Dr Resul Yaman, 6th October 2023, 4550 Grafts

[RobsHair16]

Before I start this post, it’s really important for me to thank all of those who run this forum and regularly contribute as it’s been an absolute god send for me in navigating to the decision I made, and I honestly think without this forum I would have made a huge mistake so thank you.

Also there is a lot of background info in here which may be interesting to some but if you are more interested in the procedure its along skip the first few paragraphs.

My Journey and Decision

So I started losing my hair in my early 20s, it remained relatively manageable until my 30s as I had always kept it quite long so allowed for a fairly serious comb over. However from 30 onwards the comb over in isolation wasn't cutting it and started using Toppik. This helped a bit but as most of my thinning is at the front once my hairline disappeared it was time to start looking towards solutions. My hair below;

Being completely new to this area I started to google and due to being relatively apprehensive around travelling for any form of procedure kept it fairly localised to the UK, the price range as you can imagine was broad anything from £2,000 - £10,000+. I stumbled across a company called Now Cosmetic who offered a fixed price hair transplant for £3,500 which in truth was around the maximum I could afford so got in touch to get more detail. They seemed helpful and far from pushy but were relatively secretive on who and where the procedure would be being carried out, however I felt quite positive at the end and did some further reading. I eventually figured out after deciphering reviews (good and bad) that actually the same clinic (Hair Growth Centre) offered the surgery direct for £2,000 I initially thought great.... I then did some more digging and found that there could be up to 8 patients being treated per day and the graft number wasn't going to come close to what I required.  I spoke with the clinic direct and again while helpful these guys were much more pushy even offering to do a further surgery if required for £1250 which started to raise quite a few alarm bells as I couldn't understand how it could be offered so cheap comparably.

I paused for a few months then my wife mentioned someone she had seen who had been to a surgeon in turkey, I had a chat with him and sounded as though he had a good experience and his results at least in photos looked good. I gradually felt more confident on the Turkey route and in doing that came across this forum which thank goodness I did, not having to navigate the false reviews and see genuine results all be it good and bad was reassuring and led me to making the decision to go with Dr Yaman. Before I finally decided I did a lot of reading of patient stories, results but also reached out to a few other clinics including those highly recommended on this forum including Dr Turan, Dr Bicer etc but in truth Dr Turan never responded and Dr Bicer was 2.5 Euros per graft so was significantly more than I could afford. 

Once I had decided I got in touch with the clinic and was put in touch with Doga who is the Clinic director, he explained the process and what would happen and advised if I wanted to progress I would need to send flight confirmation which I did. The bit which confused me however was that the surgery would ideally need to be paid in cash, being such a big amount this again did make me apprehensive but from speaking with others and reading this forum noticed it was quite common practice so just needed to be as cautious as I could. The communication as others have said is relatively sparse until around a month before where I checked all was still okay, Doga sent the hotel confirmation and asked for a head shot the morning I was departing so the driver could recognise me. 

My Experience

Travelling out was relatively straight forward, there were a few issues with initial pick up due to one of the drivers being sick but within half an hour I was collected and quite helpfully for me had a small driving tour of Istanbul. I was collected at the same time as a nice lad from Texas who was staying in the centre and as I was happy to see some of the area from the safety of a car I was happy to be driven around, also helped in truth with occupying my mind ahead of the surgery. I arrived at the hotel at around 8pm which was the Royal Palace Stay Hotel, I had googled the hotel before I arrived and had my reservations but was pleasantly surprised, it seemed busier than I thought it would be and staff seemed friendly, I will say now though if like me you are going to be there for a few days, take snacks, drinks something to watch with you as if after your transplant you are essentially sitting in the room recovering there are no shops nearby and the food in the hotel is limited. If I was doing this again I would stay somewhere else, as I was sat in the room recovering I could see the price of a hotel a few miles down the road overlooking the sea with what appeared to be much better facilities on site was relatively cheap so I would advise the clinic you are booking your own hotel and I imagine providing it isn't too far they should accommodate you from a transport perspective.

On the day of the surgery, I wasn't sure if it was the adrenaline, but I felt relatively relaxed, I was picked up at around 8:30am and taken to the clinic, I was met by Doga and led downstairs to have my blood taken to check for basic markers and prepare the PRP. I was then led back upstairs to the main clinic where I met Dr Yaman, now after reading lots of stories it almost felt like meeting a celebrity but as most have said a nice friendly guy who gives off a sense of calm which was reassuring. Dr Yaman did a full consultation with me examined my hair using camera which I could see on screen to look at the quality along with assess coverage within the donor area. Dr Yaman was honest with my hairline design in that even with 4,500 grafts I was going to struggle to get dense coverage and the more reserved hairline reflected that, but I was happy.

Once that was done it all starts I was taken into a room, hair is washed, a few photos are taken and the head is shaved, quite a scary point for me as I managed to glimpse a look in the mirror and after having a comb over for so long didn't realise what little hair I actually had left.

 It was a good realisation of I've paid, I'm here, my hair is shaved time to get on with it. Once this is done you are led into room where you Doga explains the process again, and the anaesthesia injections start, I imagine like most of us this was one of the most nerve-wracking parts but it was actually over quite quickly and yes it was painful but you soon forget. Once your head has gone numb the graft extraction starts, this was done by two staff, I wasn’t sure if these were doctors or techs but it was around 2-3 hours on my front. On reflection I felt this was the most nerve-wracking part as you can see quite a bit of blood but I think it just spreads and imagine didn’t really equate to that much. Doga and Dr Yaman popped in a few times during the extraction phase to assure me all was okay and going well.

Once that was complete, I had a quick lunch stop which was welcome and topped up my fluids as after the extraction phase I felt a little dizzy but I was assured this is normal and after half an hour felt fine. After lunch I went to different room to the extraction, the room had my photo on and could see my hair sat in the fridge waiting to be implanted. The next stage was the incisions and the final hair line design carried out by Dr Yaman, the hairline design took some time and you could tell Dr Yaman wanted to make sure it was right, once this was done I had some more numbing to my head (no where near as bad as the morning) and the incision process started. Dr Yaman was fairly quiet and could tell he was concentrating, but the process seemed quite quick and id say within an hour it was all done and the techs came in for the implantation stage.

This stage took a while I didn’t check start time, but I’d say it started around half 2 and finished at half 8, I had 3 techs implanting while watching some TV show in Turkish. I tried to dose off a few times with no luck but felt fairly relaxed so time seemed to go quick. Around half way through one of the staff connected me to a drip can only assume I looked pale as I did feel quite cold by this point but similar to the morning Doga and Dr Yaman came in to check every few hours. I felt under the impression the staff were doing a good job and while there was a lot of talking and laughing good progress seemed to be being made. Not far from the end Dr Yaman did come and seemed to tell the staff off, I imagine by the response he was asking them to concentrate. This was the only part I felt a little vulnerable as obviously you don’t want to say anything to jeopardise the work they are doing so I was happy to nod along and providing all my hairs got implanted correctly and there wasn’t a risk to graft survival if it took a little longer no problem by me I was happy.

Around 8:30 all was finished, the staff bandaged up my head and Doga gave me medication for the next 5 days, the driver was ready, and I went back to the hotel. I’m glad I took my own travel pillow as the inflatable ones are too small but I did make a mistake of having one with a slightly raised neck support, I regrated this instantly and had a very long night but this was to be expected and knew it would only get better.  

The next morning, I was picked up around 11 for the hair wash and bandage removal, I was pleasantly surprised how well things looked and the hair wash was fairly pleasant. Again, Doga went over the medicine schedule and reminded me to send him a photo in 10 days’ time to check on progress, or message if there are any problems. I was back at the hotel for around 1pm and now the long wait to go home began. As I said earlier I didn’t feel poorly but didn’t want to risk going walking so would have valued a nice hotel with a bar/café with a view to sit with a coffee to break the day up so would recommend a better location if you can.

The travel home was more of a challenge than I thought, Istanbul airport is huge and very security heavy, so there is a lot of moving from que to que and when you avoiding a sweat getting to the gate takes longer than my normal pace. I gave myself 3 hours and by the time I had got through all the different checkpoints (this was midday) I didn’t have much time to explore the airport which I would have liked. Once I was on the plane (Turkish Airlines) I did unfortunately also end up next to the most rude individual who had no respect for boundaries and I consequently spend the next 4 hours worryingly making sure that my hair was protected so on reflection if ever I need to do this again for the small difference in price given the scale of things I will upgrade to business as the space especially going back is so worthwhile.

At home the recovery has felt fairly good and within a few days I had got into a good sleep routine, it was amazing to see the small hair emerge and between a combination of paracetamol and a daily antihistamine I never had any substantial pain or itching. The strangest sensation was the scabbing while felt like a small cap on my head, despite washing and applying the foam each day I did have quite heavy scabbing still by day 10. As the photos show I did manage to wash this out but took around 2 hours and 4 washes.

 

 

Overall, I’m really happy with the progress so far, my donor doesn’t appear to have recovered as quickly as some but I’m hoping with time it will. My shedding has been light so far, the photo below shows me at day 19, I imagine it will come but for the time being I’m enjoying a head of hair I haven’t had for a long time.

 

I will keep updating as the months progress but I hope this is of help to some as much as it has been to me.

Total Grafts 4550

950 Single Units

2150 Double Units

1450 Multiple Units

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 27, 2023 by RobsHair16
Messed up photos

[RobsHair16]

Sorry didn't seem load photos in correct, 

Consultation Photo

Bald head before surgery

Hair Post op

hair wash 

hair day 2 (no head band as advised)

 

day 4

 

 

 

 

 

Day 10

 

 

 

Day 19

 

 

 

Edited October 27, 2023 by RobsHair16
Messed up photos

[Jackdaniels]

Really nice description of the whole process. You are in safe hands with dr yaman and I’m sure you will have a great result..🙏

Waiting for your future updates 😃

[StillAlive]

Looking good man, happy growing!

[Myles23]

Great write up. Wish you the best result

[Jupiter_]

The work looks very clean and nice. You selected a great surgeon for your hair transplant. I wish you good luck !

[Patricio]

Hi there, I had a HT with Dr. Yaman on September 28th, my experience is pretty much the same, except that the hair wash next day was pretty painful. Now I’m in shedding stage. It was a good experience overall. 

[RobsHair16]

Ah glad to hear it  but yeah I think removing the dressing was quite uncomfortable but I think the relief of everything looking pretty good out weighed the pain at the time aha. I’m just waiting for the shedding to begin as much as I’d love to be that few percent where it doesn’t happen I know it’s coming aha

[Patricio]

15 minutes ago, RobsHair16 said:

Ah glad to hear it  but yeah I think removing the dressing was quite uncomfortable but I think the relief of everything looking pretty good out weighed the pain at the time aha. I’m just waiting for the shedding to begin as much as I’d love to be that few percent where it doesn’t happen I know it’s coming aha

Oh yeah, I was definitely hoping the same!!! Funny that you mentioned the Turkish show on tv, and yes the room was a bit cold. Good luck.

[Belve]

Happy growing. Nice design and plan by dr yaman. I wish you all the best…

[RobsHair16]

@Patricio I did try to figure out what was going on in the show but I could barely say thanks in Turkish so didn't have much chance, best of luck to you too, be good to see some progression photos if you have some, always enjoy looking at others progress

[Patricio]

Sure. I’ll attach some pictures from right after the surgery until up to 10 days ago, right before my hair started shedding.

 

Edited October 27, 2023 by Patricio

[RobsHair16]

@Patricio looking good man, how is your donor doing? Mine is still quite patchy hoping with time it recovers

[DavidSheer]

I like the hair line design 👍

[RobsHair16]

9 hours ago, DavidSheer said:

I like the hair line design 👍

Thanks, that was one of the reasons I chose Dr Yaman I wanted it to effectively look like a normal hairline for a  man my age who hadn't lost his hair 🤣

[RobsHair16]

One Month Update

So not a huge amount to report at the one month stage, as expected a lot of the new hair has shed, I did think by week 3 I'm doing well here and was fully embracing the buzz cut, a bit of toppik and I would have more than happy but sadly it was not to be and had a fair bit of shedding over the past week. 

Looking at photos I feel that I'm more bald than ever but just going to embrace the look in the knowing I'm hopefully on the path to success.

The only part that concerns me is the donor area in particular is still  quite tender but grateful the redness has reduced and I can now sleep as normal but this has only been in the past few days. I'm still quite patchy on the back in quite a few places that don't seem to have hair extracted so wonder if its wider spread shock loss or the effect of the anaesthesia. I also have quite a noticeable line around the back where you can see the extraction area so would welcome any assurances that can be provided on this.  I find it crazy how much I have read around donor recovery being described as a few weeks when in reality I know its different for everyone but for quite a few it can be like 3-6 months which I think for me anyway set a false expectation of recovery.

 

 

Il do another update in a few months time by then hopefully will be starting to see some of the new hairs make an appearance. 

 

 

[jwolfe890]

That donor does look very patchy. Does anyone know if that's normal for 1 month?

[Divinehair]

The donor will be healed  in the upcoming months, u dont have to worry about that. The recipinent area looks perfect. I'm sure you will be totally satisfied with your final result.

Edited November 4, 2023 by Divinehair

[beegee84]

I had the same concerns about donar area at around 1 month definitely thought it looked over harvested. Now at the 3 month 1 week mark and donar area looks significantly better than it did at 1 month. But I'm still hoping it will get better

 

Went with Yaman in july.

1 1/2 months to 2 1/2 months is definitely the worst part lots will go through your mind because it will get bad.

Wait it out 2 1/2 months in things started really drastically improving donar and recipient area especially after getting a cut to even things out

[Gatsby]

I personally believe that the donor needs up to a year to fully bounce back from the tissue trauma of surgery.

[RobsHair16]

On 11/4/2023 at 11:47 PM, beegee84 said:

I had the same concerns about donar area at around 1 month definitely thought it looked over harvested. Now at the 3 month 1 week mark and donar area looks significantly better than it did at 1 month. But I'm still hoping it will get better

 

Went with Yaman in july.

1 1/2 months to 2 1/2 months is definitely the worst part lots will go through your mind because it will get bad.

Wait it out 2 1/2 months in things started really drastically improving donar and recipient area especially after getting a cut to even things out

Thanks for this @beegee84 that's reassuring , it always a worry around the Donor and I think sometimes made worse by seeing others that look relatively unscathed even they've had a similar graft extraction but hoping and fairly confident as @Gatsby and others have said many times it will be recover I just need to give it time like recipient area. 

[Random27]

Following your journey as i've booked Yaman in late Jan 2024. Great results thus far. Hope to see your donor area recover soon!

[LikeAJungle]

Looks good Rob 👍The first couple months is difficult. I'm just approaching month 2 from my surgery with Dr Yaman and have shedded lots of hair too.

[RobsHair16]

On 11/11/2023 at 6:40 AM, Random27 said:

Following your journey as i've booked Yaman in late Jan 2024. Great results thus far. Hope to see your donor area recover soon!

Thanks @Random27, donor is improving every day and the growth on top is coming on well for early days, you’ll be sound with Yaman though I just have read a hundred reviews before I booked so it was exactly how I imagined aha 

[RobsHair16]

On 11/11/2023 at 3:54 PM, LikeAJungle said:

Looks good Rob 👍The first couple months is difficult. I'm just approaching month 2 from my surgery with Dr Yaman and have shedded lots of hair too.

Thanks @LikeAJungle good to hear from you  I must have read your post about 20 times before my surgery it was quite reassuring so thanks for that  how is the shedding doing now? Mine seems to be calming down but still get the odd few hairs when I apply the spray, looking forward to seeing your next update