Customer story
"It's not worth going around feeling bad about something when there's help to be had"
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Nesma, 25 years old
Nesma noticed that she had started to lose a lot of hair while she was studying to become a nurse. It was mainly noticeable that her hair became thinner when she had her hair up. When the hair was wet, you could see down to the scalp. She contacted a doctor who confirmed her fears: her hair had become thinner.
– I didn’t want to walk around thinking about it all the time. I found it very uncomfortable to lose so much hair, especially as a girl. I Googled about hair transplants but it was difficult to find information about the results for women. I started PRP after a friend told me about the treatment,” says Nesma.
Started with PRP treatment
Nesma made an appointment for a consultation with us and had her hair examined. She had read up on hair transplants and PRPbut decided after the consultation that she wanted to try PRP treatment first. In total, Nesma did 3 PRP treatments, which is what we recommend to see results.
– The treatment itself wasn’t very pleasant but it didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would. The nurse I had put me at ease too. I saw results on the PRP after a few months. My hair looked healthier, had more volume, I didn’t lose as much hair. But I felt I wanted more results. That’s when I started reading up on hair transplants again – about how the process works, what the side effects are and what the results can be.
At her first consultation, Nesma had already discussed with Maggie, a hair specialist at the Nordic Hair Clinic, the possibility of having a hair transplant in the future. Nesma was thinking of having the hair transplant at our clinic in Istanbul.
– Maggie explained everything to me and told me to take my time, it’s never something you feel you have to rush into. So it took maybe six months before I made the decision that I wanted to do a hair transplant,” says Nesma.
Hair transplant in Istanbul
– I did my hair transplant in Istanbul and went on a bit of a journey. Me, my sister and her friend went together two days before the actual operation. We went on a mini boat cruise and ate a lot of food.
Once it was time for the operation, Nesma went to the clinic in the morning. The first step in a hair transplant is to mark out the transplant area and to shave the donor area in the neck. Then it’s time for anesthesia, which can feel a bit.
– After the anaesthetic, I didn’t feel anything, it was mostly the sound that was a bit unpleasant because you could hear when they were drilling. I fell asleep during the operation. In the middle of this, there was a break to eat, drink and go to the toilet. Two hours after my break it was done and I went back to the hotel.
Aftercare is as important as the procedure itself
It is very important that the transplant area is left undisturbed for the first 24 hours to allow the hair follicles to heal firmly. As the anaesthetic lasts for a few hours after the hair transplant, it is particularly important for the patient to make sure that his or her head does not hit anything on the way home or during the night when sleeping.
– I won’t sugarcoat it. It was uncomfortable to sleep. When the anaesthetic wore off, it started to hurt a bit. It felt cold in the back of the donation area and it was a bit tense on top of my head. So it was difficult not to shower immediately after the operation. The next day they removed the bandage on me at the clinic and I felt much better. I felt much freer. Put my hair up a little carefully. The rest of the day we were free to do what we wanted, but I needed to be careful in the sun, so I went with an umbrella,” says Nesma.
– Nobody noticed anything. As a girl, you can cover most things when you have longer hair.
Tips for women considering a hair transplant
When Nesma did her research on hair transplants, there was very little information about hair transplants on women and even fewer stories from women who had had hair transplants. That’s why she now wants to tell her story to help more women who feel bad about their hair and talk about her experience with hair transplants for women.
– I recommend checking out why you’re losing hair first in case it’s iron deficiency or something that needs to be treated in a different way first. Then I recommend trying PRP before deciding on a hair transplant, like I did, because it still takes a lot of planning and thought to do one,” says Nesma.
– It’s a bit hard to talk about it because you don’t want everyone to know what you’ve done. I’m a very private person usually, but I felt that it’s so hard to find stories from women who have had hair transplants. I don’t think it’s something worth walking around feeling bad about when help is available.
