Dr. Demirsoy - Armamed | 3270 grafts | June 2022

[mafpe]

Hello everyone,

as i've been able to receive valuable information here, i'd like to return the favor by 'contributing' my own case which i just had operation on.

my plan is to update per major event/timeline such as op day, post op day, when scabs are all off, shock loss, or any point of interest, and monthly. (Going to skip the journey service etc, but i can say that muzaffer as my intermediary from the clinic, gave me a good worriless trip, and is very helpful)

Starting point and hairline design

at my first thread, i was actually advised not to have any HT yet and do it later. now that i think about it, it does have merit, and i would feel more changed if i took it later after my hair recedes further. Even so, i believe even a slight improvement would do me good, and so when the day arrived, the doctors asked me for my inputs, but i decided to ask him to design a hairline that would look natural. the end result is mostly from the doctor design, with my request being the hairline to be "linear" instead of U shape when viewed.

this is because of my asian ethnicity and that i had linear hairline on childhood, as well as the people around me. i haven't measured the distance yet (still scabbing, so i'm not touching it yet) but i think the hairline is advanced by around 1cm. To be honest i would like to have it move another cm or maybe half cm, but as i'm only 27 now, i think it's good that it's not moved much, because otherwise i might not have enough donor later.

Considerations

Apparently, unlike what i thought that i was a DUPA sufferer, i'm more to a 5A/6A pattern in total in the possible future.  i had thought i would need mostly on front to give the illusion of density, with a good number implanted regularly on the scalp. I'm actually relieved a little bit because at least this means my donor would be quite good and in less risk. I've come to term with being on high NW scale because of my father's baldness (NW6).

one of the concern that i shared with the doctors is that my scalp is rather visible when in direct light, which highlight my balding problem. Before this, my problem was my big ass forehead, but as of late i think the fact my scalp is see through is way more of an issue, thus the doctor seems to put quite a number of grafts at my scalp as well. 

Taking 3270 grafts, the doctor said that i should have around 3000 grafts left in donor area, which i am happy to hear about, if my donor heals well and everything goes well.

Op day | D-0

 

Got offered a xanax, which i took hoping that it will help me work with the team better by staying still and being calmer.
Local anesthesia ok, it does feel painful because there are many spots that needed to be done, and i'm quite sensitive toward pain and or touch.

The team said that i should tell them if i feel any pain, so they can add anesthesia, which i am glad to hear about, especially since i heard that someone claim that they felt pain near the end of procedure and didn't get extra anesthesia. As in my case, this is not so, and they were looking to have me as comfortable as possible.

Extraction was painless, and all was done by the doctor himself. The nurses helps with collecting the grafts and counting / separating them.

After the extraction, another round of local anesthesia, then incisions by the doctor as well, then implantation by the nurses. mid implantation i hear sounds of incision, which i am not sure about but i think it might have been the nurses trying to open channels that has clotted/closed up, because i hear a very slight scraping and penetrating sound. 

The operation took around 8 hours in total, *i am not sure, but should be around 7-8 hours, including lunch break. 

Post Op | D+1

The day after, i was brought for control and wash, and instruction on how to take care of my head. My bandage was removed, and then my head was washed by a nurse.

i'm happy with how "clean" it looks, since that way i am able to see better if anything needs attention. (which comes in handy D+3)

Current situation : D+5

As of now, some scabs from donor area has shed, while the recipient area remains untouched. there are several spots in my recipient area that i was concerned about as i see pus below the skin on the graft. i had contacted them D+3 about it, got instructions, and as of now, 2/3 of them has turned yellow which i think healed and scabbed, and 1/3 has no change yet. Taking antibiotic regularly D-0 as per instruction, and i think in a day or two they will turn out alright, and it's rather unlikely to become an infection. after they all go away, i would be massaging them and try to loose the scabs.

So far, while i'm worried about the white spots below the skin, i'm hopeful for the coming days.

 

notable : on minoxidil + finasteride for approx 7 years, switching to topical finasteride-minoxidil mix D+21 post ops

[mafpe]

Update for D+10

scabs are all off, and i can clearly look for any unusualness on my new hairs. noticed a few multigrafts on my temple and 2nd row of hairline but they shouldn't be very noticeable, and fortunately i think for my hairline all the frontmost are singles. it seems that i have lot's of multi grafts so i after the result is out my scalp shouldn't be "see-through" anymore, which is great.

unfortunately shock loss is starting to show on donor, but knowing this is normal, i'm not really anxious about it. 

 

[BaldDude]

good work

[Chetman2112]

Looks great, should be a home run. 

[Match_no1]

Looks great. Overall how would you say your experience was with Dr Demirsoy from booking to after the op?  
Which package did you go for?

[mafpe]

45 minutes ago, Match_no1 said:

Looks great. Overall how would you say your experience was with Dr Demirsoy from booking to after the op?  
Which package did you go for?

thanks! hopefully it will come to grow as good as it looks.

my booking was with muzzafer, apparently for germans, they have another agent, but otherwise most are handled by him. response rate is probably around a day usually, depend on condition really but it is faster than some surgeons here since the clinic has less demand. there was a slight hiccup on hotel booking because apparently i arrived in peak season, so they end up housing me at their other hotel option. that hotel does have less option and comfort but it's decent.

i think i actually am one of the more troublesome one because i do have a lot of questions and likes to plan things in order to minimize any hiccups. muzzafer answered all my questions and is helpful, so i'd say the experience was good. post op, i actually fly the day after the op (should have stayed for a few more days but didn't manage to change my plane ticket). i did have questions while recovering and he answered the question well, and there was a worry from me since i saw white spots below the skin on the graft placed, which means there are pus below, which then i asked on what to do. thankfully with the antibiotics and proper care it doesn't become anything and healed quite well.

there isn't any package i think, my price was 1.5 euro per graft, you'd need to ask the agent if there is other option, but i picked him not just because of the pricing, but also that he does everything mostly himself other than pulling the graft out (extraction done by dr, nurse helps pulls out the cut graft), and the implantation.

[Match_no1]

I was given 3 packages. 
Package 1 - €1.5 per graft. Dr Demirsoy will extract and open the incision himself and the nurse will put in the grafts.

Package 2 - €1.25 per graft. Half the extraction will be done by Dr Demirsoy and the opening then the rest will be done by his nurses

Package 3 - €1 per graft. The entire extraction will be done by his nurses and Dr Demirsoy will only perform the openings

I will go for the package 1 but was curious as to whether anyone had gone for package 2 or 3.

What made you choose Dr Demirsoy over other doctors like Dr Turan, Dr Gur, Dr Bicer  or Dr Peckiner?

[THE TRUTH]

How was Dr. Demirsoy ? Is he a nice guy ? How long did the initial consultation last ? 

[BaldDude]

1 hour ago, Match_no1 said:

I was given 3 packages. 
Package 1 - €1.5 per graft. Dr Demirsoy will extract and open the incision himself and the nurse will put in the grafts.

Package 2 - €1.25 per graft. Half the extraction will be done by Dr Demirsoy and the opening then the rest will be done by his nurses

Package 3 - €1 per graft. The entire extraction will be done by his nurses and Dr Demirsoy will only perform the openings

I will go for the package 1 but was curious as to whether anyone had gone for package 2 or 3.

What made you choose Dr Demirsoy over other doctors like Dr Turan, Dr Gur, Dr Bicer  or Dr Peckiner?

I went with Sahinoglu because he only does package #1

[mafpe]

5 hours ago, Match_no1 said:

I was given 3 packages. 
Package 1 - €1.5 per graft. Dr Demirsoy will extract and open the incision himself and the nurse will put in the grafts.

Package 2 - €1.25 per graft. Half the extraction will be done by Dr Demirsoy and the opening then the rest will be done by his nurses

Package 3 - €1 per graft. The entire extraction will be done by his nurses and Dr Demirsoy will only perform the openings

I will go for the package 1 but was curious as to whether anyone had gone for package 2 or 3.

What made you choose Dr Demirsoy over other doctors like Dr Turan, Dr Gur, Dr Bicer  or Dr Peckiner?

i see... so now it's like other places with option of partial / non doctor extraction. 

i wen't because at the time there were several peopel that went to him and the results were quite good, i've also checked german forums and the result were mostly great. there are bad works (one of the result i am aware of, have probably less than half growth), but mostly were positive. and that it seems that they didn't put much if any effort in marketing, so i reckon the reviews were among the most "honest".

when i was making my decision, there were only a few mention of fuecapilar here, otherwise it'd be one of my choices as well. demirsoy sticks out because he was listed by many members despite not being "recommended" by the forum "elite coalition".

i also asked to dr bicer, but they ruled me out as good candidate, said that best that i rethink and just save money instead of  HT due to my shedding (i shed alot of hair daily). all other doctors i asked said that i am a candidate though, so i'm not trying to just desperately get a HT, i decided i'm a "decent" probably borderline "poor" candidate, but still is an HT candidate.

i also asked dr pekiner, dr path, and doctor laorwong, but their pricing were around 2.5+ euro per graft, and their results seems similar if not only a little different? i can't say this for sure since i'm untrained to pick out HT results. so i decided that price wise, demirsoy is my go to if the results aren't so different. do note however, i do acknowledge that dr. demirsoy results are different to "top doctors", either with the service/aftercare, or the softness of hairline, nor the amount of "great" or top results compared to these top doctors (they are very expensive though, around 4 eur or more per graft). so my pick were influenced by results, reviews, but ALSO value and pricing. i can't claim like other members here who can spend very big amount (for me, at least), otherwise like them i would just go to the "best" among the surgeons, like H&W like how many of the members here swear by him (and yes i saw his results to be very great on a lot of the cases i seen).

for me though, 1.5 euro was a good spot that i felt safe, and that the doctor does almost everything himself that is crucial sold me. and i thought that the pricing is very good for turkey due to dicer being @1.5 euro at last year (november/december i think), and at february when i asked bicer it went to 2 euro (now is at 2.5 apparently), so i reckon that at this price point and experience, it felt right.

 

5 hours ago, Jason Blaha said:

How was Dr. Demirsoy ? Is he a nice guy ? How long did the initial consultation last ? 

nice is very subjective so i's hard for me to say, and there is a translator, so what i hear and understand comes from the translator's mouth. but as far as i'm concerned, he did address my concerns, and one of the main question were "what is my foremost concern" with my hairline. which means he did tailor the hairline / graft count/placement with mind of what we do want. he wouldn't accept your desired hairline if it won't look "natural" though from what i hear. i think one of the members here posted where he isn't happy because the hairline isn't symmetrical, but after some looking around, apparently since our face isn't symmetrical mostly, it's quite normal to have an asymmetry on hairline, so i scratched that out of my mind.

consultation was around 30 mins i think, because i don't really have a lot of questions due to having researched most of my questions beforehand and asked the muzzafer about it, so in my opitinion it did end up rather quickly. it does seem rather hurried but i did blank out a bit on what i want to ask. i do wish that my temple and hairline is a bit more forward (by rule of facial third, i need another cm of hairline for best ratio), but i did tell them that i'd like their the hairline to be more flat ( --- ) instead of U shaped ( \____/ ) since that's how most asians i know look like, but other than that i leave it to them and just want the most "natural" look.

 

5 hours ago, BaldBobby said:

I went with Sahinoglu because he only does package #1

i see, i haven't really heard of hium before though. when will your HT be?

[BaldDude]

34 minutes ago, mafpe said:

i see... so now it's like other places with option of partial / non doctor extraction. 

i wen't because at the time there were several peopel that went to him and the results were quite good, i've also checked german forums and the result were mostly great. there are bad works (one of the result i am aware of, have probably less than half growth), but mostly were positive. and that it seems that they didn't put much if any effort in marketing, so i reckon the reviews were among the most "honest".

when i was making my decision, there were only a few mention of fuecapilar here, otherwise it'd be one of my choices as well. demirsoy sticks out because he was listed by many members despite not being "recommended" by the forum "elite coalition".

i also asked to dr bicer, but they ruled me out as good candidate, said that best that i rethink and just save money instead of  HT due to my shedding (i shed alot of hair daily). all other doctors i asked said that i am a candidate though, so i'm not trying to just desperately get a HT, i decided i'm a "decent" probably borderline "poor" candidate, but still is an HT candidate.

i also asked dr pekiner, dr path, and doctor laorwong, but their pricing were around 2.5+ euro per graft, and their results seems similar if not only a little different? i can't say this for sure since i'm untrained to pick out HT results. so i decided that price wise, demirsoy is my go to if the results aren't so different. do note however, i do acknowledge that dr. demirsoy results are different to "top doctors", either with the service/aftercare, or the softness of hairline, nor the amount of "great" or top results compared to these top doctors (they are very expensive though, around 4 eur or more per graft). so my pick were influenced by results, reviews, but ALSO value and pricing. i can't claim like other members here who can spend very big amount (for me, at least), otherwise like them i would just go to the "best" among the surgeons, like H&W like how many of the members here swear by him (and yes i saw his results to be very great on a lot of the cases i seen).

for me though, 1.5 euro was a good spot that i felt safe, and that the doctor does almost everything himself that is crucial sold me. and i thought that the pricing is very good for turkey due to dicer being @1.5 euro at last year (november/december i think), and at february when i asked bicer it went to 2 euro (now is at 2.5 apparently), so i reckon that at this price point and experience, it felt right.

 

nice is very subjective so i's hard for me to say, and there is a translator, so what i hear and understand comes from the translator's mouth. but as far as i'm concerned, he did address my concerns, and one of the main question were "what is my foremost concern" with my hairline. which means he did tailor the hairline / graft count/placement with mind of what we do want. he wouldn't accept your desired hairline if it won't look "natural" though from what i hear. i think one of the members here posted where he isn't happy because the hairline isn't symmetrical, but after some looking around, apparently since our face isn't symmetrical mostly, it's quite normal to have an asymmetry on hairline, so i scratched that out of my mind.

consultation was around 30 mins i think, because i don't really have a lot of questions due to having researched most of my questions beforehand and asked the muzzafer about it, so in my opitinion it did end up rather quickly. it does seem rather hurried but i did blank out a bit on what i want to ask. i do wish that my temple and hairline is a bit more forward (by rule of facial third, i need another cm of hairline for best ratio), but i did tell them that i'd like their the hairline to be more flat ( --- ) instead of U shaped ( \____/ ) since that's how most asians i know look like, but other than that i leave it to them and just want the most "natural" look.

 

i see, i haven't really heard of hium before though. when will your HT be?

Already had it 5 weeks ago. In ugly duckling stage. 

[RTC]

Hey congrats, looking forward to this. Following

[Match_no1]

Great detail write up of your experience, looking forward to seeing your progress

[mafpe]

1 month update

most of the loose follicles are already out, with few stubborn one stil sticking.
native hair growing in okay, but some are actually dormant or growing very slow... with the crown looking kind of bald.

more like a bald duckling than ugly duckling but yeah, not worried because hairs are gonna sprout starting month 3+ till 6th usually. 

[RTC]

Two steps back, one step forward. Stay patient bro 

[mafpe]

2 month update

still ugly duckling as per timeline, rather optimistic as sprouts should start showing around month 3-4.

currently very few graft has sprouted, noticed due to the front most graft since that area did not have hair, only vellus before this.
*many of the very soft vellus hairs are not growing grafts, but baby hairs since i had them before the transplant. the several hairs on the frontmost that looks somewhat healthy however, are transplanted hair. only a small percentage of them are the non-shed hair from the operation, most of them have grown as they were only holes before from the shedding.

as you might have noticed though, the crown area where grafts are transplanted, the native have shown very slow growth, either this is due to my weak scalp area, or that the implantation has "shocked" them, i don't know. although i'm more to the shock possibility since despite my crown being a little thin, it was still quite filled before this.

other than that, the angle of my growing hair that curves shows very different curve to the native, but since the angle where it grows to the scalp is somewhat correct, i'm not worried since styling them should fix the problem, and as i know it, the curving direction can be adjusted over time.

all in all, while there is a little worry, mostly i'm just looking forward to the next few months where growth would be visible 🙂

Edited August 10, 2022 by mafpe

[mafpe]

3 month update

Most of my native hair have shown regrowth, so most likely no significant permanent shock loss, if there are any.

I cannot judge the area that is not the front as those area are not barren to begin, with a somewhat ... healthy amount of hair.
The front however, is growing pretty nicely that i'd consider myself to be a somewhat early grower, and i think at least 1/3 of the hair has grown. Many of the multigraft hair seems to be... clipped, but healthy, as in there are many multi grafts that seems to yield less, which i don't know if they just haven't grown, or if the transection is quite high making many becoming less in the hair count. there are a few front spot with doubles, and possibly a triple, but i doubt it'd be much of a problem.

all in all, pretty happy with the progress, and is looking forward to the future.

[Gatsby]

@mafpe for only three months you already have some great growth and your hair looks to be of good calibre to get more bang for your buck in terms of coverage. Thanks for sharing and looking forward to future updates. 👌

[Match_no1]

Starting to look good. Are you taking any fins or minx? Has Dr Demirosy been checking on your progress?

[GoliGoliGoli]

A bit surprised they did any work outside of the hairline, as it looked like you had good coverage everywhere besides the hairline.

 

Either way I think the result will look great

[mafpe]

4 hours ago, Match_no1 said:

Starting to look good. Are you taking any fins or minx? Has Dr Demirosy been checking on your progress?

been taking minox and fin for around 7 years i think, maybe 5 since there was time when i didnt take it, probably for 1-2 year early on.
got back on it though thankfully, otherwise i'd be on worse starting point pre-HT

the clinic doesn't check back on you, unlike many others, but they have been replying to me whenever i have questions.
the agent did tell me to update him on around day 3 or if there is any irregularities or worries.

 

3 hours ago, GoliGoliGoli said:

A bit surprised they did any work outside of the hairline, as it looked like you had good coverage everywhere besides the hairline.

 

Either way I think the result will look great

the doc asked if i have any concern, and i did tell them my scalp is somewhat see through and thinning. perhaps that why they did. although i agree, it seems that many doc would advise against it until later when it's thinned further. from the first pre shave pic though, you can notice the skin, despite me having around 8cm of hair length, so there is definitely some significant thinning, so i suppose it is fine and as long as they all grow well and doesn't shock the surrounding hair to die, it'll be an improvement.

[GoliGoliGoli]

Looking closer, it does appear their was more thinning there than when I first glanced at it earlier. So ya like you said as long as no shock loss it will be nice to have dealt with both at once. 

[mafpe]

4 months update

Most of the grafts have grown, at around 85-95% spot, i'd say. caveat is that the number of follicle seems to be different that what is implanted, as in, what should have been triple or quadruple, many seems to be double or even single.

I do not know if in one graft, follicle grow differently or together. My hope is that they don't always grow together, which means not all of them has sprouted. this led to a somewhat sparse look, but i'm confident with enough length (probably 6/8cm) it will provide "enough" coverage, although it would look somewhat see through, it won't look like i'm balding badly, with proper styling and hair fiber, it shouldn't be noticeable for normal eyes.

despite that, i am happy enough with the growth at the moment, since it's likely to improve. not to mention that most of the graft placement, at least a follicle survived, in which at this point i can confidently say the HT is a success (*bar some unsightly occurrence happens, or that they fall off later). 

i've started going out without a hat, and currently as long as i don't stand right below a light source, or room that is lightly but adequately lit, it's only a little thin but most people couldn't tell unless they are eyeing my hairline. pretty happy with my progress.

 

[RTC]

Looking great bro, this will keep getting thicker, happy for you

[GoliGoliGoli]

Yep I cosign RTC, density will improve and the result already for 4 months is looking ahead of schedule I think. Happy growing