first time getting a HT, confused/worried by all the different responses I'm getting from Turkish clinics

[tchami]

(3 of the photos I posted were taken right after I got a haircut, and were taken with an LED video light at full blast facing towards me. The other 5 photos were taken about 2 weeks later, and under regular indoor room lighting. I'm sure you can figure out which one is which)

Here are the responses I received from the few clinics I contacted:

Smile Hair Clinic - 2500-3000 grafts

Vera Clinic - 4040-4465

ASMED - took like a week to respond to me, after I emailed them the photos. straight up refused to do my transplant, as my donor area is too weak. I requested that they use my beard hair as donor, and they said that they are not willing to do that

AHD - asked me to send them photos when my hair grows a bit more (???)

Dr. Ahmed Altan - didn't specify the number of grafts I would need, but said that they don't do beard-to-scalp transplants because apparently beard donor hairs fall off after 1 year, which sounded questionable to me.

 

Not sure what I should do now.

Both Vera and SHC seem to have questionable reputation these days, but atleast they are willing to do a transplant in my case.

[THE TRUTH]

All I have to tell you is this brother: 

Please stay away from all the clinics you mentionned. 

Your hairloss is serious. It's a Norwood 5 diffusely thinning pattern. You will need at least 2 (and more realistically 3)  sucessful  surgeries with optimal survival rate to recover a decent head of hair... 

Don't rush into surgery. Take your time. Do your research. You get what you pay for....

Recovering a Norwood 5 is an ultramarathon. Look at DavidDiMuzio or Mister Rolandas....Their cases highlight what it takes to recover Norwood 5 hairloss. 

GET ON DUTASTERIDE immediately please. Add some oral minoxidil too. Make sure your hairloss doesn't get any worse. 

I remember a poor pakistani guy from the UK  who had very similar hairloss to yours and who got a terrible result from ASMED. It ruined his life and he was desperately complaining on  forums for years...And so many others too. 

VERA and Smile clinic are hairmills.  Certainly not the worst although they have mixed reviews... It's a gamble. Could be a great result but could be a bad one too with damaged donor. It's lottery.

Don't be fooled by the youtuber Amir who got a good result from them. His result on the hairline is good but when you take a closer look it is  still seethrough whereas  on the crown it isn't that impressive...He got a free transplant or a significant discount to advertise VERA.  When youtubers do that, they are generally given the most experienced team of technicians. Not all technicians are equal in hairmills...

Look at Emrah Cinik or Serkan Aygin for example. Some of their results are phenomenal. Some are disasters with permanently overharvested donor area. 

AHD and Ahmed Altan I don't know them brother to be honest. I assume they are hairmills too and I wouldn't risk it. 

All the clinics you mentionned are a gamble. It could be a great result but it could be a disaster with irreversible lifelong consequences.

You have only one donor area and the main issue is that you have already significant hairloss already. 

For your particular case, I would suggest you look into Bruno Pinto, Bruno Ferreira, Rafael De Freitas,  Christian Bisanga, Ximena Vila or even Dr. Zarev. 

Waiting lists are long but well worth it. 

Getting a bad hair transplant can ruin your possibilities forever. Impossible to regenerate wasted grafts. 

Only clinics I would ever consider in Turkey are Kaan Pekiner, Bicer, Dr. Gur, Dr. Tuan and perhaps Dr. Demirsoy although they all have some questionable results too and they are  not the best at treating advanced patterns....

Edited June 11, 2022 by hope everything is nova

[TommyLucchese]

You should definitely try to meet a recommended doctor from this forum in person for a consultation. From those bright light pics, the donor does look weak as ASMED pointed out. But who knows maybe that's just the light. An in-person consultation is needed I think.

[Gatsby]

I would forget looking at a Country. I would start to look at a surgeon recommended by the forum who turns out excellent results on patients who have the same hair type and hair loss as yourself. Also be clear on what your goals are. You will only end up regretting ever having surgery otherwise. All the best!

[Melvin- Admin]

What country do you live in? My suggestion is to see a surgeon in person. Pictures can be deceiving. 

Look for a doctor in your area here and set up an in-person consult: 

https://hairtransplantnetwork.com/best-hair-transplant-surgeons

[ML488]

The photos are of rather poor quality. You should be sending the highest quality photos to these clinics, first of all. That said I do think your donor is weak but you are not a lost cause imo as your humps are still intact. You are a diffuse thinning NW5. I would look ito Eugenix.

[NARMAK]

You didn't mention your age or whether you are taking any medication. 

If you are not on any medication, you need to start Finasteride and allow 12 to 24 months to see how your hair loss shakes out with either it stopping with some regrowth to save what you have or slowing the hairloss. Depending on age, it may be a wait and see game or being very conservative with a reputable hair transplant clinic. 

Ultimately, you need to be patient on this journey. Your hair loss didn't happen overnight and just like it happened over a long time, you need to be as patient addressing it. 

[tchami]

4 minutes ago, NARMAK said:

You didn't mention your age or whether you are taking any medication. 

If you are not on any medication, you need to start Finasteride and allow 12 to 24 months to see how your hair loss shakes out with either it stopping with some regrowth to save what you have or slowing the hairloss. Depending on age, it may be a wait and see game or being very conservative with a reputable hair transplant clinic. 

Ultimately, you need to be patient on this journey. Your hair loss didn't happen overnight and just like it happened over a long time, you need to be as patient addressing it. 

31, never taken any medication to combat hair loss.

[tchami]

53 minutes ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

What country do you live in? My suggestion is to see a surgeon in person. Pictures can be deceiving. 

Look for a doctor in your area here and set up an in-person consult: 

https://hairtransplantnetwork.com/best-hair-transplant-surgeons

I'm actually from a country that neighbors India. I have heard of, and even considered going to, Eugenix - but with myself being from this region, I have my doubts regarding the quality of their work.

[NARMAK]

10 minutes ago, tchami said:

31, never taken any medication to combat hair loss.

You're not young which is usually a slightly better sign the hair loss could have slowed but you need to start taking medication and give it 12 to 24 months first. 

Hair Transplants are a last resort. Hair Restoration via medication etc. is the first step. 

Don't rush to get a hair transplant because going to the wrong place WILL leave you full of regret and disappointment. Do it right 

[NARMAK]

3 minutes ago, tchami said:

I'm actually from a country that neighbors India. I have heard of, and even considered going to, Eugenix - but with myself being from this region, I have my doubts regarding the quality of their work.

If its the country beginning with P, then your concern regarding quality of work should be less than getting a Visa there. 

I can personally vouch for the professionalism and hospitality of the clinic but i'm just over 3 weeks post-op and it wouldn't be fair to judge a final result until 12 months but things seem to be coming along well as expected 

[tchami]

17 minutes ago, NARMAK said:

If its the country beginning with P, then your concern regarding quality of work should be less than getting a Visa there. 

I can personally vouch for the professionalism and hospitality of the clinic but i'm just over 3 weeks post-op and it wouldn't be fair to judge a final result until 12 months but things seem to be coming along well as expected 

Definitely not the country beginning with P lol (which is why I could even consider Eugenix at all!) - regardless, all of us are cut from the same cloth that the Brits portioned up all wrong, so my doubts regarding our work ethic, professionalism, and quality of work are very deeply rooted. 🤣

[NARMAK]

28 minutes ago, tchami said:

Definitely not the country beginning with P lol (which is why I could even consider Eugenix at all!) - regardless, all of us are cut from the same cloth that the Brits portioned up all wrong, so my doubts regarding our work ethic, professionalism, and quality of work are very deeply rooted. 🤣

I can understand where you're coming from and whilst i do see a small culture difference, i can say they were friendly and professional and many more will probably say the same. 

So, don't let it concern you on that front imo but no clinic is 100% perfect and your experience could be different to the people that went before. Could also be the same. It's best to do your research properly though and that will hopefully mean the best outcome for your needs. 

[Ryan Daniel]

Hello there,

You have a large area that is slowly thinning and turning into Norwood 6, your hair is on the thinner type as it is and your donor area doesn't look coarse and thick(but still good). 

If I were you I would avoid going to Turkey (based on that list you put). Every clinic that you mentioned is a Hair Mill in my eyes. The only they will do is over harvest you and give you an unpleasant result.

Take your time please, you're in the best position you can be right now.  Make sure you are on mediation as it will help strengthen everything around the thinning zones. 

Please find a surgeon that knows what he is doing, someone who dealt with cases like yours and make them show you how they ended up looking after 12 months.   

Just by looking at you, if you would go for a more conservative hairline without temple points, you may be able to get an excellent coverage throughout the entire scalp. 3500-4000 grafts would make wonders for you with the right clinic. It's all about balance.... it's easy to say '' I want 4000, 5000, 6000 grafts '' because you want the best density? But what about the donor area? how is that gonna look? Do you just wanna f*ck it up so you can have a full scalp of hair on top? I didn't think so

The beard under your chin can also be helpful for even more grafts to add. Maybe a nice 1000 grafts to go into the crown as fillers!

 

Good luck for now. As I said, you're the a good position at this moment, its up to you to make the right decision. Take all the time you need and if you can meet the clinic in person before going, would be the best thing ever. Video calls are easy if you're abroad but can also be inaccurate. This is permanent surgery not a hair cut