A
Amicc
member
Hey, Anyone heard of his clinic in Turkey?
That's exactly right. The doctor does not put any before/after photos on his website which is a big red flag (he claims it's against the law but that's nonsense as long as you get the patient's consent and blur out the eyes).I’ve looked into his work extensively but there’s not much end result/ just a lot of his pre op pics and post op but nothing after 12 months mark etc other than one or two reviews I found.
Exactly right here too. His website is flashy and he explains in detail all the "best practices" required for a quality hair transplant. The only problem is, he doesn't follow any of those "best practices."Can’t say I was overly impressed although on paper he seems to know what he’s talking about and is passionate
Hi everyone - I had a HT with Dr. Ilker Apaydin in June 2021 and his clinic botched the operation.
For reference, I was only a Norwood 2 with moderate temple recession (see my avatar pic) so any reasonably competent doctor could have given me a decent result.
I won't go into details here b/c I've already written a detailed review w/photos at RealSelf so please reference that.
I tried posting a link but it's not being allowed. Go to RealSelf.com and search for Dr. Ilker Apaydin. Under reviews, change "ordering" to "Recent" or "Lowest Rating" and you should find my review. The title is "Dr. Ilker Apaydin Botched my HT" (posted Dec 9, 2021).
Here I will just give some context about the doctor.
That's exactly right. The doctor does not put any before/after photos on his website which is a big red flag (he claims it's against the law but that's nonsense as long as you get the patient's consent and blur out the eyes).
When you're proud of your results you highlight them on your website. Quality doctors in USA, Europe, and Turkey all put before/afters on their website.
Imagine going to a home improvement website where they refuse to put up before/after photos?? It's the only meaningful way to judge quality.
And his RealSelf reviews are mostly useless b/c almost all of the reviews are immediately post-op describing the "experience" ("clean clinic," "modern hotel," "nice coordinator," etc.) - not the results. Another big red flag.
Why so many reviews immediately post-op? B/c the clinic pesters you to write a good review immediately. I think they want to get a good review from you while you're still excited about the surgery and have your hopes up. If they were confident in their results, however, they would encourage you to write a review after 6 months if you're happy with your results.
I'm glad I waited 6 months to write a review b/c the results are disastrous.
Exactly right here too. His website is flashy and he explains in detail all the "best practices" required for a quality hair transplant. The only problem is, he doesn't follow any of those "best practices."
For example, on the website he says a surgeon should conduct the surgery, not nurses/techs. But when you call him to book an appointment, he informs you for the first time that "Actually nurses/techs do the extractions and most of the surgery." What?!
But then he smooth talks you, trying to convince you that extractions are the "easy" part of the surgery. I was naïve and believed him. Turns out, extractions are really really important. The nurses/techs ripped a bald spot in the back of my head b/c they didn't space the extractions (see photos in my RealSelf review).
Also, the nurses/techs damaged 70% (!) of the grafts they extracted. As a result, I have little density in the recipient area b/c only 30% of the grafts survived and were successfully implanted there.
The clinic also didn't bother to separate grafts into singles/doubles/triples. So they placed doubles/triples all along the edge of my hairline for that notorious "pluggy" look.
Spacing extractions and separating grafts is like Hair Transplant 101 - even the "hair mills" get this right! The sense I got as a patient is that they don't really care about the quality of their results. Yes, the clinic is chic and modern and everything is flashy, but you get the feeling that you're just a "head" that they're "processing."
The nurses/techs talked and giggled throughout the entire procedure which was not confidence inspiring.
By the time you've figured out they butchered your hair, it's too late b/c you're back in your home country and you can't do a damn thing about it. And they know that. So there's no real accountability for a clinic whose clientele is nearly 100% foreign patients.
You mentioned that he seems "passionate." Judging from his website it seems that way. But in reality I think he's only really passionate about marketing himself. He seems to love that aspect.
However, a truly passionate doctor is passionate about giving the best results to his patients. But that takes time, attentiveness, skill, and dedication. I don't think he's really interested in the surgery itself which could easily be described as "messy" and "boring."
In fact, after he made the incisions in the morning within 50 minutes (?!), I never saw or heard from him again even though my consultation plan said he would "supervise" the extractions. Gone. Vanished.
And although when I first called him to book an appointment he did seem genuine and charming - which is why I booked - the "charm" was all gone after I had flown to Turkey and met him in-person. I was now a "captive audience" and he knew it. Cancelling at this stage would be all but impossible.
So the consultation lasted only a few minutes. He just draws on your head, and if you ask any questions, he gets VISIBLY annoyed. At one point he said to me "You should just leave this to the doctor." In other words, shut up. You're not allowed to have an opinion about your own hairline that you will live with for the rest of your life. Unsurprisingly, the hairline design is unnatural and sloppy.
At the end of the day the only thing that matters are the results, yet you can scour the Internet far and wide, and you'll be lucky to find maybe one or two of Dr. Apaydin's patients with good results and photos to prove it. Considering the 1000's of patients he's treated, that's not impressive. "Even a broken clock is right twice a day."
I hope this post clarifies why there is a dearth of positive results from a surgeon who seems so sophisticated and credentialed.
Feel free to ask any questions.
For me now, I'm looking into surgery to repair his butcher job. Wish me luck!!