dr. Sanusi Umar | $50k+ for failed 11k grafts transplant. Depleted my donor. Wrecked!

[baddecisions]

23 minutes ago, WreckedOne said:

Read this case from 2013 now:

While somewhat different, it's also very similar, I could feel what that other patient of Umar felt. Terrible. I'm sorry I didn't see this before. Would have never picked up Umar.

Reading that old case (10 years now), it is both a shame how dr Umar answered and how moderators dealt with the whole situation. I hope the patient is in great condition these days.

[Melvin- Admin]

Unfortunately, refunds are almost always out of the question. I’m fairly certain he made you sign something stating that there’s no guarantee and that complications can arise. That said, has he offered a free repair? That’s standard. 

[WreckedOne]

1 hour ago, Melvin- Admin said:

Unfortunately, refunds are almost always out of the question. I’m fairly certain he made you sign something stating that there’s no guarantee and that complications can arise. That said, has he offered a free repair? That’s standard. 

Yeah, I didn't expect much on that front. Second procedure I had with him was repair of his first procedure (for no cost, due to extremely bad job in the 1st procedure that cost $50k+), and he just used the most of my grafts for subpar results. So no way I'm doing another procedure with him, even though he wouldn't charge for it. He mentioned I need to use beard grafts now for the 3rd procedure (after almost all beard grafts fell out in the first one), when before he was telling I don't need to worry about having enough grafts.

Lack of care from Umar, bad decisions (low hairline, badly transplanted sides, aggressive approach causing LPP likely) and planning can't be described enough.

[WreckedOne]

BTW. I was trying to schedule an in person consultation with Pekiner, and after chatting with his assistant for a few days, Pekiner saw pics today and said that there is no need for an in person consultation given my complicated sitation. He suggested to start oral therapy with Finasteride or Dutasteride, but if I can't take it it's better not to think about hair transplant anymore.

I don't want to take Finasteride or Dutasteride anymore, as it affects me mentally and physically. It affected my libido and sperm count. After getting a child without any problem some years ago prior to hair transplant surgeries, my wife is unable to conceive now due to my low sperm count, which I found out few weeks ago, after posting. I have a low sperm count despite that I stopped taking Dutasteride and Minoxidil more than 6 months ago! Really sucks.

Now I'm on some alternatives (tea, etc) to get my sperm count up, so we can try having another child. If that doesn't work we will go with an IVF.
As you can see the whole situation is far from ideal, and if I knew how much effort, trouble, wasted time and really bad results this would bring, I would never do it. I'm intentionally oversharing this piece of information here, so that others wouldn't just do transplant and take medications lightly.

I thought I'll just do the surgery, it's a few days, and then I wait and have my hair back. But from that moment, I was led to a completely different path I couldn't imagine and thought I didn't sign for. Doing research later on, I'm sure this wouldn't happen if I did this with a better surgeon, and not with Sanusi Umar.
I'm sure there is some lesson in all this for me.

As for what I'll do next, I contacted Feriduni, and will try to get in person consultation with him to see whether anything can be done. If he doesn't want to do it, I will likely laser of hairline, and then potentially the rest, and be done with all of this once and for all.
 

Edited November 2, 2023 by WreckedOne

[Melvin- Admin]

I would contact Dr. Zarev, Eugenix and Dr. Pittella for your case. But I tend to agree with Pekiner. It may be best to forget about HTs and move on with your life, as hard as that sounds. 

Another option is grow out your hair and use hair fibers. You have a baseline, enough hair to use fibers. Not ideal, but better than nothing. 

[WreckedOne]

9 minutes ago, Melvin- Admin said:

I would contact Dr. Zarev, Eugenix and Dr. Pittella for your case. But I tend to agree with Pekiner. It may be best to forget about HTs and move on with your life, as hard as that sounds. 

Another option is grow out your hair and use hair fibers. You have a baseline, enough hair to use fibers. Not ideal, but better than nothing. 

Zarev already refused before, and the first available slot for consultation with him was October 2025, and that was back in March this year, so now it's probably something like April 2026 just for consultation, and then potential surgery is 1.5 years after the consultation. I don't know for who this makes any sense at all.

Will check Eugenix and Dr Pitella. Hair fibres no way - don't want to do that.

Honestly, it doesn't sound tough to stop with HT, I had enough of it trust me, but I'm in the middle - I'm not bald, but I don't have hair too, and it's constantly visible I did something. So I have to do something to just get out of that situation, either somewhat fix it with the last HT, or laser everything off, which if I go that route will be also another thing I will have to deal with mentally - process of not having much hair, then having some hair, then again not having any hair and getting in front of friends and acquaintances like that.
It is what it is. F it!

Edited November 2, 2023 by WreckedOne

[Nw7HPE]

I think you should consult with an attorney and possibly try to contact his other failed patients (Maybe a Class Action) . This is unacceptable, Umar seems to be a conman , there is a pattern here. This is so unetichal, he should not be getting away with this. 

[Nw7HPE]

Making a YouTube video, Reddit thread... And whatever you can would help future would-be victims of these unetichal, conman Drs. Like Umar. Shame of the world on him. He owes you more than a refund. 

[Melvin- Admin]

41 minutes ago, WreckedOne said:

Zarev already refused before, and the first available slot for consultation with him was October 2025, and that was back in March this year, so now it's probably something like April 2026 just for consultation, and then potential surgery is 1.5 years after the consultation. I don't know for who this makes any sense at all.

Will check Eugenix and Dr Pitella. Hair fibres no way - don't want to do that.

Honestly, it doesn't sound tough to stop with HT, I had enough of it trust me, but I'm in the middle - I'm not bald, but I don't have hair too, and it's constantly visible I did something. So I have to do something to just get out of that situation, either somewhat fix it with the last HT, or laser everything off, which if I go that route will be also another thing I will have to deal with mentally - process of not having much hair, then having some hair, then again not having any hair and getting in front of friends and acquaintances like that.
It is what it is. F it!

If you’re over it; laser sounds like the best option. Just shave your head and be done with it. Probably the least hassle as well. 

[AB2000]

1 hour ago, WreckedOne said:

Honestly, it doesn't sound tough to stop with HT, I had enough of it trust me, but I'm in the middle - I'm not bald, but I don't have hair too, and it's constantly visible I did something. So I have to do something to just get out of that situation, either somewhat fix it with the last HT,

How are you going to prevent LPP from flaring up and destroying your next hair transplant?  Because the condition is an autoimmune disease, meaning it does not get cured and can recur with any future HT.

[sansi]

There is a chemical Verteporfin that potentially prevents scarring, promotes skin regeneration including hair follicles.  Very promising so far.

You can try to repair your donor area and laser off the rest.
 

 

[Melvin- Admin]

14 minutes ago, sansi said:

There is a chemical Verteporfin that potentially prevents scarring, promotes skin regeneration including hair follicles.  Very promising so far.

You can try to repair your donor area and laser off the rest.
 

 

This is still in the earliest preliminary stages. I wouldn’t suggest OP get his hopes up. It’s still novel and way too early to be something to consider in his position.

[jjalay]

In your shoes i would do electrolysis to remove the grafts, shave my head and forget about hts. But i would not forget that i have paid 50K for this result, thats crazy.

I would strongly suggest you to talk with a lawyer that specializes in such cases to see what you can do. The doctor should have offer you a full refund or at least a compensation himself after this result. If he hoesnt done that you should check all the options you have.

[WreckedOne]

22 hours ago, Kashnw7hope said:

I think you should consult with an attorney and possibly try to contact his other failed patients (Maybe a Class Action) . This is unacceptable, Umar seems to be a conman , there is a pattern here. This is so unetichal, he should not be getting away with this. 

22 hours ago, Kashnw7hope said:

Making a YouTube video, Reddit thread... And whatever you can would help future would-be victims of these unetichal, conman Drs. Like Umar. Shame of the world on him. He owes you more than a refund. 

19 hours ago, jjalay said:

In your shoes i would do electrolysis to remove the grafts, shave my head and forget about hts. But i would not forget that i have paid 50K for this result, thats crazy.

I would strongly suggest you to talk with a lawyer that specializes in such cases to see what you can do. The doctor should have offer you a full refund or at least a compensation himself after this result. If he hoesnt done that you should check all the options you have.

I just don't want to invest anymore time and energy into pursuing this. Time, energy, emotionally and physically it has already been too costly. My only hope is that he doesn't botch and destroy somebody else up. I wouldn't wish Umar to my worst enemy.

20 hours ago, AB2000 said:

How are you going to prevent LPP from flaring up and destroying your next hair transplant?  Because the condition is an autoimmune disease, meaning it does not get cured and can recur with any future HT.

I decided I'm not gonna do another HT. The current local surgeon that I went for consultation and where I did two sessions of PRP so far, said that he doesn't see any signs of LPP at the moment, and the way I understood him, if it's there you can see it with the loupe they are using. Anyhow, after biopsy confirmed LPP, it didn't stop Umar to do another surgery. He did ask me, but new surgeon told me (correctly) that Umar shouldn't have left that decision to me (as what do I know), but that he just shouldn't have done it once the biopsy confirmed it. Anyway, I'm happy for you if you had a good experience with Umar, but seems also there are more cases like mine where he did a terrible job, more than enough for serious concern. 
After going through all this, I'm of opinion that there needs to be tons of positive reviews with good results, and almost no negative ones, to choose the surgeon correctly. And there are not many reviews on forums like this for Umar, and there are few very negative ones, so the ratio of positive/negative is very bad IMO. If somebody wants to risk, it's fine. Everybody needs to decide for himself. 

 

21 hours ago, Melvin- Admin said:

If you’re over it; laser sounds like the best option. Just shave your head and be done with it. Probably the least hassle as well. 

After Pekiner rejected me for consultation yesterday, I shaved it for the first time ever.  I'm very happy with the look. I had SMP done this summer, but never shaved, and now shaved, with SMP looks great. Difference that was noticed before due to different density is not noticeable anymore.
I should've done this a long time ago. I think this might be viable option for many. If you have enough donor, and you choose a good surgeon (do research, and only go to the ones that have many good reviews!), by all means, go ahead and try HT. If it doesn't work or you don't want to bother with HT, just do SMP at good shop.

Somebody in this thread mentioned Milena Lardi from Milan, but I wouldn't recommend her based on what I heard from some people. She works with temporarily ink, so you would need to go every 6-12 months to her. And apparently lot of repair works from her patients. After research (there is not so much info on SMP) I went to Mirko at Men's Ink in Milan, and he did a great job. There is a good Reddit post about it. I think he is the best in Europe, and probably one of the best in the world when it comes to SMP. There are also guys in Naples doing SMP, and the pics looks good, but they were much more expensive than Men's Ink (SMP at Men's Ink was 2300€ for full head, and Naples guys were like double or so), and after contacting them they seemed a bit less professional/organized than Men's Ink. Besides, I liked the results of Men's Ink more, as it seems like the most natural look I've seen with SMP.

BTW, while checking my options in the last days (that was before shaving while I was still thinking about another HT), I asked Bisanga again for in person consultation, that I'm willing to pay for consultation even if he says I'm not a candidate, but he checked the case again and said that it makes no sense with 11,000 grafts transplanted and LPP condition.

Anyhow, now with the shaved look, I don't feel that I need to laser it off anymore, as it looks really good, and I'm not thinking at all about it anymore. I get no looks at my head or hair as it doesn't look unnatural and nobody can notice I did something. I went out few times today. And I can't notice it when I look into the mirror from close.I feel like I finally got a resolution after years of being concerned with this. It's not what I expected it will be, but it's completely fine as I can go on living my life without thinking anymore about this. And this SMP definitely beats being bold.
I might laser a bit off in the future to have an appearance of a normal natural aging look, as the hairline is still low, but not as much visible now when shaved.

There are some transition points where there is no SMP because Mirko couldn't see it as I didn't come for SMP with the shaved head previously, and he managed to slot me in next week (normally it takes weeks and months), so I'm gonna go do that, and after that I'm finally done with all this.
I'm very relieved with this now, and knowing that I don't need to think about it anymore at all, not pretending or covering anything, and that I can for example just go to gym, take whey or creatine without thinking and researching does it affect my hair is a big relief!
Mentally, I feel like I was in a limbo for a few years, and now I'm years younger with my mental/emotional state same as before the surgeries. Maybe even better now, as I became more resilient due to going through all the troubles on the way.
I know it might look like I'm bipolar :), going from yesterday to today with completely different state of mind, but the difference is really that big. It's like a weight on the shoulders being lifted off.

Thank you all for the support and kind words. I really appreciate it guys and it means a lot!
Will post some photos after I do an SMP touch up for transitions next week.

Edited November 3, 2023 by WreckedOne

[Al - Moderator]

5 hours ago, WreckedOne said:

After Pekiner rejected me for consultation yesterday, I shaved it for the first time ever.  I'm very happy with the look. I had SMP done this summer, but never shaved, and now shaved, with SMP looks great. Difference that was noticed before due to different density is not noticeable anymore.
I should've done this a long time ago. I think this might be viable option for many.

 

This is why a lot of guys should try shaving first to see if it's something they would like or not, especially those guys who say if a HT doesn't work then they'll just shave it. Well if you THINK are willing to just shave it then at least try it out before going through surgery and spending all the money.

 

[Melvin- Admin]

10 hours ago, WreckedOne said:

I just don't want to invest anymore time and energy into pursuing this. Time, energy, emotionally and physically it has already been too costly. My only hope is that he doesn't botch and destroy somebody else up. I wouldn't wish Umar to my worst enemy.

I decided I'm not gonna do another HT. The current local surgeon that I went for consultation and where I did two sessions of PRP so far, said that he doesn't see any signs of LPP at the moment, and the way I understood him, if it's there you can see it with the loupe they are using. Anyhow, after biopsy confirmed LPP, it didn't stop Umar to do another surgery. He did ask me, but new surgeon told me (correctly) that Umar shouldn't have left that decision to me (as what do I know), but that he just shouldn't have done it once the biopsy confirmed it. Anyway, I'm happy for you if you had a good experience with Umar, but seems also there are more cases like mine where he did a terrible job, more than enough for serious concern. 
After going through all this, I'm of opinion that there needs to be tons of positive reviews with good results, and almost no negative ones, to choose the surgeon correctly. And there are not many reviews on forums like this for Umar, and there are few very negative ones, so the ratio of positive/negative is very bad IMO. If somebody wants to risk, it's fine. Everybody needs to decide for himself. 

 

After Pekiner rejected me for consultation yesterday, I shaved it for the first time ever.  I'm very happy with the look. I had SMP done this summer, but never shaved, and now shaved, with SMP looks great. Difference that was noticed before due to different density is not noticeable anymore.
I should've done this a long time ago. I think this might be viable option for many. If you have enough donor, and you choose a good surgeon (do research, and only go to the ones that have many good reviews!), by all means, go ahead and try HT. If it doesn't work or you don't want to bother with HT, just do SMP at good shop.

Somebody in this thread mentioned Milena Lardi from Milan, but I wouldn't recommend her based on what I heard from some people. She works with temporarily ink, so you would need to go every 6-12 months to her. And apparently lot of repair works from her patients. After research (there is not so much info on SMP) I went to Mirko at Men's Ink in Milan, and he did a great job. There is a good Reddit post about it. I think he is the best in Europe, and probably one of the best in the world when it comes to SMP. There are also guys in Naples doing SMP, and the pics looks good, but they were much more expensive than Men's Ink (SMP at Men's Ink was 2300€ for full head, and Naples guys were like double or so), and after contacting them they seemed a bit less professional/organized than Men's Ink. Besides, I liked the results of Men's Ink more, as it seems like the most natural look I've seen with SMP.

BTW, while checking my options in the last days (that was before shaving while I was still thinking about another HT), I asked Bisanga again for in person consultation, that I'm willing to pay for consultation even if he says I'm not a candidate, but he checked the case again and said that it makes no sense with 11,000 grafts transplanted and LPP condition.

Anyhow, now with the shaved look, I don't feel that I need to laser it off anymore, as it looks really good, and I'm not thinking at all about it anymore. I get no looks at my head or hair as it doesn't look unnatural and nobody can notice I did something. I went out few times today. And I can't notice it when I look into the mirror from close.I feel like I finally got a resolution after years of being concerned with this. It's not what I expected it will be, but it's completely fine as I can go on living my life without thinking anymore about this. And this SMP definitely beats being bold.
I might laser a bit off in the future to have an appearance of a normal natural aging look, as the hairline is still low, but not as much visible now when shaved.

There are some transition points where there is no SMP because Mirko couldn't see it as I didn't come for SMP with the shaved head previously, and he managed to slot me in next week (normally it takes weeks and months), so I'm gonna go do that, and after that I'm finally done with all this.
I'm very relieved with this now, and knowing that I don't need to think about it anymore at all, not pretending or covering anything, and that I can for example just go to gym, take whey or creatine without thinking and researching does it affect my hair is a big relief!
Mentally, I feel like I was in a limbo for a few years, and now I'm years younger with my mental/emotional state same as before the surgeries. Maybe even better now, as I became more resilient due to going through all the troubles on the way.
I know it might look like I'm bipolar :), going from yesterday to today with completely different state of mind, but the difference is really that big. It's like a weight on the shoulders being lifted off.

Thank you all for the support and kind words. I really appreciate it guys and it means a lot!
Will post some photos after I do an SMP touch up for transitions next week.

I’m happy you found a solution that doesn’t require surgery or more money. Hopefully you can move on with life now 🙏

[mcr7777]

On 9/30/2023 at 7:14 PM, WreckedOne said:

• 36y old. Was NW6 previously. 
• Had two surgeries with dr. Sanusi Umar over the last 3 years. Despite not many reviews from his patients on HT forums, I thought I did a good research at the time.I saw pictures of one of his old patients that had same level of loss and later appeared to have full head of hair. Haven’t seen it from anybody else at the time. Also saw he was promoting himself as fixing bad transplants from other surgeons. Had money, and decided to travel from Europe to California to see him. Payed him over $50k for transplant (+ flights, accommdation, his medicine, etc). Overall spent over $70k on this. Wanted to do it right, avoid Turkey with mass transplants, etc. But what a mistake it turend out to be…
   
• In first procedure he aggressively transplanted 7600 grafts over 4 days (hair 2900, neck 590, beard: 4000, thigh: 140). Scalp redness for longer time (5/6+ months). After a year, I think maybe 15% successful grafts (and almost all beard hair fell out). He made hairline way too agressive reasoning that I will be transplanting lot of grafts. My forehead wrinkles touching the hairline. He put the strong hairs on the sides, which looks unnatural. Also hairline grafts appeared to stick much more then the rest, so it’s like having someone draw a circle on my scalp, and then being empty inside.
   
• He didn’t really understand why the growth is not good, and then he told me that it appears that some of his patients had condition called LPP (lichen planopilaris), and he wanted me to test for it. But he didn’t say I can test in Europe (he said he doesn’t trust doctors here), so year after first procedure I went again to see him, he did biopsy and it came with confirmed LPP. Then he asked me if I want to do 2nd procedure. And obviously travling half the world to see him expecting to have the 2nd procedure, I didn’t want to go back home just doing biopsy that I could have done in Europe as well. Terrible from him. Other doctors later told me, that he should have never asked me nor do the 2nd procedure, until LPP is calmed down. I don’t know at what state the LPP was at that moment, but like I said it was confirmed.
  So, did 3200 grafts over 3 days (only head hair) + fat injections. He didn’t charge for this procedure, as it was basically repair of the failed first one. Growth was better with this procedure (hard to say % wise how successful) but density remained big issue. 
   

• Before 2nd procedure, me asking about grafts I have left, he told me I don’t have to worry and that I have many grafts which he can use. But I did worry rightly from where he will take additional grafts. After I asked him again about this he mentioned that he needs to take grafts from the beard (what’s left) and that I can think of doing light micropigmentation. After that I completely lost trust in dr. Umar, and stopped communicating with him. At that point he transplanted almost 11,000 grafts, with very low success rate and he wanted to do another from beard, knowing that almost all previous beard grafts fell off. It was just crazy.
   
• Also, before the procedures, he told me I will not need to take medicines like Finasteride, etc. Later on he put me on Minoxidil, Finasteride, and then switch Finasteride with Dutasteride. It affected me also mentally and physically (loss of sex drive, etc). After taking them as per instructions for over 1.5 years, I stopped after I lost trust with Umar.
   
• After doing new research, I consulted with top doctors (Pekiner, Mwamba, Bisanga, Zarev, etc). Unfortunately they confirmed my doubts. Almost all refused to do operation on me. Bisanga said Umar was too agressive with first op, and that they would never do that. Zarev refused and said good density couldn’t be achieved due to not enough grafts in donor area. Pekiner and Mwamba were willing to have live consultation at least, but I decided to consult and see well rated HT surgeon that was nearer first.
   
• Went for a live consultation with one surgeon where he confirmed that I have maybe 1000 grafts left. Without knowing at which doctor I went previously, he pointed many mistakes Umar made and said he was way too agressive, that he should have seen LPP immediately if there was one, and suspecting that he didn’t see it because there was no LPP before him, and that his aggressive approach with 7600 grafts over 4 days could have resulted in LPP in the first place, also that my hairline was done too low, unnatural, etc. And I agree with everything he said, as I was suspecting all of this. After he gave his opinion, only then I told him my 2 procedures were with Dr. Sanusi Umar, and he was shocked just looking at me for a few moments without saying word. He never saw his patients, but he knew him, and thought that he is top surgeon. He told me honestly that he thought at beginning that I went to cheap Turkish clinics, one of those surgeons that agriculture in the morning and surgery in the afternoon.
   
• I don’t even want to mention his pricey hair oil and vitamins he asks you to take. That oil you should put 2 per day and wear for hours, your scalp changes color, and you can’t go anywhere with that on your head… It’s ridicolous, and there was no difference once I stopped truting Umar and stopped taking also that oil some 10 months after second surgery.
   
• Summary: I thought I was going to the top hair transplant surgeon, traveling half the world to do the procedures, with overall cost going over $70k, and he wrecked me completely. It’s even worse than if I was bold. When I was bold I was just another bold dude, but now due to low density and stronger hair with more density on the harline it’s very visible and people notice immediately. It costed me and still does a lot of mental health, (avoidance of social gatherings, being self-conscious about this and constantly getting feedback from others in terms of eye looks at the hair, etc). I’ve let it grew longer few times only to see that density difference is just too grave and it looks much worse. I’m constantly trimming my hair with 0 clipper. But even when clipped to 0, it doesn’t look natural due to density difference. It went from having big expectations prior to the surgeries (as I thought I’m going to the top doctor and paying top money for great result), to going much below the baseline bold feeling, going through a lot of emotional pain due to all that.
   
• Did micropigmentation after that, but it didn’t help much really. It does look a bit better when clipped to 0, so I can at least be comfortable enough to go out without hat (I can’t stand the hats anymore at this point).
   
• Scheduled another procedure (with the surgeon I saw live) for February next year (he checked and no signs of LPP are visible now) to transplant remaining 1000 grafts to improve if possible at least a little bit. The plan is to laser off his hairline, and move my hairline less agressively so that it can look more natural. I don’t really have hope I will be able to grow hair looking normally, as it will still likely be too little density to be able to cover it normally. But at least then I will know I did everything I could, and if I can’t achieve normal look, will just keep clipping or shaving it until the rest of my life.
   
• Had to write down this and get it out! Be careful and do your research well! Avoid aggressive surgeons that are doing lot of grafts over short time and don’t have many patient reveiws on forums like this, no matter how good they appear or promote themselves!

 

Before the procedures:

11 months after 1st procedure with 7600 grafts:

3 months after 2nd procedure with fat injections and 3200 head grafts (total cca 11k grafts now) :

7 months after 2nd procedure:

13 months after 2nd HT and after micropigmentation  (TODAY in daylight):

 

I'm very sorry about this.. I was diagnosed with LPP after my HT (I think I had it before HT). LPP largely under control now.

 Dr. should never have offered to do a 2nd procedure until LPP was calmed/treated.   

 

Did you have LPP symptoms before HT - and now?

 

 

 

[hairsave2021]

Maybe SMP can be an option. I have seen some guys who have good results from it. 
If I was completely bald with bad donor I would have done it, but that is my opinion and would suggest to do your research.
Good luck. 

[duchaine]

On 10/2/2023 at 3:35 PM, WreckedOne said:

Thanks! Have links on those cases by any chance?

I'm considering having one more live consultation with one of the following doctors:

• Kaan Pekiner (Neo Head Clinic). Assistant Alex. Was in contact with him previously. Was willing to do live consultation.
• Patrick Mwamba - read this on Reddit though: "Dr. Patrick Mwamba [Brussels] $$$ - Recently had a string of poor yield results. Seems that another doctor named Dr Ali is doing some of the incisions, which should be done by the doctor you selected. DO YOUR HOMEWORK"
• Ozgur (HLC Ankara). Problem is you can't pick him, clinic assigns you a doctor.
• Keser
• Ozlem Bicer
• Christian Bisanga
• Dogan Turan

Apparently Pekiner, Keser and Ozgur do a do manual extraction, stick and place implantation.
Also read this somewhere "As he learnt with the Dr. Keser and practised at the HLC, Dr. Pekiner performs a fully manual FUE with a specific punch for the extractions (diameter from 0.6 to 0.9 mm depending on the case) and a specific thin needle for incisions and grafts. The doctor performs incisions and grafts with the “stick and place” technique. This means that the graft is grafted into the skin immediately after the incision is done. This way there will be less bleeding and the recipient area does not have time to shrink, so the incision will be the smallest possible.
The doctor personally cures every phase of the transplant (extraction, incision, grafting). Assistants, nurses and technicians only solve the secondary tasks, such as the collecting and the reorganisation of the extracted grafts or the management of the Petri dishes."

 

Are you sure Pekiner is good for a such difficult case?
From my prospective, he is a great doctor but he loves working to improve good head.
He rejected some of us after extractions because (after extracting) he thought that we were not good candidates.

[Panamera13]

On 11/28/2023 at 7:12 PM, mcr7777 said:

I'm very sorry about this.. I was diagnosed with LPP after my HT (I think I had it before HT). LPP largely under control now.

 

How did you detect it? Biopsy?

[mcr7777]

Yes it was a biopsy.  Dermatologists seem unsure on the diagnosis though - I definitely have folliculitis, see term and MPB - and no further hair loss for 4+ years.

Edited February 8 by mcr7777

[mrmane85]

The only surgeon I would personally consult in this situation would be Dr Pitella. 

Edited February 8 by mrmane85

[Lenzman]

On 11/3/2023 at 3:45 PM, WreckedOne said:

I just don't want to invest anymore time and energy into pursuing this. Time, energy, emotionally and physically it has already been too costly. My only hope is that he doesn't botch and destroy somebody else up. I wouldn't wish Umar to my worst enemy.

I decided I'm not gonna do another HT. The current local surgeon that I went for consultation and where I did two sessions of PRP so far, said that he doesn't see any signs of LPP at the moment, and the way I understood him, if it's there you can see it with the loupe they are using. Anyhow, after biopsy confirmed LPP, it didn't stop Umar to do another surgery. He did ask me, but new surgeon told me (correctly) that Umar shouldn't have left that decision to me (as what do I know), but that he just shouldn't have done it once the biopsy confirmed it. Anyway, I'm happy for you if you had a good experience with Umar, but seems also there are more cases like mine where he did a terrible job, more than enough for serious concern. 
After going through all this, I'm of opinion that there needs to be tons of positive reviews with good results, and almost no negative ones, to choose the surgeon correctly. And there are not many reviews on forums like this for Umar, and there are few very negative ones, so the ratio of positive/negative is very bad IMO. If somebody wants to risk, it's fine. Everybody needs to decide for himself. 

 

After Pekiner rejected me for consultation yesterday, I shaved it for the first time ever.  I'm very happy with the look. I had SMP done this summer, but never shaved, and now shaved, with SMP looks great. Difference that was noticed before due to different density is not noticeable anymore.
I should've done this a long time ago. I think this might be viable option for many. If you have enough donor, and you choose a good surgeon (do research, and only go to the ones that have many good reviews!), by all means, go ahead and try HT. If it doesn't work or you don't want to bother with HT, just do SMP at good shop.

Somebody in this thread mentioned Milena Lardi from Milan, but I wouldn't recommend her based on what I heard from some people. She works with temporarily ink, so you would need to go every 6-12 months to her. And apparently lot of repair works from her patients. After research (there is not so much info on SMP) I went to Mirko at Men's Ink in Milan, and he did a great job. There is a good Reddit post about it. I think he is the best in Europe, and probably one of the best in the world when it comes to SMP. There are also guys in Naples doing SMP, and the pics looks good, but they were much more expensive than Men's Ink (SMP at Men's Ink was 2300€ for full head, and Naples guys were like double or so), and after contacting them they seemed a bit less professional/organized than Men's Ink. Besides, I liked the results of Men's Ink more, as it seems like the most natural look I've seen with SMP.

BTW, while checking my options in the last days (that was before shaving while I was still thinking about another HT), I asked Bisanga again for in person consultation, that I'm willing to pay for consultation even if he says I'm not a candidate, but he checked the case again and said that it makes no sense with 11,000 grafts transplanted and LPP condition.

Anyhow, now with the shaved look, I don't feel that I need to laser it off anymore, as it looks really good, and I'm not thinking at all about it anymore. I get no looks at my head or hair as it doesn't look unnatural and nobody can notice I did something. I went out few times today. And I can't notice it when I look into the mirror from close.I feel like I finally got a resolution after years of being concerned with this. It's not what I expected it will be, but it's completely fine as I can go on living my life without thinking anymore about this. And this SMP definitely beats being bold.
I might laser a bit off in the future to have an appearance of a normal natural aging look, as the hairline is still low, but not as much visible now when shaved.

There are some transition points where there is no SMP because Mirko couldn't see it as I didn't come for SMP with the shaved head previously, and he managed to slot me in next week (normally it takes weeks and months), so I'm gonna go do that, and after that I'm finally done with all this.
I'm very relieved with this now, and knowing that I don't need to think about it anymore at all, not pretending or covering anything, and that I can for example just go to gym, take whey or creatine without thinking and researching does it affect my hair is a big relief!
Mentally, I feel like I was in a limbo for a few years, and now I'm years younger with my mental/emotional state same as before the surgeries. Maybe even better now, as I became more resilient due to going through all the troubles on the way.
I know it might look like I'm bipolar :), going from yesterday to today with completely different state of mind, but the difference is really that big. It's like a weight on the shoulders being lifted off.

Thank you all for the support and kind words. I really appreciate it guys and it means a lot!
Will post some photos after I do an SMP touch up for transitions next week.

Do you have any photos with the shaved look and SMP? I’d be keen to see this. It’s a shame to hear of the ordeal you have experienced. 

[Mickey85]

I am very sad to see this. I personally wouldn't attempt anymore surgeries. You have could definitely rock the shaved head look. 

Any further surgical intervention would be extremely expensive and would have to be in the form of body+beard hair. Even then the density would not be great. 

There is alot wrong with how this was handled and you have every right to be angry. 

[WreckedOneMsgMe]

Hey, 

My story is extremely similar to yours. Do you mind messaging/reaching out to me I'd like to know if you ended up finding a doctor willing to take you on as a patient and hopefully repair whats been done? I've been searching around as well. Hopefully we can connect and help each other out. Thanks