24 Yr Old FUE Dr. Maral - Istanbul, TR

Hello all,

I've been lurking these forums for quite some time now, and over the period have gained incredible amounts of information, so first and foremost - thank you all.

My hair loss if that's what it is, began when I was young, my hair had been tied tightly into a knot. Thus, overtime pulling the frontal area and sides and ultimately pulling hair out. A lot of hair had been pulled and the hairline had receeded (tracion alopecia).

Now, as I literally write this review, I am sitting on the hotel bed awaiting my transplant tomorrow at 9:30am.

Service has been good so far, a minor hiccup at the airport (in short, they made me get another visa and pay 372 TRY...) However, besides that it has no relation to the clinic at all. The driver had been waiting for me outside for nearly 2 hours, while I cleared everything up. Amazing service thus far, the driver is really informative and down to earth. He drove me to the hotel, that of which was provided for by Maral's clinic.

The hotel is very good, I am satisfied -- the service has been exceptional as well as the food. I would suggest bring about $200 TRY for food, and you'll leave stuffed.

I left Toronto on Friday, flew to Amsterdam and then Turkey. I landed in Turkey Saturday 3pm and now it is Sunday 7pm. I was told my surgery would be taken care of on Monday, and to wake up at 930am to be picked up by the driver.

To be continued....

So, I have just finished my surgical procedure. The staff was amazing, procedure lasted from 930am to 4pm. This includes consultation and a small lunch break.

So now let's begin, I was picked up by the driver, again really nice dude. Afterwards I was taken to the clinic, which was literally less than 5 minutes away. Once I arrived at the clinic, I was asked to pay. $2350 USD. 10 minutes afterwards, I had a consultation with Dr.Maral.

The consultation lasted roughly 10 minutes, Maral had kept speaking, asked me a few questions, but he kept speaking, I really did not have a chance to speak. But it was alright, he proceeded to take pictures. I was never told how many grafts I would need during the consultation, and I did not really get to choose a hairline, I went with Dr.Maral's recommendation, this was fine, as he is the doctor and more experienced than myself, lol. He began to draw on my head, the hairline that would be made. Unfortunately, the side of my head could not undergo surgery, as this is a dangerous/risky spot? So I have to find alternative methods, or just simply leave it alone now.

I then proceeded to the room next door to prepare for my surgery, the clinic is decently sized, 3 surgical procedures had undergone simultaneously in different rooms.

In the room, as I changed clothes and then laid down on the bed, 2 assistants proceeded to guide me through the steps etc. Note: I never saw Maral again, the surgery was in the hands of the assistants.

The assistants began to poke into my head with the anesthesia, I think roughly 15 pokes. This was probably the most painful of the whole surgery, and to be honest I rate it a 5/10 in pain. It's a walk in the park, if your pain tolerance is high, I wouldn't sweat it.

After my head went completely numb, they began to do stuff to my donor area, I heard tools that sounded like a grinder (those dentist saw things), again it didn't hurt, maybe slight discomfort but no pain.

After 3 hours of messing around with the donor area, we had lunch. Roughly 15 minutes, and then I was back on the bed again for round 2. This time, they began the transplantation, I had asked how many grafts and the assistant said 2000. This has got me a bit worried, as I had concerns for density. But it's done now, and I couldn't really negotiate.

The transplantation process took another 2-3 hours, both assistants transplanting hair into my scalp, with what seemed like a pen or some sort of knife, again it was painless, I was listening to music the whole time, and some of the time I was partially asleep.

Once this was done, I had lost a lot of blood -- this is normal, so as a result I felt a little bit dizzy, but no biggie. They provided me with a nice fruit drink and bandaged up, shortly afterwards they told me I was done.

I then proceeded downstairs and was given 3 boxes of pills. Painkiller, anti-bacteria, and some steroid (time to get jacked lol).

Then, I was driven back to the hotel by their driver, and was told I would be picked up tomorrow at 11am for the follow up. My flight is also tomorrow at 7pm.

The sleep was not bad to be honest, I sleep normally on my back so it was not an issue. Slept from 11pm all the way to 930am.

The driver came around roughly 11am, to pick me up and head back on over to the clinic for last minute discussions and to remove the bandages.

They removed the bandages and applied alcohol etc, the pain again was probably 5/10, keep in mind that this number is different for everyone.

Once the bandages were removed, I headed upstairs to meet Maral and he explained me the post-op care and proceed me with a lotion and shampoo.

He answered every question I had, and also explained to me why 2000 grafts and why the hairline. The hairline is permanent so when you're older it would look funky, and to be honest he is right. He explained that it would take some time for new hair to grow, roughly after 3 months.

The questions I asked him were pertaining to me, how long after could I workout? And how long after can I get a haircut?


1) workout after 1 week, but light. Start normal routine 2-3 weeks.

2) Transplanted area is not to be touched, down the road, 5 months I could use scissors on the area but no trimmer or razor blade. The donor area however, I could get trimmed with clippers after a month.

So now my plan is to trim the sides and grow the top long, for as long as I can. And hope I can grow the front of my hair long enough to the point it touches my nose. I was able to do this before hair transplant, but now the hairline is equal and I'm hoping to do this with most of the new hair. It may take some longer time, and I am aware of this.

I am back at the hotel now, and leaving for the airport at 3:30pm and my flight is at 730pm. Gives me enough time to surely get through without any troubles etc.

PS: My experience with Dr.Maral and his clinic has been great, similar to those that have posted good things about them on this forums. I would definitely recommend to someone else.

Donor area pre-bandage removal. Quality isn't the best, camera screen is cracked.

So I just got back from Amsterdam, after spending 13hour layover and then 8 hour flight to Toronto. I am a little worried, in Amsterdam my had rubbed on my grafts a bit too much, and was worried about the movement of the grafts. But I think they're now that I see them better at home.

Everything is healing nicely, however the hat provided just looks too funky for school etc. I was wondering if anyone knows, after a week if I can wear a bandana instead? Position it to the point it doesn't touch the grafts. The hat I have is sort of a cow boy hat, haha.

I've added recent pictures of the donor area as well as the graft area.

One side of the donor area is healing slower, it's the same side the hat kept rubbing against as well. So I think that is the cause of it.

So today was my first wash of the recipient area. I lathered on the lotion first, and applied it using the tapping method.

Then I waited roughly 20 minutes, before applying the shampoo. I applied the shampoo before I got in the shower, and again used the tapping method.

In the shower I used a cup, filled it up with water and poured on my head. I didn't use the shower with direct contact with my head. I repeated the cup step a few times.

When I got out, the oily skin subsided but no scabs etc had fallen out. No worries, in due time I believe.

It's been 1 week, I have continued with the consistent washing procedures. However, I have not noticed much scab loss or hair for that matter.

Everything is going and looking nice, donor area pretty much almost fully recovered and no red spots.

I have proceeded with washing instructions and now most if not all scabs have fallen off. I noticed with the scabs, small little hairs were attached but that is normal.

The hair has begun to shed and fall out, only a few more weeks until the initial growth begins.

I will post pictures later this weekend and again when it begins to grow.

A lot of hair has shed, I would say 40-50%? Hopefully some growth soon.

Not much has changed, I think maybe it has begun to grow. Won't get a haircut until after a year maybe.

Been busy with exams, will post an update soon. The hair has begun to grow again, and some of the transplanted that never fell off has grown longer than my normal hair. Still patchy however, so hopefully there's still a lot of growth left.