3200 FUE With Doctor Ozlem Bicer (Istanbul)

[UK 42]

FUE with Doctor Ozlem Bicer (Istanbul, Turkey)
Dec 2020

My Story, Alan - U.K.

7 years ago at the age of 35 I decided to get my first hair transplant procedure. At this time I didn’t know much about these procedures so put my trust in a company and surgeon in the U.K.
They talked me into getting the FUT procedure because it was more affordable and I would have a nice result. I was so desperate to fix my hair loss that I convinced myself the FUT strip scar wouldn’t be an issue for me. In my desperation I decided to go ahead with the procedure and unfortunately it became clear some months later that I had made a big mistake using this company. My result was very poor, the surgeon or should I say technicians who did most of the procedure, gave me a hairline but almost no hair coverage behind the hairline so I was left with a gap before my natural hair line started.
They stitched my FUT scar which took a long time to heal and my scar had stretched in some areas.
I was extremely depressed and anxious about my appearance, even more now then before I had the procedure, I knew I had to try and fix this mess.
I spent months researching other surgeons in the U.K. and educating myself about hair transplant procedures, then approximately 14 months after the first procedure I found another surgeon in the U.K. The plan with this surgeon was to remove my over stretched strip scar and use the grafts to fill in some of the area behind the hairline so my appearance looked more natural. Thankfully I’d made a much better decision this time, the surgeon used staples this time for my strip scar and it healed much better. The grafts that he had to work with he used to fill in the gap the first surgeon had created behind the hairline to give a more natural look . Although I was much happier, the density was never as good as I’d hoped, this was all due the mess the first surgeon/technicians had created.


Doctor Ozlem Bicer (Istanbul,Turkey)

7 years after my first procedure I started to notice thinning in my crown area. I decided I wanted another procedure to fill in my crown and add more density to my frontal area. I was interested in trying FUE this time. I already had a relatively thin strip scar which I didn’t want to risk having removed again. I was interested in having a procedure in Turkey because I had a couple of friends who had been to Turkey and their result was really good.
I found Doctor Ozlem Bicer’s name on Spencer Stevenson’s (SPEX) website and i trust this guy not to be recommending bad surgeons. I started to research Doctor Bicer and I was very impressed with the reviews I found. I contacted her patient coordinator Ozen and she answered all my questions and sent me pictures of previous patient results.
I was speaking with 2 other clinics in Turkey at the same time, both of which were offering a much lower priced package then Doctor Bicer’s clinic. My instinct was telling me Doctor Bicer was the right Surgeon to choose for the reasons below –

• Recommended surgeon by Spencer Stevenson (SPEX)
• Member of International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery
• Fully licenced clinic
• Over 20 years experience
• The clinic only treats 1 patient per day
• Experienced team focussed on you only
• Very positive reviews and impressive previous patient results
• Patient coordinator Ozen available almost 24/7 answering all my questions
• Added bonus for me the Doctor said she would plant grafts into my strip scar


My decision was made, I wasn’t going to let the cheaper packages tempt me, I’d made that mistake before. I wanted a quality surgeon with a good record so I was happy to pay a little extra for piece of mind.

Travelling to Turkey and the procedure

I was a little nervous travelling to Turkey on my own but it turned out to be very easy and an enjoyable experience. It was made easy because of the help of Ozen, she arranged my pick up and hotel stay and even stayed awake until 2am the night I arrived to make sure I arrived safely at the hotel. She was always there texting me to make sure I was ok and giving me the details I needed.
The hotel is right across the street from the clinic so it’s very convenient on the day of the procedure because you don’t have to travel.
I arrived at 8am and met with Ozen, Doctor Bicer was very welcoming and discussed the plan before she started the procedure. She completed the more skilled parts of the procedure and was assisted by her technicians for graft placement and other duties, but she is present all day. The majority of the procedure was pain free but removing 3200 grafts is a long process and I did start become a little restless and start to feel some pain the longer the process went on. I arrived at the clinic at 8am and didnt leave until after 7pm so it was a long tiring day. They gave me some medication to take away, some of which was pain medication which came in very useful on the first night. I started to feel some pain and couldn’t sleep, I took the pain tablet and it helped a lot , I slept for 6 hours and woke feeling totally fine.
Day 2, I went back to the clinic and met with Doctor Bicer again to get my bandage removed and take my first proper look at her work. I was very happy, I could tell a lot of grafts had been extracted and the positioning looked very tight, so I was happy.

FUE vs FUT in my opinion

After experiencing both FUE and FUT procedures I can see that both have their positive and negative points. I found that FUT felt more invasive due to the removal of the strip of skin and the fact you are left with a pretty big scar for the rest of your life. I chose non shaven for both my FUT procedures and I was never fully happy with the result. I think it makes it more difficult for the surgeon to see where the grafts need to be placed. The positive of FUT for me was that the procedure didn’t seem to take as long and I don’t remember feeling as uncomfortable and restless in the operating chair.

FUE, although I found to be a much longer slightly more uncomfortable process, I feel if you opt for fully shaven it will yield the best results.
If could turn back time I would have never had an FUT procedure , it wasn’t long after my fist procedure that I started to regret the huge scar on the back of my head. If I had my time again I would have chosen fully shaven FUE at the start, it would have mostly likely saved me thousands of pounds and i possibly might have only needed 1 or maybe 2 procedures by this stage in my life.

My advice

If your thinking of having a procedure my advise would be to go for it and choose FUE.
I have experienced procedures good and bad and would say the most important thing is to do your research, DON’T RUSH IN.
The UK has some great surgeons but unfortunately the cost is so overpriced that I would definitely recommend going to Turkey after the experience I have just had.
There are many places in Turkey offering this procedure and for a really low price but don’t make the mistake I made the first time around in the UK, You get what you pay for in life.
Doctor Bicer is a quality surgeon and in my opinion the service you get from her clinic is at the same level as the top clinic i chose in the UK for my second procedure.
I’m only 3 days post op writing this but I can already tell by the graft placement that my result should be a good one. Obviously only time will tell but I’m very confident. I have experienced 3 different procedures at 3 different clinics and everything about my procedure in Turkey with Doctor Bicer felt right.

I hope this can help somebody who is thinking of traveling to Turkey for a procedure…..

[UK 42]

Here are some pictures of my recovery so far #Ozlem Bicer 🤙🏻

[UK 42]

Quick update of my recovery on day 8.

Healing well , still some redness and itching but I’m happy with my progress so far.

[Toffeeman147]

Good stuff fella....may I be a nosey devil and ask how much you paid per graft?.. cheers

[UK 42]

Hi mate , 1.3Euro per graft. I paid 3900Euro for 3000 grafts , but if Doctor Bicer takes more grafts she doesn't charge any extra.
In my case I got an extra 200 grafts so 3200 grafts total.