Decent Hair transplantation clinics in Europe?

[Danekk]

Good evening, everyone. I am considering doing hair transplantation somewhere in Europe. Age:25. Never took any hair-related medicaments. 

In fact, I have already contacted a couple of clinics across Europe and booked a place for next summer in Freitas clinics. However, the price is pretty solid (9000 euros for 3000 grafts). From what I have heard, Dr. Freitas is a real deal but the thing is that I don't want to take Finasteride, etc only Minoxidil in case it is needed. Meanwhile, found Dr. Panno and Bruno Jakoboski, surgeons from Spain. Maybe someone had some experience with them? Or any other reliable clinics that you can come up with - everything would be really beneficial for me. Thanks in advance 

Edited May 26, 2023 by Danekk

[mr_peanutbutter]

hello you are at least norwood 6 (can progres even further considering your age) so you will need at least 6.000-11.000 grafts eventually during your lifetime (depends on donor)

 

if you look for a bit cheaper surgeons you could consider marwan saifi in poland  (in case you wanna go with fut to maximise available lifetime grafts) or dr e. custodio in madrid who charge 2.80 eur per grafts i think

 

hdc in cyprus charges 2.20 eur per graft and St Mary's Clinic in Malta is similar to dr. gur from turkey pricewise who charges 1.X EUR per graft i think

 

 

 

Edited May 26, 2023 by mr_peanutbutter

[TheGreatPretender]

Choosing to be off from finasteride is Saddly a very risky choice since it's the most effective in preventing and stopping further recession. 

I feel like if you at least tried it it could even recover some ground especially when combining with Minoxidil. You could turn up to be a hyper responder and never need a surgery at all. 

If you chose to go down this path remember that if you chose to go without taking a 5AR blocker you will likely need multiple surgeries across your lifetime. 

You still got your forelock and your sides aren't that weak so there is still time for you to avoid headache.

Surgery is always the last resort imo.

But it's up to you. 

[Danekk]

2 hours ago, mr_peanutbutter said:

hello you are at least norwood 6 (can progres even further considering your age) so you will need at least 6.000-11.000 grafts eventually during your lifetime (depends on donor)

 

if you look for a bit cheaper surgeons you could consider marwan saifi in poland  (in case you wanna go with fut to maximise available lifetime grafts) or dr e. custodio in madrid who charge 2.80 eur per grafts i think

 

hdc in cyprus charges 2.20 eur per graft and St Mary's Clinic in Malta is similar to dr. gur from turkey pricewise who charges 1.X EUR per graft i think

 

 

 

Thank you for your reply. All the docs that I talked to said to me that first around 3000-4000 grafts should be implanted into the Temples, Hairline zone, and Central Core with a bridge. And there is a high probability of a second round to be necessary. I definitely realize that it is gonna be the case, but what to do. Werther, it is FUT or FUE for me irrelevant. Maybe these pictures are slightly misleading because they were taken when I haven't showered in a while and after exercising. IDK. Because Feriduni even mentioned only 4th stage,  anyways. I appreciate your comment. Regarding the clinics you have mentioned, would the quality of a surgery decline with pricing charged being lower or it has more to do with the cost of living/salaries levels, etc.? Thank you

[Danekk]

1 hour ago, TheGreatPretender said:

Choosing to be off from finasteride is Saddly a very risky choice since it's the most effective in preventing and stopping further recession. 

I feel like if you at least tried it it could even recover some ground especially when combining with Minoxidil. You could turn up to be a hyper responder and never need a surgery at all. 

If you chose to go down this path remember that if you chose to go without taking a 5AR blocker you will likely need multiple surgeries across your lifetime. 

You still got your forelock and your sides aren't that weak so there is still time for you to avoid headache.

Surgery is always the last resort imo.

But it's up to you. 

Thank you for your reply. I do understand that finasteride is the best solution available at the moment to tackle receding hairline and protecting existing hair. However, its notorious side effects are just a nightmare for me. Personally, I would rather fancy second hair transplantation than lose sexual drive and ability to perform at all. It is puzzling why there is no alternative solution on the market keeping in mind how significantly medicine has been developed recently. 

[TheGreatPretender]

1 minute ago, Danekk said:

Thank you for your reply. I do understand that finasteride is the best solution available at the moment to tackle receding hairline and protecting existing hair. However, its notorious side effects are just a nightmare for me. Personally, I would rather fancy second hair transplantation than lose sexual drive and ability to perform at all. It is puzzling why there is no alternative solution on the market keeping in mind how significantly medicine has been developed recently. 

The side effects are rare in nature and if they happen you are more then able to stop it. I have been in it for 3 years and my only regret is not starting earlier. 

Please don't be me. Start medication first even if you're adamant on taking it, you will soon realize how silly a lot of the fears regarding the drug are. 

[mr_peanutbutter]

23 minutes ago, Danekk said:

Thank you for your reply. All the docs that I talked to said to me that first around 3000-4000 grafts should be implanted into the Temples, Hairline zone, and Central Core with a bridge. And there is a high probability of a second round to be necessary. I definitely realize that it is gonna be the case, but what to do. Werther, it is FUT or FUE for me irrelevant. Maybe these pictures are slightly misleading because they were taken when I haven't showered in a while and after exercising. IDK. Because Feriduni even mentioned only 4th stage,  anyways. I appreciate your comment. Regarding the clinics you have mentioned, would the quality of a surgery decline with pricing charged being lower or it has more to do with the cost of living/salaries levels, etc.? Thank you

hello, all of these doctors are legit and results of them have been posted here

 

hdc and gur are on the recommended doctor list of the forum and the doctor from malta has been personally trained from bisanga who is one of the best hairtransplant surgeons in the world (but charges 5 eur per graft so hence my recommendation with the doctor from malta)

 

 

Edited May 26, 2023 by mr_peanutbutter

[Danekk]

14 minutes ago, TheGreatPretender said:

The side effects are rare in nature and if they happen you are more then able to stop it. I have been in it for 3 years and my only regret is not starting earlier. 

Please don't be me. Start medication first even if you're adamant on taking it, you will soon realize how silly a lot of the fears regarding the drug are. 

Did it help you eventually? And from your standpoint, taking just Minoxidil is a waste of money? 

I will think your words through. Thank you. Hope that you have successfully regained your hair:) 

[Danekk]

2 minutes ago, mr_peanutbutter said:

hello, all of these doctors are legit and results of them have been posted here

 

hdc and gur are on the recommended doctor list of the forum and the doctor from malta has been personally trained from bisanga who is one of the best hairtransplant surgeons in the world (but charges 5 eur per graft so hence my recommendation with the doctor from malta)

 

 

Thanks a lot. I will check them all surely!

[TheGreatPretender]

4 minutes ago, Danekk said:

Did it help you eventually? And from your standpoint, taking just Minoxidil is a waste of money? 

I will think your words through. Thank you. Hope that you have successfully regained your hair:) 

Some of it, but I am booked for a surgery next month because I already came to a point where I lost a lot. Your case could be different. 

Start with Finasteride for a year, check your progress monthly with pictures with Wet hair, if youre not happy add Minoxidil on the second. If on the third year you are still at a point in which you arent happy then its time for you to start looking for surgeons to book. 

And no, its never a waste of money. I would rather be taking Minoxidil for life knowing it can regrow and maintain hair then to have the stress for surgery that could have been avoided. 

Having a HT is a very big decision, not just finantially but emotionally too. I hope you know that.

One note I might add is that your hair loss appears to be less severe then mine, so that helps a lot in your case.

Edited May 26, 2023 by TheGreatPretender

[Melvin- Admin]

We have a list surgeons that have been vetted and approved by our forum. Feel free to research these doctors here and submit some consultations.

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

[Danekk]

2 hours ago, TheGreatPretender said:

Some of it, but I am booked for a surgery next month because I already came to a point where I lost a lot. Your case could be different. 

Start with Finasteride for a year, check your progress monthly with pictures with Wet hair, if youre not happy add Minoxidil on the second. If on the third year you are still at a point in which you arent happy then its time for you to start looking for surgeons to book. 

And no, its never a waste of money. I would rather be taking Minoxidil for life knowing it can regrow and maintain hair then to have the stress for surgery that could have been avoided. 

Having a HT is a very big decision, not just finantially but emotionally too. I hope you know that.

One note I might add is that your hair loss appears to be less severe then mine, so that helps a lot in your case.

Ok, got it, Good luck with your surgery then:)

[A_4_Archan]

De freitas is a value for money option imo...still you can check out dr saifi and dr custodio....i would repeat what the above posters said that the side effects are rare and even if you are the unlucky one and get some side effects than you can stop the medication and you will be fine...so you can try it...that will help you to preserve your hair for long..

[duckling]

in my opinion you are not a very high norwood for now but the pattern forming is of norwood 6. just like your doctors told you i think you are norwood 4 because you have lot of hairs in between but your hair looks thin to me and with light falling on top of it (harsh light conditions) they give an impression that you are higher norwood.

regardless, coming to meds i think at age 25 you have a chance that your hair follicles are not permanently lost yet. You can try to go on them and if you get sides then surely leave them and go back to HT. But if you get no sides and get back some hair and also hold on to these hair then number of grafts you will need will drastically decrease. That gives your donor a chance to provide you sufficient grafts to get a great/good look. and with surgeon you have booked it can be great look as he is one of the good surgeons out there.

coming to alternate drugs, some people go on 5 mg oral min when they get sides on fin as 5 mg oral min also showed some signs of reducing hair loss but its all for a short time as i dont think it fights DHT in any way, which is the core cause of AGA. and as far as new meds are concerned there is "cosmerna" which has newly entered the market but its way too early to recommend anyone without seeing the results which will get posted in a year or two by patients who have ordered it newly in last 1 month since its release. And also more meds like cosmerna are in pipeline but its going to be years before FDA approval for safety let alone efficacy.

and lastly the doctors part, its not necessary that lower cost means low level of result (cost of living like you said affects it) but going with a trusted and established doctor comes at a price and here they are recommended first unless person has budget issues. de freitas , feriduni , bruno pinto  and bruno ferreira are all great options for you. 

[Danekk]

5 hours ago, A_4_Archan said:

De freitas is a value for money option imo...still you can check out dr saifi and dr custodio....i would repeat what the above posters said that the side effects are rare and even if you are the unlucky one and get some side effects than you can stop the medication and you will be fine...so you can try it...that will help you to preserve your hair for long..

Thank you for your opinion, yeah, i also got an impression that De Freitas is a good Doc to go with. I got your point about Finasteride as well, thank you. The thing I have heard that there is a post-Finasteride syndrome and nocebo effect could remain even after quitting it. That scares me a lot as well. 

[Danekk]

1 hour ago, duckling said:

in my opinion you are not a very high norwood for now but the pattern forming is of norwood 6. just like your doctors told you i think you are norwood 4 because you have lot of hairs in between but your hair looks thin to me and with light falling on top of it (harsh light conditions) they give an impression that you are higher norwood.

regardless, coming to meds i think at age 25 you have a chance that your hair follicles are not permanently lost yet. You can try to go on them and if you get sides then surely leave them and go back to HT. But if you get no sides and get back some hair and also hold on to these hair then number of grafts you will need will drastically decrease. That gives your donor a chance to provide you sufficient grafts to get a great/good look. and with surgeon you have booked it can be great look as he is one of the good surgeons out there.

coming to alternate drugs, some people go on 5 mg oral min when they get sides on fin as 5 mg oral min also showed some signs of reducing hair loss but its all for a short time as i dont think it fights DHT in any way, which is the core cause of AGA. and as far as new meds are concerned there is "cosmerna" which has newly entered the market but its way too early to recommend anyone without seeing the results which will get posted in a year or two by patients who have ordered it newly in last 1 month since its release. And also more meds like cosmerna are in pipeline but its going to be years before FDA approval for safety let alone efficacy.

and lastly the doctors part, its not necessary that lower cost means low level of result (cost of living like you said affects it) but going with a trusted and established doctor comes at a price and here they are recommended first unless person has budget issues. de freitas , feriduni , bruno pinto  and bruno ferreira are all great options for you. 

Thank you for your message, Yes, probably hair loss is pretty centric located and it creates an impression that it is more severe. The core problem with HS in my case is that I am still a student and depend on my father's money and he is rather skeptical about the effectiveness of hair transplantations (he is bald completely as well more or less everyone from my GF's line also.) And undergoing a 9000 euro surgery is a risk in terms of post-surgery discussions with him. Cause I am convinced that nowadays almost everything could be treated with some exceptions for sure, and would love to prove him wrong in a way that medicine made a significant step forward. 

[duckling]

20 minutes ago, Danekk said:

Thank you for your message, Yes, probably hair loss is pretty centric located and it creates an impression that it is more severe. The core problem with HS in my case is that I am still a student and depend on my father's money and he is rather skeptical about the effectiveness of hair transplantations (he is bald completely as well more or less everyone from my GF's line also.) And undergoing a 9000 euro surgery is a risk in terms of post-surgery discussions with him. Cause I am convinced that nowadays almost everything could be treated with some exceptions for sure, and would love to prove him wrong in a way that medicine made a significant step forward. 

you can let us know the budget then we can recommend more surgeons along with country details. you can check which countries you can visit and also flight costs and then shortlist them and make a decision ?

I would have suggested to be on meds then until you start earning so you get benefit from meds until then and also can payback your father either complete or partial amount (the extra amount you wanted for a costly surgeon) incase you are afraid of the discussions with very costly surgery ? just a suggestion as its your personal matter so cant comment more.

regarding proving him wrong about meds , fin+min or dutasteride +min is the current gold standards. topical dutasteride is gaining steam fast and you can show him those results. the other meds in pipeline will come soon but not fast enough for you to try before surgery or show him atleast for some years.

[A_4_Archan]

23 minutes ago, Danekk said:

Thank you for your opinion, yeah, i also got an impression that De Freitas is a good Doc to go with. I got your point about Finasteride as well, thank you. The thing I have heard that there is a post-Finasteride syndrome and nocebo effect could remain even after quitting it. That scares me a lot as well. 

Yeh see scientifically the effect vanishes in few days bt nocebo effect is always the thing which we personally have to dealt with by being strong and positive ....actually you are just 25  and hairloss is progressive so there is a chance that you will loose more ground...thts why medication plays an important role...though you may take your decision considering pro and cons of that...

I can see from the above quoted message that you are still not independent and i can understand 9k euros is a huge investment...to be honest seeing your photos you will for sure slowly and gradually going to be a norwood 6....so you will also need surgery in future...so imo you should plan accordingly ...if your budget is not 9k euros than as i said dr saifi is also a good doctor and his pricing is i think 2.5 euros and moreover he takes very conservative approach which is very much necessary in your case...and there is dr gur from turkey who charges 1.5 euros and he also seems to be ethical one and seems to be taking conservative approach ..so you can do your research about them and take your time and than you can take your decision ....

[mr_peanutbutter]

42 minutes ago, Danekk said:

Thank you for your message, Yes, probably hair loss is pretty centric located and it creates an impression that it is more severe. The core problem with HS in my case is that I am still a student and depend on my father's money and he is rather skeptical about the effectiveness of hair transplantations (he is bald completely as well more or less everyone from my GF's line also.) And undergoing a 9000 euro surgery is a risk in terms of post-surgery discussions with him. Cause I am convinced that nowadays almost everything could be treated with some exceptions for sure, and would love to prove him wrong in a way that medicine made a significant step forward. 

to 99% you will be at least norwood 6 within the next 10 years if you dont take medication. its pretty clear, you already lost hair in the norwood 6 region and its lense dense then the rest of your hair

 

our father is apparently "completely bald" (do you mean norwood 7) so you got an idea where your journey might end if you dont take meds

 

some doctors such as dr. custodio dont perform surgery on people who dont want to talk medication (finasteride)

 

however if you dont want to take medication not all is lost, but you need money (a lot) and realistic longterm goals that includes beardhair and in worst case not full coverage (of the crown for example)

[Danekk]

49 minutes ago, duckling said:

you can let us know the budget then we can recommend more surgeons along with country details. you can check which countries you can visit and also flight costs and then shortlist them and make a decision ?

I would have suggested to be on meds then until you start earning so you get benefit from meds until then and also can payback your father either complete or partial amount (the extra amount you wanted for a costly surgeon) incase you are afraid of the discussions with very costly surgery ? just a suggestion as its your personal matter so cant comment more.

regarding proving him wrong about meds , fin+min or dutasteride +min is the current gold standards. topical dutasteride is gaining steam fast and you can show him those results. the other meds in pipeline will come soon but not fast enough for you to try before surgery or show him atleast for some years.

Thank you once again. I would say the budget is around 5000-6000 Euro for first surgery, if higher I probably go with Freitas. Location of the clinic doesn't really matter that much. I have a European student permit as of now, so EU is accessible. Probably US and UK are a less clear case only. But your point about postponing a surgery until I get a job and cover it at least partially came to my mind several times as well. Maybe it is wiser.

[Danekk]

49 minutes ago, A_4_Archan said:

Yeh see scientifically the effect vanishes in few days bt nocebo effect is always the thing which we personally have to dealt with by being strong and positive ....actually you are just 25  and hairloss is progressive so there is a chance that you will loose more ground...thts why medication plays an important role...though you may take your decision considering pro and cons of that...

I can see from the above quoted message that you are still not independent and i can understand 9k euros is a huge investment...to be honest seeing your photos you will for sure slowly and gradually going to be a norwood 6....so you will also need surgery in future...so imo you should plan accordingly ...if your budget is not 9k euros than as i said dr saifi is also a good doctor and his pricing is i think 2.5 euros and moreover he takes very conservative approach which is very much necessary in your case...and there is dr gur from turkey who charges 1.5 euros and he also seems to be ethical one and seems to be taking conservative approach ..so you can do your research about them and take your time and than you can take your decision ....

Thank you, i would definitely contact them. 

[Danekk]

36 minutes ago, mr_peanutbutter said:

to 99% you will be at least norwood 6 within the next 10 years if you dont take medication. its pretty clear, you already lost hair in the norwood 6 region and its lense dense then the rest of your hair

 

our father is apparently "completely bald" (do you mean norwood 7) so you got an idea where your journey might end if you dont take meds

 

some doctors such as dr. custodio dont perform surgery on people who dont want to talk medication (finasteride)

 

however if you dont want to take medication not all is lost, but you need money (a lot) and realistic longterm goals that includes beardhair and in worst case not full coverage (of the crown for example)

Sounds depressive but realistic yeah right. Minoxidil alone wouldn't be helpful with HS (several)? Other than that I got the idea that Finasteride is the most obvious solution. Thank you 

[BackFromTheBrink]

Given his age and current situation, I'd probably be more conservative; If I were to ask my father to pay for the surgery, I'd want a reasonable chance of it being effective for the long term. To do that,I believe medication fin or dut will be absolutely necessary.

Put simple, in his position, I'd have to either resign myself to shaving my head in the next 10 years or commit to using medication (and taking the risk of side effects). 

Anecdotally, I'd say that finesteride recovers hair more often on younger patients. I'd use it for at least 12 months before considering surgery.

[BackFromTheBrink]

14 minutes ago, Danekk said:

Sounds depressive but realistic yeah right. Minoxidil alone wouldn't be helpful with HS (several)? Other than that I got the idea that Finasteride is the most obvious solution. Thank you 

Minoxidyl can thicken hair but it won't stop you losing more. It may slow down the effects of DHT by supplying the follicles with more blood supply but ultimately those hairs will miniturise until you take medication to reduce the amount of DHT on your scalp.

If you're really opposed to trying finesteride orally, you could consider topical application which is less likely to cause side effects, but it's less effective.

[mr_peanutbutter]

21 minutes ago, Danekk said:

Sounds depressive but realistic yeah right. Minoxidil alone wouldn't be helpful with HS (several)? Other than that I got the idea that Finasteride is the most obvious solution. Thank you 

like i said, even if you dont wanna try it or for some reasons you get sideeffects you dont wanna deal with, not all is lost really.

 

also id opt for fue in case you decide to shave it off at some point. there will be scars but it wont be as obvious as an fut scar

 

if i were you id contact the surgeons i mentioned and i maybe would try out topical finasteride 0,025% as this has very low chance of going systemic. you could also try topical dutasteride 

 

 

 

Edited May 27, 2023 by mr_peanutbutter