Este Medical UK/Turkey

[Portugal]

I had my first hair transplant done 2 weeks ago via Este Medical UK but carried out in Turkey. I didn't do too much research before I went but now I've had it done I've done a lot more (not too wise, I know!)

I have a ton of questions so I will post them separately but my first one is that I searched this forum for Este Medical and didn't find many posts but a couple suggested they should be avoided at all costs and referred to them as a hair mill which has unsettled me considerably. 

A couple of red flags have come up for me since my surgery:
1. I had 4200 grafts in one session
2. The surgeon wore surgical magnification loupes when cutting the channels but the 4 technicians doing the planting did not. 

The service and customer care was exceptional and I have no reason to believe they've done a bad job based on my experience alone but Im now really worried. Ive attached a couple of pictures if this helps answer my questions. 

So to my questions...

How do I know if they have done a bad job at this point and what could the negative outcomes turn out to be? 

Thanks

[ScottishGuy21]

I’ve not heard of the clinic although there is countless ‘Estes’ around

From 2 weeks out it looks very clean. 4200 is a large harvest but it doesn’t look too bad at all. 
 

Just because you went to supposed mill it doesn’t automatically mean the result will be bad.  You’ve had the op now so try not to worry and let nature take its course. Fingers crossed it a good result 🙏🏼

[Miller1980]

Happy growing. The work looks really clean. What was the price of your hair transplant? Also could you please upload some pictures of yourself with long hair before the hair transplant ?

I wish you the best 🙏

Edited March 4 by Miller1980

[Portugal]

@Miller1980 Thanks for your kind words. I paid £4900 and that included a PRP and Stem Cell treatment on the day of the surgery, my hotel in Turkey, all transportation from the airport and backwards and forward to the clinic plus 3 months of aftercare (topical minoxidil, PRP sessions and laser therapy). The only thing Im slightly unsure about is my new hairline. I wish my temples area didnt go back so deep. I would have liked them to be pulled further forward so I might end up having those filled in at a later date. 

[Berba11]

1 hour ago, Portugal said:

I wish my temples area didnt go back so deep. I would have liked them to be pulled further forward so I might end up having those filled in at a later date.

It's much better that they left the recession points to be more natural and mature. One of the indicators of poor work out of Turkey is the sloping angles that many clinics often create in the temple corners, which is unnatural and odd looking.

From the pictures you've shared, there's nothing that stands out as being an immediate concern. The devil of course will be in the detail. What you're going to want to see is soft single hair grafts used along the hairline, with lots of irregularities to create a bit of break-up and extra softness and naturalness, as well as proper angulation and direction. At this stage we can't know if they've done that (a better picture of the hairline post op would be more instructive here), so it's a waiting game.

Clinics like Este tend to be perfectly adequate at transplanting hair from A to B and getting it to grow in. Where most of these low cost Turkish clinics tend to fail is with the level of care and refinement needed to make everything look as natural as possible. Until we see the results we won't know how refined the hairline work has been done.

[Portugal]

@Berba11 Thanks for your comments, they are reassuring. Here is my hairline post op 

Edited March 4 by Portugal

[Berba11]

7 minutes ago, Portugal said:

@Berba11 Thanks for your comments, they are reassuring. Here is my hairline post op 

As far as I can tell, you've got both singles and irregularities there, which is good. We still won't know for sure until things really start to grow out but I don't think you have anything to worry about for now.

The lower cost Turkish clinics are a bit of a lottery. We see very decent results and we see very poor results and it's sometimes hard to know which way it will go for a patient but I'd say from what I can see that things look promising for you.

Edited March 4 by Berba11

[Portugal]

Im at Week 6 and have shed quite a lot. I can see quite a few new hairs coming through but Im slightly concerned at the amount of completely bald spots with no sign of any follicles. Is this normal at this stage and nothing to worry about or should I be worried? You can by comparing week 2 picture to todays picture how many follicles there were before I started shedding. 

[ScottishGuy21]

7 minutes ago, Portugal said:

Im at Week 6 and have shed quite a lot. I can see quite a few new hairs coming through but Im slightly concerned at the amount of completely bald spots with no sign of any follicles. Is this normal at this stage and nothing to worry about or should I be worried? You can by comparing week 2 picture to todays picture how many follicles there were before I started shedding. 

Perfectly normal , this was mine at exactly the same stage. For reference I had an island at the front so the hair you see there is native  

Edited March 27 by ScottishGuy21