29 years old... I am between a Norwood 4 and 5. Thinking of making a trip to Dr. Bicer in Turkey. Any advice?

[throwitaway12345]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for making this forum. It is great to see all the available information. Unfortunately I started losing my hair in my 20's. I am now 29. It's not the worst thing to happen, but I just want to see if I can try to at least keep my hair in my 30's. If not, I am okay with shaving my head if things don't work out because I still think I would look good bald. But I just want to get people's perspective about whether I would be a good candidate for the FUE transplant. I think that my hair is still pretty thick on the sides so there is still a lot of donor area. I have the classic male pattern balding at the crown and the sides. I was looking at making an appointment with Dr. Bicer since I have always wanted to make a vacation to Turkey anyway, but I am open to other suggestions if anyone else has had good experiences with other doctors in Istanbul. I don't mind to pay a little bit more for quality, but I think my budget is about $3000-$5000 max. I have attached some photos for reference.

 

[Bigmac]

Are you on a hair loss prevention regimen? I’d say you’d need around 2500-3000 grafts.
Your donor looks good in shape.

 

[throwitaway12345]

Hi Bigmac. Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately I have not started a prescription hair loss prevention regimen beyond using only sufate/paraben-free shampoo. Do you have any recommendations? My plan would be to take finasteride after the procedure and try my best to keep my hair in my 30's. After I turn 40, I probably won't care anymore and will be fine with having a shaved head

 

[Bigmac]

I hear many people say they won’t care at a certain age but believe me we usually do.
Most of my loss was similar to yours. I had a few bad HT’s but I’ll put them to one side. I started Proscar/Finasteride back in 2005. It was the best thing I ever did. It helped my hair recover and I’ve held on to most of it since.
If I were in your position right now I’d be trying the finasteride straight away. It really is a game changer providing you don’t get any sides.

Has Dr Bicer quoted you a graft estimate?

 

[throwitaway12345]

Hi. Yes Dr. Bicer quoted me for 10,000 euros for the procedure for 4000 grafts which seems a bit high.

 

[Bigmac]

I knew they had increased prices to €2 but maybe it’s increased again to €2.5. She must be in high demand and decided to charge more.
Was there a surgery plan? X number of grafts in crown etc.
What about the meds?

 

[throwitaway12345]

She said this was only for one surgery. I think it was honestly a bit too high and out of my budget. The max I would pay is maybe 5000 or 7000 euros but 10,000 euros seems like what I would pay here in Europe, so I guess I will continue searching for another doctor. In the meantime I might try to find a doctor here who can prescribe me finasteride medication in the meantime to keep whatever I have left. Is 2 euros per graft the standard price? What is reasonable in Turkey? I don't necessarily want to go to the cheapest clinic that is questionable but I also wouldn't pay the same price as what they charge in Germany or Switzerland.

 

[Bobbins]

I knew they had increased prices to €2 but maybe it’s increased again to €2.5. She must be in high demand and decided to charge more.
Was there a surgery plan? X number of grafts in crown etc.
What about the meds?

https://www.hairlossexperiences.com/threads/dr-bicer-v-cosmedica.11385/#post-91679 seems to suggest her prices have indeed increased to €2.5/graft.

 

[Bigmac]

I missed that one or forgot about it.

 

[loui]

For that price, you could research Dr Acar at Cosmedica, only the most expensive package where Dr Acar is more involved. See if you can find some reviews from that package, I believe it is 4000 euros. Do NOT go for his cheaper package.

I also think Dr Gökhan Gur at Fuecapilar is doing good work, in my opinion he is better than Dr Turan. I believe he is 1,25 euro per graft when he is doing incisions + extraction, techs do the implantation.

These are two places you could research more, dont just take my word for it, its just two I have seen myself which seems to do good work at an attractive price point.

I would personally also stay out of Turkey, you can checkout my review of Dr Michalis on Cyprus, hes 1,95 euro per graft including hotel+flight ticket or 1,5 euro per graft if you book yourself. He has some serious skills in my opinion as this was my 2nd transplant, the first one in Turkey. I go in detail if you click the link below to my thread.