Dr Vedat Aktepe - 4600 grafts - Longevita

[mub33n]

Hi All,

 

I have been scouting on this forum for a few months but never registered, rather, just looked through stories and methods on how to maintain hair, but thought now its worth taking the plunge and contribute to such a great forum

 

Unfortunately got to a point where by my hair got quite bad and I needed a transplant. I used to take minoxidil for approximately 3 years before the effects just stopped working. I did take propecia once but unfortunately suffered side effects quite fast.

 

I have had many quotes from the UK and all of which exceeded my budget (?10,000+), so I took the plunge and went to Turkey and had my hair transplant done. I had narrowed my choices down to 4 companies:

 

- Boston Aesthetics

- Longevita

- Clinicana

- Hair Hospi (Dr Madhu)

 

and ended up settling with Longevita, simply due to price. At one point, I saw some negative posts with respect to Longevita, but in another hand, the person who I spoke to made me feel very comfortable with the answers for all the questions that I asked, so I thought I would go for it.

 

I went to Turkey as of last week. Stayed in a hotel called Divan, where by I ran into 2 other people who were also having surgery done from the same company. We got chatting.

 

The surgery itself was not so far away (approximately 10 minute drive by taxi). The clinic was clean, and approximately 7 people working there altogether. I went for the FUE technique, and they stated they should be able to extract up to 4000-4200 grafts upon numbing the area.

 

I had an interpreter with me who would give me in depth info about the whole procedure.

I was first taken into a room to have a blood test taken before operating. They then remove my shirt and was given a long plastic gown u get when you are at a hospital. I then had my hair trimmed off, washed, and was told to take a pill to calm my nerves.

 

Was told to lie down what seemed to be a massage table, in which they began the surgery. There were 1-3 doctors during the process of the hair transplant. Dr Vedat Aktepe, Yasemin Turgut, and another (maybe not a doctor but a technician).

 

They injected approximately 8 injections in the back of my head, and I must say, this is the most painful part of the procedure. Feels like a little girl who got angry and is pinching u constantly just because you upset her. After 10 minutes, they began extracting the hairs. All was well, but it did get to the point where they prodded the needle to extract hair and i could feel it, in which I did flinch. Thankfully the doctor noticed and asked if I was OK and stopped extracting hair at this point..

 

After this, I was told to sit up right, with a bandage and a big spongy knot on the back of my head, in which they injected further injections to numb the top of my head.

 

The procedure did last 8 hours, in which there was a short break after the 6th hour, where we stopped for lunch, and to freshen up. You do feel quite dizzy so was told to take it easy and not to wonder about.

 

Proceeded for another 2 hours in which they carried on putting the hairs in.

 

In all fairness, out of the whole 8 hour procedure, approximately 10 minutes of it was painful at most, so I was quite happy overall. I was then told to take 2 pills, one which was anti swelling, and the other which was a pain killer. I was also given a neck pillow to sleep on to prevent the grafts from the back of my head touching the pillow or headboard, and had to wear a black headband for a number of days to prevent swelling.

 

I then spoke to the doctor and they confirmed they managed to get 4500 grafts extracted and planted, 500 more then what they initially quoted me.

 

Next day, went for a post op wash up in which they removed the bandages from the doner area and gave my head a bit of a clean. The interpreter gave me information on how to use lotion and shampoo and what to do for the next 10 days or so.

 

TL: DR

 

Good Points:

 

- Overall a very good package. 4* hotel with breakfast and wifi, hotel transfers, and an interpreter as emergency contact

- Pleasant procedure, answered all my questions and fears

- Very friendly staff

 

Bad Points:

 

- Hotel transfer back to the airport was a bit of joke. My flight was not leaving till 5pm that day, and my interpreter told me the hotel transfer taxi will not pick you up till 1pm. The minute I got back to the hotel after my post op clean up, my taxi was there waiting for me 5 minutes later. This was half 11am, so I was in the airport for numerous hours.

 

- Language barrier - Unfortunately the documentation provided by Longetiva about address to the hospital didnt help the local taxi driver I had. SO much so he had to park up and ask another taxi driver which didnt help either. The hotel manager even told him the address and still failed. I had to provide the interpreters number to the taxi driver so she could navigate him on the phone to the hospital.

 

- Post op information pack was all verbal which was a bit of a nuisance. You would expect after such surgery, the information with respect the drugs, shampoos and lotions would be well documented. Unfortunately this was not presented. While my interpreter was on whatsapp, she did fail to message me in time when I had a query when I returned back into the UK, in which I had to rely on youtube and google to retrieve information.

 

 

Ultimately it was still a pleasant experience. Ofcourse I will now have to wait many months, even a year, before I see results,but I have attached number of pictures of my head before, and head after surgery.

 

Any questions, please let me know

 

The pictures are a bit naff (sorry poor camera), but hope it gives a clear indication of the process. I will post more pictures shortly.

[mub33n]

Update pictures from today (5 days post op). Alot of scabs and crust have began to come off so head is slowly clearing up:

[ontop]

Work looks very clean.

 

Happy healing.

[mub33n]

Post 1 month update:

 

Shock Loss has been happening over the last 2 weeks, so much so its now gone bk to *almost* how my hair was prior to surgery. Picture attached. According to the surgeon this is perfectly normal, and the roots will go into a resting phase, and begin to sprout 3+months later. Will keep this topic up to date with incremental updates. Top parts of my head do still feel numb, and do get sudden sharp pains due to nerves reattaching. Back of the head dont look so bad anymore either.

[ontop]

Hang in the buddy.

[mub33n]

Just passed the 3 month mark: area is darkening up slowly but surely.

[mub33n]

4 months in

[KO]

Looks fine so far.

[MrGio-WHTCClinic]

Mub33n. Still too soon to judge any physical result. Good on you for the consistent documentation. Thanks for sharing.

[mub33n]

6 months in - Hair is still a little wet lol, but a significant improvment? thought...?

[harin]

nice improvement. you are still in early stages of growth.

[Mick50]

Big improvement, showing all the signs of being a good result at this early stage ,especially for the area covered

[Khali]

Wow that's a huge change.

[patrick1916]

Looking at month three to this now to month six I'd say definite progress

[Lukazoid]

Wow amazing progress!

Could you gives us an update of your hair now?

as am considering Having this done with the same company 

[Mick50]

16 hours ago, Lukazoid said:

Wow amazing progress!

Could you gives us an update of your hair now?

as am considering Having this done with the same company 

 I'm always amazed that people don't realise  that Longevita are just middlemen and have various Docs/clinics on their books at various times . The Doctor who did the OP's transplant no longer is with Longevita ,so asking for an update will be of no use to you whatsoever ,  if you choose to go with Longevita  you need to see results from the clinics they have on their books currently .

I went with Longevita and the same applies, the Doc I went with is no longer with them ,again knowing how my hair turned out will equally be of no use  to you .

I just realised I have spoken to you  before about this ,as I said then, just check out their present clinics results ,really no point in deciding to go with them based on Docs who are no longer on their books.

Edited November 9, 2018 by Mick50

[Lukazoid]

Thanks mick50 yes I know , you mentioned this before , I am all booked in with surgeon Jasmine Targut . Reviews all seem genuine on her and spoke to several patients who recently had treatment with her and one who had his done 9 months ago and results look great. 

 

Cheers 

[Mick50]

Best of luck ,I hope it all goes well for you 

Edited November 20, 2018 by Mick50

[Lukazoid]

Thanks Mick50 very excited but sooo nervous !! 👍

[BL7]

Hi Luka, have you had the procedure yet? If so, how did it go? I to am about to pay my deposit but struggling to find many reviews on the specific doctor and her clinic. The surgeon who is going to do my procedure is Yasemin Turgut and wondering if you could link me to any relevant reviews / a review from yourself. Thanks.

[Yus]

Hi,

Mub33n you progress is really good, do you have any updates?

Luka-Any updates

Any-I'm looking to have a beard transplant, anyone had any experience with Longevita, the offered me £1,000 for the procedure. It's hard to found a large volume of feedback on the company, but all that I have come across seems good and they have been very professional with me thus far. I'm yet to confirm my booking with them, trying to garner a little bit more reassurance first. Or does anyone have any alternative options?

 

Edited May 25, 2019 by Yus
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