Beard Transplant /10 Months - 16 months / Istanbul, TR

I am English born professional in my mid-thirties. Since my teens I always wanted beard hair, but I have never had any apart from a few feint hairs around my chin and moustache. I always accepted the mantra that if one waited, the beard hairs would come in time. That certainly was not the case with me. Until last year I had given up on the idea of being able to do anything about it. Then, in October last year I stumbled across the FUE beard transplant procedure. I researched everything into the procedure and the best locations in terms of price and expertise. I decided that I wanted to do it, agreed it with my wife and then looked at the options. I ended up going with the Aestimed Clinic in Istanbul, headed up Aytac Karadut. The prices were very reasonable, the results that they had achieved with other patients were good and my understanding of the expertise of the medical staff and facilities were also good. I booked my flight and flew over at the end of November last year. I stayed at a 4 star hotel for 3 nights as part of the package. I arrived there on the Monday night and then the following day, I was picked up by the driver and taken to the clinic. I had a consultation, photos taken and then the work commenced. The surgeon starts by drawing the shape of the beard on your face following a discussion with you on how you wish it to look. You then have your head shaved (or at the least they donor area). You then lie face down on a bed in the operating theatre and the extraction phase begins. The surgeons firstly injected anaesthetic into the donor area, which I found quite painful. They then used a micro rotor, which has a sound like an electric pencil sharpener, to remove the grafts from the donor area. That part - which took about an hour and a half - is painless because of the anaesthetic. I then had something to eat and they then proceeded to inject more anaesthetic into the beard area. I have to say that this was very painful - particularly around the lips. All you can do is just grip the seat and get through it. After this, the surgeon made the incisions into the beard area. Finally, the work inserting the grafts began. I had two technicians working on me - one either side. This was necessary because of the large number of grafts being inserted. The process was relatively painless, apart from the occasional top up of anaesthetic - which was always painful. The number of grafts I had inserted exceeded 5000 and I was in the operating room until nearly 11pm at night. It was a unique experience and not for the faint hearted. Getting back home to the UK from Turkey wasn't a great experience either because you look like a very odd person and not one to be walking through an airport! But I got back fine and was pleased to be home. The next few days are not best either in all honesty. You have to sleep upright for a week and not touch the (very itchy) grafts over this period. You also have to give up alcohol and strenuous exercise (both of which I missed). I kept in contact with Aytac over the period and he was very helpful and extremely responsive. He was also able to answer all of my questions. It is now ten months - nearly to the day - since the surgery and I am very pleased with results. If anyone would talk about the procedure or get any thoughts or recommendations from me, then feel free to me email me.