This is a note of my experience with Dr Acar/Cosmedica/GMH in the UK.
Pre-surgery booking
I’ve been losing my hair for 10+ years. I’ve been seriously researching FUT/FUE for 5+ years. My due diligence was as extensive as it could be but given the number of fake reviews, ease of photo doctoring that is available to all industries (not just Turkey hair restoration, there is always a glimmer of apprehension).
You can see other posts on here setting out my criteria and review process.
The process for getting the surgery was done via GMH/Get More Hair. Communication was prompt and as I’ve said on other threads, I like that these guys didn’t promise the world (I’m NW6/7 after all). I booked in to have around 3000 grafts which would include transplant from beard hair as well. I went for the Dr Acar package.
When booking I decided to change the hotel from the one included in the package. The main reason was that I read the Radisson on offer in the Cosmedica package didn’t have great WIFI - and due to work pressures I needed guaranteed uptime so I switched to the Crown Plaza 15 mins away. If you switch hotel, the downside is you lose the benefit of having Cosmedica’s driver/transport service. However, taxi’s are easy to come by – the hotel and Cosmedica arranged them for me on all occasions but you pay for them yourself.
As an side, don’t forgot you need a VISA for Turkey now! It would have been good if GMH reminded people of that.
Pre-surgery information
GMH provided some good guidance notes on what to do in the week before surgery and then closer to the date additional information on post-surgery recovery. As ever, all communication was prompt via whats app and email.
Day of surgery
Istanbul was a much more modern city than I was expecting and felt very European. The hospital where cosmedica are based is also very new and modern. My overarching feeling from the moment I arrived was that they were very well organised and presented a slick operation. There is very little sitting around waiting time – bloods, photos, review by Dr Acar, hair line, head shave, form filling all happen very quickly, despite there being around 5 other guys at the day 1 stage and another 5 guys on day 2/3 stage.
After my assessment with Dr Acar he felt that with beard and body hair (which for me is thick and plentiful), with 2 days over surgery, we could push for 5000 grafts. Whilst this was great, there is obviously additional cost implications to this. It’s understandable that after a face to face with Dr Acar that advice can change but if you are looking to push your visit to the max, make sure you have extra funds in reserve to cover this, which luckily I did. If I was being ultra-cynical, it would have been useful if GMH let people know that there may be a possibility for additional grafts so have some funds on standby for that (they do have some flex in their terms and conditions though).. In reality, I don’t know how a layperson would even assess the number of grafts extracted/transplanted. They could tell us 3000 or 5000 and even with research, we’d be none the wiser.
I opted to ignore almost the entire crown area and focus on density in front/mid-scalp instead. I’ll be looking at a second op next year for the scalp if possible.
Also remember, that Dr Acar is not involved in every aspect of the surgery and GMH/Cosmedica don’t sell him as doing so.
Whilst this is sold as “needle free” there are still a lot of anaesthetic injections as well as some needle free anaesthetic. Given I had head, beard and chest hair extraction, I had A LOT of injections (I mean, probably close to 40-50 all in over 2 days). Some were painful though most only felt like a bee sting. However, the massive upside is I had almost no pain at all for 95% of the surgery (which was about 16 hours in total over 2 days). The dr/techs I had doing most of the work were often checking I was ok and asking if I wanted drink/toilet breaks where possible. TBH, the combo of the Xanax, painkiller IV drip and little sleep at night, meant I slept quite a bit during both days of surgery (and I’m usually a terrible sleeper). Cosmedica also give you a cocktail of meds to take during the days after surgery, plus a neck pillow.
I was told to arrive at 8am and the surgery itself probably started by 9.30, even with all the stuff above getting done first.
As soon as i stepped out of surgery for lunch, there was a light lunch and drink waiting for me. Quick 20 mins break and straight back into it.
As I said above, when I came out, the staff called me a cab.
The staff were great as a whole, from the receptionist upwards. Most speak some English and one lady seemed to speak about 5 languages.
Conclusions
On my final day, Dr Acar wasn’t around for the last assessment (he told me he wouldn’t be and apologised) but the Dr and accompanying translator I saw were pleased with the results and they ended at 4900 grafts in total.
Post surgery I’m pleased with the immediate look. I obviously can’t comment on results at this stage but the experience thus far has been entirely positive. From GMH at the start to Istanbul, the hotel I chose, Dr Acar and Cosemdica, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend these guys.
Certain surgeons in Turkey get a bad reputation for running “a FUE factory” with loads of guys coming through for ops every day. To an extent, that was also the case for Cosmedica/Dr Acar but they were so well organised that it didn’t feel that way. The second mantra is that a non-surgeon “tech driven” process means “dangerous”. If a highly skilled surgeon is able to spend a decade training up a technician to do the work to a high standard, then in my mind, this was acceptable as part of the process (that said, I got the package that had Dr Acar involved in making the incisions). With any surgeon doing FUE, how many of them would have been present for all 16 hours of my surgery? Surely even the A list names in the field discussed on this forum ad Infinium, don’t run the whole show.
What you need to remember is that if the name “on the door”, overseeing the process, isn’t reputable, then it doesn’t matter who is doing the procedure. Giving instructions to technicians regarding number of grafts to target, location of target donor area, avoiding over harvesting, predicting future hairloss patterns, a clean environment, great aftercare and support, is almost as important as the surgery itself. With that all in mind, just saying, it’s “tech-driven surgery” so it’s crap, is short-sighted.
All said and done, if I have poor regrowth, the use of beard/body doesn’t naturally blend or the thickness that we were going for hasn’t been achieved, then all the positivity up to this point goes out of the window. Conversely, if all of those things come out positively, then it will be 5* for Cosmedica and GMH for me. They are of course not the cheapest in turkey but far from the most expensive as well and as it stands, I’d definitely recommend them.
I’ll providing some updates in a few months time.
Pre-surgery booking
I’ve been losing my hair for 10+ years. I’ve been seriously researching FUT/FUE for 5+ years. My due diligence was as extensive as it could be but given the number of fake reviews, ease of photo doctoring that is available to all industries (not just Turkey hair restoration, there is always a glimmer of apprehension).
You can see other posts on here setting out my criteria and review process.
The process for getting the surgery was done via GMH/Get More Hair. Communication was prompt and as I’ve said on other threads, I like that these guys didn’t promise the world (I’m NW6/7 after all). I booked in to have around 3000 grafts which would include transplant from beard hair as well. I went for the Dr Acar package.
When booking I decided to change the hotel from the one included in the package. The main reason was that I read the Radisson on offer in the Cosmedica package didn’t have great WIFI - and due to work pressures I needed guaranteed uptime so I switched to the Crown Plaza 15 mins away. If you switch hotel, the downside is you lose the benefit of having Cosmedica’s driver/transport service. However, taxi’s are easy to come by – the hotel and Cosmedica arranged them for me on all occasions but you pay for them yourself.
As an side, don’t forgot you need a VISA for Turkey now! It would have been good if GMH reminded people of that.
Pre-surgery information
GMH provided some good guidance notes on what to do in the week before surgery and then closer to the date additional information on post-surgery recovery. As ever, all communication was prompt via whats app and email.
Day of surgery
Istanbul was a much more modern city than I was expecting and felt very European. The hospital where cosmedica are based is also very new and modern. My overarching feeling from the moment I arrived was that they were very well organised and presented a slick operation. There is very little sitting around waiting time – bloods, photos, review by Dr Acar, hair line, head shave, form filling all happen very quickly, despite there being around 5 other guys at the day 1 stage and another 5 guys on day 2/3 stage.
After my assessment with Dr Acar he felt that with beard and body hair (which for me is thick and plentiful), with 2 days over surgery, we could push for 5000 grafts. Whilst this was great, there is obviously additional cost implications to this. It’s understandable that after a face to face with Dr Acar that advice can change but if you are looking to push your visit to the max, make sure you have extra funds in reserve to cover this, which luckily I did. If I was being ultra-cynical, it would have been useful if GMH let people know that there may be a possibility for additional grafts so have some funds on standby for that (they do have some flex in their terms and conditions though).. In reality, I don’t know how a layperson would even assess the number of grafts extracted/transplanted. They could tell us 3000 or 5000 and even with research, we’d be none the wiser.
I opted to ignore almost the entire crown area and focus on density in front/mid-scalp instead. I’ll be looking at a second op next year for the scalp if possible.
Also remember, that Dr Acar is not involved in every aspect of the surgery and GMH/Cosmedica don’t sell him as doing so.
Whilst this is sold as “needle free” there are still a lot of anaesthetic injections as well as some needle free anaesthetic. Given I had head, beard and chest hair extraction, I had A LOT of injections (I mean, probably close to 40-50 all in over 2 days). Some were painful though most only felt like a bee sting. However, the massive upside is I had almost no pain at all for 95% of the surgery (which was about 16 hours in total over 2 days). The dr/techs I had doing most of the work were often checking I was ok and asking if I wanted drink/toilet breaks where possible. TBH, the combo of the Xanax, painkiller IV drip and little sleep at night, meant I slept quite a bit during both days of surgery (and I’m usually a terrible sleeper). Cosmedica also give you a cocktail of meds to take during the days after surgery, plus a neck pillow.
I was told to arrive at 8am and the surgery itself probably started by 9.30, even with all the stuff above getting done first.
As soon as i stepped out of surgery for lunch, there was a light lunch and drink waiting for me. Quick 20 mins break and straight back into it.
As I said above, when I came out, the staff called me a cab.
The staff were great as a whole, from the receptionist upwards. Most speak some English and one lady seemed to speak about 5 languages.
Conclusions
On my final day, Dr Acar wasn’t around for the last assessment (he told me he wouldn’t be and apologised) but the Dr and accompanying translator I saw were pleased with the results and they ended at 4900 grafts in total.
Post surgery I’m pleased with the immediate look. I obviously can’t comment on results at this stage but the experience thus far has been entirely positive. From GMH at the start to Istanbul, the hotel I chose, Dr Acar and Cosemdica, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend these guys.
Certain surgeons in Turkey get a bad reputation for running “a FUE factory” with loads of guys coming through for ops every day. To an extent, that was also the case for Cosmedica/Dr Acar but they were so well organised that it didn’t feel that way. The second mantra is that a non-surgeon “tech driven” process means “dangerous”. If a highly skilled surgeon is able to spend a decade training up a technician to do the work to a high standard, then in my mind, this was acceptable as part of the process (that said, I got the package that had Dr Acar involved in making the incisions). With any surgeon doing FUE, how many of them would have been present for all 16 hours of my surgery? Surely even the A list names in the field discussed on this forum ad Infinium, don’t run the whole show.
What you need to remember is that if the name “on the door”, overseeing the process, isn’t reputable, then it doesn’t matter who is doing the procedure. Giving instructions to technicians regarding number of grafts to target, location of target donor area, avoiding over harvesting, predicting future hairloss patterns, a clean environment, great aftercare and support, is almost as important as the surgery itself. With that all in mind, just saying, it’s “tech-driven surgery” so it’s crap, is short-sighted.
All said and done, if I have poor regrowth, the use of beard/body doesn’t naturally blend or the thickness that we were going for hasn’t been achieved, then all the positivity up to this point goes out of the window. Conversely, if all of those things come out positively, then it will be 5* for Cosmedica and GMH for me. They are of course not the cheapest in turkey but far from the most expensive as well and as it stands, I’d definitely recommend them.
I’ll providing some updates in a few months time.