Jump to content

Thoughts on traveling (internationally) to a surgeon for a hair transplant?


gemini

Recommended Posts

  • Regular Member

I've noticed that many people on this forum travel away from their home, sometimes even internationally, for a hair transplant since the doctor who can offer the most natural results at a price point they feel comfortable with may not be in their backyard. I wonder though what are the potential downsides.

What happens if you get bad results or malpractice, what kind of recourse do you have against an international doctor? In the US you can at least navigate the legal system and bring a case against them. In Korea or Turkey, you don't even speak the language. What happens if you get an infection? What kind of care should I expect from the doctor after surgery? Is post op care really necessary? What else am I missing?

I've researched a few clinics outside the US and sometimes the language barrier and response times are a bit slow. If this is the case now, I wonder how my post-op communication will be since I've been reading some international clinics ghost you once you've paid and had your surgery. Should I be concerned?

Thanks all!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Regular Member

I just had my ht 2 days ago (Jan 13th) in Istanbul with Dr. Ziya Yavuz.  I’m 29 and flew all the way from New York.  He charged 2200€ (a little under $2500 USD for me), and that included 3 nights hotel stay at a Hilton and car service to/from the airport and to/from the hotel to the clinic for all appointments. 
 

I had FUE done and got 3900 grafts. The procedure itself was a little more painful than I had expected, but I can’t complain about the doctor, his staff, or the clinic whatsoever.  I’m very happy with how my hairline is looking and am now just waiting for the results.  I fly home today after receiving my first free wash, and today we went back for the follow up visit.  My brother came with me and we did it together.

If you’re interested in traveling abroad for your ht, I highly recommend joining the Facebook group Hair Loss Conquerors.  A lot of nice and helpful guys on there sharing their experiences and offering advice.  Nice online community and very informative, helped me to make my decision as to which clinic to choose.

Good luck!

Edited by happyandsad
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Senior Member

@happyandsad My blood got stuck in reading that doctor's name, ruined my life, worked for estetistanbul three years ago, unfortunately I had the misfortune of meeting him, I have the donor area devastated because of him.  With me he limited himself to drawing the hairline and then I never saw him again, he made the kids do the operation that I don't know what title they had, when I contacted him some time ago, he told me that  was I am not responsible for the damage I have had, but I spoke to him before the procedure with no other doctor.  I wish you all the best, but I can't say otherwise.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Regular Member
6 minutes ago, Egy said:

@happyandsad My blood got stuck in reading that doctor's name, ruined my life, worked for estetistanbul three years ago, unfortunately I had the misfortune of meeting him, I have the donor area devastated because of him.  With me he limited himself to drawing the hairline and then I never saw him again, he made the kids do the operation that I don't know what title they had, when I contacted him some time ago, he told me that  was I am not responsible for the damage I have had, but I spoke to him before the procedure with no other doctor.  I wish you all the best, but I can't say otherwise.

Wow, I’m sorry you had that experience.  You are actually the first negative review I have read of him.  He now works at his own clinic in Acibadem Hospital in Istanbul, so maybe that was his old staff or staff from that facility that messed up your procedure.  During my procedure, he drew the hairline and administered the anesthesia himself.  The techs extracted the grafts, then Dr. Yavuz came back in the room and opened the channels himself with the sapphire blade.  Then the techs placed the grafts.  I guess we will see how it turns out, but on the Facebook group I mentioned above, everyone raves about him.  This came with a “guarantee” certificate for what it’s worth...

Edited by happyandsad
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Senior Member

The only reliable places where you can see real patient results are forums like this, Facebook groups are piloted by consultants from these pseudo-clinics, and block users who have had a bad transplant.  The warranty is bullshit, we are not cars that can change the spare part.

Tomorrow in private I will send you some photos of the post operation with Ziya Yavuz.

Edited by Egy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Senior Member
8 hours ago, Egy said:

The only reliable places where you can see real patient results are forums like this, Facebook groups are piloted by consultants from these pseudo-clinics, and block users who have had a bad transplant.  The warranty is bullshit, we are not cars that can change the spare part.

Tomorrow in private I will send you some photos of the post operation with Ziya Yavuz.

@happyandsad what @Egy wrote is 100% true!

@gemini if you want a decent hair transplant in Turkey go to a doctor with great patient results and one that is doing the whole surgery himself without relying on tech teams.

Keser at 3.5€/graft is great for hairlines and small surgeries like the 2000 graft surgery you need so if you can afford him don’t think twice and book him (check some of his hairline results here at HRN and you will be blown away). Pekiner at 2.15€/graft is overall great and amazing with BHT. HLC Ankara at 2.7€/graft is the best clinic in Turkey with a lot of experience on BHT. 

If want to go cheap and don’t mind techs doing some of the surgery then Demirsoy at 1.25€/graft is a option because he does have some decent results on HRN. 

Edited by Portugal25
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Regular Member
51 minutes ago, Egy said:

The only reliable places where you can see real patient results are forums like this, Facebook groups are piloted by consultants from these pseudo-clinics, and block users who have had a bad transplant.  The warranty is bullshit, we are not cars that can change the spare part.

Tomorrow in private I will send you some photos of the post operation with Ziya Yavuz.

Yes, there are Facebook groups like that, that are monitored by staff and they filter out certain posts.  I was part of one of those groups until someone messaged me and told me to join the group I mentioned, which ALL posts/reviews are allowed and nothing needs to be approved by a moderator in order to be posted.  So basically, it’s the same concept as this forum, and again, Dr. Yavuz had nothing but positive feedback on there.  Some other clinics had a mix of good and bad.  I’m not saying I don’t believe you had bad results, but I also don’t think everyone should avoid this guy because you got bad results at an old clinic he worked at 4 years ago.

Edited by happyandsad
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Senior Member

@happyandsad I can tell you that @Egy didn’t have a “bad result” Egy had a botched surgery that had to be repaired by another Doctor.
Even the world best doctors have had bad results but a Doctor that was responsible for a botched surgery that had to be repaired is someone that I would never recommend.
Egy is doing @gemini and everyone else in this forum a great service by alerting us about this Doctor. 
Thanks Egy

Edited by Portugal25
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Regular Member
21 minutes ago, Portugal25 said:

@happyandsad I can tell you that @Egy didn’t have a “bad result” Egy had a botched surgery that had to be repaired by another Doctor.
Even the world best doctors have had bad results but a Doctor that was responsible for a botched surgery that had to be repaired is someone that I would never recommend.
Egy is doing @gemini and everyone else in this forum a great service by alerting us about this Doctor. 
Thanks Egy

Again, it appears that he went to an old clinic that Dr. Yavuz used to work at.  I went to the clinic that he now owns and operates.  I’m very sorry that @Egy had a botched surgery, and I guess all I can do is share my experience and hope that my results come out good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrators

I don't have any problems with traveling for surgery, but if you're thinking about going to one of these "low-cost Turkish FUE clinics" you should think twice. These clinics use "low-prices" to entice young guys into having surgery, they will show you impressive before and after images, and you will think "why the heck would I pay double the cost in Europe, or North America" 

Below is a perfect example of what can happen, this guy paid 3,000 euros to have his donor area destroyed with no growth. When he complained, instead of the clinic taking ownership they threatened to SUE!! Look there is no control or ethics with these clinics. They probably change staff, as much as they get new patients. The surgeon will come in and draw a hairline, shake your hand and you'll never see him again. You will be left with teenagers, or in some instances taxi drivers who do surgery as a side gig.

There is so much emphasis on cost and money, that we forget that hair transplantation is SURGERY! Would you guys trust some teenage kid with acne and braces to extract your tooth? Or would you guys pay an extra thousand dollars to get an experienced orthodontic surgeon to do it for you. It's a no-brainer for me. At the end of the day, it's a surgical procedure, it's not like you're paying someone to mow your lawn or clean up weeds.

 

 

 

  • Like 3


I’m a paid admin for Hair Transplant Network. I do not receive any compensation from any clinic. My comments are not medical advice.

Check out my final hair transplant and topical dutasteride journey

View my thread

Topical dutasteride journey 

Melvin- Managing Publisher and Forum Moderator for the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q&A Blog.

Follow our Social Media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, and YouTube.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Senior Member

After extensive research I travelled internationally from Ireland to India.Yes   It would have been a short trip to stay in Europe. .Deciding to have a HT is such an important decision,  distance and price were the last 2 things that were important to factor into the decision. It's all about the surgeon and expected result.

The aftercare is as good if not better as if I had the HT close to home, as it dosent make any difference as you still have to travel away from home for your HT anyway.

Travelling internationally is only a small inconevience in the overall bigger scheme of things.

.......Paddy......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Senior Member

@gemini if you are having concerns about having your surgery in far away Turkey I would advise you to talk with @Dr. Bruno Ferreira.
He is the medical assistant of one the best  FUE Docs in the world, Dr. Jose Lorenzo in Madrid, known for accepting to operate tuff cases of patients with DUPA. 
Dr. Bruno also does surgeries in his own clinic in Porto (direct 8h flight from Newark Airport). In Portugal everyone speaks English, TV is in English with subtitles and we have Uber so you will feel right at home. 
Dr. Bruno charges 2.5€/graft at his clinic and does the whole surgery using the DHI technique with Lion Implantor Pens. 
One of my best friends went to Dr.Bruno yesterday after a aborted surgery in Turkey due to miniaturized hairs. Dr. Bruno said he believes he will achieve a decent result with two surgeries. My friend is now booking these two surgeries for this year.

If you want to go to Asia for your surgery I would advise Dr. Kongkiat Laorwong in Bangkok. He also does the whole surgery himself with DHI - Lion Implantor Pen and has several great results in this forum. He charges 2.6€/graft.

Edited by Portugal25
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Senior Member
8 hours ago, gemini said:

@paddyirishman what aftercare did you have? Why was it better than local? I’m thinking 3/6/12 month post op follow ups. 

IF I had to stay in my own country just as an example, If I wanted to meet the doctor face to face it would involve a day travelling to get to the clinic, an overnight stay, and a day to get back home. I would guess that's what every patient needs to do at a minimum , with the exception of having the HT done locally, which very few of us do.

Doner and recipent areas were checked before I left the clinic. Medication was given for 7 days. Appropriate head wear was given for travelling. Phone calls were made by the doctors on the way home. When I arrived home further video calls by the doctor was made in the first 3 days. Further messages were sent on whatts app what to expect in the first week. Videos were sent for head wash as a refresher although everything was explained anyway. Follow up phone calls were made after the headwash and pictures were sent via whapps app and email. You can do this at 3 , 6, and 9 months for progress checks. Everything is monitored, in the unlikely event of any health related issues you can be treated by your own doctor locally. 

So all of the above is to me as good if not better by travelling internationally.  That's why this forum is exceptional that only the clinics that have the highest of Health and Safety standards are recommended, not the black market clinics that @Melvin-Moderator is educating everybody about to stay away from.

..........Paddy......

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Senior Member
11 hours ago, happyandsad said:

I’m not saying I don’t believe you had bad results, but I also don’t think everyone should avoid this guy because you got bad results at an old clinic he worked at 4 years ago.

@happyandsad I only told you about my experience with Ziya Yavuz, he was a doctor even four years ago when I met him unfortunately, but he did not behave like that, he drew my hairline with a marker and then I no longer have it  see, he let 2/3 boys (I don't know what titles they had) scarred me the donor.  I wish you all the best, but unfortunately it wasn't for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Senior Member
11 hours ago, Portugal25 said:

I can tell you that @Egy didn’t have a “bad result” Egy had a botched surgery that had to be repaired by another Doctor.
Even the world best doctors have had bad results but a Doctor that was responsible for a botched surgery that had to be repaired is someone that I

Forgive me @Portugal25. but it's not quite like that, my transplant was performed badly from A to Z, because Ziya Yavuz didn't care if he wouldn't have come to see at least occasionally how it proceeded, instead nothing.  I also want to tell you that the photo of my donor area immediately after the intervention was taken as an example of over haversted in a document made by the ISHRS when they spoke of the risks that one runs going on the black market that there is in Turkey as regards  hair transplantation.  Then I want to say that my second procedure with Doctor Cinik, was not a repair procedure, but I wanted to at least give density to my hair, which I absolutely did not have with the first transplant, not to mention the doll effect  that I had because Ziya Yavuz's technicians (assuming they were) gave my hair by inserting double follicular units in the front line.  Another thing that I forgot to say is that in my own operating room there was another patient who was having a transplant, we were separated only by a curtain.  Absurd if I think about it now that I have made a culture on transplants.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Senior Member

@Egy reading about your experience gave me chills. I do hope your second surgery with Dr. Cinik will help you recover from the first one with Dr. Ziya Yavuz. Wish you all the best my friend!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Senior Member
16 minutes ago, Portugal25 said:

 

@Egy reading about your experience gave me chills. I do hope your second surgery with Dr. Cinik will help you recover from the first one with Dr. Ziya Yavuz. Wish you all the best my friend!

 

 

Thank you friend 🤞I just proceeded to send some of my photos privately to the @happyandsad user to whom I really wish the best.

Edited by Egy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...