Hair transplantation in Istanbul – Experience report – Report from Friday, 15 February 2019

I have been suffering from hair loss since I was about 21 years old. I tried everything possible to fight the hair loss, using all kinds of methods, but only with moderate success. Eventually, I didn’t want to use these products anymore because the effort every morning and evening became too much for me. So, when I was about 24, I started looking into hair transplants, as I saw it as the only long-term solution.

I started researching online. Since I saw it as a very big procedure, I wanted to learn about every single detail. Because the prices for a treatment in Switzerland were simply too high for me, I decided to have the transplant done in Turkey. The fact that the treatment would take place abroad made me even more determined to gather as much information as possible. Through an acquaintance, who had also had a cosmetic surgery in Turkey, I came across Medical Travel. She told me that Medical Travel organizes consultation days in Zug, where you can discuss the surgery and any open questions directly with the treating doctor, which was extremely important to me in order to overcome my “skepticism.”

I signed up for a consultation day in Zug and met with the doctor, with whom I could discuss everything. After this conversation, it was completely clear to me that I would book my transplant through Medical Travel.

On the evening of December 25th, I flew to Istanbul with my partner, who accompanied me. The shuttle to the hotel and the check-in went perfectly. The next morning at 8:00 AM, I was picked up from the hotel and driven to the clinic, where I was greeted by my personal, very friendly translator (the translator stayed by my side the entire time, even during the surgery). I had a direct consultation about the surgery with the doctor and the translator. The only thing I didn’t really like was that the doctor I had met during the consultation in Zug was not present, and I was assigned a different doctor. When I asked, I was simply told that he wasn’t there. Nevertheless, the treating doctor was very nice and appeared professional, and the Acibadem clinic itself also made a very modern and professional impression.

I was then placed in position, and the doctor began the local anesthesia, which, by the way, is the only painful part of the procedure. The pain quickly subsides as the anesthesia takes effect right away. After briefly checking whether the donor area was properly numbed, the extraction process began, which took about 3 hours for me. After lunch, the transplant area was numbed, which was briefly painful again, and then the hair implantation process started, which took about 5 hours. A total of 4000 grafts (hair follicles) were transplanted into me.

I then returned to the hotel, where I was able to recover from the exhausting procedure.

The next day, I was picked up again at 8:00 AM and taken to the clinic for a follow-up check-up. I was shown what to pay attention to in the days after the surgery and how to care for the transplanted area to ensure the hair grows properly.

After the surgery, I stayed in Istanbul for 3 more days, as I didn’t want to travel directly back home and wanted to take some time to recover. In Istanbul, I wasn’t embarrassed at all to walk around after the transplant, as many people are walking around the same way, and the locals are used to it.

It has now been about 1.5 months since the surgery, and I am very satisfied with the entire process so far. I still have to be patient for the final result, as it will only be visible 9-12 months after the surgery.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the MedicalTravel team for ensuring that everything went to my satisfaction.

Luca, 26 years old