Very Happy with my Hair Transplant with Dr. Cinik - 3400 Grafts - 37 Years Male

It has now been a little over 3 months since my hair transplant. I decided to wait a few months before giving an update but here is the update with a few pictures from the last few months. So far everything is good, some of the hair started to fall out around a month after surgery which I knew was normal and then a few weeks after that new hair started to grow in the transplant area. The staff of Dr. Cinik has been very nice in staying in touch and making sure that everything is good with me and getting pictures from me just to make sure that everything looks good. The thickness of the area around the 3rd month is only around 10% of what it will be when fully grown so I am very excited about the next few months. I at least see a difference every week when it comes to the transplant area.

Good afternoon

This is the first time that I ever write something here, but all of the reviews that have been written really helped me make a decision to go with Dr. Emrah Cinik so I decided to write one as well to talk about my experience with getting a hair transplant with Dr. Cinik.

I had my surgery on Dec 20 so it has been 2 weeks and so far everything is good and I know that patience will be key. I am a 37 year old male, and I had 3400 grafts added.

So let me tell you a little bit about the process. I had been thinking about a hair transplant for about a year before I finally went ahead with it. I am European but I live in the United States. I had looked at hair transplant options here in the US and talked to a doctor where I was told that the cost would be between $10.000 – 15.000 which I felt was insanely expensive, and I would not know until after the surgery what the actual cost would be since they charge for per graft. They did not have a lot of before and after pictures, which is probably because not a lot of people want to spend $10.000-15.000 out of pocket on a hair transplant.

I had done a lot of research online and found a few doctors but I had a good feeling about Dr. Cinik and he had a lot of great reviews and a lot of before and after pictures so I reached out to his team and from start everything was very professional and I got answers to all of my questions very quickly.

After getting answers to all of my questions and feeling comfortable about everything, I decided that I was going to have the surgery with Dr. Cinik. I went ahead and booked my flight to Turkey.

I decided to go with the more expensive package of 2.590 euros where Dr. Cinik would perform the channel opening as well as getting a extra night at the hotel.

Arrival:
I arrived in Turkey 2 days before the surgery. After getting my bag and going through immigration I went to the transport area. I had gotten very good directions on where to go, and within a couple of minutes I was being escorted to a nice Mercedes van which took me to the hotel.

The hotel that I stayed at was the Doubletree and it was very nice. The rooms was very nice and the breakfast was very good as well.

Day 2:
I spend the day before the surgery doing some sightseeing, I went to the Grand Bazaar and the Mall of Istanbul.

Day 3, day of surgery:
I was picked up in the hotel lobby at 6:45 am and I was able to eat breakfast before since the breakfast starts at 6:30 am. When I arrived at the hospital, a very friendly guy was waiting for me to show me around(I am bad with names so I forgot what his name was) and take me to where I needed to go.

The hospital was very clean and it was obvious that is was fairly new.
First I met with Dr.Cinik and that was a great experience. He was very friendly, he spoke good English and he asked me to show him pictures of what my hairline used to look like. After seeing the pictures, and taking a look at the state of my current hair he drew a hairline on my head and recommended how it should look so that it would look natural based on my age. I was happy with his recommendations.

After that, the friendly guy again welcomed me and took me to have my blood taken for a blood test and to have my blood pressure taken.
Then a before picture was taken of my head. After the pictures, I was taken upstairs to see the Administrator to fill out some paperwork and pay for the surgery. That only took a couple of minutes and after that everything was ready for the surgery.

I was then brought down to the surgery room. I was given a pill which I assume was to relax me a little. Then I took of my shirt and put on a hospital gown.

The surgery itself:
I decided to not go with the pain free anesthesia. I would say that my pain threshold is fairly high. They started poking at the back of my head with needles and it was not too bad. After a couple of minutes you don´t feel it anymore.

They had to take a little of my beard from my neck for the hair transplant as well, and being poked in the neck with needles many times was a little painful.

When they put the anesthesia at the front of my head that is where the most pain was. That was very uncomfortable because they skin is thin, but it was only a few minutes but it will hurt so just something to keep in mind if you are not good with pain.

The surgery itself took about 7 hours. Laying on your back and stomach for 7 hours is not very comfortable but I asked to stand up a few times and that was no problem at all.

Dr. Cinik and his staff were very friendly, they asked regularly if I was feeling ok and if I needed to stand up. They brought me a snack which was a muffin and apple juice and then later on I got a sandwich and apple juice so I felt good during the procedure but still laying still for such a long period sometimes in awkward positions gets to be a little tiring but it was worth it.

After surgery:
After the surgery they put a bandage on your head. I was brought up again to the administrator office and given some medicine to take. I felt fine, still very numb in my head and a little tired but no pain. I was given instructions on what would happen during the next few days, both for the medicine to take, how to sleep, the follow up appointment, what to avoid and so on. When I was done, I was driven back to my hotel.

I was given a hat to use(it is pretty ugly and people will stare at you but who cares. I decided to use it to protect my head since my head is basically an open wound the next few days and you go to the airport and on an airplane so I would rather look strange but protect my head).

They give you a pillow to sleep on for the first 7 days and you have to sleep on your back for 7 days. The pillow was pretty uncomfortable and since I am usually a back sleeper it took me a long time to fall asleep and I woke up a few times so expect to not sleep very well that first night.

Day after surgery:
I was picked up for the follow up appointment the next morning. They took the bandages of my head and changed out the bandages on my neck. They took a look and made sure that everything looked good which it did. They put a headband on my head to keep the swelling from reaching my face.

They offered me an aftercare package with vitamins, shampoos and more for the next 6 months. It did not feel at all like they were trying to sell me something that I did not need. They even said, if you just want to take pictures of everything and try and buy it back home that is fine. I went ahead and bought the 6 month package, that way I would not have to think about finding these things at a store or online in the US to maybe save a few dollars.

I was driven back to the hotel, where I finished packing everything and then about 90 minutes later I was picked up again and driven to the airport.

Instead of flying back home right away, I had decided to split the flights into different days instead of having an extremely long day and I am glad that I did that. I flew from Istanbul to Germany and spent the night there before the next flight. I got pretty tired on the first flight, both just being tired from the surgery, not sleeping well the night after surgery and then also taking a few different types of medicine which is not something that I am used to. That is what suited me, maybe you would just want to get the flights over with and get home and then recover.

Following days:
I was a little sore in my head for the first few days. The right side of my head was more swolen, but the swelling started to go down within a few days. I never really got used to sleeping on that pillow comfortable so after about 3 nights what I did instead is use an airplane pillow that was a lot softer but did the same thing, I slept with my neck on it and it was a lot more comfortable and I slept a little better. Within a week I was back to my regular sleeping position and I have slept a lot better since then. I have started taking regular showers since you can´t take regular showers for the first 7 days and everything is looking good.

Final conclusion:
If you have read all the way to this point, you are probably very interested in getting a hair transplant.

Overall, my experience was very positive, from the first communication until today everything was very professional and exceeded my expectations. Dr. Cinik´s staff has continued staying in communication with me just to make sure that everything is ok. I sent them some pictures of what my head looks like today, so I feel that Dr. Cinik and his staff really want to make sure that everything is going according to plan.

The hotel was great, the transportation to and from the airport and to the hospital was great and the drivers were always on time when it came to picking me up.

Everyone on Dr. Cinik´s staff was very friendly and willing to help. Some of them did not speak very good English, but I had someone ready to translate if I had any questions and in all reality I did not have a lot of questions since I had done a lot of researched and asked most of the questions before. Still it was good to have someone ready to translate when needed.

If you have been thinking about getting a hair transplant and the high prices have been holding you back, I would look at the option of going to Turkey. With the flights and everything, I spent around $4000 for the flight and the hair transplant plus I got to visit a whole new country which is always fun. Compare that to spending between $10.000-15.000 in the US. It was not only the price that led me to go to Turkey, I just had a good feeling that Dr. Cinik was the correct doctor for me after I had contacted him and gotten answers to the questions that I had.

You are getting a lot for your money there, and the doctors in Turkey have a lot more experience because so many people today are choosing to have a hair transplant in Turkey today. I know that going to a different country may be a little scary but I am very happy that I decided to go to Turkey to have my hair transplant. I will continue to add pictures as my head continues to heal and the hair continues to grow.

Good luck with your hair transplant journey!