We asked Dr. Ziya Yavuz, who is among the first names that come to mind when talking about hair transplants in Istanbul, about popular hair transplant techniques in Turkey and Istanbul especially.
For starters, welcome. We thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule and agreeing to conduct an interview with us. You’re one of the first professionals that come to mind when it comes to hair transplant in Turkey. We’ll talk about a lot of subjects such as hair transplant techniques to how the transplants are done, but we’d like to ask this first; what makes Dr. Ziya Yavuz special? Why do patients from all over the world choose you when there are so many hair transplant centers in Turkey?
I’d like to thank you for your courtesy. Yes, the hair transplant sector is quite crowded at the moment. Nevertheless, I wanted to take the time to talk to you about the seriousness of the procedure because there is a lot of misinformation floating around regarding transplants. It transformed into a huge sector and as such, many clinics of various sizes sprung up. Unfortunately, many clinics, centers, hospitals do not meet the requirements of the procedures.
When you do your best, care about patient satisfaction and especially follow up with them regularly, you start being perceived differently and new patients find you without needing any additional promotion. As you know in medical practices, patient references are just as important as self promotion.
When satisfied patients start recommending you to their friends and relatives that raises awareness and brings in new patients.
It’s an undeniable fact that hair transplants are quite popular. So as Dr. Ziya Yavuz, what kind of process do you offer patients, along with correct application and patient focused care?
Even though hair transplants are done in many places, it is in fact a surgery.
Therefore it should be done under sterile operating room conditions. In addition, from the moment the patient is put under anesthesia the process needs to be handled properly.
These steps need to be followed not just for good results or appearances but also for the patient’s health. This is what we offer them. We provide hair transplants under the best conditions, in a good operating room, within a fully equipped hospital.
All our procedures are done in Acıbadem Hospital Group, which is turkey’s largest one.
This means, since like I mentioned hair transplants are essentially surgeries, that we can offer the best possible health care for our patients in case of a potential complication.
Lucky me, in all my years and thousands of transplants, I never encountered any complications. Nonetheless, as a responsible doctor I value being prepared for any situation. So I can say I offer my patients good health, followed by a good hair transplant.
We hear a lot about hair transplant procedures. Frankly, it gets confusing after a while. I’m sure people get confused about which techniques are suitable for whom, how they’re done, how the process can best be completed both financially and mentally. Can you talk a bit about the procedures you use?
You are correct. Not only are there many different techniques used today, marketing terms used for medical tourism can lead to the same procedure being referred to by many different names. For example let’s look at DHI which means Direct Hair Implant, a name that pretty much describes the procedure.
Even though we use the FUE method to harvest grafts, meaning hair follicles to be implanted one by one, we use a special tool called an Implanter Pen for the opening of the canals and the transplant stage. With this tool we can do both simultaneously.
Therefore the procedure takes a bit longer than other techniques but ensures easier healing and makes the transplant process much easier, especially in narrow areas.
This method is sometimes called DHI Hair Transplant, sometimes CHOI and shaveless Hair Transplant in some areas, This being the case makes people think there are more methods than there really are and confuses them.
I often use DHI and Sapphire FUE methods. These two methods provide endless benefits.
DHI provides a shaveless hair transplant while Sapphire FUE gives much better results than FUT or classical FUE methods.
The Sapphire FUE method is called advanced FUE, is that correct? Or should it be regarded as its own seperate thing?
That is correct. We can call it advanced FUE, or even a subcategory of the FUE method.
The distinguishing characteristic of this method are special sapphire tips that are used to make micro incisions instead of steel ones. Let me talk a bit about the benefits of this for the patient. First of all, some patients show allergic reactions to steel so Sapphire FUE is an ideal method for allergic people. In addition, sapphire is a much sharper material than steel, therefore we can make much cleaner micro cuts in the scalp compared to steel.
Cleaner cuts lead to better transplants and help with much faster recovery for our patients.
So it’s a win-win situation.
In conclusion, what would you recommend to those who want to get a hair transplant?
I recommend that they search thoroughly for a good hair transplant doctor instead of getting bogged down in deatils. When you find a good team they provide everything you need and help you with the process to get the best possible results. Because I put patient satisfaction first from the day I started my profession, I’m able to observe different approaches like an outside party. If the doctor and crew they choose do not have a patient-first approach, they can run into a bunch of financial and emotional problems. In short, choosing the right doctor will bring succesfull transplant results.