POSTED UNDER Hair Transplant REVIEWS
Norwood 5-6 hair loss. First (4100 grafts) and second (2600) HT with Dr Tugrul Maral, Istanbul, Turkey.
ORIGINAL POST
NW 5, 4100 Grafts, Maral Klinik, Istanbul.
WORTH IT$2,083
Experienced, knowledgeable, straight-to-the-point doctor with a skilled and conscientious staff.
The surgery is clean and modern and the atmosphere in the clinic is relaxed and friendly.
Very reassuring for any foreign visitor.
The surgery is clean and modern and the atmosphere in the clinic is relaxed and friendly.
Very reassuring for any foreign visitor.
ThatchedRoof's provider
UPDATED FROM ThatchedRoof
1 day post
Arrival in Istanbul
Received a lot of useful information from stalking the reviews of others on this site, so thought it only fair to share my opinions and help some fellow baldies make an informed decision.
I Picked the Maral Klinik in Istanbul, Turkey purely based on what I had read on this site.
There was a mix of excellent reviews with detailed photos and useful tips, good reviews that had been abandoned before their completion and a couple of bad reviews that offered no firm evidence (mostly by way of pictures of results) that the clinic was sub-par.
I contacted Dr Maral a few months ago to arrange a date but, unfortunately, the clinic holidays from the 14th July until the 30th July. I was advised to book after this time and promptly did. He had said from the photos I sent that I was likely a Norwood 3 and would be an excellent candidate for a one-session hair transplant.
Once I sent my flight details Dr Maral's assistant Sonnur assured me I would be collected at the airport by a driver and fitted in for a HT on my chosen date.
As anyone would be, I was unsure if I would be stranded at the airport with £2000 in my pocket. This was not the case. A jovial gentleman named Murat was waiting at meeting point 2 for me (as mentioned in Sonnur's email) and he led me to a car where another driver took me to the Levant Otel. This relaxed my nerves somewhat.
The hotel was clean and fairly modern. It included breakfast, had a mini-bar, there was a coded safe, it offered room service and was round the corner from a busy street that had a multitude of shops.
I spent the first night indoors as I had been scheduled for surgery the next morning.
I Picked the Maral Klinik in Istanbul, Turkey purely based on what I had read on this site.
There was a mix of excellent reviews with detailed photos and useful tips, good reviews that had been abandoned before their completion and a couple of bad reviews that offered no firm evidence (mostly by way of pictures of results) that the clinic was sub-par.
I contacted Dr Maral a few months ago to arrange a date but, unfortunately, the clinic holidays from the 14th July until the 30th July. I was advised to book after this time and promptly did. He had said from the photos I sent that I was likely a Norwood 3 and would be an excellent candidate for a one-session hair transplant.
Once I sent my flight details Dr Maral's assistant Sonnur assured me I would be collected at the airport by a driver and fitted in for a HT on my chosen date.
As anyone would be, I was unsure if I would be stranded at the airport with £2000 in my pocket. This was not the case. A jovial gentleman named Murat was waiting at meeting point 2 for me (as mentioned in Sonnur's email) and he led me to a car where another driver took me to the Levant Otel. This relaxed my nerves somewhat.
The hotel was clean and fairly modern. It included breakfast, had a mini-bar, there was a coded safe, it offered room service and was round the corner from a busy street that had a multitude of shops.
I spent the first night indoors as I had been scheduled for surgery the next morning.
Replies (0)
UPDATED FROM ThatchedRoof
1 day post
Pre-op
I began to feel some nerves creeping in on the day of the operation. I had been told to breakfast early and be in the lobby for 9am. Accompanying me to the clinic were 2 Polish lads and an American. We were all at vastly different stages of hairloss.
The clinic was located among a commercial shopping parade. We went upstairs and met the friendly Sonnur who took payment and brief details from us one at a time. I have to say at this point, the smiles and hellos that greeted us when we entered the clinic went a long way to making my nerves disappear.
Also disappearing, was one of the Polish lads. He was told there was only 3 surgery rooms and he would have to be accommodated later in the day.
Individually, we spoke with Dr Maral in his office. I had been looking forward to meeting him as I'd heard he was quite the character. He didn't disappoint. We had a fun, engaging chat and he asked what I wanted from the procedure, I decided not to point out the obvious and say, "Hair," so I told him to just have a look and see what he thought. In the cold light of reality, it occurred to him that I was, in fact, closer to a Norwood 5 than a Norwood 3 and instead of the 3000-4000 he promised me, he said they would try for maximum grafts. To be fair to him, the pictures I sent badly understated the rate of loss at the front as my side parting probably hit a lot of scalp. He was keen to tackle the hairline, then the crown and disperse any remaining grafts around the middle to thicken it up.
I was pleased to hear this. Murat, the driver, had informed me that the clinic was very busy and I suspected Dr Maral would want as short a session as possible to fit everybody in. I thought he might only fill the crown and leave the rest for a second session. His team did the lot. But he did advise that a second session would be likely as the crown may not receive full coverage and there was aggressive hairloss still occurring within my remaining hairs.
He refuses to negotiate on the level of patient's hairlines (especially the temple area), as for temple to go too low would leave an unnatural result and a low hairline also uses up precious grafts from your limited donor area. I found his straightforwardness refreshing. But be warned: straight talking, Middle Eastern doctors are not to everyone's taste! Go in with an open mind and do your research based on the Doctor's past results not what some offended wallflower has said on Realsef!
The clinic was located among a commercial shopping parade. We went upstairs and met the friendly Sonnur who took payment and brief details from us one at a time. I have to say at this point, the smiles and hellos that greeted us when we entered the clinic went a long way to making my nerves disappear.
Also disappearing, was one of the Polish lads. He was told there was only 3 surgery rooms and he would have to be accommodated later in the day.
Individually, we spoke with Dr Maral in his office. I had been looking forward to meeting him as I'd heard he was quite the character. He didn't disappoint. We had a fun, engaging chat and he asked what I wanted from the procedure, I decided not to point out the obvious and say, "Hair," so I told him to just have a look and see what he thought. In the cold light of reality, it occurred to him that I was, in fact, closer to a Norwood 5 than a Norwood 3 and instead of the 3000-4000 he promised me, he said they would try for maximum grafts. To be fair to him, the pictures I sent badly understated the rate of loss at the front as my side parting probably hit a lot of scalp. He was keen to tackle the hairline, then the crown and disperse any remaining grafts around the middle to thicken it up.
I was pleased to hear this. Murat, the driver, had informed me that the clinic was very busy and I suspected Dr Maral would want as short a session as possible to fit everybody in. I thought he might only fill the crown and leave the rest for a second session. His team did the lot. But he did advise that a second session would be likely as the crown may not receive full coverage and there was aggressive hairloss still occurring within my remaining hairs.
He refuses to negotiate on the level of patient's hairlines (especially the temple area), as for temple to go too low would leave an unnatural result and a low hairline also uses up precious grafts from your limited donor area. I found his straightforwardness refreshing. But be warned: straight talking, Middle Eastern doctors are not to everyone's taste! Go in with an open mind and do your research based on the Doctor's past results not what some offended wallflower has said on Realsef!
Replies (0)