Hair Transplant - Dr Ilker apaydin - please help

[rroonnn212]

Hello,

 

I was see Dr Ilker Apaydin does the whole surgery and I think to do FUE hair transplant.

Can some one have a review on Dr ilker?

 

Many thanks,

Ron

[AvoidDrIlkerApaydin]

Hi there, your post is over a year old, but I'd like to reply for the benefit of future patients. 

I had a HT with Dr. Ilker Apaydin in June 2021 and it was a disaster. See the link below for a detailed review w/photos. 

Dr. Apaydin does NOT do the "whole surgery." His website falsely claims he does. But when you call him, he admits that the nurses/techs do most of the surgery (extractions/ implantations). But once he's hooked you in, that is, he has you on the phone, he tries to convince you that the extractions/implantations are the "easy" part of the surgery (his words). I was naïve and believed him...

But it turns out extractions need to be done very carefully for three reasons:

1. To not destroy the donor zone (the nurses/techs created a bald spot in my donor zone b/c they did NOT space the extractions).

2. To ensure the grafts are extracted properly and intact (the nurses/techs damaged 70% of the grafts they extracted. That's right, only around 30% survived so the density in my recipient area is extremely sparse). 

3. To ensure the grafts are separated into singles/doubles/triples (b/c only singles should be placed along the edge of the hairline. 

Dr. Apaydin even told me that he would "supervise" the extractions. But after he finished the incisions in the morning, I never saw or heard from him again. Turns out he doesn't even stay in the clinic! He just leaves you with the nurses/techs in the afternoon.

Dr. Apaydin does incisions for 2 patients in a single morning, each for at least 3,000 dollars. So he's made at least 6,000 dollars in one morning's work. That's a lot more than you think. Since the cost of living in Turkey is 1/3 of the US, that's really about 20,000 dollars in purchasing power. Yep, he makes 100,000 dollars per week, AND he has afternoons off. 

Now you can see why he's obsessed with flashy marketing trying to sell himself as a reputable doctor when he's anything but. 

I have since scoured the Internet trying to find a single positive review of his RESULTS and have found about one. His results are overwhelmingly disastrous. If you go on RealSelf, he has a lot of good reviews - but they're almost all immediately post-op. That is, reviews of the "experience" NOT the results.

"The clinic is chic."

"The hotel is nice."

"The coordinator is super friendly."

"Dr. Apaydin seems competent."

That kind of thing. But interestingly there's no follow-up review of the RESULTS...

In fact, Dr. Apaydin's clinic pesters patients (including me) to write a good RealSelf review immediately after the operation. Strange that they want a good review BEFORE the results are in...probably b/c they're not confident in their results.

I decided to wait 6 months to see the results, and I'm glad I did (b/c the results are a disaster).

The coordinator, a very lovely person by the way, actually admitted to me that the clinic is always looking for new ways to market the doctor.

Odd, because if a doctor is skilled and has a good reputation, he/she doesn't really need to "market" himself aggressively, particularly if the surgeon, like Dr. Apaydin, has been doing hair transplants for over a decade! Word of mouth should normally be more than enough to ensure a steady stream of patients. 

And beware of "for-profit" review sites like RealSelf and Google. This website, hairrestorationnetwork, is trustworthy b/c it's by and for hair loss sufferers. The sole goal is not to make a buck. 

To RealSelf's credit, they posted my negative review of Dr. Apaydin, but their default  "Featured" ordering of reviews, curated by RealSelf, only includes positive reviews (they make their money from doctors so there's a bias for doctors/against patients).

So if you just go to their website and search a doctor, you will only be shown positive reviews at the top. You would think they would "feature" reviews that get the most "Helpful" clicks, yes? Like mine. But no...only positive reviews are included. Of course you can see negative reviews if you re-order the reviews by "Recent" or "Lowest rating" but do most people bother? 

As for Google, I have written a negative review of Dr. Apaydin with lots of photos documenting my experience but they won't post it. Dr. Apaydin apparently has a Google Business Account, and I think Google doesn't want to offend its business owners. I followed all of Google's "policies" for writing reviews. I even edited my review down from seven paragraphs to three so there would be less "content" to get snared by censors.

Nope. They won't post it. But they do have a 5-star review up by an "empty" account with no text description or photos. That they leave up....

A week ago I did see a negative Google review of Dr. Apaydin in German?! One star. I can't read German but I C&P'd it into Google translate and the review was one sentence, something like "Had a hair transplant here a year ago and 70% of the transplanted hairs are gone." The review was taken down a day or two later. Only the 5-star review by an empty account is left standing...

Google Dr. Ilker Apaydin and see for yourself. You might think there are no negative reviews of this doctor? You would be wrong. Google just won't post them. I have heard a rumor that until a business account gets a critical mass of positive reviews, only then will Google allow negative reviews. So he would have to get, say, 10 positive reviews and then Google will start posting negative ones. They don't want the negative reviews to drown out the positive reviews for their precious business owners. 

It can all make you cynical. Who do you trust??

Doctor websites are not particularly useful b/c even a bad doctor is going to hit a "homerun" every once in a while. Then it's just a matter of gathering all their "homeruns"  into their before/after gallery.

The point, however, is consistency. What doctors consistently give good results? 

That takes research. Unfortunately, I didn't do enough research before booking my HT and got scammed. I would only trust real guys who can document real results with photos - good or bad. This website is fabulous b/c there are no conflicts of interest (like at Google or RealSelf). 

Anyway, good luck everyone! Hair transplants - to be done well - require extraordinary skill, artistry, and dedication by the doctor. The reality is that most doctors don't have any or all of these qualities, and many will compensate with flashy marketing. Don't be fooled....

[WhiteyUK]

28 minutes ago, AvoidDrIlkerApaydin said:

Hi there, your post is over a year old, but I'd like to reply for the benefit of future patients. 

I had a HT with Dr. Ilker Apaydin in June 2021 and it was a disaster. See the link below for a detailed review w/photos. 

Dr. Apaydin does NOT do the "whole surgery." His website falsely claims he does. But when you call him, he admits that the nurses/techs do most of the surgery (extractions/ implantations). But once he's hooked you in, that is, he has you on the phone, he tries to convince you that the extractions/implantations are the "easy" part of the surgery (his words). I was naïve and believed him...

But it turns out extractions need to be done very carefully for three reasons:

1. To not destroy the donor zone (the nurses/techs created a bald spot in my donor zone b/c they did NOT space the extractions).

2. To ensure the grafts are extracted properly and intact (the nurses/techs damaged 70% of the grafts they extracted. That's right, only around 30% survived so the density in my recipient area is extremely sparse). 

3. To ensure the grafts are separated into singles/doubles/triples (b/c only singles should be placed along the edge of the hairline. 

Dr. Apaydin even told me that he would "supervise" the extractions. But after he finished the incisions in the morning, I never saw or heard from him again. Turns out he doesn't even stay in the clinic! He just leaves you with the nurses/techs in the afternoon.

Dr. Apaydin does incisions for 2 patients in a single morning, each for at least 3,000 dollars. So he's made at least 6,000 dollars in one morning's work. That's a lot more than you think. Since the cost of living in Turkey is 1/3 of the US, that's really about 20,000 dollars in purchasing power. Yep, he makes 100,000 dollars per week, AND he has afternoons off. 

Now you can see why he's obsessed with flashy marketing trying to sell himself as a reputable doctor when he's anything but. 

I have since scoured the Internet trying to find a single positive review of his RESULTS and have found about one. His results are overwhelmingly disastrous. If you go on RealSelf, he has a lot of good reviews - but they're almost all immediately post-op. That is, reviews of the "experience" NOT the results.

"The clinic is chic."

"The hotel is nice."

"The coordinator is super friendly."

"Dr. Apaydin seems competent."

That kind of thing. But interestingly there's no follow-up review of the RESULTS...

In fact, Dr. Apaydin's clinic pesters patients (including me) to write a good RealSelf review immediately after the operation. Strange that they want a good review BEFORE the results are in...probably b/c they're not confident in their results.

I decided to wait 6 months to see the results, and I'm glad I did (b/c the results are a disaster).

The coordinator, a very lovely person by the way, actually admitted to me that the clinic is always looking for new ways to market the doctor.

Odd, because if a doctor is skilled and has a good reputation, he/she doesn't really need to "market" himself aggressively, particularly if the surgeon, like Dr. Apaydin, has been doing hair transplants for over a decade! Word of mouth should normally be more than enough to ensure a steady stream of patients. 

And beware of "for-profit" review sites like RealSelf and Google. This website, hairrestorationnetwork, is trustworthy b/c it's by and for hair loss sufferers. The sole goal is not to make a buck. 

To RealSelf's credit, they posted my negative review of Dr. Apaydin, but their default  "Featured" ordering of reviews, curated by RealSelf, only includes positive reviews (they make their money from doctors so there's a bias for doctors/against patients).

So if you just go to their website and search a doctor, you will only be shown positive reviews at the top. You would think they would "feature" reviews that get the most "Helpful" clicks, yes? Like mine. But no...only positive reviews are included. Of course you can see negative reviews if you re-order the reviews by "Recent" or "Lowest rating" but do most people bother? 

As for Google, I have written a negative review of Dr. Apaydin with lots of photos documenting my experience but they won't post it. Dr. Apaydin apparently has a Google Business Account, and I think Google doesn't want to offend its business owners. I followed all of Google's "policies" for writing reviews. I even edited my review down from seven paragraphs to three so there would be less "content" to get snared by censors.

Nope. They won't post it. But they do have a 5-star review up by an "empty" account with no text description or photos. That they leave up....

A week ago I did see a negative Google review of Dr. Apaydin in German?! One star. I can't read German but I C&P'd it into Google translate and the review was one sentence, something like "Had a hair transplant here a year ago and 70% of the transplanted hairs are gone." The review was taken down a day or two later. Only the 5-star review by an empty account is left standing...

Google Dr. Ilker Apaydin and see for yourself. You might think there are no negative reviews of this doctor? You would be wrong. Google just won't post them. I have heard a rumor that until a business account gets a critical mass of positive reviews, only then will Google allow negative reviews. So he would have to get, say, 10 positive reviews and then Google will start posting negative ones. They don't want the negative reviews to drown out the positive reviews for their precious business owners. 

It can all make you cynical. Who do you trust??

Doctor websites are not particularly useful b/c even a bad doctor is going to hit a "homerun" every once in a while. Then it's just a matter of gathering all their "homeruns"  into their before/after gallery.

The point, however, is consistency. What doctors consistently give good results? 

That takes research. Unfortunately, I didn't do enough research before booking my HT and got scammed. I would only trust real guys who can document real results with photos - good or bad. This website is fabulous b/c there are no conflicts of interest (like at Google or RealSelf). 

Anyway, good luck everyone! Hair transplants - to be done well - require extraordinary skill, artistry, and dedication by the doctor. The reality is that most doctors don't have any or all of these qualities, and many will compensate with flashy marketing. Don't be fooled....

This is the 3rd thread you have explained this

[THE TRUTH]

This is exactly what I was explaining to the new member today. 

Apaydin is a hairmill. 

His "credentials" are BS.