Regular Member Pephair Posted July 31, 2021 Regular Member Share Posted July 31, 2021 (edited) I just completed 3 days with Dr. Kaan Pekiner in Ankara, Turkey. I won’t go into too much detail because others have already written about their experience in detail. Overall: Skilled doctor, excellent staff, and great experience all around. I have had a previous operation with Dr. Sara Wasserbauer in California in 2015 for about 1850 grafts (FUE) to my hairline. I believe I lost a decent amount of native hair since that operation and wanted to add approximately 1500 more grafts to the hairline, and 2000 grafts to the crown (1000 would come from beard) with Dr. Pekiner. 2015 Before/After 1 Year: https://imgur.com/a/sxqitNl Upon visual inspection from Dr. Pekiner, he believed that my donor area could potentially over-harvested if he went over 2000 grafts from the scalp. After charting my hairline, he came up with it needing around 1400 grafts, with the rest focused on the crown. After inspecting my beard, he had concerns with most of the hairs being red and the others black, while my scalp hair is light brown. Pekiner originally wanted to not use any beard hair but after some discussion, we decided on a small amount of black hairs could blend in help with some crown density. We then completed a conservative FUE transplant with the following: -1947 Scalp Grafts (0.7-0.9mm punch) -220 Beard Grafts (0.6mm punch) Graft Single: 166 (166) Double: 565 (1130) Triples: 1021 (3063) Multiple: 195 (780) Beard: 220 (230) Total Hair: 5369 Total Hair Graft: 2167 (1350 went to hairline, 817 to crown) Hair per graft on average: ~2.48 At the end of surgery, I also elected to have PRP for an additional 300 Euros. Dr. Pekiner did not pressure at all and stated it is completely up to me, and has noticed some benefits such as redness healing quickly for implanted grafts. I do not plan to continue this when traveling back home as the cost is too high in the U.S. for the benefits in my opinion. Medication: -Finasteride 1mg -Began Oral Minoxidil 2.5mg about 5 weeks ago (I used topical for years but never saw noticeable benefit, stopped taking oral minoxidil 1 week before surgery, will start again today) -Ketonconazole Shampoo 0.9% (Pura’dor) every 3-4 days Additional Notes -Surgery was at a nearby hospital on his own floor (About 20 minutes away). Dr. Pekiner has a surgery room in his clinic, but for some reason it was not in use, he mentioned a remodel but I didn’t ask much about it. -About 45minutes of a tasty lunch every day, provided by the clinic. -I have not received photos from Clinic yet, I will upload them once they send them my way. -Pekiner had a meeting on the second day which is why the graft count is low, we went from 8:30-13:30 straight. Part of me wonders what would have happened if I had better donor area, would we have had a full day, or still cut off early? -My last day was a full day, but also low graft count as the beard took a while. This was because he had to search for the right hairs that would best match my scalp hair color. I would say PRP also added about an hour to draw, prep, and administer -My middle hairline before surgery shows dry, kinked hair that was transplanted by Dr. Wasserbauer. Pekiner mentioned they probably implanted them incorrectly which is why they're growing like that. They also are beginning to thin and become depigmented. . Edited August 3, 2021 by Pephair Added 2015 results 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Pephair Posted July 31, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted July 31, 2021 (edited) Photos from my phone right after last day. And some close up with camera flash today in the hotel. Edited July 31, 2021 by Pephair 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member giegnosiganoe Posted August 3, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted August 3, 2021 Interesting case! Do you have any before/after pics from your first procedure? When did you start taking finasteride? Good to see Pekiner continuing to act what seems pretty ethically by reducing the graft count if deemed necessary. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Pephair Posted August 3, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted August 3, 2021 Yeah I appreciated his honesty with how many grafts I would need to fill in the hairline, it was about a few hundred under than I was expecting. Started taking finasteride in 2015, 4 weeks before my first HT with Dr. Wasserbauer. I have mixed feelings about the results: https://imgur.com/a/sxqitNl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Britanium Posted August 3, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted August 3, 2021 Really great write up. And impeccable work by Dr Pekiner. This looks very refined and I really love the hairline. One to follow for sure 😉👍🏽 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member ITA Posted August 3, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted August 3, 2021 Excellent choice to go to Dr. Pekiner, in my opinion, is one of the few good surgeons in Turkey. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Pephair Posted August 8, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted August 8, 2021 Clinic's Photos PREOP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Pephair Posted August 10, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted August 10, 2021 Average 11 Days Post Op since my HT was over the course of 3 days. Removed most of the scabs. The beard hairs on the crown are now noticeable. Looking forward to those blending in once my hair has grown out a bit! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Pephair Posted August 24, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted August 24, 2021 Day 25. Shedding of transplanted hairs is ramping up. Looking generally thin all over and donor has seen better days. Today is also about 2 months in with Oral Minoxidl 2.5mg every day. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Pephair Posted September 12, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 12, 2021 About 6 weeks today: I still have about 25% of my transplanted hairs that haven't shed. They aren't growing either, is this okay? (I have bed-head in my donor area, if I combed it the hairs would be covering my skin a little more) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Britanium Posted September 12, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted September 12, 2021 Yes this is ok, and not particularly unusual. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Pephair Posted September 13, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 13, 2021 8 hours ago, JohnAC71 said: Yes this is ok, and not particularly unusual. I guess I'm more worried about them being dead grafts. Is it possible they never shed, until the new hair comes through? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member stephcurry30 Posted September 13, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted September 13, 2021 This will be a home run result! good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Pephair Posted October 2, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 2, 2021 9 Weeks Today: 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Britanium Posted October 2, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted October 2, 2021 Looking good 👍🏽 thanks for this 🙏 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
master_h7 Posted November 4, 2021 Share Posted November 4, 2021 Is there any visible scarring on your donor areas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Britanium Posted November 4, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted November 4, 2021 @PephairPlease could we see another update 🙏 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Tug Posted November 4, 2021 Regular Member Share Posted November 4, 2021 This already looks very good, still a little patience and in a few months the hair will look great for sure! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Pephair Posted November 7, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted November 7, 2021 Hey everyone. Just hit 3.5 months. The hairline is starting to grow in. Still struggling with density in the mid/crown but I know that can take longer / I didn't put too many grafts in the back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Pephair Posted November 7, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted November 7, 2021 Donor photos 3.5 months. It looks a tad thin on the sides but I plan to grow it out a little more (recently got a haircut). Also at ~5 months on oral minoxidil. Expecting things to thicken up soon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Pephair Posted January 3, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted January 3, 2022 Hey all, I've been busy but wanted to give a 5 month update. I'll do a full update soon, but I'm really happy with the results so far and wanted to share. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member ITA Posted January 3, 2022 Senior Member Share Posted January 3, 2022 Very natural the hairline. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valued Contributor Gatsby Posted January 3, 2022 Valued Contributor Share Posted January 3, 2022 Night and day bro! 👌 2 1 GATSBY 'UNPLUGGED!' 15,671 (3 surgeries) Grafts FUE+BHT Dr. Sethi Eugenix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Britanium Posted January 3, 2022 Senior Member Share Posted January 3, 2022 Wow that’s taken off since the last update 😯 superb stuff 🤛 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member JDEE0 Posted January 3, 2022 Senior Member Share Posted January 3, 2022 Looks great so far, congrats, I always like Pekiner's work when I see it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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