4006 grafts with Dr Demirsoy – Armamed (8th Nov)

[palpal]

Hi All,

 

I have been following this forum since almost 7 months and was accessing it daily in the last couple of months. I want to add my experience here to add more to this community and get your feedback as well on my procedure

 

Quick intro about me. I have been losing my hair since almost 8 years. I always had thick head of hair and my uncle – mother side – has full head of hair till now and I have the same hair characteristics. So I was convinced I will never lose my hair. When my hair loss started it was a devastating moment for me. I was feeling weak as I couldn’t stop it. I noticed it early on so I said I need to take the medical route to stop it. I started finasteride which gave me severe side effects which didn’t completely go away. I stopped that and started Minoxidil which gave me great results because I started it early on and I got all of my hair back. But it stopper working after 4 years. so I continued using it for another 18 months then I stopped because my hair was looking bad anyway. I couldn’t style it so I decided to stop using Minoxidil and go with the hair transplant. I stopped using Minixodil early last year – thinking because it stopped working and I was losing hair anyway I wont lose much. But in almost 7 months I lost the majority of my hair.

 

I decided to get a hair transplant and I was in a hurry and had an open budget. From a quick google and youtube search I decided to go with Hair of Istanbul – they have amazing before and after photos and great reviews in social media and they are not cheap as well. I thought by going with them I will get best in the market for what I am paying for. After reading more in this forum I decided to ditch them as it is a hair mill- although they have good results and I might get great results with them but it all depends on who work on my hair and they do 8 procedures a day. So I decided to go with real surgeon that does 1 patient a day to limit the chances of anything to go wrong. As I wanted to get this done and I was flexible – I contacted:

-       HLC

-       Asmed

-       Bicer

-       FueCalliper

-       Armamed – Demirsoy

 

And informed them if you have any cancelation during November I can book immediately.

 

Demirsoy contacted for a cancelation in 2 weeks time and I booked it immediately. After that HLC contacted for a booking available in 2 days and it wasn’t feasible for me to do that.

 

I will not list here my experience as it was detailed well by other members. I will just list the positives and negatives from Demirsoy after doing it myself

 

The good:

-       Experienced doctor who has been doing this for years and have some good results here in the platform

-       One surgery per day – you are the centre of attention that day

-       Comparing to other same level doctors he is the cheapest (1.25 euros)

-       I read a lot that he is really conservative in harvesting hairs – I’m not sure if this was the case with me but time will tell

-       He estimated 3800 grafts for me and didn’t make me pay for the extra 206 grafts.

 

The bad:

-       When we had my hairline drawn he didn’t consult me and didn’t take my opinion. I could see the line is not symmetric and he just ignored it

-       He is using his hands and eyes to draw and evaluate doner area – no tools or any tech there

-       I asked him to fill only the 3^rd of my front and he disagreed and decided to do a bigger area with less density

-       He is not involved in implanting the grafts at all

-       There is no guarantee of what so ever

-       Price is only the procedure – hotel and transport package is expensive – 260 euros almost

 

 

I am a heavy topic user since 7 years and I was managing well to hide my baldness until I stopped using Minoxidil. So I decided to get this done. And I was asking to get the hairline and the first third as I have strong sides so I can just fluff my hair to hide the top. But I think the doctor knows better

 

 

Photos:

 

Before with Topic applied

 

 

Without topic at the day of the procedure:

 

 

Photos after

 

 

 

After the procedure:

 

 

 

 

 

3rd day:

 

7^th day:

 

 

12^th day after removing scabs:

 

 

1 month progress – I didn’t lost much hair – I am still losing some every day but there was no sever shed

 

 

 

 

I think my hair is thinner on the sides – not sure if is shock loss or over harvested. And my vertex is really bad.

 

I started using Minoxidil again on my vertex hoping to gain the hair I lost during last 18 months. I am not willing to go back on Finasteride. I am still wondering if I should use Minoxidil on the transplanted area as I am afraid it will make the hair weaker if I stopped in the future if I didn’t see any benefit on the Vertex.

 

 

I will be adding more photos every month.

 

My doner area is still itchy till now. I am not sure I am early grower or I will lose of the transplanted hair soon.

 

Please share your feedback and if you have any advice for me.

 

Edited December 14, 2021 by palpal
double images

[ITA]

One month after the procedure, it is still early to make any forecast, the work seems clean, you just have to rest assured and wait.

[Berba11]

The work looks great.

Just two points on your 'bad' list... The work isn't supposed to be completely symmetrical. The fact he made your hairline asymmetrical is good and should be on your 'good' list. It's rare for doctors to do the implantation - the main thing is the incisions, and after that maybe some of the extraction work. Demirsoy does both himself, so probably not fair to mark not doing implantations against him!

Should be a killer result though.

Edited December 14, 2021 by Berba11

[palpal]

Thanks for your reply.

 

what I mean by asymmetrical is I can tell by naked eye there is a difference in both temples. I didnt want a straight line anyway. and he didnt discuss it with me 

also for the implantation. it is the longest phase in the operation and the doctor didnt come to check from time to time. and there was no report given with number of total hairs and how many doubles, triples, .... etc 

 

I know these are not important and I am really hoping for a good results but I am just sharing my experience after going through this myself 

 

 

[blackislback]

Congratulations for you HT, looks good, hope will continue in your case further like 1st month, i did it too 3w ago, so in same boat ... When thought about my 1st HT, was in consideration about Demirsoy too, but email response was very slow, 2-3 weeks, or even not responded, not remember exactly, then saw some threads by his work, not so well, and decided not think about him as my possible choice, but it must not mean anything in your case, as can see your HT looks really good.

And i agree absolutely with you, doctor must talk with you about hairline or anything about HT, as it's about your head, not his, and sure in respect his opinion, but at the end need consultate about any point, at my HT doctor who did my HT (dr. Bicer) , whole time talked with me about any aspect of HT and asked me do i agree, etc. , it's obligation of doctor, as it's esthetic surgery, not transplant of kidney, lungs, where not need talking in meaning how doctor will do it, as doctor knows it, but when about esthetic i agree, need consultate you whole time.

About implantation phase, if good done opening channels, implanting later not big deal, as it's just inserting them in opened channels - holes, but agree with you, doctor has to control it, in my case dr. Bicer, whole time hold it under  control, and almost every 10-15m entered room to check her well experienced nurses-technicians, and how its going on...

And sure, he had to provide you info of grafts distribution, but happens after HT so tired doctor and forget, but next day should provide, but you can ask now too, for this info to provide you.

[palpal]

Hi all, 

adding 2 months photos update. no much change apart I lost many of the transplanted hairs. I can see some implanted hairs started to sprouts when I zoom in to the photos 

I have been using Minoxidil for a month now but on the vertex only

 

 

 

 

 

 

[recoba2020]

Looking good for 2 months

 

[palpal]

4 months update. hair is growing, but I am really worried about the density as I cannot see much new hairs sprouting now. I know it is still month 4. I hope in 2 months I will see a difference 

 

 

 

a closeup to my hairline in harsh light

[rob7331]

Seems right on track for month 4!

[Euphoria]

Updates?

[jakos]

any updates?

[AndyKos]

Updates?