Doctours

As the title says, I traveled to Istanbul to get a FUE procedure done at Now Hairtime (NHT) on January 28th, 2022. I found this clinic on IG and had followed them for about a year. What stood out to me about this clinic were the results that were posted on their IG and that they tagged others who received the FUE in the promotional videos. Each time they tagged someone who had received a transplant, I would message the recipient and ask them about their experience, if they would recommend, pros and cons of the clinic etc. I did this with about 8 people and each of them gave positive reviews of the clinic and overall experience. On November 20th, I initiated contact with the clinic vis, WhatsApp, to inquire about moving forward with the procedure. They had me send them photos of my head to get see if I would be a good candidate. Once they confirmed that my donor area looked good and explained the process I gave them the date that would work for me and they told me that they could not put me on the schedule until I sent them proof of my flight and a photo of my passport. I took care of both of those items, and they put me on the schedule. The $3K included my procedure, PRP, vitamins, 3 nights in a luxury hotel +breakfast, and transport to and from the airport. When I arrived in Turkey, I entered passport control and waited in pretty long line that moved quickly. I got all the way up to the window and the agent notified me that I would need a visa. This was a little bit frustrating because the NHT never mentioned needing this. So I got out of line and went to the visa counter which was conveniently by passport control. I paid $30 for the visa and got back into line. After getting through that line and getting my bags I walked down to the pick up area which NHT provide clear instructions for – including photos of what the location looked like. At this point it was 2:30AM. From there we went straight to the hospital to get bloodwork done which only took 15 minutes. After this I was taken to the hotel. When we pulled up to the hotel I noticed it was not the same hotel that was originally communicated to me. The new hotel was nice but I didn’t appreciate that the hotel change wasn’t communicated to me. The hotel had an amazing staff and amenities. Everyone was friendly and helpful. There was a little shopping mall across the street where was able to do a currency exchange. I exchanged $100 which ended up being more than enough. I paid for all of my meals and tipped about 200 lira to each person that helped me. I had lunch every day at the mall across the street and felt safe walking around there. The day before my procedure I message NHT to ask what time pick up for my procedure would be and the rep told me that she was not sure but would get back to me. A few hours had passed and I had not heard back so I sent another message. She mentioned that she was waiting to hear back from the team and would let me know. This was odd to me. I figured it would have been written in stone at this point and was really expecting a quick “Your procedure is at 9AM and you will be picked up at 8:30”. I followed up a few more times and I did not get the confirmation until 12AM that my pickup would be at 8:30. On the day of my procedure I woke up early, got a workout in and had breakfast. At 7:45, I got a message saying that my new pick-up time was going to be 2PM. At this point, I was frustrated and was looking for transparency about why my time got moved but received a pretty corporate response – “The team with the most experience will be available at this time”. At 12PM I got a message that my new time was 3PM. Again was looking for transparency about why this was happening but I didn’t get a good answer. They did apologize and move the time back up to 2PM. At 2PM I was picked up and taken to get the procedure. When I arrived, I was greeted by my interpreter at the car and walked in for my consultation. Mustafa did a really great job of putting me at ease and making me feel comfortable. I completed paperwork, provided my passport and then handed over payment for the procedure. After this, they asked if I had an idea of what hairline I wanted, which I did. I planned my hairline out ahead of time and knew exactly what I wanted and where. I communicated that I wanted a straight hairline (which culturally makes the most sense for me) and the doctor drew on a hairline. He got it right in the first go. After this they shaved my head and communicated the number of grafts that I would need. Once he was done drawing out the different areas of my head, I went into the procedure room and received the anesthetics. This was pretty painful. We had to take several breaks because of how much it hurt. Once that was done everything was smooth sailing. I laid on my stomach for one or two hours and the technician extracted the grafts. When they were done with that I took a little restroom/water break and then the doctor came in to make the incisions for the grafts. After that I watched youtube videos as they implanted the grafts. They did about 90% of the transplant and then we took a break to eat dinner. After dinner they wrapped up the rest of the grafts and did the PRP treatment. Sleeping the first night wasn’t too bad. I stacked some pillows and used my travel neck pillow to sleep in the 45 angle that they mentioned. The next day I went back to the clinic, and they removed the bandage, washed my head and fed me. The next morning I was picked up 15 minutes early for my flight. For the flight back I’d suggest a window seat. Overall, I had a great experience and I am happy with how everything has gone so far. The only negatives are the communication items I mentioned above. I have an appointment tomorrow with my GP for a fin prescription. Lmk if you have any questions.

6.5 months in… Happy with the progress thus far, considering where I started (last two pics, clearly pre-transplant). Had some weird side effects on fin and cut that out a year prior to transplant. Considering adding red light or PRP pending an upcoming haircut, but not stressing it too much. Still have no idea how to get my hair cut, been leaning into the mullet. Faced many people in personal and professional settings that made hurtful comments to tear at my confidence through much of my 20s (now 28 y/o) — Having the procedure alone (even before seeing results) showed me how small they really were. It feels quite freeing to put this in the past and regain my personality. Expecting more progress, but fortunate to reach the other side of this! We’re gonna make it bros!!!

In December 2021, I was invited, as a YouTuber, to promote NOW HAIR TIME hair transplant in Istanbul Turkey in exchange for a free operation and paid trip. They picked me up in a very expensive and nice van, their facility was very nice, the staff friendly, the hotel they booked for me was very good, and on the surface appeared to be a very good deal. I did minimal research, which was very stupid on my part, which i'll detail in this post. They drew my hairline on and explained the process. I liked the hairline they created, the photos and the reviews online, so everything felt confident. They told me they would take 3000 grafts. I have a full head of hair, and it was going to be cosmetic to fill in my temples and drop my hairline a bit, so I agreed. I didnt understand that 3000 grafts can fill a 1/4 of someone's head or more. They had two different people working on my head at the same time. They were extremely novice and I honestly might have been their first patient given how bad of a job they did. I have now come to understand, out of the 3000 grafts they extracted (and scarred my donor areas to living hell), they only placed around 1000-1200 of them as per Doctor Kaan Pekiner who I just paid to fix a few days ago. They also did not follow the hairline they drew on to me. They gave me some strange sharp widow's peak and left me with an extremely obvious asymmetrical hairline that was noticeable from any angle and in any shade of light. I recognized this right away and they told me it was due to swelling and would go away in a few weeks. On top of that, the hairs were placed in straight-lined rows and looked like a dolls head. I again asked them, "is this normal?" - they assured me its a part of the growing process and to wait until after 6 months or so. So I wait and wait. Nothing changes outside the length grows long enough that my bangs cover the butchered job they made. I began searching online and found other people having the same experience and calling this place a hair mill. I really wish I would have done this in the first place. I have complained to them many times, and they offered to fix it, but HELL NO would I ever let these people touch my head again. Now, a year and a half later, I had to visit another Doctor (Kaan Pikener) who didn't have the high-quality presentation of Now Hair Time, but had the ethic and humbleness that showed me how big of a mistake I made originally. He fixed it in the surgery for 1000 grafts and although it's still scabbed, I can already tell it's going to look a lot better. The moral of my story is PLEASE do your research and PLEASE avoid these Turkish hair mills such as NOW HAIR TIME. If you are experiencing balding and want a transplant - pay the money to a real reputable doctor. Don't fall for false Google reviews. Look at reddit testimonials, such as mine and others. I'm not on a SMP journey to fix these scars. Praying that it all works out so I can put this nightmare behind me.