My journey at HLC (Ankara). 3100 grafts

[massman]

At 10 months I totally get why you'd be disappointed with this because that does look quite thin. Let us know what HLC respond with, I believe they're usually quite good when dealing with a subpar result. How much is Contelessa charging you?

[EvansLawrence]

26 minutes ago, massman said:

At 10 months I totally get why you'd be disappointed with this because that does look quite thin. Let us know what HLC respond with, I believe they're usually quite good when dealing with a subpar result. How much is Contelessa charging you?

Cotellessa will be for 2000 grafts 3800€. If more then 5000€ up to 3500 grafts. 

And I believe that HLC should refund maybe not the total, the 8000€, but at least about 5000€. More than half. Not only cause the survival was poor. But also cause they have wasted my limited grafts and the donnor could have been treated better.  I dont know if HLC does refunds but Im 100% sure they dont give me confidence for a reparation with them, even if free. Cause I dont care about other cases, I care about mine.

[Gasthoerer]

I understand you are seeking perfection...but could you post more and better pictures? Especially, pictures styled. 

What I see (from the pictures you haves shown so far) is a great result which maybe (!) lacks a little density in a small region and I see a great hairline too. Maybe a little touch up (in that specific area) away from a great result, which is perfectly normal for a HT. 

In my opinion, your new plan has little benefit and high risk (as it could get worse than it is now). 

Whatever you do: I wish you the best. 

[EvansLawrence]

And about the donnor. I know for a fact that an excellent doctor wouldnt have make the extraction points this close. Some are so close they form very unpleasent lines. And there is still big area that remains untouched.

[HappyMan2021]

 

19 minutes ago, EvansLawrence said:

And about the donnor. I know for a fact that an excellent doctor wouldnt have make the extraction points this close. Some are so close they form very unpleasent lines. And there is still big area that remains untouched.

I understand and am empathetic to your stress and frustration at needing a 2nd touch up surgery, but am not sympathetic to it. Like 90% of guys need a 2nd follow up job, even those with good HT's. There is only so much density you can pack on in a single round. 

Also, literally every single FUE patient on the entire planet will have visible donor scarring if you shave down to the skin. 

Maybe you should have gone the hair system route. That is the only guaranteed way to have an illusion of "perfect" hair.

Edited December 16, 2021 by SadMan2021

[EvansLawrence]

18 hours ago, SadMan2021 said:

 

I understand and am empathetic to your stress and frustration at needing a 2nd touch up surgery, but am not sympathetic to it. Like 90% of guys need a 2nd follow up job, even those with good HT's. There is only so much density you can pack on in a single round. 

Also, literally every single FUE patient on the entire planet will have visible donor scarring if you shave down to the skin. 

Maybe you should have gone the hair system route. That is the only guaranteed way to have an illusion of "perfect" hair.

I agree that every FUE leaves scar. Totally. I dont understand though why a clinic that is supposed to be a High Quality one makes extractions so close to the point that leave long lines as in my case. My initial budget was 4000€ and I decided to choose quality and waited and worked my ass off to increase it till 8000€. I dont see that quality now. Not in the extractions, not in the implanted area. 

[bloodhound]

wow we have the same hair issue 

[EvansLawrence]

32 minutes ago, bloodhound said:

wow we have the same hair issue 

I have seen your case. Who were your doctors?? 

[bloodhound]

12 minutes ago, EvansLawrence said:

I have seen your case. Who were your doctors?? 

Umut and Cenginz. I haven’t read through your whole post yet but I’m sure I’ll have questions in a moment 

[EvansLawrence]

Just now, bloodhound said:

Umut and Cenginz. I haven’t read through your whole post yet but I’m sure I’ll have questions in a moment 

Same that me. And my bad side is the one Umut did.

[bloodhound]

On 3/4/2021 at 1:03 AM, EvansLawrence said:

3 weeks! Shock loss started 😁

 

Your hairline looks flawless 2-3 weeks in just like mine did 

[EvansLawrence]

Just now, bloodhound said:

Your hairline looks flawless 2-3 weeks in just like mine did 

I know. What a waste of money and grafts.

[bloodhound]

57 minutes ago, EvansLawrence said:

Same that me. And my bad side is the one Umut did.

My bad side it actually the right side. I was under the impression one doctor did extractions, and one did implementation. I’m pretty sure I remember that being the case 

[bloodhound]

17 minutes ago, EvansLawrence said:

I know. What a waste of money and grafts.

The grafts most importantly. Now I don’t know who to go to for a touch up. First I want to be seen by a dermatologist and/or trichologist 

[EvansLawrence]

HLC finally called today. We agree on waiting until february for completing the 12 months and then I would send them pics. But I already express them that I dont feel confident on going to do a repair, even if free, to HLC based on current experience. And that I would preffer a partial refund. I guess I will get back here once february comes and see what happens. Whatever decision they take I can share it here. 

I really hope they agree to a partial refund since I believe is the most professional response to a case like this. That would speak good on them.

 

[Sitries1]

On 10/6/2021 at 9:20 PM, EvansLawrence said:

month 8 (almost)

almost at the end of the recovery.

So far my personal feelings: its better than before, no doubt about it. Very natural. Although for me it didnt worth it. 8000€ and 3150 grafts that look more like 2200 or 2500.

Still very conservative line. I have a day for surgery in Spain with Dra. Cotellesa on January to close better the temples and maybe lower the hairline a little bit.

 

Am I being perfectionist? Yes

Am I in my right to be perfectionist? Ofcourse

Were my expectations in HLC fulfilled based on the videos they post? Definitely not

 

Just my thought process.

You are free to think what you want

Your hair looks awesome in these photos but yet I see your not happy and going to Dr Couto….. then a different doctor in Spain who sounds pretty cheap and if I’m honest I have never heard of!?  If your not happy with the end result then my advise would be to go back to HLC and let them sort it. HLC are more than capable of producing you a great result. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. 

[EvansLawrence]

5 minutes ago, Sitries1 said:

Your hair looks awesome in these photos but yet I see your not happy and going to Dr Couto….. then a different doctor in Spain who sounds pretty cheap and if I’m honest I have never heard of!?  If your not happy with the end result then my advise would be to go back to HLC and let them sort it. HLC are more than capable of producing you a great result. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. 

Dr. Couto is even more expensive than HLC but he is probably just the best in the world. I see why you think those pics lool better but thing is that lighting and the way you show the hair affects a lot. I havent seen any improvement since month 7 and then maybe it was to early to say that the result is not enough but now at month 10 and a half well, it should be different. My personal opion. Ofc you can dissagree on it.

[Sitries1]

4 minutes ago, EvansLawrence said:

Dr. Couto is even more expensive than HLC but he is probably just the best in the world. I see why you think those pics lool better but thing is that lighting and the way you show the hair affects a lot. I havent seen any improvement since month 7 and then maybe it was to early to say that the result is not enough but now at month 10 and a half well, it should be different. My personal opion. Ofc you can dissagree on it.

I agree that Dr Couto is up there with the absolute best and he will be priced at the 5euro per graft mark i imagine and last time I checked he had a 3 year waiting list. What I couldn’t understand is that you then switched your preference to another doctor that I’ve never heard of and is charging you 3500euro for 2000 grafts? At the price point it does not scream ‘best of the best’ to me!?!? That’s why I said that you would be better sticking to HLC.

Personally I had my HT with Dr Bruno Ferreira in Portugal (2 weeks ago). Dr Ferreira explained to me that although it’s not usually required, he offers a touch up after 12 months once the final result is reached. He also explained that with some skin types can it can be difficult to implant with high density because fragile skin can break when you try and implant too many grafts next to each other. it really gives me peace of mind knowing that if I’m not happy then I can return to Portugal in 1 year to get in touched up. I think it’s very rare to get a perfect result 1st time every time. 

 

[EvansLawrence]

1 minute ago, Sitries1 said:

I agree that Dr Couto is up there with the absolute best and he will be priced at the 5euro per graft mark i imagine and last time I checked he had a 3 year waiting list. What I couldn’t understand is that you then switched your preference to another doctor that I’ve never heard of and is charging you 3500euro for 2000 grafts? At the price point it does not scream ‘best of the best’ to me!?!? That’s why I said that you would be better sticking to HLC.

Personally I had my HT with Dr Bruno Ferreira in Portugal (2 weeks ago). Dr Ferreira explained to me that although it’s not usually required, he offers a touch up after 12 months once the final result is reached. He also explained that with some skin types can it can be difficult to implant with high density because fragile skin can break when you try and implant too many grafts next to each other. it really gives me peace of mind knowing that if I’m not happy then I can return to Portugal in 1 year to get in touched up. I think it’s very rare to get a perfect result 1st time every time. 

 

Oh I understand. Well money goes normally with quality but not always. Plus its about 3800 € or more cause the blood test and medication are not inlcuided. This is a new doctor who has worked with De Freitas for 2 years, then in other clinic and now she has her new and own clinic. She is starting and still young, therefore she can not charge as much. But if you see her cases you freak out. Is not 100% sure yet but she will most likely be my choice.

[Spaceguy]

On 3/4/2021 at 10:03 AM, EvansLawrence said:

3 weeks! Shock loss started 😁

 

You had a really nice temporary growth indicating transplanted grafts were healthy at that time, i wonder where it went wrong later and what is the cause of poor final results!

 

[EvansLawrence]

For my part not only I did everything recomended by the clinic but also started finasteride. A month ago even added oral minixidil. I see my case similar to @bloodhound's.

 

[EvansLawrence]

On 12/29/2021 at 2:18 AM, tej sandhu said:

I have to say your completely overreacting and coming across as rather immature as evident by your poor grammar and spelling. Because someone had an excellent result from a clinic does not guarantee you will as well. Were all going to produce different results  depending on how are scalp and body responds. You may have had a similar experience even if you did it at another clinic. Saying that from what I see The improvement is massive from where you started . Your problem is you've  developed a chain of thought that the hair transplant would be perfection when that is never going to be the case. Also a mistake, I think you made was not starting finasteride early or prior to the procedure, which gives the best chance of aiding the hair transplant as well as preventing shock loss at the donor area and strengthening existing hairs. I'm booked in with Dr Raghu Reddy from London, and am going in with the mindset of  not looking for perfection but just significant improvement as I'm aware your never going to have the hair you had before hair loss began.

Spending a high price on a clinic that shows itselft as an elite one and being dissapointed by not having a result acording to the clinic's level is being inmature? For real?

Other thing: finasteride/ minoxidil is not mandatory for a surgery on hlc, and if they dont tell you to medicate yourself, then thats on them. Other clinics dont run a surgery if the patient is not medicated. Which btw should not affect to the donnor area/ implanted area, since its an area not affected by the androgenetic alopecia. Anyway I medicated myself. 

A chain of thought? Please dont make me laugh. What I show by the pics is objetive, clear.

[Gasthoerer]

On 12/22/2021 at 12:56 PM, Spaceguy said:

You had a really nice temporary growth indicating transplanted grafts were healthy at that time, i wonder where it went wrong later and what is the cause of poor final results!

 

Unfortunately, this initial "growth" is not a hint towards the final result (neither good or bad). I think it is more the grafts/hairs being pushed out, than actual growth. 

[massman]

36 minutes ago, EvansLawrence said:

Spending a high price on a clinic that shows itselft as an elite one and being dissapointed by not having a result acording to the clinic's level is being inmature? For real?

Other thing: finasteride/ minoxidil is not mandatory for a surgery on hlc, and if they dont tell you to medicate yourself, then thats on them. Other clinics dont run a surgery if the patient is not medicated. Which btw should not affect to the donnor area/ implanted area, since its an area not affected by the androgenetic alopecia. Anyway I medicated myself. 

A chain of thought? Please dont make me laugh. What I show by the pics is objetive, clear.

Have you sent your pictures to the clinic yet? Any response from them?

[ITA]

22 minutes ago, massman said:

Have you sent your pictures to the clinic yet? Any response from them?

Yes, this, let us know what the clinic answered, an elite clinic can also be seen from this.