Dr Zarev 11,941 grafts. 1st procedure 8,321, 2nd procedure 3,620

[mtb]

I enjoy giving back to this community that helped me so much in my decision making process. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. However, I do seem to be answering the same questions repeatedly. These are FAQs. If you're question isn't answered here please read the thread and it's likely answered there.

Price: I paid 4 euro/graft. Current pricing is 5 euro/graft.

Treatments: Dr recommend 5% minox and .1mg topical finasteride. I take .5mg orally of my own accord as well.

Wait times: 2+ years but there is a cancellations list. Call the clinic for a better answer.

How to contact: Call the numbers on his website.

Safe zone: Yes, he has a larger extraction zone that any other doctor. Read the thread to find out more.

Beard hair: He only uses as a very last resort

I’d like to share my experience with Dr. Zarev from Bulgaria. My procedure will take place in just a couple of weeks. I have spent the last 2 years doing extensive research on surgeons and after consulting with many top physicians in the world I feel that Dr. Zarev is the best surgeon in the world for FUE-scalp-only procedures for Norwood 6’s and 7’s.  

 

My journey through hair loss has been a long one. I started receding and thinning at age 18. I reached advance Norwood 5 status by about 27/28 years old. At that point I was about to take a blade to my scalp and move on with my life but happened upon a mail order hair system company and thought I’d give it a shot as a last ditch effort. Things worked out pretty well. Enough to keep me with hair until age 38 when I discovered clinics like Eugenix, Hasson and Wong, and others. At this point I have been a full blown NW6 for about 10 years now. To that point I had been told and assumed there would never be enough grafts to be extracted to cover my balding areas and have it look decent. However, there had been significant advancements in FUE procedures. I did consults with Drs Cooley, Shapiro, Keene, C***, H&W, ASMED, Eugenix, Civas, FUE Capilar. All of them were impressive. I’m sure I would have a great shot at a positive result with any of them.

 

But as my very last stop I decided to chat with Dr. Zarev. He only would give a consultation in person, so I flew to Bulgaria to be examined by him. I was absolutely impressed by the level of detailed analysis he performed in his consultation. The first step was a discussion of him asking questions about my history and my goals. This was extensive and I could tell he was very knowledgeable on the topics we discussed. The second step was his showing me many before/afters of patients with cases very similar to mine both in terms of donor and recipient area needs. He also showed me pictures of patients who were spectacular transformations, far greater that what I was in need of. The third step was the detailed analysis of my scalp: Many microcamera pictures, traditional camera pictures, hair line design, calculations for each part of my scalp, calculations for densities and so on. It was a very thorough consultation and I felt very confident in his abilities.

 

I felt a little hesitation because there were not many personal accounts of his patients. But a big thanks to @Hugo for sharing his journey. Also, I found four other guys who had excellent results with Dr. Zarev. They shared their experiences with me and I found that very helpful. Two were Bulgarian and one was Greek so not likely that they’d ever end up on this forum or any other English language forum. I also felt good that others in the greater transplant community had very positive things to say about Dr. Zarev. Matt Dominance, JT, etc.  

 

I’m scheduled to have 6,000 grafts in my first procedure and an additional 4,000 in another procedure 9 months from now. I’m looking forward to the journey and just wanted to say thanks to everyone on this forum who has been so helpful along my journey. I’ll be sure to post updates along the way.

[hairman22]

Im heading over in March for consult

 

Could you post photos of your donor?

Is it thick?

Also does heuse body hair if needed?

Good luck with your transplant

 

[mtb]

He said I'm average (I think that's what I remember, it's been a years and I should have taken notes). Slightly higher than average hairs per graft but slightly lower than average hair shaft thickness. He can uses body hair but doesn't usually prefer to until all of the scalp donor is depleted. He talked about the difference in characteristics between scalp and beard. He showed me a pt who had beard to scalp transplant else where and the beard hairs went grey much earlier than the scalp hair and it looked a little off. 

[hairman22]

Thanks would you know what is his current waitlist from consult to surgery?

[WhereIsMyMind]

Nice one of the very few who managed to contact with the master himself. Would love if you document your HT. Pretty sick he planned taking 9K out of your donor out of the bat. Doing his Zarev magic as usual. Good luck!

[Melvin- Admin]

How did you get such an early date?

[Big Rome]

2 hours ago, mtb said:

He said I'm average (I think that's what I remember, it's been a years and I should have taken notes). Slightly higher than average hairs per graft but slightly lower than average hair shaft thickness. He can uses body hair but doesn't usually prefer to until all of the scalp donor is depleted. He talked about the difference in characteristics between scalp and beard. He showed me a pt who had beard to scalp transplant else where and the beard hairs went grey much earlier than the scalp hair and it looked a little off. 

 

3 hours ago, mtb said:

I’d like to share my experience with Dr. Zarev from Bulgaria. My procedure will take place in just a couple of weeks. I have spent the last 2 years doing extensive research on surgeons and after consulting with many top physicians in the world I feel that Dr. Zarev is the best surgeon in the world for FUE-scalp-only procedures for Norwood 6’s and 7’s.  

 

My journey through hair loss has been a long one. I started receding and thinning at age 18. I reached advance Norwood 5 status by about 27/28 years old. At that point I was about to take a blade to my scalp and move on with my life but happened upon a mail order hair system company and thought I’d give it a shot as a last ditch effort. Things worked out pretty well. Enough to keep me with hair until age 38 when I discovered clinics like Eugenix, Hasson and Wong, and others. At this point I have been a full blown NW6 for about 10 years now. To that point I had been told and assumed there would never be enough grafts to be extracted to cover my balding areas and have it look decent. However, there had been significant advancements in FUE procedures. I did consults with Drs Cooley, Shapiro, Keene, C***, H&W, ASMED, Eugenix, Civas, FUE Capilar. All of them were impressive. I’m sure I would have a great shot at a positive result with any of them.

 

But as my very last stop I decided to chat with Dr. Zarev. He only would give a consultation in person, so I flew to Bulgaria to be examined by him. I was absolutely impressed by the level of detailed analysis he performed in his consultation. The first step was a discussion of him asking questions about my history and my goals. This was extensive and I could tell he was very knowledgeable on the topics we discussed. The second step was his showing me many before/afters of patients with cases very similar to mine both in terms of donor and recipient area needs. He also showed me pictures of patients who were spectacular transformations, far greater that what I was in need of. The third step was the detailed analysis of my scalp: Many microcamera pictures, traditional camera pictures, hair line design, calculations for each part of my scalp, calculations for densities and so on. It was a very thorough consultation and I felt very confident in his abilities.

 

I felt a little hesitation because there were not many personal accounts of his patients. But a big thanks to @Hugo for sharing his journey. Also, I found four other guys who had excellent results with Dr. Zarev. They shared their experiences with me and I found that very helpful. Two were Bulgarian and one was Greek so not likely that they’d ever end up on this forum or any other English language forum. I also felt good that others in the greater transplant community had very positive things to say about Dr. Zarev. Matt Dominance, JT, etc.  

 

I’m scheduled to have 6,000 grafts in my first procedure and an additional 4,000 in another procedure 9 months from now. I’m looking forward to the journey and just wanted to say thanks to everyone on this forum who has been so helpful along my journey. I’ll be sure to post updates along the way.

Zarev is TOP, TOP Tier 💯👏🏻

[mtb]

2 hours ago, hairman22 said:

Thanks would you know what is his current waitlist from consult to surgery?

I don't know what the current waitlist is. I heard like 2 years for consult and 3 years for surgery. 

 

1 hour ago, WhereIsMyMind said:

Nice one of the very few who managed to contact with the master himself. Would love if you document your HT. Pretty sick he planned taking 9K out of your donor out of the bat. Doing his Zarev magic as usual. Good luck!

Yeah, I'll for sure document things along the way here. The initial plan is ~10,400 I believe. Across two procedures. And he calculated another 1,500 in reserve after that. 

 

1 hour ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

How did you get such an early date?

I contacted him in April/May of 2021. Then followed up quite often with all the numbers on his website. Calls and Whatsapp messages and emails. Consult was Dec of 2021. 13 months between consult and procedure. I think I got in right before the demand went absolutely nuts. 

[drawdownfx]

Congrats on getting a date with him. I look forward to see your journey with a magician like Zarev!

[Dillpickle123]

Very interested to see a zarev patient review they are really rare best of luck!

[Gatsby]

All the best @mtb 👌

[asterix0]

On 12/19/2022 at 10:26 AM, mtb said:

I’d like to share my experience with Dr. Zarev from Bulgaria. My procedure will take place in just a couple of weeks. I have spent the last 2 years doing extensive research on surgeons and after consulting with many top physicians in the world I feel that Dr. Zarev is the best surgeon in the world for FUE-scalp-only procedures for Norwood 6’s and 7’s.  

 

My journey through hair loss has been a long one. I started receding and thinning at age 18. I reached advance Norwood 5 status by about 27/28 years old. At that point I was about to take a blade to my scalp and move on with my life but happened upon a mail order hair system company and thought I’d give it a shot as a last ditch effort. Things worked out pretty well. Enough to keep me with hair until age 38 when I discovered clinics like Eugenix, Hasson and Wong, and others. At this point I have been a full blown NW6 for about 10 years now. To that point I had been told and assumed there would never be enough grafts to be extracted to cover my balding areas and have it look decent. However, there had been significant advancements in FUE procedures. I did consults with Drs Cooley, Shapiro, Keene, C***, H&W, ASMED, Eugenix, Civas, FUE Capilar. All of them were impressive. I’m sure I would have a great shot at a positive result with any of them.

 

But as my very last stop I decided to chat with Dr. Zarev. He only would give a consultation in person, so I flew to Bulgaria to be examined by him. I was absolutely impressed by the level of detailed analysis he performed in his consultation. The first step was a discussion of him asking questions about my history and my goals. This was extensive and I could tell he was very knowledgeable on the topics we discussed. The second step was his showing me many before/afters of patients with cases very similar to mine both in terms of donor and recipient area needs. He also showed me pictures of patients who were spectacular transformations, far greater that what I was in need of. The third step was the detailed analysis of my scalp: Many microcamera pictures, traditional camera pictures, hair line design, calculations for each part of my scalp, calculations for densities and so on. It was a very thorough consultation and I felt very confident in his abilities.

 

I felt a little hesitation because there were not many personal accounts of his patients. But a big thanks to @Hugo for sharing his journey. Also, I found four other guys who had excellent results with Dr. Zarev. They shared their experiences with me and I found that very helpful. Two were Bulgarian and one was Greek so not likely that they’d ever end up on this forum or any other English language forum. I also felt good that others in the greater transplant community had very positive things to say about Dr. Zarev. Matt Dominance, JT, etc.  

 

I’m scheduled to have 6,000 grafts in my first procedure and an additional 4,000 in another procedure 9 months from now. I’m looking forward to the journey and just wanted to say thanks to everyone on this forum who has been so helpful along my journey. I’ll be sure to post updates along the way.

Excellent consultation and how every clinic should do it. Analyze the whole donor area, calculate the densities, full transparency with the patient. Not just draw a hairline and let's jam pack it with as many grafts as possible. 

[hairman22]

Was messaging Zarev today

Current waiting list for op is 2025

But my case wont be that big he said so he said he will try fit me in before then. 

I will know more after March consult in my case.

So if your a small case i think its very likely you may get a nearer date but you need to get consult

Edited December 20, 2022 by hairman22

[mtb]

17 hours ago, drawdownfx said:

Congrats on getting a date with him. I look forward to see your journey with a magician like Zarev!

Yes, I wanted to see results on her badly and was shocked there was only @HugoX. He did have a great review however. I'll be sure to share my experience.

13 hours ago, Dillpickle123 said:

Very interested to see a zarev patient review they are really rare best of luck!

Thanks, I'll be excited to share

13 hours ago, Gatsby said:

All the best @mtb 👌

Thx!

43 minutes ago, asterix0 said:

Excellent consultation and how every clinic should do it. Analyze the whole donor area, calculate the densities, full transparency with the patient. Not just draw a hairline and let's jam pack it with as many grafts as possible. 

Yes, very thorough. Made the other clinics seem lazy by comparison.

[A Fue Good Men]

Very eager to follow your journey OP. Please continue to update us.

[mtb]

2 hours ago, 5BetaReductase said:

Very eager to follow your journey OP. Please continue to update us.

Funniest name on the forum. Sure I'll drop updates here. 

[HugoX]

Looking forward to follow your journey and it's great to see more Dr Zarev patients sharing their results. 

You will be in good hands. 

 

[johnto]

On 12/20/2022 at 12:10 PM, hairman22 said:

Was messaging Zarev today

Current waiting list for op is 2025

But my case wont be that big he said so he said he will try fit me in before then. 

I will know more after March consult in my case.

So if your a small case i think its very likely you may get a nearer date but you need to get consult

Did you message him directly? Or did you just message their generic Whatsapp number?  

 

I booked a consult with them in 2025. I paid the $150 euro but have not received a confirmation email or anything (even after asking for one 😂). I called to book the consult and have been chatting through whatsapp with whom I assume is their receptionist. 

[hairman22]

2 hours ago, johnto said:

Did you message him directly? Or did you just message their generic Whatsapp number?  

 

I booked a consult with them in 2025. I paid the $150 euro but have not received a confirmation email or anything (even after asking for one 😂). I called to book the consult and have been chatting through whatsapp with whom I assume is their receptionist. 

No i have been messaging Dr Zarev

I booked through reception but he i got his number unsure how i think he messaged me

[davidn]

Thats gonna be interesting.

[shiba1985]

Last login 4 hours ago. Last update 4 weeks ago.. hmmm

[uu777]

Any update on this @mtb? Did you have your surgery done? 

[HugoX]

He's scheduled for Monday I believe 

[hairman22]

@mtbany update? You have had the procedure?

 

[mtb]

Hello everyone. Back in my home country now after my trip to see Dr. Zarev. All-in-all the experience was quite pleasant (of course, final result will tell how successful). I had 8,321 grafts in my procedure. I'm meant to go back in October for another ~2,000 grafts for added density.

I had the procedure on 16 and 17th of January. They were absolute marathon days. Dr. Zarev and his nurses/techs are very hard working. I was asked to come in the Saturday before for bloodwork and to talk about the general plan of the procedure. The Monday I showed up at 8 am and we talked further about expectations, hairline (got him to lower it about 1 cm), the surgical plan, and then did more measurements and markings. You leave those meetings with confidence in Dr. Zarev and abilities. 

The surgery began at about 11am and I have to say it was doozy. 6 straight hours of lying perfectly still while he extracted each graft one by one. The only painful part was the administration of the local anesthetic. After that it was just a challenge to lie perfectly still for two 3 hours stretches, one on my stomach and one on my left side. We took a 1.5 hour breaks for his nurses to sort the grafts. Then we went in for another 6 hours for the implantation. We didn't leave his office until 1:30am. All of the extractions that day were taken from the right side of my scalp and placed into the back half of the recipient area.

The second day we started late so everyone could get some sleep. The surgery started at 11am again and we did not finish this surgical day until 3am. The extractions were taken from the left side of my donor area and placed into the front and mid scalp. 

The first couple nights I had to be careful when sleeping or there would be some slight pain. But overall, the whole things was pretty painless. I swelled up ALOT in my face. One eye closed and the second closed after the first eye had opened back up. I was staying with a friend in Bulgaria who helped with that part. That amount of swelling probably isn't common. And really, if you're just leaving a hotel to go to the airport it's not that big of a deal. 

I did go back at the 7 day mark for final inspection and he said that I was healing perfectly. He told me to continue my meds til they were gone and to then begin his min/fin topical solution. I was also given the fabled yellow screen and told to send him pictures on a monthly basis. There were shampoos he recommended and a supplement gave me to start taking. 

Overall I'm happy with things. I came from over a decade of a hair system and was used to a super low and unnaturally aggressive hairline. I was worried when he had it drawn higher initially. As I mentioned he did lower it some. He also said that we could lower it further in the second procedure. As time goes on I'm getting used to the higher, more age appropriate hairline, so I may choose to use all of the grafts of the second procedure in my existing recipient area for density. After the second procedure he reckons I should have a final 2,000 grafts in reserve for future balding. He says my parietal humps will likely be gone in the next 5 years.  

Now to sit in dread as my hair that I have been enjoying the last two weeks dies off and begins to grow anew. The ugly duckling phase....