Turkey AEK/Doganay/Sikos/Civas

[henryhenry]

Hi all,

so thinking of taking the plunge on an FUE, I'm 34 and a Norwood 4 I reckon,
it's the usual receding hairline and thinning crown. I've been reading the forums and asking around for quotes and in essence UK and Belgium are frankly out of the question due to daft prices.

My record is Medikemos which suggested I have 2x ops of 1500 grafts 6 months apart at £10K EACH, so that's £20,000 to sort your hair, for that much I'll shave my head...

Anyway back to reality, I decided to stick to just IAHRS members only, so that means

Doganay, Sikos, Civas, Erdogan (and maybe AEK as he was a member but now mysteriously not, in addition Joe Tillman seems to have cryptically parted ways with being associated with him though still says nice things, I'm guessing there was some form of mutual agreement to not work together, who knows)

Anyways basically Sikos and Civas are pretty much the same price ; around £3K for 3K grafts seems to be the going rate

Doganay who seems to have more of a name for himself is more, £6K for around 4K grafts

Erdogan has become pretty well know it seems and as such his prices are v.high £10K for 4.5-5K grafts, he clearly packs in the grafts, but at 10Grand your getting close to UK prices so he's out.

So any thoughts on AEK Vs Sikos Vs. Civas?

- Sikos is Hungry based so theres not much around on him

- AEK has some great reviews but some stinkers too on realself including one from a lady who clearly had a terrible time (Google "realself AEK" and its the second link with a tonne of !!!!!!'s)

- Civas seems the genuine deal, writes papers and actively gets involved with IAHRS stuff which has to be a good thing, but his website hairline pics are not great

- Doganay; work looks solid and clearly pretty established,


Let me know your thoughts on the above guys!

[henryhenry]

Anyone any thoughts?

[henryhenry]

What's happened to this forum?
no responses!?

[JoeTillman]

You've said a mouthful but I'll clear up the confusion you have regarding myself and AEK. The only thing that is cryptic is that you haven't bothered to ask me why we parted ways and/or you haven't bothered to look it up. I've talked about it on the show, and I've written about it in other posts. Dr. K, and the model he works within, is not conducive for the expenditures he was incurring. He's a Turkish doctor operating like a Western doctor. He has one patient per day and trying to survive charging the same rates, give or take, as his Turkish competition but his Turkish competition is making four to ten times more money than he is. I suggested to him that he try a different route with his exposure, including he and I severing professional ties. We parted in good faith but since that time, he's changed his approach to surgery in a manner that would no longer earn him a place with me and my website. I still think he's a good man, and his ethics are strong, but I think the pressure of the local market may have made his reconsider what he offers his patients.

Your comments about Civas are unusual as I'm not certain what you find attractive about his clinic since you don't like his hairline photos. Isn't that what you should be considering first and foremost, the results? Writing papers and society involvement are meaningless and I've never understood why people think this is relevant to their craft. Results, and I mean the details of the results, experience (type of, not just length of) are what I think are what should be the priorities for patients, not to mention patient care after surgery.

I think that before you choose anyone you should maybe identify what it is that you think you want. You're obviously looking for hairline work, so is it important for you to make sure that your hairline looks natural with single hair grafts that are properly prepared?

[benny g]

Hey Henry,

I don't have any thoughts on those doctors as such but it seems odd your asking around for "quotes" . You're getting permanent cosmetic surgery, not getting a bathroom renovated!! I'd personally wait till you're in a position where price isn't the main issue then pick the very best doctor you can find for your situation. You don't get many shots at this man.

best of luck!

[farsanUK]

Approaching research on hair transplant surgery like a price comparison site is the worst thing you can do. I get it - we all wish the real top guns were half the price but that is never going to happen, if they did I don't think you or most people out there would consider Turkey at all. The fact that you said you'd rather shave your head than pay 20k for dr lupanzula says to me that's exactly what you should do and see how you feel about. If you can't afford a hair transplant then don't get it done. Don't cheap out on it, you will regret it I assure you.