2 Hair transplant (6240+5100 = 11 340 grafts ) & Beard Transplant (550) (Dr. Bruno Gonçalves ; Dr. Resul Yaman)

[Mr.potato]

Hair Transplant #1

Surgery Date: June 27 2022

Clinic: Efeito Harmonie Clinic (Brazil)

https://efeitoharmonie.com.br/#fue

Cost of surgery: $3300 USD

surgery Duration: 12pm-7:30pm

age:23 

Norwood scale 6

grafts: 6240 (all from Donair hair)

Before 

post surgery 

post scab removal 

 

Hair Transplant #2

 

Surgery Date: May 10&11 2023

surgery Duration: 

- May 10 (11am - 5:30pm) 

- May 11 (10:30am - 6:30pm)

clinic: Resul Yaman clinic (Turkey)

https://resulyaman.com/hair-transplant-before-after/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMImv3Jyv2N_wIVvCGzAB0_2gVsEAAYASAAEgJLQ_D_BwE

5650 Grafts extracted

4360 Hair ;1290 beard 

5100 grafts were used for the hair transplant.

550 grafts where used for beard transplant. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dillpickle123]

Wow that’s a ton of grafts long journey 

[Melvin- Admin]

Why does the title say Dr. Pinto?

[A_4_Archan]

@Mr.potato Thats huge number of grafts...i guess your result from first ht was also decent one than why did you choose to change your surgeon ? How was your experience with dr yaman compared to dr bruno goncalves? 

[Mr.potato]

9 hours ago, A_4_Archan said:

@Mr.potato Thats huge number of grafts...i guess your result from first ht was also decent one than why did you choose to change your surgeon ? How was your experience with dr yaman compared to dr bruno goncalves? 

Short answer: I changed surgeon because my first HT was done in one day and took 7 hours. I definitely experienced good growth and I would say at least 90% of my transplanted graft survived. But my hairline had a couple double and triple grafts. Also didn’t wanna take the risk of doing another big session in just one day. 

I decided to pick Dr. yaman because he has a package where he does a large amount of grafts over two days. Also looking at his hairline work they look natural and soft like. 
 

Back then I didn’t know much about HT and I just booked my first surgery after coming across the clinic through Instagram. Knowing what I know now, I don’t know how they transplanted 6240 grafts in just 7 hours. 
 

I will post a detailed review on both clinics. 

[Mr.potato]

Hair loss journey 

Had a full head of hair until junior high. By the age of 14 I was a Norwood 3, my hair was still thick and dense I was just a kid with a busted hairline, and it came on sudden I only noticed my hairline receding after I got a buzz cut. I remained a Norwood 3 until I was 16. During my  final year of High-school (17years old) my mid scale was noticeably thinner (still not see through) but my crown had a small bald patch. That’s when I started wearing hats. 
 

Wore a hat everyday, my hair kept getting worse and it was happening quick. By the end of my first year of university (18) I was Norwood 5. That’s when I started taking medication, Finastride (1mg/day) and minoxidil (1ml/2x day). Experienced some regrowth, but nothing drastic so I kept wearing hats. And I kept wearing hats until during the pandemic I stumbled across “Efeito Harmonie clinic” on Instagram. It was a transformation of someone who was at least a Norwood 6 and now he had a full head of hair with a juvenile hairline.

Efeito Harmonie Clinic (Dr. Bruno Goncalves) 

I messaged the clinic after seeing the post of the patients transformation. They didn’t have an English translator because most of their patients if not all were Brazilian nationals. We communicated through what’s app, we spoke in English and they would copy my message and translate it probably using Google translate it. I booked my surgery date really quickly, I sent in a few pictures of my recipient and donor area. They responded that I was a good candidate and quoted me 5500 grafts approximately. By the end of the week I had my surgery booked for June 27 2022 and wire transferred the payment.
 

Flew to Brazil on my own, unlike Turkish clinic they didn’t have package deals. So my drives and hotel were covered on my own. I arrived 2 days before my surgery. Also I was responsible for my own blood test, I had to visit a pharmacy and get a negative HIV test, I did that in Brazil. 
 

Surgery day, I was told to come in at noon. Once I arrived I met with reception , they were very friendly but didn’t spoke English so we used my phone Google translate app to communicate. Signed some paper works and was given a Xanax pill. I then met with Dr. Bruno Goncalves, he spoke some English. I went into his office and he simply went through my file making sure everything that was written was correct such as my age, blood type, medications I am on and family medical history. He drew an outline of my new hairline, but the first one he drew was extremely low and had was planning to do temple work. If any of you know Jalen Rose the ex NBA player that was the type of hairline he drew on me. So I said I didn’t want any temple work and my forelock was still intact so I told him to draw my hairline around it. I then asked him if my donair hair was good, he told me yes. So I asked him to transplant as many grafts as possible. He said he could do that, but since I only paid for 5500 grafts he would charge me for the extra. I agreed, and that was the end of my consultation. I shaved my head, put I. My surgery gown and was led down to the operation room. I remember walking in and seeing 4 people in the room all of which where females. None of them knew English so they communicated with me using hand gestures. I lied down on the bed face first and they injected me with local anesthesia, after the first shot I fell asleep. I woke up around 7:30pm. When I say I don’t remember a thing, I truly mean it. I literally just remember that one needle puncturing the back of my head and I was knocked out for the rest of the surgery. 
 

They woke me up, I remember being light headed. They showed me a picture of my head. I was lead down to reception area, the doctor instructed me on my post op care and when to take each medication. Side note, I was responsible for buying those medications, once I first arrived to Brazil they sent prescription form through what’s app and I went down to a local pharmacy to get it. 
 

The next day I came back to the clinic around 10am to get my bandage taken off my donor area. They then instructed me to spray saline solution on my recipient area for the next 3 days. I bought the saline solution on my own from the pharmacy in Brazil. I stayed in Brazil 4 days after my surgery. I went back to the clinic 2 days after my surgery so they could wash my recipient area. 
 

Looking back it, it was such a sketchy experience. Everyone was really nice and helpful, and I don’t think they drugged me or anything during the surgery. I think I was still jet lagged and the Xanax they gave me earlier just knocked me out. 
 

But I honestly couldn’t tell you who performed the surgery on me. I remember seeing the doctor in the operation room after they woke me up. But I couldn’t tell you for certain if he was there supervising or maybe he did a portion of it. I do know they only do maximum 2 patients a day, but I don’t remember seeing anyone else during my surgery day. But when I came back the next day I remember seeing 2 people who were about to get their surgery done. 
 

I will do a write up about Dr. Yaman next. 

[aa1888]

Wow, that's alot of grafts, but so far looks 👌.  Please do keep us updated on the second HT progress. Good luck 👍. 

[Mr.potato]

I thought about doing my second Ht around the end of December, approximately 6 months after my first HT. Reason why because I thought my HT was a fail. But after doing some “research” through YouTube and forums, I realized that’s impossible to get good coverage and density being a high Norwood with only one hair transplant. I came across Yaman clinic after seeing a post on this forum about someone who did 6400 grafts across 2 days. I contacted Dr. Yaman clinic around mid February. Sent in my pictures and told time I already had a previous transplant. They came back quoting me 4500 grafts over 1 day. But I responded saying my hair looks a lot more dense through pictures and if it was possible to do the maximum number of grafts across a 2 day surgery, and if they do beard transplants as well. They came back to me saying they could do that, and we finalized my booking after sending in a confirmation of my flight. 
 

I was told to come to turkey one day before my surgery. Once I landed I went to the meeting point, but the driver wasn’t there. I was delayed when going through security, I simply called Ihsan (clinic English translator) and he took care of it, 5min later I met with the driver and he took me to my hotel. Unlike Brazil I really enjoyed the package deal, a lot less worrying. And miscommunication was not an issue since they have an English translator (Ihsan). At the hotel Ihsan told me I would be picked up 9am tomorrow and to have breakfast. 
 

surgery day (May 10), I was picked up and driven to the hospital, Dr. yaman clinic is located on the third floor. After waiting in the lobby for 10 min, I finally met with Ihsan he was very polite and friendly. I followed him downstairs for my blood test, they also drew blood for PRP that would be given to me later. He then took me upstairs to Dr. Yaman clinic. We went into Dr. Yaman office and I spoke to Ihsan untill Dr. Yaman arrived.

Dr. Yaman was very friendly and the consultation was a lot more in depth than the one given to me during my first hair transplant. He asked me what my goal was for this hair transplant, I responded that I just wanted more density and that my hairline was not natural looking due to double and triple grafts. He then examined my donor and recipient area, he would talk in Turkish to Ihsan and Ihsan would translate what he was saying to me, and vice versa. He said my donator area was good, and said the density of recipient area from the first hair transplant was 25 grafts per cm. I was really surprised by that, he said he the plan is to increase the density of the;

hairline to 45 graft per cm, and behind the hairline to 40 graft per cm

midscscalp to 35 graft per cm

crown to 30 graft per cm

 

he said he would use my donair hair for front and midsclalp, and for the crown he would use my beard hair. Also for the beard transplant he would only use beard hair.
also for the first day they would focus on the hairline and do 1/3 of my recipient area. Second day would do 2/3 of my head and do my beard. I say beard but I only just wanted to get my mustach and goatee area thicker. It was a very small beard transplant procedure. 
 

I asked if it was possible to get better density for my midsclalp and crown, he said he couldn’t. I appreciated the honesty, I was a bit disappointed but I agreed to the surgery plan. 
 

ihsan led me to pre-operation room, they shaved my head after taking pictures and put on my gown. Was led to the operation room. the room had 2 people, it was Darya and Sheida. I think someone else would come in once in a while to help out. The needles hurt, and this time around I wasn’t given Xanax and I was awake the whole time. They didn’t know much English the technicians, they had some music playing in the background. I think we started around 11am they extracted grafts from the right side of my donor area. Stopped for lunch after extraction. Dr. Yaman took ever than, he administered the local anesthetic. Honestly from a pain scale it was 6-7/10 some area felt more painful than others the donor region was a 6 but the recipient area especially in the hairline was a 7. Dr. Yaman proceeded to administer PRP and to do the incisions. It was quick, the technicians came back. From what I remember Sheda was doing the extractions and Darya would just collect the grafts and put them in the holding solution. some times someone else would help Darya collect the grafts. But for implanting the grafts Sheda and Darya would both do it simultaneously.

we were done around 5:30pm and we only did 2300 grafts. So in approximately 6 hours (taking away time from lunch) 2300 grafts were extracted and implanted unlike my first hair transplant where in 7:30 hours 6200 grafts were extracted and implanted. 
After the first day, Ihsan led me to the the car and I was driven back to the hotel. 
 

second day I was picked up 9am, no pre-operative procedures were required. We went straight to the operation room. This time it was the left side of my head they extracted 2060 grafts from my scalp. Then they moved on to my beard donor area. The anesthesia pain level here was a solid 8/10. They extracted 1290 grafts from the beard. Stopped for lunch, and Dr. Yaman took over. Here was the most painful part of the procedure, when Dr. Yaman was administering the local anesthesia to my beard recipient area I asked for something to squeeze on. The pain level was at lest 10/10, my eyes were watering from the pain. Once yaman was done doing the incision for both my scalp and beard the technicians came back. This time around a third technician was present, but I didn’t catch her name. We were done by 6:30, Ihsan came by and once again led me to the driver. 

One thing, Dr. Yaman clinic is definitely primarily run by technicians. But they’re very experienced, I never once felt that the person working on me was out of their depth. In the first day I remember yaman came by at least 3x to check up on me. The second day of surgery  I had a hard time falling asleep the night before, so I wasn’t fully aware of what was going during extraction phase. I think they woke me up one time to change positions, so I don’t know how many times he came by to look at me. Also the clinic only does max 2 ppl pep day, so you’re def well looked after. 
 

Third day, I arrived to the clinic around 11am for my washing. When I came upstairs Dr. Yaman was there talking to potential patients I think, they were speaking in Turkish. He was showing them my hair transplant. He was very happy about the work and said I would get a good result. But it’s not like he was gonna tell me otherwise. Ihsan then showed up and took me to the washing area, this was the same room as where they cut my hair. It was challenge to wash my beard donor site. After the washing we took post operative pictures as shown above. Ihsan then led me to main floor to do oxygen therapy I think. I just sat in a chair where they hooked up an IV. They explained it to me but I wasn’t really paying attention, I think they take blood and run it in a machine to oxygenate the blood even more, and than the oxygenated blood would flow back into my body. The whole point of it is to increase the survival rate of the grafts. Also during the first and second day of HT procedure they hooked up an iV of antibiotics. I was than taken back to my hotel. 
 

fouth day was a Saturday, prior to booking my HT procedure I requested additional days to be booked for the hotel as I didn’t wanna travel right away after my operation. So yeah, they knew I was staying additional days in turkey so they asked me to come in the fourth day for washing. Ihsan wasn’t there that day, but they still took care of me. I waited extra for my washing because the two patients were getting it done before me. 
 

This isn’t a knock to the clinic, but it’s a review so I have to keep it honest. I told Ihsan I was leaving May 15 and I needed a pick up for 5am in the morning. He confirmed my pick up time. But once 5am came around the driver wasn’t there. I waited for 10 min, but they never showed up. The hotel staff got me a cab and I caught my flight with plenty of time. I was not pressed for time. They messaged me before boarding my connecting flight apologizing. At that time election day was happening in turkey and something happen and they couldn’t pick me up. 
 

Again, I was really taken care of and I don’t hold anything against them. The staff was very friendly and the clinic was clean. It’s nice that the clinic is located with a hospital so if anything goes wrong you can get medical help. 
 

I will keep this updated on my progression. I removed the scalp 10 days after my surgery. I never experienced any pain or itchiness after my hair transplant. 
 

I can’t really recommend Dr. Yaman until I see the results of the procedure. 
 

medications I am on are Finastride (1mg/3days a week) oral minoxidil (5mg/day) 
 

 

 

 

 

[A_4_Archan]

@Mr.potato very well explained ....good that your are on oral minoxidil and finasteride ..it will help you immensely...from you pic the density looks good...if around 95% of your grafts survive than you will get a good density this time ....best of luck ..Happy growing and keep updating ...will be following your journey closely ..

[Mr.potato]

On 5/26/2023 at 3:08 PM, Melvin- Moderator said:

Why does the title say Dr. Pinto?

It’s a different doctor , I can see how you were confused since they got the same first and last name. I linked the clinics website I visited. 

[BaldGuy]

Happy growing mate. The work of Dr Yaman looks great. So in dr Yaman's clinic 5650 grafts (including 1290 beard grafts) were extracted in a two day session ? also what was the cost for the 2-day session with dr Yaman ?

[Mr.potato]

1 hour ago, BaldGuy said:

Happy growing mate. The work of Dr Yaman looks great. So in dr Yaman's clinic 5650 grafts (including 1290 beard grafts) were extracted in a two day session ? also what was the cost for the 2-day session with dr Yaman ?

Yes 5650 grafts were extracted in 2 days. 
 

Cost of the procedure;

HT: $4850 USD 

BT: $800 USD

also I paid an extra $200 to get 2 extra nights in the hotel. 

[Mr.potato]

 

Graft break down: 

980 single grafts 

2730 double grafts 

1940 multiple grafts 

Graft to hair ratio assuming that multiple grafts only contained 3 hair follicles is 

2.17 hair per graft. 

 

1 month update 

Medication: 

- Finasteride (1.25mg) 3 days a week (Monday/Wednesday/Friday) 

- oral minoxidil (5mg) every day 

• Looking at the pictures below, it seems that a good percentage of my transplanted hair has fallen off. 
• I am getting plenty amount of pimples on my scalp, this was also the case for my first hair transplant. 
• Donor area on my scalp and beard is looking extremely thinned out, hopefully it’s due to shock loss. 
• Hair transplanted to my face (moustache & goatee) feels different than the native beard hair. 

 

Pictures below were taken in my room facing direct sunlight. 
 

[Mr.potato]

Month 3 

Donor area (hair) still quite thin. Hopefully it hasn’t been over harvested and it’s just shock loss. 

donor area (beard) looks fully recovered from the pictures. 
 

I think at this point my recipient area for both my hair and beard have finally stopped shedding. I should start experiencing growth from this point hopefully. 

 

[Mr.potato]

Month 4 

Feel like my donor area is looking weak. Can definitely see progress now in my recipient area. 
 

beard donor looking full, can’t say the same about the recipient area. 

[consequence]

I have to admire your confidence going to two different corners of the world where the surgeons really didn't speak English and you didn't speak either Portuguese or Turkish. And the mustache/beard grafts must have made healing so difficult (ie. eating, talking, smiling, etc). Monster procedures.

Please keep us updated.

[Mr.potato]

10 days shy of 8 months. 

I can definitely see improvements from month to month, but I don’t think I will be satisfied by the end result. My hair down the middle is much thinner than the right and left side. And the crown is extremely thin but is not accurately shown due to how I style my hair. 
 

Hopefully the density will increase over the last 4 months. I am already thinking of contacting clinics for a third surgery to be done over the summer. Mostly to focus on the crown and just increase the overall density. But I don’t know if my donor area can handle anymore extraction. 
 

I think Dr. Yaman and his team are very good in what they do. But I think for my final hair transplant I would want to go to a clinic that’s doctor oriented since my donor area is almost depleted. So I am looking at HDC, HLC, and  Dr. Michalis Georgiou clinic to get my third and hopefully final hair transplant. 

[Mr.potato]

11 months 

- I am pretty happy with the results so far. But I feel my crown is still lacking. Also when it comes to the hairline there are plenty of multi grafts present.

I’ve decided to booked with Dr, Turan this coming July to help increase density specifically for the front third and crown. 
 

- If someone where to ask me if I would recommend Dr, Yaman. My answer would be a yes. I feel for high Norwood patients 4+ he’s really good especially for that price point. His hairline work is lacking, definitely not as refined compared to the likes of top surgeons who are priced at +2 euro per graft. 
 

when it comes to the beard- Mustache transplant. I would not recommend it. When looking at the mustache specifically the middle the transplanted hairs look off compared to my native mustach hair (Look at the angles of the hair). 
 

so final verdict: 

hair transplant 8.5/10

beard transplant 6/10
 

 

[Ajamilo]

2 hours ago, Mr.potato said:

11 months 

- I am pretty happy with the results so far. But I feel my crown is still lacking. Also when it comes to the hairline there are plenty of multi grafts present.

I’ve decided to booked with Dr, Turan this coming July to help increase density specifically for the front third and crown. 
 

- If someone where to ask me if I would recommend Dr, Yaman. My answer would be a yes. I feel for high Norwood patients 4+ he’s really good especially for that price point. His hairline work is lacking, definitely not as refined compared to the likes of top surgeons who are priced at +2 euro per graft. 
 

when it comes to the beard- Mustache transplant. I would not recommend it. When looking at the mustache specifically the middle the transplanted hairs look off compared to my native mustach hair (Look at the angles of the hair). 
 

so final verdict: 

hair transplant 8.5/10

beard transplant 6/10
 

 

 

Have Dr.Turan said anything about how he will address the multigrafts in the hairline? What about the area around the crown? 

I think the only good thing with Yaman is the price and that he is cheap. Plenty of clinics in just turkey  is better than him and even will give better result for the Norwood 4+ people.

Hopefully you can update us to the end of your surgery with Dr Turan 

 

 

[Nobaldscalp]

Your result with dr Yaman is pretty good to be honest with good density and coverage. 👍 In your case i wouldn't do another procedure and i would shave those grafts for future use..but its up to you..enjoy your new hair!