Choosing Turkey for his hair transplant
Hi, my name is Paul and I’m from Nottingham in the UK. I’m 63 years old, I first started losing my hair when I was approximately 25 and it has been receding ever since. I searched a lot of clinics both in the UK and then in Turkey.
Dr. Kayihan Sahinoglu performs the procedure himself
I’m quite a private person so I wanted a clinic to be just one patient a day where the doctor would perform the entire procedure or the most of the procedure. So, I did my research on the Internet. There is hair loss in my family hereditary. My brother lost his hair, my father hasn’t got a lot of hair, so I knew that my hair would probably be the same.
Better results in Turkey
So I did a lot of research on the internet both in the UK and in Turkey. I was seeing better results in Turkey from various doctors as opposed to the UK, which swayed me more towards Turkey than the UK. Then I started looking on the American Board of the Hair Restoration Surgeons and also the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgeons. Look for doctors on websites. I scaled it down to probably 3 doctors that were on both of the websites, ultimately choosing Dr. Sahinoglu for my surgery. Because like I said he does one patient a day, does most of the procedures himself also from the results that he got from the procedures.
Online consultation for determining graft count
So I did an online consultation with various surgeons in Turkey. When you send in your photographs they look at your hairline and send back what they think would be the best for you and how many grafts would be involved.
Traveling to Turkey
And then you decide on a day that you want to come to Turkey. The hotel is all sorted for you. Travel for the airport to the hotel, from the hotel to the surgery and vice versa is all accounted for. The only thing you have to sort out is to arrange your own air passage to get over here. And I went with Turkish Airlines. Like I said I did a lot of research and found them to be one of the best one for me from Manchester.
2 Sessions for the hair transplant
So we decided, by Dr. Sahinoglu, two sessions. The first session being the front part of the hair and then if I was happy with what happened there a year later approximately do the back part of the hairline. This is so they can calculate how many grafts are taken in the first sitting so they don’t overharvest the area. So then you send photographs approximately 6 months after the surgery. So that the doctor can decide then whether you got enough donor area to do any more surgery on the part you need doing.
Hair transplant procedure
The procedure itself, it was a piece of cake really. You get picked up from the hotel, like I say. You are brought to the surgery, Dr. Sahinoglu does an initial assessment of the donor area. Take some photographs, draw the hairline that you are happy with. In my case it was age related.. Like I said, I’m 63 years old and for my age I didn’t want the hairline of a teenager. So it is age related. It does emphasize when he was drawing the hairline.
So the procedure itself, you are given a tablet just to relax you. You are happy with the doctor’s drawing the hairline. And then the doctor shaves your head. And then he makes sure you are happy and then he starts doing the anesthetic which I must admit the first two or three was quite painful. You know, not overly painful but a bit of a pinch. And then once the anesthetic kicks in, then the rest of it, it’s just like somebody placing something in your head. There is no pain. I was quite relaxed from the tablet anyway. In fact, during the procedure I fell asleep. And the doctor starts these extractions which feels like a small drill. No pain, just like a small drill noise to extract the follicles. I think we had a break then. We stopped for a break and had a little chat with the doctor and made sure I was relaxed and everything was going OK. Short break and I say and then the doctor makes the slits where the follicles are going. Which takes a couple of hours and he starts inserting the follicles into the slits himself around the front part of the head and getting to the hairline that he is happy with. And then for the middle part of the crown, or the front of the crown, two nurses take over to fill in the rest of it. Everything was explained along the way. I was constantly asked if I was okay. If everything is alright, if I feel any pain. As clean as anything it is constantly wiping your head with saline solution to keep everything clean and no infections. Which I think is very very good.
Some doctors told Paul that it is too late for a hair transplant
I forgot to add earlier that I had four different online consultations with various doctors in Turkey. And there is one doctor that refused, saying that I was too far gone to do any surgery whatsoever. It was one of the more prominent doctors that you find on various websites. After the surgery the doctor explains what’s going to happen, where you shed the follicles and after 7-14 days, which I already knew about, anyway. I’ve done a lot of research into hair transplant surgeries. Like I say, after 14 days the hair falls out and then it’s a fairly long wait to see any results you are really happy with… And mine took from probably 4 months to where I’m now, which is a year later.
It is never too late to do anything about hair loss
I’ve got hair that I’ve got now. So it’s a little long process. It’s not an overnight thing. And like I said I’m 63 years old and I just want to let people know that it is never too late to do anything about it. Because they already get the hair loss slows down to where it’s not going to get any worse. So you know, the full extent of your hair loss when you are a lot younger you don’t really know how far, how much bolding in your life is going to take place. So you can have a little bit of hair loss or you can have a lot of hair loss. And a lot of younger people, in my opinion, take far too many follicles out. Not safeguarding the donor area for the future hair loss. That is only my personal opinion. I’m very happy with what Dr. Sahinoglu has done. I’ve got nothing on my hair in the shower this morning. It’s just shampoo in my hair. There is nothing in it to enhance the hair, it’s just shampoo.
So, when I had my first procedure it was just to do the front of the hairline. It frames your face, I’ve been told. And that’s what people see, a lot of people don’t take notice too much of the back part. Just the frame of your face. Like I said, on the first procedure the doctor said you just do the front part when he sees the photographs to see if it was necessary or viable to do the second procedure. So that’s why I’m here to get the crown part of my hair, I’m quite happy with the front. I believe in the doctor’s good hands. I think he’s doing a good job up to now. I’m very happy with what is done.
I just want people to know because you might be thinking that I’m getting some benefits from making this video or getting a cash payment for making this video. I can assure you that I’m doing it on the grounds of promoting the doctor because I think he is a very good doctor. People of my age have two minds whether to have surgery done at all.
Being 63, Paul is not the oldest who got a hair transplant
When I had my first procedure, then I said to the doctor that I must be one of the oldest patients you’ve had, being 63. He says “No!” He says “there was a local man, he was 85” which used to seem unbelievable to me. He said he is quite happy. He was happy with these results.
Hair transplant makes you feel better
So, like I say it is never too late to have your hair transplanted. It makes you feel better, like it does me. It makes me more confident. If it’s going to do the same for you, then just do it. And I’m one of those people that I hate flying with a passion. Like I said I flew from Manchester. It takes 4 hours to get here. I got a 4 hours flight back. And this is my second time I’m here, so it’s just a testament to what the doctor and his team does with this particular surgery.
So, this is my hairline now. This is approximately 12 months since the surgery. If you can see I still need the mid scalp therein, which I’m here to do today. I’m quite happy with the front but I just let you see now how it looks. And I’m quite happy with the way things are at the moment.
