M
MrClean58
member
Hi everyone, I am a man in my mid-20's from the USA who completed my first FUE hair transplant with Dr. Ozlem Bicer in Istanbul, Turkey in January 2020. I have already posted my 13 month journey on another hair loss forum, but I recently found out about the Hair Loss Experiences forum. I would love to share my experience here to help anyone who was in a situation like mine to find a solution. Sorry for the long post, but it contains my whole 13 month recovery and experience with Dr. Ozlem Bicer. Let me know if you have any questions! 
After several months of nerve wracking research to find a IAHRS surgeon operated procedure, a clinic with only 1 operation per day, and at an affordable price I only found a few clinics that met my prerequisites. I limited myself to 3 in-person consultations when I arrived in Istanbul.
All 3 doctors I consulted with noted I had a weak donor area on top of a very large recipient area (NW 7). Not very good odds for me lol, but since I have already tried the bald look before and liked it I decided to roll the dice and perform an operation if I was comfortable with the surgeons plan. 2 of the 3 doctors, while very respectable and I'm sure they would do a good job, recommended large amounts of graft implants despite my weak donor area in just one session. One of the doctors also told me that this was the only surgery I would ever be able to do because my donor area was so weak. Not helping my anxiety haha.
I committed to an operation with Dr. Bicer because she far and away stood out from her peers. I have never met a doctor who seemed to so genuinely want what was in the best interests of the patient by asking what my concerns were, considering how I would like my hair to look, and most of all putting forth a reasonable long term plan for success. Dr Bicer was the only doctor who took my age into consideration and noted that my non transplanted hair will most likely fall out in the future as I am still young. She was also the only doctor to recommend a long term plan by not using all of my donor area in one session so that some of it may be preserved for when more of my non-transplanted hair goes away. I can then perform another session when my hair has stopped falling out in a few years. She is very methodical and forward thinking.
Now comes the fun part - SURGERY DAY. All of the medical staff were very friendly, careful not to hurt me, and always asked if I was okay. The clinic's general coordinator and English Translator, Ozen, was very helpful whenever I needed a question asked to the staff and is still very quick to respond whenever I have a question over Whats App. Dr Bicer performed the incisions, supervised the extractions, and checked in every 20-30 minutes during the implantation phase. Over the course of the 9 hour surgery, 3400 grafts were transplanted with a very small mm tool so there was very minimal scarring. I was so comfortable during the procedure I fell asleep in the operating chair three times lol.
I was originally quoted 3000 grafts for $4500 USD, but Dr Bicer noted during the surgery that my donor area was stronger than first analyzed so she did not charge me for the extra 400 grafts. I was very pleased with the results at the end of the day and it definitely exceeded my expectations for what I thought possible when first going to Turkey.
Immediately before the Surgery:
Immediately After the Surgery:
2 weeks after the surgery and all the scabbing was gone. I was then waiting for the dreaded shedding and regrowth.
A little over 7 months after the surgery date I felt going with Dr. Bicer was one of the best decisions I have made in my life and that is no exaggeration. I was constantly receiving compliments on how my hair looked so full and natural. Even my barber, who constantly deals with questions about HT and balding in our community, has said that my transplant was the best that he's ever seen and that he'd like to refer people interested in HTs to me to see where I went. I have struggled with thinning hair and balding since I was 17 which led to body image issues and low self confidence in a lot of aspects of my life. After this surgery, I finally felt like my age again, with confidence I haven't felt in years.
As a side point for anyone interested, I was turned down by many clinics for not having a strong donor area (heartbreaking at the time). When I went with Dr. Bicer, she strategized that I load up the front and middle of my scalp with grafts as I'm a tall guy so I would have natural looking hair from the front and nobody could see my balding crown in the back. Evening out the graft from my hairline to crown would lead to thin, unnatural looking hair because of the previously mentioned weak donor area. So while the front view of my hair would look great the crown was left untouched and balding due to my weak donor area. To fix this, a month after the surgery I started taking 1 mg of finasteride and minoxidil foam. They have definitely made a significant improvement in the density of hair in my crown. Now, my crown looks much more natural and there is not a huge disparity between my newly hair transplanted hair and the crown hairs.
Below, I will post the pictures I have taken each month after my Hair Transplant. Unfortunately, I missed taking photos during a couple significant growth months in April and May.
March:
April: N/A
May: N/A
June:
July:
August:
Sadly, I got busy with life and didn't take month to month photos of my changes again. The photos below were almost 11 months after the transplant.
After several months of nerve wracking research to find a IAHRS surgeon operated procedure, a clinic with only 1 operation per day, and at an affordable price I only found a few clinics that met my prerequisites. I limited myself to 3 in-person consultations when I arrived in Istanbul.
All 3 doctors I consulted with noted I had a weak donor area on top of a very large recipient area (NW 7). Not very good odds for me lol, but since I have already tried the bald look before and liked it I decided to roll the dice and perform an operation if I was comfortable with the surgeons plan. 2 of the 3 doctors, while very respectable and I'm sure they would do a good job, recommended large amounts of graft implants despite my weak donor area in just one session. One of the doctors also told me that this was the only surgery I would ever be able to do because my donor area was so weak. Not helping my anxiety haha.
I committed to an operation with Dr. Bicer because she far and away stood out from her peers. I have never met a doctor who seemed to so genuinely want what was in the best interests of the patient by asking what my concerns were, considering how I would like my hair to look, and most of all putting forth a reasonable long term plan for success. Dr Bicer was the only doctor who took my age into consideration and noted that my non transplanted hair will most likely fall out in the future as I am still young. She was also the only doctor to recommend a long term plan by not using all of my donor area in one session so that some of it may be preserved for when more of my non-transplanted hair goes away. I can then perform another session when my hair has stopped falling out in a few years. She is very methodical and forward thinking.
Now comes the fun part - SURGERY DAY. All of the medical staff were very friendly, careful not to hurt me, and always asked if I was okay. The clinic's general coordinator and English Translator, Ozen, was very helpful whenever I needed a question asked to the staff and is still very quick to respond whenever I have a question over Whats App. Dr Bicer performed the incisions, supervised the extractions, and checked in every 20-30 minutes during the implantation phase. Over the course of the 9 hour surgery, 3400 grafts were transplanted with a very small mm tool so there was very minimal scarring. I was so comfortable during the procedure I fell asleep in the operating chair three times lol.
I was originally quoted 3000 grafts for $4500 USD, but Dr Bicer noted during the surgery that my donor area was stronger than first analyzed so she did not charge me for the extra 400 grafts. I was very pleased with the results at the end of the day and it definitely exceeded my expectations for what I thought possible when first going to Turkey.
Immediately before the Surgery:
Immediately After the Surgery:
2 weeks after the surgery and all the scabbing was gone. I was then waiting for the dreaded shedding and regrowth.
A little over 7 months after the surgery date I felt going with Dr. Bicer was one of the best decisions I have made in my life and that is no exaggeration. I was constantly receiving compliments on how my hair looked so full and natural. Even my barber, who constantly deals with questions about HT and balding in our community, has said that my transplant was the best that he's ever seen and that he'd like to refer people interested in HTs to me to see where I went. I have struggled with thinning hair and balding since I was 17 which led to body image issues and low self confidence in a lot of aspects of my life. After this surgery, I finally felt like my age again, with confidence I haven't felt in years.
As a side point for anyone interested, I was turned down by many clinics for not having a strong donor area (heartbreaking at the time). When I went with Dr. Bicer, she strategized that I load up the front and middle of my scalp with grafts as I'm a tall guy so I would have natural looking hair from the front and nobody could see my balding crown in the back. Evening out the graft from my hairline to crown would lead to thin, unnatural looking hair because of the previously mentioned weak donor area. So while the front view of my hair would look great the crown was left untouched and balding due to my weak donor area. To fix this, a month after the surgery I started taking 1 mg of finasteride and minoxidil foam. They have definitely made a significant improvement in the density of hair in my crown. Now, my crown looks much more natural and there is not a huge disparity between my newly hair transplanted hair and the crown hairs.
Below, I will post the pictures I have taken each month after my Hair Transplant. Unfortunately, I missed taking photos during a couple significant growth months in April and May.
March:
April: N/A
May: N/A
June:
July:
August:
Sadly, I got busy with life and didn't take month to month photos of my changes again. The photos below were almost 11 months after the transplant.
