My DHI journey to AsteNove Clinic Istanbul

[LON-To-IST]

I have booked my Direct Hair implant treatment in Istanbul. After spending two years in online search, seeing my friends going through hair transplant and speaking to 30+ clinics I have finally booked my HT with AsteNove Clinic in Nov 2021.

Some pictures taken over the last few months will be attached soon. Any advice from the people who went through HT treatment especially DHI will be really appreciated .

 

[LON-To-IST]

 

[Bigmac]

How many grafts are you receiving? Are you on any hair loss prevention regimen?
DHI is the method used to place the grafts. It’s FUE you're actually having.

 

[LON-To-IST]

How many grafts are you receiving? Are you on any hair loss prevention regimen?
DHI is the method used to place the grafts. It’s FUE you're actually having.

Hey, I'm not on any hair loss prevention regimen as Finasteride mess up with my harmones and end up getting stress and anxiety attacks. Minoxidil is too much hassle and then results are not permanent or guaranteed, for now only applying some oils (Castor, Coconut, Vit-E etc) and using multivitamins to safe the grafts I already got .
I am having DHI with Choi Pen. Clinic rep said I need minimum 4000 grafts but I'm eally worried about my existing hair and don't want them to get damaged permanently in the process. Astenove however is positive that I should get the best result as I am not completely bald and only need hair in-between. Also, both extraction and implantation is being done by Doc herself which is a bit assuring.

 

[smokeybacon]

How old are you? So, what is the plan for these 4000 grafts, minimum, are you having your hairline lowered or they are going to be spread around your head? and what if your native hair falls out permanently? Trying to hold back judgement but speaking to 30 odd clinics and ending up with this advice makes me wonder what the others all said to put you off.

 

[LON-To-IST]

How old are you? So, what is the plan for these 4000 grafts, minimum, are you having your hairline lowered or they are going to be spread around your head? and what if your native hair falls out permanently? Trying to hold back judgement but speaking to 30 odd clinics and ending up with this advice makes me wonder what the others all said to put you off.

I am 38. Grafts will be spread around the head in the spaces which are empty. according to the clinic there are plenty of spaces where new grafts can go. From front line I wanna keep as natural as possible without having a straight line.
tbh all the clinics I spoke to provided me a good customer service and they all seem reasonable but there were few things which made me reluctant going with them. For example there's a very popular clinic hair or istanbul, their results are second to none but they only offer FUE, when according to my research and according to my hair situation DHI would be suit me more. Also, almost all the clinics use technicians for either extraction of grafts or implanting of grafts. Only with Estenove they gave me this offer that I can choose a package where doctor will carry out the full procedure.

 

[Kevboy]

There are other clinics in Turkey that use a doctor to do the surgery. Even the ones that have tech teams offers doctor only full procedure involvement for a higher fee. Dhi is just using a Choi implanter to put the grafts in your head. I know from my research that your remaining hair is at risk if no meds.

 

[smokeybacon]

I wish you well, although I have my concerns. How many days is this going to take the Dr to do all the work themselves, 4000 plus grafts is not small number so I guess it´s going to be a few days for one person doing it all. Why would DHI suit you more? You are having FUE with a DHI needle or implanter whatever they call it to put the hairs in.

 

[LON-To-IST]

There are other clinics in Turkey that use a doctor to do the surgery. Even the ones that have tech teams offers doctor only full procedure involvement for a higher fee. Dhi is just using a Choi implanter to put the grafts in your head. I know from my research that your remaining hair is at risk if no meds.

I agree, same thing is worrying me too. But after reading about DHI it seem better option when you need hair in between your natural hair. It provides better accuracy and less damage to the scalp. (If done properly)
some other clinics gave me quotes too for the full treatment by doctor but that was too expensive and didn’t make sense all the way going to turkey and paying that much price, rather get it from UK by adding a friction more.
I will be using medications but not the ones which mess up hormones like finasteride.
Six months Aftercare products are also included in the package which I will be using.

 

[LON-To-IST]

I wish you well, although I have my concerns. How many days is this going to take the Dr to do all the work themselves, 4000 plus grafts is not small number so I guess it´s going to be a few days for one person doing it all. Why would DHI suit you more? You are having FUE with a DHI needle or implanter whatever they call it to put the hairs in.

It’s going to take 6-7 hours. DHI with choi pen causes less damage to scalp and hair is implanted with more accuracy. It is a type of FUE only there’s no need to create a channel with blade before inserting hair graft

 

[smokeybacon]

The implanter is faster that´s it. Think about it, how can a thin blade creating a tiny slit be inferior to what is basically a propelling pencil casing that has to be bigger than the hair in it and pushes the hairs into the skin. Love to see the clinic proof on this. 7 hours, one person is going to punch and place 4000 odd grafts, do the math that makes no sense, sorry to tell you this doesn´t sound good.

 

[LON-To-IST]

The implanter is faster that´s it. Think about it, how can a thin blade creating a tiny slit be inferior to what is basically a propelling pencil casing that has to be bigger than the hair in it and pushes the hairs into the skin. Love to see the clinic proof on this. 7 hours, one person is going to punch and place 4000 odd grafts, do the math that makes no sense, sorry to tell you this doesn´t sound good.

Implanter is faster so they might be able to put 4000 grafts in a day. Also I have seen so many videos/Reviews from people getting 5000 grafts in a day. what you are saying is correct and makes sense too. Have you had HT before, would be interesting and helpful to know from someone who been through all this already.

 

[smokeybacon]

I have not yet, I am a little older than you and less hair, but I would probably not need the numbers you have been told to have. I personally would not go to a place doing 4000 odd in a day, I would not go to a place that did in one hair transplant in fairness. I think it´s too much in one go. There are plenty of guys on this forum you can read their stories and get some help from.

 

[LON-To-IST]

I have not yet, I am a little older than you and less hair, but I would probably not need the numbers you have been told to have. I personally would not go to a place doing 4000 odd in a day, I would not go to a place that did in one hair transplant in fairness. I think it´s too much in one go. There are plenty of guys on this forum you can read their stories and get some help from.

thank you. That’s exactly what I am looking for. Perhaps some defined questions which I should ask and get confirmation from doctor before the procedure.

 

[Prohairclinic]

So you are going to have a transplant in between weak hairs? That is perfect recepy for shock loss.

After your 2 years of investigation nobody told you that it is now an widely accepted and effective treatment to use Finasteride topically in order to avoid sides?
I would seek some more opinions because what I see is diffuse hair loss and this is not treatable with hair restoration without a long term plan.

 

[smokeybacon]

If you still need to ask important questions to the clinic I would put it on hold. Personally I think the plan could work out bad for you, I hope it does not. I think you said you don´t want to use mx or fin. You could get shock loss and lose a lot of your hair. You see some very bad donors after so many grafts and in one day, scarring and hair loss.

 

[LON-To-IST]

So you are going to have a transplant in between weak hairs? That is perfect recepy for shock loss.

After your 2 years of investigation nobody told you that it is now an widely accepted and effective treatment to use Finasteride topically in order to avoid sides?
I would seek some more opinions because what I see is diffuse hair loss and this is not treatable with hair restoration without a long term plan.

Thank you for your advice. I am aware of the shock loss but are you saying that existing hair will be damaged permanently or they will come back once the shock loss process is over?
Lets say in an ideal scenario if doctor manages not to damage already existing grafts and implant new ones (maybe less than 4000), then what are the chances that I will have thick and natural hair back?

I am also aware of tropical Finasteride lotions and products but their results are not permanent. have to use all life to keep the result, otherwise Hormones start converting into DHT as soon as you stop and you go back to point 0 within few months. ok to use minoxidil and tropical Finasteride if I have to use them for few months to support the HT.

 

[Prohairclinic]

Let's say, for the sake of argument, you have 10000 hairs on your head.

You are planning to move let's say 4000 hairs to another location. That's fine.

However, if you are not going to help your hair to stop from further hair loss (wether it is shock loss or just genetic progressive hair loss) your total hair count will go to 9000 and than 8000 and perhaps even to 5000, who knows.

So, in the end you will end up with a lot less hair and that is not what you want.

If you aren not willing to commit to a long term hair treatment, you will one day (sooner or later) not like what the mirror is showing.

 

[LON-To-IST]

Let's say, for the sake of argument, you have 10000 hairs on your head.

You are planning to move let's say 4000 hairs to another location. That's fine.

However, if you are not going to help your hair to stop from further hair loss (wether it is shock loss or just genetic progressive hair loss) your total hair count will go to 9000 and than 8000 and perhaps even to 5000, who knows.

So, in the end you will end up with a lot less hair and that is not what you want.

If you aren not willing to commit to a long term hair treatment, you will one day (sooner or later) not like what the mirror is showing.

I completely agree with your statement. There are few things which I would like to add, first is my hair loss is due to genetics but its not progressive. Pattern of hair loss is same as my father had. He is 75 and still got some hair, covering most of his head. most of my hair fall occurred in 20s. I am more worried about damaging existing graft and losing them. I guess if doctor is careful and do not try to inject more hair per square cm than needed without damage existing hair around then I might get good result.
(lets forget 4000 grafts for now as this estimate is only given by looking at the picture not the real head with magnifying glass )

 

[smokeybacon]

Have a read of this on shockloss - https://www.hairlossexperiences.com/threads/shock-loss-after-a-hair-transplant.3517/

It´s funny you completely agree with many statements with a big But after. I googled the clinic name and couldn´t find anything, what are they one of these fb clinics. Good luck