Hair Transplant Mentor™ in Europe & Turkey

[JoeTillman]

Hey guys,

 

I'm heading back to Europe and I'll be offering my second opinion service near Brussels, Belgium on May 19th. This is a completely free chance to get an unfiltered third party second opinion of any consultations you have had with any clinic. I'm also happy to meet with patients that have already had surgery to discuss your experience, for better or for worse. This is not a consultation for any clinic but rather a service for you to be heard and educated. You can check out my latest blog post for more information.

 

Once I'm done in Belgium I'm heading to Istanbul on May 20th to interview and review AEK Hair Transplant Institute and Dr. Emre Karadeniz. I'll be shooting this documentary style to give you all an idea of what it's like to travel to Turkey for a hair transplant. No, I am not having another hair transplant.

 

I don't know how long I'll be in Istanbul but once I'm done I'll be heading to Milan for more second opinion service meetings and for a video shoot with my friends at Beauty Medical.

 

If anyone is interested in meeting up just let me know.

[JoeTillman]

Joe, All sounds great - and congratulations on your new role working with Dr. Emre Karadeniz and AEK Hair Institute. Exciting times ahead. :cool:

 

Goes without saying but if you visit the UK lets hook up for a long over due beer.

 

Best

Spence

 

Thanks, Spex. It is exciting, for a few reasons. I like talking to Dr. K because he's a hair geek and he isn't bored or tired of the subject of hair. He has real passion. Second, it's exciting because Istanbul is on my bucket list of travel desitinations and it will be really great to get back to ( or close to) the Middle East. I guess Turkey is the "almost" Middle East:) Last time I was in the region, further Southwest, was in the early nineties and I loved it. The final reason is because this is the start of a new format that I'll be using to present any clinics I work with, the details of which will be seen in how I present the video.

 

If I wind up passing through the UK, near London of course, I'll let you know but let's keep it a bit lower key than last time we had drinks together...PLEASE!

[walky]

I live in istanbul. let me know if you need help

[JoeTillman]

I live in istanbul. let me know if you need help

 

Hi Walky,

 

I'm in Istanbul now. Are you are the Asian side or Euro side? You can email me at admin@hairtransplantmentor.com and we can meet up at Dr. K's office.

[JoeTillman]

I wanted to give an update regarding my travels. As I sit here in my hotel room in Istanbul, waking at 6:15 a.m. just because my body gives me no other choice, I had some thoughts that I wanted to get on camera, which I did. But I also want to share something that I noticed my first night here.

 

I was out to dinner with Dr. K and his wife and the first thing I noticed when we sat down at our table was that our waiter had a hair transplant. This wasn't the kind of hair transplant that only I or a seasoned HT doctor would notice, it was one that anyone would notice if only because the way it lay on the waiter's head was just "off". The temples were too deep for the very low hairline and he had it slicked back to cover the crown. Did he look ridiculous? No, but anyone would think it wasn't a natural look. The devil in the details were the angles and directions of placement were completely wrong.

 

Dr. K told me that it is very common to get a hair transplant in Turkey. The price is set so low that the everyday man can have one but because it is so cheap it is commoditzed in that not only can everyone get one, everyone can offer one. I spent half the evening looking at the hairlines of ten waiters on our side of the restaurant because half of them, five, had hair transplants that I could easily pick out. When was the last time any of you reading this saw five hair translants in one restaurant, much less where they were on the heads of wait staff?

[keyser-soze]

What exactly is the point of this joe?

You are not going to give a honest reveiw or rather should i say your not going to point out any shortcomings because you work for this surgeon so what is the purpose of this?

Anyone looking for a ht dr should and do look at their patients and from what i have seen this dr is lacking.

Not in skill although i have honestly not seen any wow result but mostly very average.

Also i dont get his use of fut/fue combo's could you please explain ?

One reveiw by a guy from Scotlnd really slated this dr's attitude and it seems your dr ripped him off somewhat because if he had one graft less he said he would of saved quite a few hundred pounds.

Joe you have worked with some of the very best hair transplant clinics in the world why this move to one that isnt?

Are you visiting with the more well respected clinics in turkey while your there? asmed. dr donagay,dr demisoy to name a few

I really hope this all pans out for you as your knowledge is without question.

Joe if you really want to help this dr which you obviously do have a look at roscoes thread and explain to the dr where he went so wrong and tell him to stop insulting people.

Looking forward to your videos joe im sure they will be great.

Enjoy your travels

[JoeTillman]

Hi Keyser,

 

Thanks for your comments. You've made some great points and I'm happy to address them.

 

You are not going to give a honest review or rather should i say your not going to point out any shortcomings because you work for this surgeon so what is the purpose of this?

 

I need to be clear. I do not "work for" Dr. Karadeniz just like HTN does not work for Dr. Karedeniz just because he is recommended. I will not work for any single clinic or doctor for the foreseeable future so you aren't really in a position to make such an assumption. It is logical to assume, yes, but it is not an accurate assumption simply because you do not have all of the information. Part of the point of my journey has been to see for myself how Dr. K does things. I have no reason to hide any big issues nor do I have the stomach to do so. Part of being independent means I get to work with whom I wish when I wish, assuming the feeling is mutual. My mandate is to educate patients first and foremost, and to help clinics just be better where possible. I am not going to gloss over any issues that should be considered to be big red flags. Also, don't assume Dr. K is the only doctor I've met on this trip because he is not.

 

Anyone looking for a ht dr should and do look at their patients and from what i have seen this dr is lacking.

Not in skill although i have honestly not seen any wow result but mostly very average.

 

You're entitled to your opinion but the patients I've spoken to here at his clinic would disagree with you,which is why they traveled here. If I thought Dr. K's work was not worthy of consideration then I wouldn't be here either, and yes, I'm in Istanbul as I write this.

 

Also i dont get his use of fut/fue combo's could you please explain ?

 

The reasons are too broad to go into in this thread but in some cases it allows for more grafts compared to one procedure or the other. It's simple common sense and it works well for repair patients.

 

One reveiw by a guy from Scotlnd really slated this dr's attitude and it seems your dr ripped him off somewhat because if he had one graft less he said he would of saved quite a few hundred pounds.

 

Do you have the details or are you paraphrasing from this "one" review? How do you know "hundreds of pounds" would have been saved with one less graft? Was there an agreement reflecting as much or was it even discussed? Regardless, this is one of the reasons why I am working with Dr. K as I have advised him of what I feel is the best way to price a procedure and he has since changed his pricing structure in a way that is more transparent. I understand his original pricing structure and he had good reasons for it but I explained how in today's environment it is better to price per graft. Dr. Karadeniz has taken my recommendation and applied it to his new pricing schedule.

 

Joe you have worked with some of the very best hair transplant clinics in the world why this move to one that isnt?

 

This question assumes that the current crop of highly recognized clinics were metaphorically born, not made, which is incorrect. When I first started posting online the clinic I worked for was not recognized as "one of the best" clinics in the world. They were barely heard of outside of their immediate area so asking why I don't work with one of the "very best" of today's more recognized clinics doesn't make sense to me. I also think that if I were to simply work with the most spoken of names in the industry it would be taking the easy road. There is no work in "recommending" a doctor that is already recognized as a top doctor and if I limited myself to only the best known names I'd be wasting my knowledge and experience. It simply comes down to being organized enough to sort through the number of inquiries that a clinic would get with or without being attached to what I'm doing. Further, I think it is somewhat inaccurate to assume that clinics that may not be so well known can't eventually be included at some time in the future. All of the more recognized clinics known today were not so recognized yesterday.

 

This doesn’t mean I won’t work with better known clinics and I am in fact speaking to more than one better known clinic now. What I do, and what I represent, is more comprehensive than saying that “clinic X” does great work because in my opinion doing great work is only part of what makes a clinic great.

 

I think it is important to be clear in that the issue that first brought Dr. K and I together into a working relationship was the subject of ethics. I have my ideas of how a clinic should operate and we both discovered fairly early that we share the same ideas in this regard. The fact that Dr. K happens to perform solid work, in my opinion, is enough for me to be happy to work with him and exercise my experience in the industry for the benefit of his clinic.

 

Are you visiting with the more well respected clinics in turkey while your there? asmed. dr donagay,dr demisoy to name a few

 

No. I have had contact with Dr. Doganay but not with regards to my visit to Turkey. I have not been in contact with any of the other clinics you mentioned as I have not heard from any of them since announcing my independent status.

 

I really hope this all pans out for you as your knowledge is without question.

I appreciate your support and thank you for your compliment. It is nice to hear since I’ve locked myself in a cave (my home office) for the past several months working on my website and writing endless amounts of content☺

 

Joe if you really want to help this dr which you obviously do have a look at roscoes thread and explain to the dr where he went so wrong and tell him to stop insulting people.

 

As I said above, this issue is resolved. The doctor has a new pricing schedule that eliminates any possibility of a similar issue occurring again.

[Blake Bloxham]

Joe,

 

All of us "hair geeks" need to sit down and have a few brews one day. As a certified hair nerd myself, I LOVE talking to fellow enthusiasts!

 

I also agree with your comment about Dr. K's ethics. I remember telling Bill this was one of the reasons I highly endorsed him when he was being considered for recommendation.

 

Best of luck with the new arrangement. Seems like a good fit!

[keyser-soze]

As always Joe a very thorough answer and yes a ot of what i based the above post on was asumed.

I am glad that you have advised he change his price structure.

With regard to the thread i mentioned the patient first was going to go through a agency but decided to cut out the middle man and went directly to the dr.

They agreed a price for 2500 grafts but in person the dr said he only needed 2000,

The way i understood it the doc was charging a set price for 1000-2000 and 2000-3000 so he charged roscoe for the 2000-3000 price and gave him the least possible grafts to fall in that price range.

It was roscoe himself i think that said that one less that would of saved him several hundred pounds or it might of been quite a few hundred he said.

He also said he was not picked up at the airport and he would of been had he gone through the agency.

Also it was a different hotel which he had not been made aware of.

He had to arange taxis to and from clinic and airport all of which would of all been sorted by the agency and as it turns out all for the same price as he paid the dr so he was a bit out of pocket in several different aspects.

Some of this sounded like teething problems with the clinic other aspects sounded like greed and uncaring.

But what struck myself and others who actually posted on the thread including roscoe was the drs attitude which enraged roscoe.

Several posters said there that his attitude had lost this dr their custom and if you read right through the thread you will probably understand why.

I hope you can put dr k right on a few of the things high lighted n the thread as he clearly needs help with his customer relations.

 

I am and im sure many others looking forward to your video documentrys of your travels and it was just an assumption that your travels were being funded by the clinics you were going to be covering and being paid by them for doing so.

Asumption based on the thought that your not earning as a rep for any particular clinic at the moment.

I know that if anyone has the knowledge to help a clinic develop its reputation its you and with drk lets hope you can turn his very rocky start on here around.

He really needs to work on being able to handle aposing points of veiws better than just calling people trolls and reps of other clinics as it does him no favours whatsoever.

 

Im sure you can turn things around for him bbut i sugest reading through roscoes thread asa good starting point.

Safe journeys joe and all the best with all your new ventures im sure you will do great

[JoeTillman]

As always Joe a very thorough answer and yes a ot of what i based the above post on was asumed.

 

Well, why rehash the issues again with a complete play by play of what seems to bother you? I said Dr. K has changed his pricing policy so I think that should really be the end of it, no? I mean, seriously, what else would you have Dr. K do? In case there is any confusion the new fee structure is:

 

€2000 surgery fee

€1 per graft FUSS

€1 per graft FUE

€1 per graft Body BHT

€1 per graft Beard BHT

 

He has a very solid price per graft fee that is a descending sliding scale that means a 4000 graft surgery with him, regardless of procedure, is €6000.00, or €1.5 euro per graft. This is very competitive in the Turkish market, especially when it is a doctor performing all extractions and all incisions. In addition, everything below is included.

 

1. 5 star hotel accommodations located within a five minute walk to the clinic.

2. Luxury car transfer service both ways to and from the airport.

3. 1 year supply of Proscar

 

I am and im sure many others looking forward to your video documentrys of your travels and it was just an assumption that your travels were being funded by the clinics you were going to be covering and being paid by them for doing so.

Asumption based on the thought that your not earning as a rep for any particular clinic at the moment.

I know that if anyone has the knowledge to help a clinic develop its reputation its you and with drk lets hope you can turn his very rocky start on here around.

He really needs to work on being able to handle aposing points of veiws better than just calling people trolls and reps of other clinics as it does him no favours whatsoever.

 

 

Keyser, I have stated that I am working with Dr. K so that means he is paying me for my time and services, which I have clearly stated. Dr. K pays me for my input which helps to fund my visit to his clinic as did the other clinics I have visited/am visiting. This is one way I am making a living now, by finding doctors that do solid work, have proper surgical protocols and that have solid ethics but have a desire to improve other aspects of their business. This is why any company hires people for their business, to improve. I have no problem sharing this information but you are trying to establish doubt that I would not drop Dr. K like a hot potato if I found reason to, just like any "recommended" doctor list would drop any doctor if less than acceptable conditions or behavior were discovered. That is the difference between working FOR someone and working WITH someone. My affiliation has to do with the latter. I have the freedom to work within my conscience and work with those that have a like-minded approach to what hair restoration should be. Those that don’t can find someone else to work with. It’s as simple as that.

[HARIRI]

Dear Joe

 

I really salute you for entering the Turkish HT industry and try to make some improvements towards better quality and doctors involvement in HT surgeries. We really need Doctors clinics than just Technicians clinics such Estethica etc..

 

I went to meet Joe at Istanbul as I was their for a family visit too and met him with Dr. K. I was really impressed how Dr. K is very passionate in HT science and considers all details. Its really hard to see a surgeon that does all extractions and incisions without any help from technicians. He is really a surgeon that loves to do thing on his own just like Dr. Bisanga. Technicians only do the implanting. They are very serious while working and well discipline.

 

My deal with the Dr. K was only to extract the remaining bad grafts (80 grafts) under my repaired hairline which Dr. Hakan couldn't extract due to their large number (200 grafts). I was impressed that he used 0.5mm punches which left very little dots with less bleeding.

 

We also discussed about my 1cm thick scar as most of the 600 chest grafts which were implanted to it by Dr. Hakan didn't grow and this is because of the thickness of my scar and weakness of chest hair. Maybe if I used beard hair it could have been much better. However I was keeping my beard hair for my scalp in the future. So I found out after a long scientific discussion that a strip scar revision without aiming any grafts is the only answer. I was really worried to go under the knife but this all changed after seeing a live case of strip scar revision patient who had the exact scar I have recently. His results were outstanding and gave me a huge push and courageousness to do it. Thankfully out of nowhere Dr. K offered it to me after checking my laxity. Now after getting rid of my old scar tissue I feel like removing a ton of depression from my head.

 

I really thank you Joe for considering our region and try your best to improve the HT industry as Turkey is considered as the 2nd capital of FUE after Belgium maybe. I respect the idea of your dealing with Doctors who are ONLY recommended by HTN and IAHRS.

 

Keep it up Joe

[JoeTillman]

Dear Joe

 

I really salute you for entering the Turkish HT industry and try to make some improvements towards better quality and doctors involvement in HT surgeries. We really need Doctors clinics than just Technicians clinics such Estethica etc..

 

I went to meet Joe at Istanbul as I was their for a family visit too and met him with Dr. K. I was really impressed how Dr. K is very passionate in HT science and considers all details. Its really hard to see a surgeon that does all extractions and incisions without any help from technicians. He is really a surgeon that loves to do thing on his own just like Dr. Bisanga. Technicians only do the implanting. They are very serious while working and well discipline.

 

My deal with the Dr. K was only to extract the remaining bad grafts (80 grafts) under my repaired hairline which Dr. Hakan couldn't extract due to their large number (200 grafts). I was impressed that he used 0.5mm punches which left very little dots with less bleeding.

 

We also discussed about my 1cm thick scar as most of the 600 chest grafts which were implanted to it by Dr. Hakan didn't grow and this is because of the thickness of my scar and weakness of chest hair. Maybe if I used beard hair it could have been much better. However I was keeping my beard hair for my scalp in the future. So I found out after a long scientific discussion that a strip scar revision without aiming any grafts is the only answer. I was really worried to go under the knife but this all changed after seeing a live case of strip scar revision patient who had the exact scar I have recently. His results were outstanding and gave me a huge push and courageousness to do it. Thankfully out of nowhere Dr. K offered it to me after checking my laxity. Now after getting rid of my old scar tissue I feel like removing a ton of depression from my head.

 

I really thank you Joe for considering our region and try your best to improve the HT industry as Turkey is considered as the 2nd capital of FUE after Belgium maybe. I respect the idea of your dealing with Doctors who are ONLY recommended by HTN and IAHRS.

 

Keep it up Joe

 

Harriri,

 

It was great to finally meet you. For those that aren't aware, Harriri has been around a long time and we've had many conversations over the past several years. My trip to Turkey presented an excellent opportunity for both of us. We'd finally get to meet and he'd finally get to have the hairline grafts from his first procedure removed. To be transparent, this procedure was at no cost to Harriri as it allowed his procedure to be filmed by me for part of the documentary on my trip to Turkey and Dr. K's clinic. The offer of strip scar removal only came up after Harriri arrived. A short procedure of less than an hour turned into an all day affair as we all had a lot of discussion aside from the time taken for the surgery(ies).

 

The Turkish market is very interesting and is different from any other HT market in the world and I feel fortunate to have learned about it first hand. The video I shot on my trip won't be edited for a while as I'm still traveling and with over 120gb of video shot so far it will take time to put it all together.

 

[Sean]

Excellent, finally folks are educating how easy and safe it is to do FUE and procedures overseas. Glad to see Hariri getting his concerns addressed by a doc doing the surgery extractions himself versus techs. Are the rates listed new or has it always been like this? I thought it was 1 euro per graft fue but was not aware of the 2000 surgery fee? Are you still looking for folks for the documentary? Can't wait to see it.

[JoeTillman]

Excellent, finally folks are educating how easy and safe it is to do FUE and procedures overseas. Glad to see Hariri getting his concerns addressed by a doc doing the surgery extractions himself versus techs. Are the rates listed new or has it always been like this? I thought it was 1 euro per graft fue but was not aware of the 2000 surgery fee? Are you still looking for folks for the documentary? Can't wait to see it.

 

Hi Sean,

 

The idea to document like this was to give people an idea of the entire process. The journey as well as the procedure. I think it's important because when we're reading about porcedures performed anywhere, Turkey or not, it is difficult to visualize what is actually involved. Flying from North America is not an easy thing. Flights are long, transition at lay overs a hassle, and I won't even get into the inconvenience of security, but this is all a part of international travel anyway so those that have never travled internationally can finally see what is involved. No one has done this as far as I know so and I hope people learn from it.

 

The pricing is new. It was €1.00 per graft but that wasn't really sustainable because he is only doing one procedure a day. The entire structure is new and is due to our conversations about how to make the cost competitive and palatable. Considering it is a boutique hair transplant clinic in that it is a small clinic and only one procedure is done per day, it makes sense. When larger procedures are performed it is only €1.50 per graft, including everything mentioned.

 

Am I looking for more doctors to document? Absolutey! I really enjoy the travel and I am a hair nerd so I can't get enough of watching live surgeries and now that I get to do this with different clinics I get to report on the differences. I feel that this is a unique opportunity for clinics and patients alike but the documentation I'm doing will only be with clinics that I work with. I'm currently in discussions with a number of clinics now but I'm not going to discuss who they are until I actually get to their clinic and see for myself what they are about.

 

I'm still in Milan so I've not had much time for organizing my videos as I have an extensive amount to sift through but what I have is, I think, really great and I can't wait to get it together.

[JoeTillman]

Joe,

 

All of us "hair geeks" need to sit down and have a few brews one day. As a certified hair nerd myself, I LOVE talking to fellow enthusiasts!

 

I also agree with your comment about Dr. K's ethics. I remember telling Bill this was one of the reasons I highly endorsed him when he was being considered for recommendation.

 

Best of luck with the new arrangement. Seems like a good fit!

 

Hi Blake,

 

I'll be at the conference in Chicago this year so if you are there we can do just that. I'll introduce you to Dr. Karandeniz and we can talk shop.

[Sean]

Joe do you have skype or number for guys to ask you questions? Do you or Dr Karadeniz have any plans to tour the upstate NY area?

[JoeTillman]

Hi Sean,

 

Yes, you can pm me and I'll give you the relevant info. Dr. Karandeniz and I have no plans on touring but if you can make it to Chicago September 9-13 I can introduce you to him.

[HARIRI]

Joe, Im so happy and proud of your affliations list. You managed to add the greatest SMP doctor to it. I really wish Dr. Karadeniz will soon introduce Milena Lardi's SMP service in his clinic in Istanbul as an option for his potential patients. This would be such a great idea. I really wish you will look into that

[Mickey85]

Hariri/Joe, just curious as to whether Dr K used sutures or staples for Hariri's donor closure? I think that a pure strip revision without taking additional grafts(therefore minimizing the width and reducing chances of stretchback) was the best choice for Hariri. Would love to see pictures either publicly or privately. Hope you have been well Hariri

[HARIRI]

Dr. K actually followed H&W approach in strip revisions and used staples which are much better than sutures and leave less marks and dots plus easier to remove and feels more comfortable. I feel so inspired whenever I see the pictures of my ugly scar removed

[Mickey85]

I hope it heals well buddy. You should end up with a very thin scar. Will be very interested to see how it turns out

[HARIRI]

Dr. K told me that he performed normal closure and not trichophytic to avoid any tension that would cause any stretch. He told me to expect a scar around 0.3cm after staples removed which is much better than the 1cm ugly scar I had haha. He also offered me another strip revision in order to diminish the scar with a trichophytic one however to me NO MORE STRIP. I had enough HAHA. I would probably FUE some beard hair into it whenever I feel like shaving my head in the future however for now Im extremely satisfied :-)

Edited June 1, 2015 by HARIRI

[Mickey85]

Dr. K told me that he performed normal closure and not trichophytic to avoid any tension that would cause any stretch. He told me to expect a scar around 0.3mm after staples removed which is much better than the 1cm ugly scar I had haha. He also offered me another strip revision in order to diminish the scar with a trichophytic one however to me NO MORE STRIP. I had enough HAHA. I would probably FUE some beard hair into it whenever I feel like shaving my head in the future however for now Im extremely satisfied :-)

 

0.3mm would be amazing, I hope you get it! Wouldn't take many grafts after that to fill it.

[HARIRI]

0.3mm would be amazing, I hope you get it! Wouldn't take many grafts after that to fill it.

 

I meant 0.3cm not mm. It was wrong typed. It would be an invisible one if it was 0.3mm though lol

[Mickey85]

I misread it and just wrote the same thing haha.