe than sorry. Presently I am looking at Dr. Hakan who seems like an excellent surgeon. In the operation experiences everyone mentions that he is helped by his staff during the operation, but they all note that he was present the whole time and did the heavy lifting, which is something really assuring for me.

 

Please do not take graved11ger's comments seriously, most clinics do not have technicians doing implantations and I would say that no reputable clinic would hand off this all-crucial task to techs. In the lateral slit method, what techs do is place grafts into incisions made by a surgeon which is totally different from "techs doing implantation". Maral Klinik on the other hand has a tech make incisions using drills and then place grafts. There are good surgeons in turkey, but I would focus on surgeons who have many patient posted results as opposed to clinic posted which are really best case scenarios.

[PupDaddy]

Only plastic surgeons are licensed physicians for HT in Turkey. And Bahatti as a plastic surgeon does the same, operates Aesthetic Plastic surgey clinic (Darling Bud?) and performs cosmetic surgery operations as Maral does. All the same.

 

No, NOT "all the same." Neither Dr. Bhatti, nor any other ht physician recommended here, relegates the "art" of hair transplantation -- the creation of the thousands of recipient incisions for the transplanted grafts -- to technicians. Not only is it ILLEGAL in Turkey (and every other country, so far as I know), it is an abdication of the physician's duty of care to his patient so he can pocket additional dollars running a hair transplant mill as a sideline. If Dr. Maral wants to offer hair transplantation but doesn't want to, or isn't able to perform these surgeries himself, he should hire or partner with a top-notch hair transplant physician. If he did so, everyone would win: The Maral Klinic could legitimately offer hair transplantation, a licensed hair transplant physician would be operating on patients and bringing both his or her skill and artistry to the table, and The Maral Klinic's prices would remain because, as MikroFUE claims, The Maral Klinic's cut-rate pricing is unrelated to the clinic having technicians performing hair transplants.

 

"But, here agresiveness is just for Maral, why?"

 

See above. PLUS -- When The Maral Klinic showed up and started promoting itself here, its online representative first evaded questions about who, exactly, was performing the clinic's hair transplants, and then, after questions persisted, and apparently recognizing that this community would look askance at a doctor and clinic offering hair transplants performed entirely by technicians, Maral's representative made these misrepresentations to throw us off the scent:

 

1. "Dr. Maral is an aesthetic plastic surgeon with academic career (he is an associate professor) and only plastic surgeons and dermatologic surgeons have a licence to do hair transplant operations with their professional teams in Turkey."

 

2. "Dr. Maral has whole responsibilities of his patients against medicolegal issues after the procedures have been completed. So you may accept that he does all steps of the HT operations on his own patients."

 

(From MikroFUE's post of 10/28/2014.)

 

When these representations proved to be utterly false, Maral's representative changed course and instead claimed that Dr. Maral "supervised" the hair transplants. Even that turned out not to be true, as one of the clinic's patients told us. During his hair transplant, Dr. Maral left the premises to go home early while the clinic's technicians completed the patient's surgery. Some supervision.

 

So what we have is an illegally operating clinic, with technicians performing hair transplants under the auspices of a physician's name, promoting itself on this site, and lying about what it is doing. If you wonder about some members' "aggressiveness" towards this clinic, this might explain it.

 

"Just because he does not open the channels? -His partner with 10 years of experience open channels all the time as mentioned by clinic representative, and they proved that she can open 5000-5500 channels in one setting."

 

See above. And, what you blithely dismiss as merely not "open[ing] the channels" (a term I've never heard for creating the recipient incisions for the transplanted grafts) is the very heart and soul of the artistry of hair restoration surgery. It is what distinguishes and differentiates Konior's work from Rahal's work from Hasson's work from Wong's work from Gabel's work from Lorenzo's work from Diep's work from Maras's work from Paul Shapiro's work from Ron Shapiro's work, etc., etc. Hair restoration surgery is a cosmetic surgery. It is about more than merely having grafts survive being moved from one place to another, it is about the surgeon's hard-earned reputation, experience, and artistry, both from a medical standpoint and from an aesthetic standpoint. More than anything, the artistry of hair restoration surgery is manifested in the surgeon's creation of the graft recipient incisions, as Dr. Bhatti reminded us.

 

And not for nothing, but NONE of the hair restoration surgeons mentioned above or recommended here use motorized drills to "open the channels" for the grafts to be implanted. The gold standard tools for cosmetic results that most closely mimic nature is custom cut blades to make mostly lateral slits, or sometimes needles, or sometimes implanter pens (although I personally think that the cosmetic result in the hairline region is compromised, somewhat, by the use of implanter pens). The only reason I can think of to use a motorized drill to make graft recipient sites would be if a non-physician was being allowed to perform this aesthetically critical task and needed a "fast" and "easy" tool to do it. Oh. Yeah. I forgot, that's exactly the situation at The Maral Klinic. Hell, I could "open 5,000-5,500 channel at one sitting" with one of these drills. Should I? Absolutely not. Why not? I am not a hair restoration surgeon. Besides, no self-respecting hair restoration surgeon truly concerned with providing patients with the best possible cosmetic result would ever use such a tool to make the graft recipient site incisions, let alone turn a technician loose on a patient with one of these drills.

 

 

"PUPDADDY, , prove your authority as a senior member,

 

Here are 2 examples of channels by lateral slit technique, which one is correct and why?? (I received both pictures from the forum)"

 

Oy. I've responded to this red herring before, but I will try again. First, please re-read everything I wrote above in my response to your questions about this clinic. Second, absent some glaringly obvious mess or instantly apparent problem, a photograph of a recipient area immediately post-op won't reveal much of anything to the naked eye in terms of ultimate yield or matured cosmetic result. I've yet to see a matured result from The Maral Klinic that compares favorably with the best work out there or that I would want on my head, but even if the technicians who perform these surgeries manage to hit on a decent cosmetic result now and again, I still could not in good conscience recommend that anyone go there for all the reasons I articulated above.

[PupDaddy]

Only plastic surgeons are licensed physicians for HT in Turkey. And Bahatti as a plastic surgeon does the same, operates Aesthetic Plastic surgey clinic (Darling Bud?) and performs cosmetic surgery operations as Maral does. All the same.

 

But, here agresiveness is just for Maral, why?

 

Just because he does not open the channels? -His partner with 10 years of experience open channels all the time as mentioned by clinic representative, and they proved that she can open 5000-5500 channels in one setting.

 

PUPDADDY, , prove your authority as a senior member,

 

Here are 2 examples of channels by lateral slit technique, which one is correct and why?? (I received both pictures from the forum)

 

I made a lengthy response to your questions, GraveD11gger, but it got caught for moderator review. I hope the moderators review it and post it soon.

[GraveD11gger]

I made a lengthy response to your questions, GraveD11gger, but it got caught for moderator review. I hope the moderators review it and post it soon.

 

OK waiting, but please write simple, you know my English is not native.

[GraveD11gger]

Please do not take graved11ger's comments seriously, most clinics do not have technicians doing implantations and I would say that no reputable clinic would hand off this all-crucial task to techs. In the lateral slit method, what techs do is place grafts into incisions made by a surgeon which is totally different from "techs doing implantation". Maral Klinik on the other hand has a tech make incisions using drills and then place grafts. There are good surgeons in turkey, but I would focus on surgeons who have many patient posted results as opposed to clinic posted which are really best case scenarios.

 

KO,

 

All clinics use (except pen implantation which also does not need channel opening) technicians when it comes to graft implantation. This is the basic fact.

 

Could you please answer to my question?

 

What about if the doctor is a simple medical practitioner with no surgical training and legality for HT? What advantage over experienced technicians who can also open channels (incisions with your term)??

Edited January 9, 2015 by GraveD11gger

[KO]

No, that is wrong. Most clinics use doctors to make the incisions, the technician's job is to place the grafts into pre-made incisions. That does not mean that technicians are doing insertions.

 

As for non-surgeon doctors, I would not want to go to one for surgery. I think that is straightforward. And don't tell me that "Maral is an aesthetic surgeon" because Maral does not operate.