My experience was with Vera Clinic in Istanbul, Turkey of March 2022. I was 30 yrs old at the time of the procedure. I started to notice balding in my early 20’s and tried various products such as minoxidil and finasteride, which didn’t work for me. I felt driven to do something about my balding when I reached my late twenties and conducted a lot of research, through reading about hair transplants, learning about the genetics of balding, to discovering patient testimonials on forums/youtube. After a few months, I found out about Turkey, did loads of research, and ultimately decided to go for it.
What prompted me to choose Turkey is because of the cost and also their expertise in this field. After months of research, contacting various clinics in Istanbul, I ended up choosing Vera due to seeing positive results from various YouTubers and social media accounts. I was hesitant at first, since it was my first time doing a medical procedure outside of the United States, but I was willing to take the chance since hair transplant procedures in California would cost over 15,000 usd, based on my research and virtual consultations with various doctors in CA.
Vera Clinic was also very accommodating. My friend and I wanted to vacation in Istanbul for the first week, then have my procedure done on the second week. They were able to assist with transportation from the airport to city center, despite my appointment being 1.5 weeks away. Additionally, I wanted to choose my own hotel since I prefer to stay on the European side, which they easily agreed to. Vera Clinic was able to eliminate the overall hotel cost (that was included in their package) from the hair transplant procedure.
On the day of the procedure, they picked me up from my hotel in Beyoğlu around noon, with a 45 min drive to the clinic on the Asia side. When I arrived, I was greeted by staff and after waiting a few minutes in the lobby, was taken for the consultation. At consultation, I was accompanied by a few medical professionals. They asked me about my medical history and if I had any questions about the procedure. After a few questions, I was then asked about how I envisioned my new hair line to look and my main areas of concern. The nurse drew a line indicating where my ideal hairline would be, adjusting the design to my preference.
After consultation, I was taken to the office to pay for the service. Then the host guided me downstairs for bloodwork and prep work. When prep work was done, I was taken to a modern, large, and clean operating room, similar to an operating room you would see in the states. A host came to accompany me during the first 20 minutes of the procedure, which was anesthesia. The anesthesia was the least pleasant part of the procedure due to some pain during the initial injection process. After anesthesia was completed, I was not able to feel a thing on my scalp, leading to the extraction phase.
The extraction process from the donor area took about 3 hours, with 3 technician doing the extraction, and 2 technicians sorting the extracted follicles on a dish, simultaneously. Then, there was a 30 minute meal break provided. Afterwards, a medical professional came in to poke holes for the recipient site on my scalp. This took about half an hour. Afterwards, the process of implantation to the donor site took about another 4 hours. Overall, my procedure finished around 10:30pm. I was transported back to and arrived at my hotel in Beyoğlu around 11:30pm.
The next day, I was picked up again from my hotel and headed back to the clinic for removal of the gauze, scalp wash, and additional checkup. Then I was given the option to purchase supplements, which I thought was helpful since I wanted my transplanted follicles to have the greatest chance of growing in the implanted area.
Overall, my experience with Vera Clinic has been very positive. Everyone was very competent in their craft, from the nurses/doctors to the technicians, they provided a great level of professionalism, and made me feel safe throughout my procedure.
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me. Before doing my procedure, I reached out to various patients and got their feedback, which gave me the confidence in choosing Turkey as a place to go for hair transplants.
Photos from before procedure:
Day after procedure
1 month after procedure
5 months after procedure
Today (21 months after procedure)
