FUE Hair Transplant

Hi all, Long time lurker, first time poster. But without this place I would not have had the confidence to finally book my hair transplant. Context 2B style hair, strong and thick hair prime for a transplant. Hereditary male pattern baldness which was diagnosed as a 3A with a few clinics. Did a lot of research, from Dr Keser who suggested 2800 grafts (iirc) to others that said up to 3500. So I was confident in the assessment. So it was a case of the right clinic. After all the research humanly possible I ended up going with Dr Hakan Clinic from their instagram, esp. the naturalness of the hairline and speaking to someone who went there. Summary: Great to fabulous experience but a couple of few to note. Really good communication throughout about booking. You'll be asked for a deposit so they know you're not messing about and so they can arrange a taxi for pick-up and hotel. Point 1 to note: There are two hotel choices, Sirius Hotel or the Marriott Exec Apartments. The hospital/clinic is based inside the Marriott (yes, it's beautiful and much nicer than the NHS crap I'm now used to) but the Sirius is literally 20 second walk in the next building. Bearing in mind post-operation, likely you'll be spending a lot of time in the hotel room resting. I'd probably pay the extra for the Marriott as the rooms in the Sirius are quite small and the extra cash is worth paying for the nicer experience (and probably breakfast, which is included in both packages). In terms of the operation day, please listen to the advice and have a light breakfast! You will meet with Dr Hakan who will go through the some initial questions, arrange the blood test and crucially draw the hairline with you and explain why. You can challenge, discuss, etc. until you're happy. But do note, he knows what's talking about and therefore making a recommendation on his experience and for what you're after (i.e. I thought my hairline was a bit higher than my natural hairline but it was made clear I'd lost hair permanently on the side so it will look silly, plus it's curly so I can cover it in the future). Point 2 to note: the doctor is entirely clear and transparent; he does the two most parts (drawing of the hairline and the front part of the hairline transplant). I was a bit apprehensive about the doctor not doing the whole transparent. But he does supervise throughout, visiting and discussing where they've got to. I'll be honest, I couldn't really tell much difference between him and his team, apart from he was a bit more gentle and clearly more experienced and therefore able to do it quicker. After 2 weeks now, I can see they've done a fantastic job (especially compared to some of the experiences I've seen online) and there's not scarring either in the donor area or implanted area, I think almost all the grafts have survived too. I did opt to pay the additional amount for stemcell therapy which *may* have helped. Point 3 to note: Not his whole team speak English, so there will be points you cannot really communicate well (they have a basic command of English to understand pain, cramp, when the local anaesthetic doesn't have full coverage, break but not enough to hold a conversation). This doesn't didn't really bother me as I'd much rather they're focusing on the procedure but it may others. The doctor explained at the end that they ended up doing more grafts than agreed having seen that my hair loss was worse than the photos and initial consultation, which was nice but slightly concerning surprise. After that the transplant you'll be sent to rest. You are provided some painkillers, antibiotics, shampoo, vitamin spray and cream for the grafts which they'll show you how to do at the first wash (if you opt to do it there, or a video for your reference). You're also given a supply of finasteride; I've been advised to use it but the doctor thinks I won't need it long term given the strength of my grafts. Hope this provides helpful for someone or gives them the reassurance. Happy to take questions and will post photos at some point from before, after and progress if that's welcomed. PS if you're craving a fried chicken burger, there's a place 12-15 mins away called Koi Chicken. Incredible.