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3,740 Grafts | Dr. Demirsoy - 19 June 2019


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Just thought I'd post my own review and update you guys along the way with progress.

I had my surgery performed on the 19 June 2019 under the guidance of Dr. Demirsoy or Armamed - a surgeon based in Istanbul. Without going into all the details, I can safely say that I was very happy with my choice. His assistant - Muzaffer - is very knowledgeable and professional, and sees to it that things go smoothly from beginning to end. I opted against the more popularly seen surgeons on here precisely because I was concerned that a surgeon who doesn't oversee the entire process may end up with a compromised result. In the case of Dr. Demirsoy and his team, they see one patient per day and I was happier with that. As well as this, I had seen very good results from past clients. Sometimes I think we opt for more expensive surgeons and correlate price with quality. That, of course, isn't always and shouldn't be the case. 

I was expecting to have around 3,000-3,500 grafts, but it ended up at 3,740. The purpose of the surgery was to re-establish a hairline and to use remaining grafts to cover the center and crown. You can find the photos below. As others have said in their reviews, the local anesthetic injections can - at times - be a little more painful than you might expect. It depends upon which part of the head we're talking about. That said, I'm a painophobe - so the smallest pains tend to exert an overreaction! However, once the surgery is done, you feel almost no pain for the rest of the day. I didn't even need to take painkillers the following day. 

I'm still in Istanbul. I still have swelling. It moves in an odd fashion - starting at the top of the head, then moving slowly - day by day - lower and lower. Now, it's around my eyes but I think I'm coming toward the end of that phase. I'm taking finasteride and biotin on a daily basis, as well as an antibacterial drug. 

You can see my progress so far - before and after.

Let me know what you guys think.

If you have any questions about my surgery experience, please don't hesitate to ask. These threads can prove helpful for others who are contemplating getting a hair transplant. As of now, I'm very pleased and believe I made the right decision.

I'll post more images tomorrow to showcase how things are on Day 5!

After 1.jpg

After 2.jpg

After 3.jpg

Before 1.jpg

Before 2.jpg

Before 3.jpg

Before 4.png

Surgery Mapping 1.jpg

Edited by maltesefalcon
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I think 3740 is a good number of grafts ( decent enough) to give you good coverage, density and thickness after 1 years or so ( given most grafts survive ) . a clean job as it seems like from those pictures. 

was this DHI or regular FUE procedure ? 

 

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Looks very good as always. Always been a fan of his work.  I'm sure it will turn out great.

 

Could you provide an update on price ?  Is it still 1.25 per graft ?  I'm guessing you have to buy the meds and book accommodation yourself ?

 

Thanks in advance.

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No problem!

Yes - they still do 1.25 euros per graft. As we had planned 3,500 - and it went up to 3,740 - the additional 240 were given free of additional charge.

Antibacterial drugs, shampoo and painkillers are included as part of that cost. 

For accommodation, I chose my own but used their services for transfers. I think they can arrange accommodation on your behalf too - obviously not included as part of the overall price.

 

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Thanks for all the replies thus far.

So here we are on Day 5. It's just 2 days away when I'm supposed to clear scabs - or at least between days 7 and 10. At the moment, scabs aren't as formed perhaps than I've seen in others, but there's a few days yet for them to completely form I guess. Apologies for the lack of photo quality. My phone is pretty old and so it doesn't provide the resolution I'd like. 

In terms of the donor area, it's healing very nicely. From after the 2nd night, there was no exudate from the wounds. Some slight itchiness here and there, but that's to be expected I guess as scabs start to form. I still find sleeping on my back, with my head raised, to be extremely uncomfortable. I usually wake at 3am or so, and end up staying awake for the rest of the night until around 7.30am, when I must get so exhausted that I refall back asleep. I literally cannot wait to go back to my normal sleep routine. 

I'll post an update again once I'm at the scab removal phase and let you guys know how things are shaping up.

As always, I'd like to hear your comments and questions if you have any! :)

 

Day 5 - Part II.jpg

Day 5 - Part III.jpg

Day 5.jpg

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So today is Day 8 and it's when I decided to go ahead and remove all scabs.

I set up another thread on this, as I was genuinely worried I might be too aggressive and disrupt follicles or something. Today though I just went ahead and decided to get it over and done with. I implemented the advice of the surgery to shower under lukewarm water for around 20 minutes and, with shampoo and a bit of pressure, things came loose and easily removable. 

I hope I didn't apply too much moisturizer over the last 2 days though. It layers, and so I hope I wasn't "suffocating" the newly implanted hairs. As of now, I'm unsure if I should apply moisturizer as I'm thinking maybe it would be better to let it out in the open air as the hairs have been stuck under a slab of scab over the last week.

I didn't have time to take good photos and upload them here, but I will over the coming days. I think now I can go back to normal sleeping habits, too - which is much of a relief as I've been finding this 45 degree "sleep" process completely intolerable. My body goes into spasm and complete restlessness. It's a horrible experience. 

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Okay, so here we are on Day 10. 

You can see that all scabs have been cleared. You can also see how weird my hair loss pattern was before - how one side was receding at a considerably faster rate and how uneven / asymmetrical the hair loss pattern was. 

So far, I haven't experienced any noticeable loss of hairs etc. No losses from showering / sleeping as yet. I expect the ugly duckling phase to kick in at any moment though. Sooner I'm through that the better.

Apologies again for the weakish resolution in the photos. Again, my phone isn't the best, so it doesn't relay the fine details on grafts / hairs that make the result look better up close / high resolution compared to these images. That said, they give you a good idea.

My sleep has returned to normal, except that the donor area can be a little painful at time. It's very mind and only sets in when I'm lying down with my head against pillows etc. Still, it's annoying. I've read from other accounts that this isn't unusual. Hope it passes soon. 

I plan to post my next update on Day 30 - so here's hoping all goes well. 

If you have any questions / comments in the meantime, please go ahead and ask / post! :)

Day 10 - Part 1 of 3.jpg

Day 10 - Part 2.jpg

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Hopping on the follow train, I'm thinking about shooting a consultation to Demirsoy. How was the overall communication with the Clinic once you were in Turkey? 

Edited by Kvn
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Clinic was exceptional in terms of communication both before, during and after surgery.

I had no issues and found the clinic very easy to deal with.

I arranged pick-up with the clinic and I was promptly picked up at the airport and shuttled to my hotel. The following day, I met the coordinator, Muzaffer, at the hotel lobby well on-time to bring me to the clinic. 

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  • 4 weeks later...
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Hey,

Yeah, I'll be posting a comprehensive update on Wednesday or Thursday this week - that'll be the 5 week mark.

I've pretty much gone through the shedding phase. I've noticed quite a few new hairs have stayed in place, which is encouraging. I'm pretty optimistic as things appear to be going well. 

The only thing I find challenging is itch. The itch isn't during the day but instead when lying down. It's not the recipient area either, but the donor area - which for some reason has suddenly become very itchy when I lie down at night. I'm sure it'll pass, but it's pretty annoying to say the least. 

But in terms of photos, yeah, I'll make that comprehensive post in just a few short days!

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So guys here's a quick update.

I'm at Week 5 now. As you can see from the photos, the transplanted hairs have since shed - going through what they call the "ugly duckling" phase. I took those photos shortly after rinsing my hair, so it's slightly damp.

Pretty much gotten back to normal. As I said in an earlier post, the itch from the donor area can, at night, be annoying. But it's subsiding more and more as the days and weeks progress.

I continue to take finasteride 1mg and biotin supplement daily. I hadn't taken either (nor minoxidil) pre-surgery. 

You can note from the photos that there are hairs still noticeable in my temples. Not sure if I'll lose these too going forward. I don't know if this is a good sign or not, or whether more should be visible?

Not sure generally whether I'm "doing well" or not. I think perhaps it's hard to say until Week 12-16 when growth "may" happen. Though I acknowledge from reading other threads that growth for many is only noticeable from weeks 20 - 32 particularly.

Anyway, do let me know what you think if you have any comments. 

I think my next update will be week 12. I don't suspect I'll see much difference in terms of transplanted hairs until then (if then). :)

 

Week 5 - Front - Back.jpg

Week 5 - Front.jpg

Week 5 - Left Temple.jpg

Week 5 - Right Temple.jpg

Edited by maltesefalcon
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  • 2 weeks later...
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I don't know what impact the shedding has. For example - if you shed all your hair, is that better or just as good as someone who sheds just 75% or even 50% of their hair?

In other words, is the end-result the same regardless of the degree of shed people experience?

Just a curiosity. If anyone can "shed" light on an answer, that would be great!

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3 hours ago, maltesefalcon said:

I don't know what impact the shedding has. For example - if you shed all your hair, is that better or just as good as someone who sheds just 75% or even 50% of their hair?

In other words, is the end-result the same regardless of the degree of shed people experience?

Just a curiosity. If anyone can "shed" light on an answer, that would be great!

Usually the hair that gets “shocked” by the surgery goes into telogen and sheds (typically 2-4 weeks post op). If it does not shed, it should just continue growing. I’ve seen guys shed most of their hair and others (a tiny minority) keep half if not more and they continue to grow. At the end it shouldn’t impact final results. If the survival rate it high for the surgery by month 12-18 you should be enjoying great results.

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1 minute ago, jj51702 said:

Usually the hair that gets “shocked” by the surgery goes into telogen and sheds (typically 2-4 weeks post op). If it does not shed, it should just continue growing. I’ve seen guys shed most of their hair and others (a tiny minority) keep half if not more and they continue to grow. At the end it shouldn’t impact final results. If the survival rate it high for the surgery by month 12-18 you should be enjoying great results.

Okay, that's a relief.

When you see the photos above and how sparse everything is between individual hairs, it can sometimes prove a little discouraging that perhaps things aren't going as well as one would like! :)

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7 minutes ago, maltesefalcon said:

Okay, that's a relief.

When you see the photos above and how sparse everything is between individual hairs, it can sometimes prove a little discouraging that perhaps things aren't going as well as one would like! :)

Totally understand as I felt the same. Try not to look at your hair for the first 4 months. You’re at the worst part right now where you’ve shed everything, your native hair is short, scalp is still red, etc (hence why they call it the ugly duckling stage). It’s one heck of a crappy ride but you went to a great doc so just remain patient.

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Like others have said, don’t worry about the shedding phase. I lost almost all my transplanted hair during that stage and looked worse off than before the surgery

Edited by Helios
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50 minutes ago, jj51702 said:

Totally understand as I felt the same. Try not to look at your hair for the first 4 months. You’re at the worst part right now where you’ve shed everything, your native hair is short, scalp is still red, etc (hence why they call it the ugly duckling stage). It’s one heck of a crappy ride but you went to a great doc so just remain patient.

Yeah, I think I'll "put it to the back of my head", and just wait for progress in 10 weeks or so. 

 

2 minutes ago, Helios said:

Like others have said, don’t worry about the shedding phase. I lost almost all my transplanted hair during that stage and looked worse off than before the surgery

 

Ha, I know the experience! Also, when your head is shaved you really realize the extent of hair loss that was developing. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
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I'm at the 8 week mark now. 

In the last 2 weeks I've noticed hair in the transplanted temple zones has lengthened quite a bit. Still, some considerable way to go to see what the full results will manifest like.

I've noticed one or two things which I didn't notice on other threads. For instance, sometimes I may feel some dead skin accumulate and I'd pick it off. It's not a scab, but just dead skin cells which tends to have 2-3 hairs attached. Has anyone had this experience? Maybe I'm playing with my scalp too much to find these little nuggets of cells. When I do, I pick them off.

The other day after my shower, I casually rubbed my recipient area with the towel and, a minute later or so, noticed a bit of bleeding from one follicle in the very front of my head. Wondering perhaps is it possible for follicles to become dislodged many weeks after surgery? I heard that after 10 days the grafts are completely implanted. Also, does anyone know if diet plays a factor in the growth of grafts or are grafts bound to eventuate hairs regardless of what you eat/drink?

The itch in the back of my head has completely resolved. Thankfully my hair growth has returned to a decent length and that may have helped things as the donor area heals entirely.

I'll post some photos in a few ways time as I approach Week 9.

Edited by maltesefalcon
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