MedicalFUE Koksal vs Hakan Doganay

[bedlumstring]

Hi everyone, I've decided to get a hair transplant in April. I ran into one of Dr. Koksal's patients in the airport and thought that he had a great result (~6000 grafts he said). I consulted with medicalFUE (Koksal) and Doganay. I was quoted 2100 euro by Koksal for 2000 grafts and 2 euro/graft by Doganay for 2500 grafts (5000 euro).

 

Here's a list of pros and cons I could see for Koksal:

 

Pros

- Met a real patient with a good result, was very happy with it.

- He and his wife (also a surgeon) perform all of the implantations, although Doganay does too.

- less expensive and slightly more responsive

- offers platelet rich plasma injection included in price ( although I bet that doesn't do anything)

- Dr Hakan Doganay has had several bad reviews in the past few years and concerns about reusing needles.

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/184099-bad-result-dr-hakan-doganay-3200-grafts.html

 

Cons

- Less well established

- Not a member of the international society of hair restoration surgery

- Fewer reviews online

- One review online shows he created a hairline that looked essentially straight no slight recession at the temples, which looks unnatural on a man.

 

 

Does anyone have experience with Koksal or MedicalFUE who could help guide this decision?

Edited February 17, 2017 by bedlumstring

[hsrp10]

For Turkey I prefer Erdogan and Keser, and there's also Dr. Maras in Cyprus.

None of these are terribly expensive compared to the global average for FUE and do good work.

Edited February 18, 2017 by hsrp10

[mikeyhwk]

the real con is that with both of those docs mentioned it's a total leap of faith that you get a result. In the end you may have hair or you may end up with a loss of donor hair and money (the loss of donor hair is worse than the lost cash as you only have a finite amount that you can't afford a mistake). Give yourself the highest odds to succeed and choose a doctor with a proven track record of excellence. Even in the best hands this procedure is no lock so all you can do is give yourself the best chance for success.I also like the drs Hsrp mentioned as top end affordable options... If Drs Keser, Erdogan, Maras are out of your price range at the moment I suggest saving up for a bit and trying to get into one of their hands.

[bedlumstring]

the real con is that with both of those docs mentioned it's a total leap of faith that you get a result. In the end you may have hair or you may end up with a loss of donor hair and money (the loss of donor hair is worse than the lost cash as you only have a finite amount that you can't afford a mistake). Give yourself the highest odds to succeed and choose a doctor with a proven track record of excellence. Even in the best hands this procedure is no lock so all you can do is give yourself the best chance for success.I also like the drs Hsrp mentioned as top end affordable options... If Drs Keser, Erdogan, Maras are out of your price range at the moment I suggest saving up for a bit and trying to get into one of their hands.

 

Thanks mikeyhwk, I emailed Erdogan and Keser, but after 3 days their offices have not gotten back to me (I know that's not a lot of time). Keser and Maras at 3.5 euro per graft are quite expensive. I have also heard that Erdogan does not perform the operation himself, so I am a bit scared of being in the hands of the wrong tech. Is this true about Erdogan? Doganay has agreed to do the entire procedure himself in my case. Would that change your opinion?

[mikeyhwk]

Thanks mikeyhwk, I emailed Erdogan and Keser, but after 3 days their offices have not gotten back to me (I know that's not a lot of time). Keser and Maras at 3.5 euro per graft are quite expensive. I have also heard that Erdogan does not perform the operation himself, so I am a bit scared of being in the hands of the wrong tech. Is this true about Erdogan? Doganay has agreed to do the entire procedure himself in my case. Would that change your opinion?

 

As you said 3 days isn't much time give it a little bit. Just the reality that busy clinics can take time and you're talking about 2 experts who are amongst the elite in the world and charging pennies on the dollar vs the counterparts so they are going to be busy. They will get back to you. It took me weeks just to get a consult from Dr Lorenzo, and that is nothing compared to how long it took to hear back from Dr Cuotos office so just hang tight they are worth a few days of lag in communication.

 

Keser and Maras are a bit more pricey but as hsrp said they are fairly priced given the level of their expertise and what their global counterparts charge. I know finances play a part and the whole don't let finances dictate your decision part is easier said than done as they ultimately do have to factor in but having gone thru the procedure just over 5 months ago I can tell you with all honesty, this surgery sucks. It's not the actual surgery, it's a few annoying pricks and some time but you get thru that fine but it's the wait after that is just agonizing. You stress everything, and just watch paint dry waiting for your hair to grow in and you have such high hopes and if after all that you ended up with a bad result i couldn't even imagine. The cost would be the last thing in the world that would be on my mind at the end of that road, I would think of the time put in and lost, the donors lost, just the feeling of let down and knowing I have to go thru it all again if I could have avoided it over 3-4k I know I would have kicked myself. Put it this way if you pay 5k and you end up with a terrible result you'll be paying 9k plus the 2nd time to fix it cause you're going to have learned you want to trust a better doc so you have the added expense on top of what you spent the 1st time with less donor hair to boot. Don't skimp it isn't worth it, spend a little more to get a proven doc. Delay it if you need to save money, long run you'll be happier.

 

It would not change my opinion at all that Dr Doganay would do the entire procedure. I have seen way too many piss poor results come out of his clinic that for me his credibility is crushed. There are so many good options that I would not take the chance with him.

 

Re: Dr Erdogan, you are correct he uses techs. Don't be afraid of techs, but understand that all techs are not created equal. Experience and training matter. Drs Erdogan, Dr Bisanga, Dr Feriduni, these docs would all be on most peoples top 5 fue surgeons list and they all make use of techs but they all have techs that have been on staff for years and have performed thousands of surgeries. They are as adept at doing their jobs as the docs they work for. Where techs get a bad rep is because of tech mills. The companies largely in Turkey where a doc rents out his name and these inexperienced techs will do the entire surgeries and you end up with terrible results. When you choose a doc with a long established record of success like you would if you chose Dr Erdogan you can be assured his techs are skilled at their jobs and you would be in excellent hands. I would trust Dr Erdogans techs with his oversight more than I would trust dr Doganays hands for the entire procedure.

[hsrp10]

Mikeyhwk makes some great detailed points I was trying to make with less words but the message is the same.

 

If you ignore that solid advice then I think you're putting yourself at great risk.

3.5 euros/graft is cheap for docs that do great work.

 

The others are what 1 euro/graft?

You get what you pay for so be careful out there..

[Hopeless]

Are you serious that you are considered Dr Doganay as Hair Transplant Doctor. Asmed and HLC is the best in turkey the rest crap

[bedlumstring]

How did you "run into" a patient in the airport? You just happened to bump into him and you both started talking about hair?

 

Yeah, I guess that sounds odd. He was in front of me walking off of the plane and he wore his hair on the back super short, like 0.5 cm or a 1 on the buzzer. I could see what looked like FUE scars/inflammation, so I asked him about it. He opened up to me and actually raved about this guy at medicalFUE Koksal Deniz. He liked that 2 doctors did the operation.

 

I want to thank all of you for your input so far, which has been really valuable. I've been getting my consults back from these surgeons (with grafts numbers) and I've distilled my thinking to what follows. I only need hairline work if that helps people evaluate.

 

 

 

Muttalip Keser:

Location: Ankara, Turkey (more difficult flight vs Istanbul)

Cost: $7,875 for 2250 grafts FUE (3.5 euro/graft).

Procedure type: FUE

Reputation: Top in Turkey (1T)

Notes: Very well-regarded. Have not seen any negative experiences. Does entire procedure himself. Does not employ any nurses, assistants, techs, etc. Only does 700 grafts per day. All grafts are manually extracted. Been doing FUE since 2003. Surgery will be spread over 4-5 days.

Final thoughts: I think he represents the closest thing to a “sure thing”. You know exactly who will be working on you, not rolling the dice on what tech will be there that day.

 

Koray Erdogan

Location: Istanbul, Turkey

Cost: $7000 for 2800 grafts FUE. $8400 for unshaven FUE.

Procedure type: FUE

Reputation: Top in Turkey (1T)

Notes: Uses a manual punch, but techs perform the extractions. Unclear what parts of the operation he performs. Mainly known for his use of “dense-packing” of the hairs to create a more natural looking hairline (also the reason for the high number of grafts quoted).

Final thoughts: Seems like he runs a very well-oiled machine, but uses lots of techs in the process. No negative reviews out there, but seems like a little bit of a factory.

 

Hakan Doganay

Location: Istanbul, Turkey

Cost: $5,000 for 2500 grafts FUE. $6250 for manual punch FUE.

Procedure type: FUE (will also allow me to not shave recipient area)

Reputation: Mixed

Notes: Used to be regarded as one of the top two or three in Turkey. However, 2 years ago he started having complaints on the forums. He started having technicians perform the implantations. An ex-employee said that he was also re-using needles (after sterilization) used for the extractions to save money. He has agreed to do all of the implantations himself in my case. Uses a micro-motor for extraction rather than manual punch.

Final thoughts: Could be an opportunity to have the attention of a master at a good price. If he knows I am a doctor maybe I'll have some more attention due to professional courtesy. I'll also be documenting the experience on some of the forums, and maybe he will be likely to behave well.

 

Koksal Deniz

Location: Istanbul, Turkey

Cost: $2100 for 2000 grafts FUE.

Procedure type: FUE

Reputation: Very little known.

Notes: This is the surgeon who performed the operation on the man I met. He had about 6000 grafts done, which is one of the reasons I think he opted for this guy (flat rate and will agree to a lot of grafts). Says that extractions are performed with needles less than 0.5mm.

Final thoughts: I know I saw a real patient (with a great result after 6000(!) grafts), but feels like I’m taking a bit of a chance here. Seems very tech-heavy, but without the extensive number of reviews Erdogan has. His rep says that he trained with Levent Acar.

 

 

Overall, I'm leaning towards Keser despite the higher price and the worse flight for me. It seems that with him I know what I'm buying at least. I understand Erdogan has more results posted, but I also think he has an extensive marketing team and I'm not sure how unbiased the reviews I'm seeing online are. I'm betting that there's a lot of great surgeons out there that we never give a chance because we don't want to take a chance on something we have to wear on our forehead every day for our lives, I get that. It just seems like as a community we're missing out on some good talent (how I feel Koksal Deniz could be).

[Hopeless]

This is very good research Cong. In the end pls post final decision?

[Bill - Seemiller]

Bedlum,

 

I know you're researching various physicians. But if you haven't yet, I suggest viewing the list of excellent hair transplant surgeons we recommend in Turkey. Dr. Erdogan and Dr. Yaman are doing outstanding work and if you're looking in Turkey, I feel it would be a great disservice if you don't at least consider and consult with them.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[bedlumstring]

Hi everyone, I just wanted to update this thread that I chose Dr. Keser. I will be posting updates over here:

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/186699-2250-grafts-dr-keser-2017-a.html

[MarkBJ]

The amounts are in euro, dollar or turkish liras?

[bedlumstring]

The amounts are in euro, dollar or turkish liras?

 

All amounts are in Euros.