S.H, London
Hi there, the following is a long review, but if you are serious about your hair as I am, I suggest you read on.
I have been suffering from hair loss for about five years now, but due to my busy schedule and financial situation at that time I could never get round to doing anything permanent about it, apart from taking minoxidil in cream and lotion format etc . We all know it does help, but can only do so much and and is definitely not a long term solution (and this was starting to bug me).
Corona virus came about and due to the nature of my trade I had a rather long break off work ahead of me so I decided to use that to my advantage and do a little research on hair transplants, procedure techniques, costs and most importantly if it works. I looked at London clinics and the were prices were out of my reach and also cos of current lockdown measures, I would not be able to see them anytime soon either.
I kept seeing adverts on google about hair transplant procedures in Turkey so I decided to investigate. I googled best hair clinic Istanbul, the 10 alleged best came up, I looked into all of them and read a plethora of reviews and the general consensus was (as I kept on reading) is how the marketing is great for these establishments, how they look really fancy and hi tech etc but when your actually attend the clinic, at the beginning Doctor is present, you have a brief and so on but when it comes down to operation time, Doctor does a disappearing act and his so called technicians carry out surgical procedure on your head instead??! This is mainly due to the high number of patients they take on in a day, impossible for Doctor to give you his undivided attention. This was deeply alarming to me and frankly put me off, sounded like a gimmick to me.
I continued to scroll down the google page and came across Diamond Hair Clinic and a Dr Mehmet Demircioglu, I could see he had a lot of favourable reviews so I read upon him and based on what I saw
•world FUE institute certified surgeon
•implements diamond sapphire FUE technique
•takes one patient a day, his whole focus is you and most importantly Carry’s out surgical procedure on your head himself
•operation Carried out in a accredited hospital
all the reviews (on different hair forums too) I read Pics of patients before and after, quality of work Naturally I had to enquire
The clinic manager Mahmud was professional and clearly communicated with me and was not pushy at all. They asked for currents pictures of my hair/scalp, I sent them and 48hrs later after Dr Mehmet had carried out analysis they emailed me an evaluation and price for my prospective transplant.
Dr stated he would perform Diamond sapphire FUE technique on myself for 5,500 grafts I would be provided with 4 days accommodation at a good quality hotel and a driver who picks me up from the airport and is pretty much there for me during the entirety of my trip. This was all at a reasonable cost and quoted to me as a total package.
I made a calculated decision based on what I had researched and I am pleased to say I have no regrets. I have had my transplant and just got back home to London recently and I’m more then pleased so far.
So here’s how it went down:
Day one - Arrival
Touched down in Istanbul airport and was picked up by driver.
He had my details and contacted me via WhatsApp (Airport has free WiFi for 60 minutes, just have to log in) Driver was Emir and he is personable and courteous, he took me to my hotel but as I had a late flight I was starving, So on route he took me to a good restaurant to pick up a takeaway.
Emir is there for you, just speak to him and he will grant your request
Day 2 - Operation Day
Emir picked me up at 08.00 and and we got to JCI Hospital at 08.30 and I met Dr Mehmet for first time.
Doctor was real nice bloke, genuine and easy going demeanour and spoke good English. We had a brief in his office and took our time, no rushing. He Explained the days proceedings ahead and we discussed what my expectations were. Doctor is straight up and won’t sugarcoat anything and is realistic about what he can do for you and what’s achievable.
Fire any questions at him you desire, I did to make sure I was comfortable. Doctor then started the process by creating a hairline for me and stated this is crucial for operation, took a bit of time to set it right, once attained I was happy with my look and everything had been discussed so we proceeded to operation room.
Doctor has two assistants, they work alongside him. General anaesthetic was applied to my head (this is the uncomfortable part and slightly painful) once applied I was good to go and team started to extract grafts from my donor area. Doctors assistants are attentive and competent, no rush job and took their time and patience. Dr Mehmet is always present and is in control of everything. This stage took bout 4hrs but once completed, 4,500 grafts extracted from hair donor area and a further 1,000 from under my chin beard area.
It was lunch time now and we had 30 minutes break and I was treated to a nice meal in communal area.
Once lunch break was finished,
Incisions needed to be made for the extracted grafts. This is critical part of the operation and is where Dr Mehmet goes to work and his skill set shines, he double checked my hairline design again and then went onto implement diamond sapphire technique. Doctor was operating on me for a good 3 hours and took his time, making me feel comfortable throughout.
My Crown area is weak so he told me he would really focus on this area to allow implantation of maximum grafts which in turns allows more density. Once he had finished I had a 10 minute break and Then we went onto implanting the 5,500 grafts into my incised areas, once again attention to detail, took their time to set them in right.
It does get tiring as is a long procedure but you have to suck it up, this went on for about 4hrs. The last part of operation was PRP Injection and this was very quick as my blood had been drawn earlier in the day (before brief) and had already been processed, so they just injected it b into my scalp and then I was done, I felt relieved as it was 11pm!
I was given medication/tablets and a neck pillow to take with me and clear instructions on how to sleep in order to protect my grafts and my head was bandaged up.
I left the hospital and Emir once again took me to a restaurant to pick up takeaway at my request and dropped me back to my hotel for the end of my day.
Day 3 - Rest Day
I rested in my hotel and believe me, your gonna need it!
Day 4 - Wash Day/Final Day
Emir picked me up and we made our way over to hospital. Doctor Mehmet greeted me and we proceeded to take of my bandages and carry out first wash. Doctor explains the whole procedure and demonstrates it, It’s not complicated, but has to be followed by yourself over next 10 days, other details of aftercare explained also and his expectations from you. Doctor Mehmet gave me his personal phone number and I can contact him anytime and vice versa Also I need to send him pictures of my head/scalp on a daily basis so he can monitor progress and be on top of things for me.
We finished up after being there bout an hour and I said bye to Doctor and expressed my gratitude. Emir took me took me to airport and I caught my afternoon flight back home.
Summary
It’s obviously way too soon too see any results this early into my transplant, however these guys are a professional outfit and have an amazing work ethic from what I have experienced so far.
Doctor Mehmet is passionate about his craft and he won’t just perform surgery and you never hear from him again. He is honest and forthright and will be there for you to make sure you achieve what was discussed from the beginning provided you follow his instructions.
When you contact him, he does always gets back to you.
I just want to say thank you for taking time out to read my detailed review, I hope you find it useful and it gives you reassurance being that you are considering to go abroad for a surgical hair procedure just like I did. If you do decide to go ahead, don’t waste your time anywhere else, go see Dr Mehmet, trust me you will be in good hands and you won’t regret it.
