I had my hair transplant with Dr Mehmet Demircioglu at Diamond Hair Clinic on 1 February, 2025. I had 5,000 grafts to cover the hairline (3,500 grafts) and the crown (1,500 grafts). Heads up – a (very) Lengthy review below. I’ve tried to include a few tips which might be helpful for people. I’ve also added some subheads if you want to skim through to any bits that might be helpful/relevant. The intention of this review is to provide as thorough an account as possible of my experience for anyone who wants to take a deep dive into some of what to expect and what might be helpful to have in mind if they proceed with the procedure. Review From sending my initial enquiry to the clinic’s support team, to being dropped off at the airport to fly home from Istanbul, I am delighted to say that every stage of the process was smooth, professional, and meticulously executed, in what was altogether a remarkably seamless and positive experience. Like so many patients willing to travel abroad to undergo a hair transplant, I spent countless hours researching the industry, weighing up the different kinds of clinics, the countries they are based in, and the various surgeons. My research soon led me to the advice that it is important to select a surgeon-led clinic rather than go to a “hair mill”, where multiple procedures are carried out each day, usually performed solely by (often inexperienced) technicians, rather than by a doctor. I then narrowed my search to highly regarded doctors in Turkey, given the country’s world-renowned reputation for affordable hair transplants. Dr Mehmet’s name often came up in recommended surgeon lists online, so, after trawling through many reviews and posts regarding his work, I reached out to Diamond Hair Clinic for more information. Communication One of the many stand out features of DHC is its exceptional communication, with Dr Mehmet’s assistant always on hand to provide responses to questions and give guidance and support. The clinic requested that I send the necessary photos. I was very impressed with how meticulous they were in soliciting the necessary photos/videos of my hair so they could fully assess my hair loss. This showed a reassuring diligence that suggested such professionalism would also be forthcoming throughout the rest of the process and indeed the procedure itself. Dr Mehmet personally assesses each of the patient’s submissions, so it can take some time to receive his report. I was very happy to wait, because I knew I would rather receive the best care than rush into a procedure with a doctor (or technician) I was not completely happy with. It’s important to remember too that the clinic is always on hand for questions if you have them while you are waiting. They are always extremely willing to address and concerns or reassure that the consultation report will come even if they have a backlog to clear. They don’t mind if you nudge them or follow up on it and are always very friendly and professional in their communication. I received a very detailed report from the clinic which provided the suggested number of grafts for my hairline and crown, alongside a great deal of other useful information about proceeding with the clinic (and, indeed, a hair transplant in general). After reading this report, I was ready and excited to proceed with the clinic, and felt confident in ending the fairly exhaustive research on who best to have my transplant with. I was also reassured and impressed with the fact that to secure your appointment, you simply need to book your flight and email the clinic proof of this. Many clinics in Turkey and elsewhere require you to pay a deposit to lock in your surgery. The fact that DHC operates with more of a trust-based system rather than taking your money at the outset I think speaks to the integrity and decency of the whole operation. In the intervening weeks between booking my appointment and my transplant, the communication from the clinic was extremely prompt and helpful. I had a few queries on points I wanted to clarify, and Dr Mehmet’s assistant would always be on hand to provide useful and reassuring responses. For instance, given I live in a country with strict customs checks, I requested a prescription for all the relevant medications given after the procedure for peace of mind coming back into the country. The clinic assured me Dr Mehmet would provide this, and he happily did exactly that before I left the clinic to return home. The clinic really is attentive to your specific needs and concerns, and works hard both to accommodate them and/or reassure you if you have any questions you want to ask. If you have any doubts or worries, I really would advise you speak with them as they are experts in the field with years of experience and they are genuinely helpful and patient in their responses. Arriving in Istanbul On the day of arrival, I was picked up from Istanbul airport as advertised in a luxury vehicle. It’s worth noting a small detail with the pick-up process so you know what to expect (at least from my experience) The driver coordinator will Whatsapp you before the flight with where you need to go outside the airport (and he will share a video showing you where to go). Follow the video to the pick-up point, and there will be someone there who has a list of names that you will be on. Once you give him your name, he will then escort you to your vehicle which is dedicated only for you with your driver. (TIP: if you don’t travel abroad too often and are wondering how to make sure you have internet data, I recommend getting an e-SIM for the location you are going to. I set one up with Airalo for Turkey and it only cost a few dollars, but it meant I had internet data wherever I went during my time there. They’re really cheap and easy to set up, just download the Airalo app on your phone and make sure your phone is e-SIM compatible). Once I was with my driver, I was really impressed with the comfort and luxury of the car, allowing me to relax and feel that inevitable mix of nerves and excitement as I was driven to my hotel. I arrived at the hotel at around 10am, and was surprised and impressed to discover that my room was already for me to check into. This was a welcome relief as I’d just had a night flight, so I was keen to have a nap and to recuperate. (TIP: you might find it useful to have a few euros/lira on hand to tip the hotel attendant who takes your bag to your room. It’s not essential but it’s nice to have the option to tip them if you’d like to). I wanted to take the opportunity to rest as much as I could before the procedure, knowing that sleep was going to be in short supply for the next few days, so I spent the day resting and using the hotel gym so that I felt refreshed and relaxed for the procedure the following day. TIP: I found it helpful to go over the road and buy some snacks and water from the shop. You can of course order room service at the hotel, but it was definitely helpful to have a fridge stocked with fruit and snacks and a few litres of bottled water on hand so that I could rest up in the hotel with everything I needed after the procedure. Hairline design On the day of the procedure, I felt more than anything relaxed and excited, largely due to how smooth and professional everything had been up to this point and comforted by the extensive research I had done to get to this point. I was also excited to know that I was doing everything I could do address a problem that has bothered me for near enough half my life, given my hair loss began when I was around 16. The clinic was extremely clean and high class, which I’ve read is often not the case with hair mills. Dr Mehmet greeted me and immediately put me at ease. He is an incredibly warm and kind person who is extremely dedicated to his work and passionate about what he does. He’s really everything you would want from a hair transplant surgeon, given what a technical and complex procedure it is and given the courage it takes patients to commit to one. Dr Mehmet spent about an hour speaking with me about my desired hairline. This was a really thorough, two-way discussion about the various things to take into consideration, as the doctor skilfully balanced what I had in mind with his professional advice and guidance. Dr Mehmet is a perfectionist and pre-eminent expert in hairline design. He also wants to ensure that his patient’s specific requests are accommodated, so I would advise communicating clearly with him what you have in mind and seeking his advice on what is realistic, achievable and advisable to get the best possible result. It is worth noting that many laypeople (myself included) can naturally gravitate to wanting a low, aggressive and straight hairline which often looks very unnatural. It took me a lot of research and speaking to the doctor to realise that natural looking hairlines have many irregularities (and, specifically, irregular irregularities, whereby there is no discernible pattern to the irregularities which makes it look like it was designed, rather than organically formed). Dr Mehmet also helpfully explained that (intuitively enough) the further down you have your hairline, the more grafts will be needed, and this will in turn reduce the density that is possible for the hairline. You may note as I did that Dr Mehmet quotes a higher number of grafts than some other clinics might for the work that you having done. This is because he uses the dense-pack grafting method to give as much density as possible to the hairline, the most visible part of the face. “We are essentially trying to create an illusion”, he said, noting that natural hairlines unimpacted by hair loss have many thousands more hairs than a transplanted hairline will. Research I have done online often shows transplant patients disappointed with their results because of a lack of density and/or because the hairline looks unnatural; this is exactly what Dr Mehmet tries to avoid with his expertise in natural hairline design and through the use of dense pack grafting. The procedure The procedure itself was altogether quite a lot less painful that I had expected, as I had read a lot of things online that the anaesthetic stage especially can be painful. The clinic uses a high-tech needleless dermajet pre-anaesthetic injector which gives some initial numbness to the scalp, before making the main anaesthetic injections. This significantly reduces the pain in the anaesthetic phase. For the hair extraction phase, the anaesthetic ensures the scalp is numb and the pain is minimized, however it is important that you communicate to the surgical team if you are feeling any pain when they extract the grafts as they can administer more anaesthetic as needed. Dr Mehmet explained this to me so I took this advice and let the team know on the couple of occasions where I was feeling some pain during the extraction. They duly administered more anaesthetic and this helped to minimize the pain throughout this phase. Dr Mehmet carries out the key incision phase himself, which is a major advantage of paying more to have a dedicated doctor carry out the most important part of the surgery. He shared some interesting insights about the sapphire FUE blade – namely how it allows for smaller canals to be created which allows for higher precision and minimizes recovery time. I was interested to learn too that the sapphire blade requires a different technique from the surgeon whereby they need to push more firmly to make the incisions (he noted that this was a reason that many surgeons haven’t adapted to using the sapphire blade because they are reluctant to learn a new technique for making the incisions, despite the blade’s numerous advantages.) He said also that for a hairline and crown surgery (such as mine) the surgeon would actually get through two sapphire blades over the course of the surgery. Finally, the implantation phase is carried out by Dr Mehmet’s technicians, but he is always on hand throughout the surgery checking everything is going smoothly. It is extremely reassuring to know he is there overseeing everything, and made me think how unpleasant it could end up being going to a hair mill and having little to no interaction with a doctor throughout the procedure, especially given how permanent the outcome of a hair transplant is. At the end of the procedure, the team give you a mirror to see your hairline for the first time. It’s a really exciting feeling to see what promises to be your new hairline after you’ve gone years (or possibly decades) without having one of any real description. I remember feeling a great sense of gratitude and excitement upon seeing mine, and a huge sense of appreciation to Dr Mehmet and his team for all their hard work throughout the day to make it possible. The sheer amount of concentration, intense focus and attention to detail that the three of them applied throughout the day is beyond impressive and left me feeling really in awe of and extremely grateful for their collective efforts. Recovery and after care I remember in reading in many of the reviews for Dr Mehmet that that his aftercare was second to none, and this has absolutely been my experience. After the surgery, the doctor talked me through all the different medications and shampoos I’ll need to use in the recovery (he explains this all again before you return to your home country two days after the surgery. He gave me the neck pillow to use which helps ensure that your head is protected. TIP – Be VERY careful putting the neck pillow on and taking it off. Even minimal contact with your head can dislodge grafts so make sure there is plenty of distance between your head and the pillow as you bring it over your head. Once back at the hotel, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the pain after the surgery wasn’t too bad at all. That said, I did find it difficult to sleep with the neck pillow. I think more important than sleep the first night (and even the second) is making sure you’re in an elevated position sitting up. I believe this helped me to minimize the swelling in my face after the surgery which was definitely an advantage. Once returning home, I followed up with Dr Mehmet each day (he shares his personal number with you after the surgery) with pictures as requested. He was prompt to respond and demands that you send clear, unobstructed pictures which accurately show how your scalp is recovering. Again, it is really reassuring and comforting to have the doctor’s input an on the pictures and to know your recovery is being carefully monitored. You feel like the support of the clinic is right there with you even once you’ve returned home and get a sense that they genuinely care about your wellbeing and the success of the transplant. I’ll make no bones, the first couple of weeks are pretty rough, mainly because you’re sleeping with a neck pillow until you’ve washed the scabs off, which obviously can make quality sleep pretty elusive. If your experience is anything like mine, you may also experience quite intense itching/pain in the donor area during the initial recovery, but that mostly subsides a couple of weeks after the surgery. In the scheme of things, it’s all a very small price to pay for what will hopefully prove to be a much fuller head of hair in the months and years to come! Moreover, the doctor is always on hand to answer any questions you may have, and his analysis of your daily photos will help you know that you’re on track and everything is proceeding as it should. I would say that all in my recovery was very seamless overall. Notwithstanding, the day I got my scabs off and was able to use an actual pillow for the first time was definitely a blissful moment! Conclusion I’m now in the waiting phase post-surgery to see the full results, but I am already really encouraged to have seen the new transplanted hairs after removing the scabs on the tenth day of washing. These hairs soon shed after this which is a totally normal part of the process, with full results taking between a year and 18 months to show. Despite this long wait, it’s a great sense of relief to have gotten the surgery done with. You can then get on with your life and know month by month you are getting closer to having the hair that likely seemed an impossible fantasy before embarking on this adventure! I can’t recommend Dr Mehmet and his team for the extraordinary service they provide. The hair restoration industry is full of misinformation and disinformation propagated by the hair mill cartel, whose marketing power greatly surpasses their concern for patients and the service that they offer. Dr Mehmet oozes integrity and class in every facet of his work and it was a privilege to my transplant carried out at his clinic. There are not many boutique, doctor-focused surgeries available in Turkey at affordable prices, so my advice would be to seize the opportunity to have it carried it out at Diamond Hair Clinic with both hands.