FUT - 18/12/15 - 4030 Grafts - NW6 - Dr Karadeniz - 18/12/15

[suarez]

My story on the HT journey started some 26 years ago . That was the day that someone pointed out to me at the works Christmas party that I was developing a bald spot . Still so vivid it seems like yesterday .

I grudgingly accepted my fate , but would periodically check out whatever the latest fad was being marketed to combat hair loss . Nearly all of them seemed to good to be true , and were .

Last time I checked out hair transplants was 10 years ago. Spent a good deal of time researching , but the quality of the HT's at that time were variable , and without the options available today were prohibitively expensive .

Fast forward 10 years and this is where I'm at . Spent the last 2 months or so endlessly researching the subject - the forums , the blogs , the websites . I spent every spare minute I could to increase my knowledge and understanding of the process .

After some deliberation , and following several online consultations , I decided to go with Dr Karadeniz . As Dr K had only assessed my hair loss via submitted photo's , the surgery options were left open pending a physical inspection .

I arrived in Istanbul on 16th December and after only 6 hours sleep headed of to the clinic the next morning at 8.45.I met Dr K at 9am whereupon we discussed the options . Dr K's opinion was that 4000 grafts plus would be required , to provide a good camouflage density to the frontal area and mid scalp regions . The crown would be untouched on this occasion , but sufficient grafts remaining should a further procedure be required . In consideration of my level of hair loss and the donor area characteristics , we agreed upon FUSS as the initial choice , with a potential further FUE the following day if the strip alone were to be insufficient for my requirements .

The usual pre-op photos were taken and hair design marked out . At around 10am the procedure commenced and I was on the operating table , and the first anaesthetic injections were administered along the strip line . These were pretty much painless , which was good as I was expecting worse . Much less painful that a dentists needle . Didn't take long for the head to be suitably numb and the strip procedure
commenced by Dr K . I was aware of things happening at the back of my head , but that's all it was , a slight sensation .On completion , the strip was passed on to the technicians for dissection .

With the strip removed , a lunch break was taken . Upon returning to the surgery, the technicians reported that in excess of 4000 grafts were taken .

On to the operating table once again and the recipient area was anaesthetised . Dr K made all the recipient site incisions . Again , I was aware of things happening , but was not painful in the slightest. Whilst the recipient incisions were being made , a team of technicians were dissecting and preparing the grafts .

Dr K made the initial graft placements to check for any potential popping ( elevation ) of the grafts . There appeared to be no issues , and the graft placement commenced , undertaken by a team of technicians . Strangely enough , although the time period from commencement of surgery to completion was around 9 hours , it didn't seem to drag at all .

The no's details are as below :

No. of grafts - 4035

1's - 780 grafts - 19.33% , hairs 780
2's - 2350 grafts - 58.24% , hairs 4700
multiples - 905 grafts -22.43% , hairs 2715

Grafts Total = 4035 ; Hairs Total = 8195 plus

Approximate area covered = 100 cm2

Grafts per cm2 = 40.35 average

Grafts were more densely placed at the frontal area and taper off to the rear .

I left the surgery around 7pm and returned to my hotel. Sleep that night was intermittent , although pain killers and other medication were taken to reduce pain / swelling .

I returned to the clinic the next morning for the hair wash and post-op instructions given .

Luckily enough , no swelling was suffered and little pain experienced . I am now at 7 days post-op , and the area appears to healing well . The scalp feels slightly tight , and light bruising is apparent to the recipient areas . Other than this , everything appears well .

My experience with Dr Karadinez specifically , and the clinic in general was very positive .

I will give further detail on the clinic in a separate post . Below are my pre-op and post-op pictures . I'd be glad to answer any questions .

I will update post op photos periodically .