Lifehair Ankara Şahin Çelik, 4200 grafts, 08.03.21

[sayer]

Friends, first of all, hello to everyone. I will share with you the hair transplant I had in Lifehair Ankara on March 8, from the beginning to the end of the process in the most detailed way. I'm from Bulgaria, 34-year-old with high NW 5 or 6, I'm not familiar with the Norwood scale. Lifehair is a small center at the heart of Ankara, near Mevlana Blv. Why did I choose this center? First, I had very specific requirement regarding the medication that I should take during and after the hair transplant - the meds should not be ototoxic at all or only mildly ototoxic. I researched almost a year in English, German, Spanish and Turkish forums for hair loss before I make a decision. I narrowed my choice to three clinics in Turkey and finally picked Lifehair because of the following reasons:
1. They were the most responsive and understanding to my specific requirements.
2. Mr. Şahin Çelik, the head of the team, is performing the root extractions and canal openings by himself.
3. Şahin Çelik is famous in the Turkish forum (sacekimisonuclari.com) for preserving the donor area.
4. The team operates very fast, there are three ladies - Elif, Busra and Buket that place the grafts simultaneously on the left temple, right temple and at the vertex region.

For my hotel accommodation, I had a reservation in Starlight hotel that is located 1400 meters away from the HT center. Its a decent hotel with clean rooms but there was a lack of kitchen table in my room and I was unable to eat on a table. On the morning at 10:40 I was at the center, Ergin was waiting for me outside and introduced me to the team. The team that operated on me consists of Şahin Çelik, Ergin Gokmen and the ladies Elif, Busra and Buket. They operate on 2 or 3 patients a day.
After planning with Mr. Çelik, Ergin cut my hair short with a trimmer.
There was no pain during the transplantation except for the anesthesia injections, they are needle-free and you feel something like burning for a second when this pressure technique is applied. I received every single medication that was used for anesthesia and checked it for ototoxicity. This was very important to me, because I'm prone to ototoxic drugs.

After the donor area was anesthetised, Mr. Çelik started extracting the grafts. After the grafts removal, the area to be transplanted was anesthetised and we took a break for lunch. Ergin is always with you, asking if you want something and supporting in case of dizziness or sincope. After the break Şahin Çelik opened the channels for about 2 hours, the ladies Elif, Busra and Buket joined the planting and started placing the grafts one by one.
Finally, at the end of the session, Mr. Çelik took 10ml of blood for the PRP procedure. The PRP was injected by Busra at the end, I think.

Şahin Çelik and Ergin don't speak English but there is no problem in communication because the three ladies speak English very well. And after the hair transplantation process is completed, Buket tells you how to use your medicines, writes them on paper, gives you the rules to be followed in written form in English above the Turkish text.

Edited March 17, 2021 by sayer

[sayer]

Donor area, day 4.

[sayer]

After the 8th wash, I started rubbing the scabs.

[sayer]

After 10th wash. Any comments from the experienced forum users will be highly appreciated.

[sayer]

Day 30 
I still have numbness on the top of my head and small yellow areas on the scalp between the hairs, is this normal?

[sayer]

2 months

A lot of hair shed, what do you think guys? I'm massaging the area with transplanted hair 10 times a day. I hope the transplanted hair will grow again in 2-3 months.

[EvoXOhio]

You’re in the ugly duckling phase. Some early growers see growth around month 3 but for most it will be month 4 or 5. Be patient, you’re at the worst stage of the post transplant timeline but in no time you’ll have hair. 

[rob7331]

Looks like you're on track! That's a lot of grafts but your donor looks remarkably good actually. Sit tight and keep doing what you're doing!

[Homeerestre]

Can't wait to see your 6 months! Just be patience, man!

[shami26]

Have you seen @Leonidas thread? He went to the same doctor and got good results

[Leonidas]

6 hours ago, shami26 said:

Have you seen @Leonidas thread? He went to the same doctor and got good results

thank you for tagging me @shami26 , I wouldn't be able to see this topic if you weren't. 

@sayer, welcome to my country And my city. 

I hope you liked Ankara. 

Your clinical preference was a very good decision. 

I'm telling for those who don't know; a very popular clinic in the turkish hair forum.

I think your hair will be very beautiful. 

vertex region not yet opened downward. 

Maybe you saw the topic I opened on the Turkish forum, if you haven't, you can follow my process from this link;

 

[sayer]

Thanks a lot, guys, for the encouraging words. @rob7331 I think this center is very good at preserving the donor area and thats one of the reasons why I picked it. I'm happy with the aftercare, Ergin is answering patiently all my questions even when I bombard him with pictures day after day  
@Leonidas of course I saw your topic in the Turkish forum, I researched a lot with Google translate haha. I think you got awesome result, your donor is untouched and you can easily get 2 more sessions  Its a matter of time to successfully cover your vertex area.
Ankara is very beautiful city and the Turkish people are very friendly and caring...I can't say anything bad for my stay, even when the people barely know English they are more than happy to help.

Edited May 10, 2021 by sayer

[sayer]

4 months update:
The transplanted hair started to grow, what do you think about the progress?
Note: all pictures were taken on 8th July but due to lack of time I'm posting now.

 

 

Edited July 11, 2021 by sayer

[sayer]

6 months update
What do you guys think? I finished the Evocapil tabs (5000 mg Biotin and Selenium + other vitamins/minerals) and now I'm looking to replace it with something similar because 2 weeks after I finished taking supplements my hair loss increased. Can you recommend a good brand to buy a new Biotin + other supplements?

[sayer]

7 months update
There is no visible improvement from month 6, maybe a lot of my grafts have already grown in the previous months. What do you guys think? What percentage of the grafts have already grown and how much are yet to grow? I hope to have at least 25-30% late growers and after the hair thickens I hope my scalp will not be so visible. I'm using Solgar Biotin 5000 mg twice a day and Prozinc Plus (Turkish shampoo).

Edited October 9, 2021 by sayer

[harry_potter1]

7 months is too early, you should have patience. 

Also may I suggest a haircut? I don't think your current haircut benefits the look of your hair thickness. Not with long hair on the sides

[sayer]

Hello, I forgot to update the topic after the 7th month. This is actual result from 10 August 2022, a year and 5 months after HT. The hair is considerably thicker and with a little bit of Toppik on my vertex I'm able to achieve a decent look without visible scalp except my front hairline at one place. I think that the HT is successful, my opening was very large and 4200 grafts + long hair did the trick.

 

[LookMaxx]

Never heard of this clinic 

Definitely looks like nice work 👍