Aek Hair Institute Hair Transplant Clinic in Turkey
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Description
AEK HAIR CLINIC is one of the best hair transplant clinics in Istanbul, Turkey. It was founded by Dr. Ali Emre Karadeniz, who is practicing hair restoration surgery from 2010 and during this time has performed over 3000 hair transplant procedures which include: FUT, FUE, eyebrow transplants, body hair transplants, beard transplants, and repair procedures. Since 2011Dr. Ali Emre Karadeniz is a member of ISHRS and in 2015, he became a diplomat of ABHRS.
General information about hair transplant:
It is a procedure that consists of 3 steps:
1.Graft harvesting – which means taking hair follicles from a donor area (at the back of the head and sides where permanent hairs are found). This procedure is done by using one of the 2 techniques: follicular unit transplant (FUT, FUSS, strip method) or follicular unit excision (FUE, one by one graft extraction).
2. Recipient site incision – this procedure is done by using custom pre-cut blades which suit the characteristics of the patient’s grafts.
3.Graft placement – during this part of the procedure, the grafts are placed into the incisions, which means that the bald area becomes refilled.
At AEK HAIR CLINIC in Turkey, an average hair transplant procedure is performed in 7-9 hours, under local anesthesia, that is making the process mostly painless.
The clients should be aware that hair transplant costs in Turkey are lower than in other countries around the world, and AEK HAIR CLINIC in Turkey offers the best price/quality ratio.
Although there may occur some complications, like some or all of the transplanted hairs not growing, donor damage and depletion, or an unnatural looking result, AEK HAIR CLINIC has a team of professional doctors and due to their competence, the incidence of these complications is very low. Also, they are always ready to take responsibility for the quality and results of their work and in case the patient is not satisfied a free touch-up procedure will be offered or even a refund.
Treatments provided by Istanbul hair center:
FUT Hair Transplant – during the procedure a skin strip is removed from the back of the head. The donor area is closed with stitches and after healing a linear scar is left behind.
FUE Hair Transplant - is used to isolate each follicular unit individually by using a sharp metal instrument, called a 'punch'. The technique was introduced to prevent the scars left in FUT. Although FUE is considered scarless, it leaves small scars that are visible on a close examination.
FUT + FUE Combined Hair Transplant – the combined techniques are used when a big amount of hair is needed at once.
Unshaven Hair Transplant – this is an option for patients who need to socialize as soon as possible.
Long Hair Transplant – the disadvantage of this technique is that it provides a limited number of grafts, but instead it is possible to have a preview of the result, it enables the surgeon to see the design and coverage during the procedure and also allows the patient to socialize faster.
Hair Transplant For Women in Turkey – the procedure in women should have a more complex approach, because the cause of hair loss may be either systemic or local.
Afro Hair Transplant In Turkey – this kind of procedure is very challenging due to the curly/kinky nature of afro hair, so that’s why only a professional team from the Istanbul hair center will be able to solve such problems.
Body Hair Transplant (BHT) In Turkey – this technique is very useful when donor scalp hair is not sufficient. In this case, beard or chest hair are considered to be good options.
Hair Transplant Repair In Turkey – these are the most challenging situations. In this case, the patient struggles not just with the natural loss of hair, but also with an unsuccessful hair surgery history. So the doctors have to work twice as much to bring satisfaction and trust to this category of patients.
Eyebrow Transplant - the hair is taken from the donor site and placed in the area of the eyebrows so that they will look natural.
Beard Transplant In Istanbul – to effectively restore the beard hair of a man, it is reasonable to use the hair from the back of the head to perform the transplant.
Technologies used by AEK HAIR CLINIC :
DHI & DHI-DR – create a natural appearance to your transplanted hairs and allow the doctor to transplant the graft one after another.
Sapphire Blades & Platinum Blades – the technique allows the doctors to make very precise incisions
Custodial Graftprotect Solution – is used to create a protective medium for hair grafts and prevent their damage
Needle-Free Anesthesia – is a procedure that makes the administration of anesthesia less painful.
Neurovibration – the technology makes the procedures less painful.
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Reviews for Aek Hair Institute
I waited nine months after my hair transplant to provide an unbiased review of my experience with Dr. AEK’s clinic, and unfortunately, it was extremely negative.
Initial Impressions and Decision-Making
I did some research and initially thought this was a boutique clinic offering a more personalized experience, as opposed to a "factory" clinic. Dr. AEK's videos heavily influenced my decision. In these, he often criticizes other surgeons and clinics, positioning himself as the best while claiming others are unskilled or reckless. However, he doesn't seem to offer any unique techniques or innovations and appears to rely solely on disparaging competitors to market his services.
Pre-Surgery Issues
One major red flag was the lack of any consultation with Dr. AEK before the surgery. Upon arrival, they began extracting grafts without giving me the opportunity to speak to the doctor. It was only after a significant number of grafts were removed (around 3,000) that he finally met with me for a brief consultation. At this point, I felt trapped—my grafts were already extracted, leaving me no room to reconsider or request changes.
During the consultation, Dr. AEK was dismissive, condescending, and unapproachable. He communicated in a way that left me feeling humiliated, and any questions I asked were met with an aggressive tone. By this point, I had already invested significant time, money, and effort, so I felt I had no choice but to proceed.
Surgical Process and Quality
Dr. AEK's involvement in the actual procedure was minimal. The technicians handled most of the work, and their approach during implantation was careless and unprofessional. I observed them using basic tweezers to implant the grafts, with no signs of advanced techniques or tools. Dr. AEK openly dismisses modern technology in his practice, comparing hair transplantation to cooking—stating that talent is more important than tools. This analogy felt absurd and inadequate for such a precise and technical medical procedure.
Despite my explicit request for a natural-looking, irregular hairline, Dr. AEK ignored my preferences. He created a harsh, zigzag hairline that looks unnatural and immediately reveals that I’ve had a transplant. Additionally, I had specifically asked not to have double or triple grafts implanted in the hairline, but he completely disregarded this and defended it with vague and unconvincing explanations.
Results and Aftermath
The outcome of the procedure has been deeply disappointing. Out of the 3,000 grafts extracted, I estimate that only about 40% successfully grew. This low success rate seems to be a direct result of the technicians’ lack of attention to detail during implantation.
Dr. AEK’s arrogance was evident throughout the process. He repeatedly dismissed my concerns, treating me with disrespect and a lack of empathy. Despite his claims of being the best in the industry, my experience and results tell a very different story.
Final Thoughts
Overall, my experience with Dr. AEK’s clinic was awful. His overconfidence, dismissive attitude, and subpar results make it clear that he does not live up to the claims in his promotional materials. The clinic’s availability for appointments was also suspiciously open, which could indicate a lack of clientele.
I strongly urge anyone considering this clinic to look elsewhere. Don’t be misled by flashy advertisements or empty promises—this was one of the worst decisions I’ve ever made.
What can I say? A smooth process from start to finish, from the moment I contacted them via email and whatapp they organised everything from start to finish. I was picked up by a driver at the airport on time on to a luxury hotel, steps were taken to take me to their clinic a short walk away. I then met Dr Ali and his team, the doctor was so knowledgable and I could see took great pride in his craft. The team took care of me throughout and had the minimal amount of pain and discomfort possibe. The outcome was great and left all prepared and kitted out with products to help my recovery. Happy to help take the stress out of anyone else searching for a hair or eyebrow procedure!
Dear future patient - I should have listened to the last two reviews (both 1 stars) and I hope you do instead!
Once the clinic have lured you in, you’re forced to pay before you have the design session with Dr K. AT NO POINT, do they ask what you are looking for - the Dr immediately draws his design on your head and any alterations you might suggest are swiftly called a mistake. The Dr makes you feel like he can’t wait for the session to be over and paces around the room, making you feel quite uncomfortable. His English comprehension also isn’t good enough (misunderstanding several of my questions) - and by the way, he truly does have zero bedside manner. You feel steamrolled into choosing his design given you are in such a vulnerable and pressured position.
The next day I plucked up the courage to make a minor alternation, but truly was not comfortable asking for more following the design session with the Dr the day before.
By the way the Dr is in the 6-8hr procedure for only a fraction of the time, the nursing team do 90%+ of the surgery!
I tried to explain that I felt I was steamrolled into making a decision by the clinic - I wanted to come back in a year (so I could have an actual consultation where my aspirations are captured), but they refuse to acknowledge any wrongdoing in the process or even to accept the feedback on their end.
It’s truly a business that focuses on money over customer satisfaction - go somewhere else!
The reason for this review is that after 8 days of my surgery, once all the swelling subsided, I noticed significant gaps in the transplanted hair. I decided to consult a doctor in the UK, who revealed that only 3000 to 3500 grafts were transplanted. This is the number typically done in a single day. I had paid extra for a two-day surgery, expecting up to 7000 grafts, harvesting from the back of my head, beard, chest, and back. Despite having enough hair on my chest and beard, a limited number of grafts were harvested, resulting in poor-quality transplantation.
I did extensive research to ensure I selected a reputable clinic for my hair transplant surgery, aiming specifically for a doctor's clinic rather than a dubious establishment. I chose AEK Hair Clinic because it is owned by Dr. Ali Emre Karadeniz, who is certified by the ABHRS and a fellow of ISHRS. However, my experience was far from what I expected, and I am deeply disappointed.
Despite choosing a doctor-led clinic, Dr. Ali Emre Karadeniz showed minimal interest in my procedure. He spent less than two minutes discussing the process with me. He arrived after the harvesting had already begun, said a few sentences, and drew lines on my head. During those two minutes, he told me it was impossible to achieve maximum coverage due to my advanced hair loss and recommended only covering two-thirds of my scalp. He was convinced that no matter where the hair was harvested from, more coverage was not feasible. This was a stark contrast to the initial consultation with the sales representative, who assured me that due to my advanced hair loss, a mega session over two days would be performed, including FUE with body hair transplant.
During the surgery, Dr. Karadeniz mentioned he would only take hair from my beard, not my chest. I had to request him to include hair from my chest, explaining this was my last chance after two previous surgeries. He reluctantly agreed to harvest a small portion from my chest as a favour. After those two minutes, Dr. Karadeniz did not check on me or the progress of the surgery, even on the last day. His interest seemed to vanish once the payment was made.
What was supposed to be a two-day surgery turned into only 1.5 days, as they did not maximize the available hair harvesting. It appears Dr. Karadeniz instructed the technicians to limit the hair harvested. While I have no complaints about the technicians, who were kind and helpful, Dr. Karadeniz’s involvement was less than 1%—limited to drawing four lines on my head and nothing more. This made me feel that choosing an expensive clinic like AEK was pointless, as the doctor’s role was negligible. It would have been better to choose a clinic with experienced technicians at a lower cost.
In my previous surgery in India, although technicians performed most of the work, the doctor was still involved in critical tasks like making channels for insertions. Moreover, Dr. Karadeniz claimed that chest hair is not sustainable for transplant. If that is the case, why was I promised FUE + body hair transplant beforehand, and why does their website state they perform BHT with FUE for patients with limited donor areas? It felt like once the payment was secured, Dr. Karadeniz lost interest in my surgery and rushed to complete it, possibly because two more surgeries were scheduled on the same day. This clinic operates more like a money-making business with little regard for patient care.
Lastly, I was told they would use the DHI technique for my surgery. However, during the procedure, I found out they were performing a standard FUE technique because DHI is not recommended for body hair transplants. This discrepancy should have been communicated to me beforehand, as they knew it would be a two-day surgery with BHT. They charged me for the more expensive DHI technique but only performed the cheaper FUE procedure.
In conclusion, my experience with AEK Hair Clinic was extremely disappointing. Dr. Karadeniz’s minimal involvement and the clinic's misleading practices have left me feeling deceived and dissatisfied. I would not recommend AEK Hair Clinic to anyone considering a hair transplant. Save your money and go to a clinic where the doctor is genuinely involved, or opt for experienced technicians at a more affordable price.
I was bit worried at 1st having hsir transplant and in different country but aek clinic made me feel right at home all the team was amazing the clinic was clean an professional and sasha was a top bloke answered all our questions and made the best Turkish coffee im really pleased with the out come of my hair transplant its early days but it already looks just how I imagined and I will 100% going back for the second one
I'm glad I went with aek there is no bad bits to mention only good they still keeping ringing me to make sure I'm well and hsir going okay you wouldn't get this service in the UK
Thanks aek
From mark arkwell
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I had my operation this week (Nov 2019).
I had invested significant time doing research searching for a clinic with good practices and a reliable reputation. So after watching Dr. K's videos on YouTube and reading all the good critics here (particularly from other Brits) I decided to go for this clinic and pay an extra €500 to have the operation with some involvement of Dr K before and during the op (the other alternative was paying €1300, but seeing a lesser known doctor helped by his technicians). Overall, I am very disappointed with the choice (I cannot judge on how the hair will grow yet). But let me start by mentioning the good things:
-Hygienic environment, all very careful.
-All the staff was friendly (both the technicians that did all the job, as well as Sacha, the photographer and greeter/pick-up-man, I really appreciated his encouragement).
- Dr K was offered a more realistic implant, looking at long term and insisted on not overharvesting.
-The hotel was amazing and literally next door (also by a nice shopping centre).
-Ömer offered me a third hotel night as a treat.
Things that I did not like:
- I had paid the extra amount to get Dr Karadeniz somehow involved BEFORE and DURING the operation, but he DID NOT SHOW UP even for a single minute. (I only saw him for 15 min the day before the op, he draw on my head and that's it!) If you watch his videos (even the aftercare videos) he always talks in first person singular, as if he were directly performing it (especially, at the beginning, where he even appears shaving a patient's hair, which I even found unnecessary when I watched the video). I understand that doctors will not be present for the entire 6 hours that lasted the op (no clinic does that, and Dr K is kind of honest about it, which is fine). However, I had only two technicians doing everything (actually, one was on her own for 40% of the time), which is a practice even Dr K denounces and accuses other clinics of doing. Basically I waited for the 6 hours of the op, for some doctor to show up, but the only doctor ever being in that room was me (a Doctor of Philosopy :) ). I complained about this to staff, but they gave contradictory versions: some said Dr K's direct participation was not included in my package (which is not true); the technicians said Dr K was busy at another room performing another op (then, why did I book that day?); or they said that the doctor was probably looking through the camera (though the operation desk light would have been covering the alleged camera for most of the time). As an ethical or at least orthodox practitioner, he should have shown up during the extraction or at least at the very end to check that everything had been performed successfully. Absolutely nothing. When I complained to the sales manager, Ömer, he tried to gaslight me and was very rude and hostile (I must admit that as a result I also replied not on my best tone of voice, but he kept being disrespectful and I had to leave the room). And obviously, did not get any of the difference I had paid back.
-The day of the operation there were 5 people. This is a small clinic, so as a rule of thumb (by reading a lot in other forums) no clinic (unless is big) should take more than 3 ops a day. As a result ended up having only one and a half technicians, so it does matter. This is a common practice in (many) other seedy clinics, which Dr K so strongly criticises.
- This is a bit of a minor issue. I was promised painless anaesthesia (and many higher-end clinics often offer what they call "needle-free anaesthesia"), but far from truth. I got more than 20 very painful injections on my scalp (and even the technician warned that some of them were going to be painful). When I complained about this Ömer also tried to gaslight me and said that 95% of the patients don't experience any pain (that's why it's "painless"; and thus I was apparently part of a weird minority) and that they never ever promised a needle-free anaesthesia. Just for you to be aware of it. There are going to be needles for the first 30-40 mins (and right before the implant) and they are going to hurt. The rest is fine.
-Some sort of post-op report would have been nice; at least telling me how many hairs (not "grafts", given Dr K's animadversion towards that concept) I had been implanted or that the operation had been successful. I was not given any information on the amount of implants and the success rate at all (even orally).
-They strongly encourage you to pay cash, which point to some dubious tax policy.
-As most clinics (as far as I can read from other reviews), before the op they test the patients for Hep B & C and HIV, which I find stigmatising for people living with such conditions. Staff should be trained to deal with any patient regardless their immunology by taking preventive measures.
In sum, I cannot judge the quality of the job yet (it looks okay to me, and Dr K's approach seemed realistic). Nevertheless, I cannot give a good rating given the strong dissonance between what they offer and the real experience. Not a terrible clinic, but you can probably get the same experience for less somewhere else (or at least, save you some money from the "extra package" that includes Dr K's involvement).
Just got back to United States after my procedure at AEK hair clinic in Turkey. This place is amazing. I got a great transplant. I searched online to find a place to go and I selected AEK. I am so glad that I did because they made the whole process easy. All I did was send an email and they walked me through the steps needed. I had to send them current pictures of my hair line and coverage. They came up with a plan for me and sent me an email with their suggestions with pricing. They said that I would receive up to 5000 hair transplants for the cost they sent to me. I actually received approx. 7000 for the same price. There were others present who also had transplants from AEK and they looked great also. I asked how they felt about their hair implants and they were very pleased as I am. After the emails and a date was set, I had to send a deposit for the hotel. (This is part of the total cost they give you and so it is subtracted from how much you will need to pay upon arrival). I was picked up from the Airport and driven to the hotel wich was about 45min away. I checked into my room and spent that day looking around the area. There is a mall right next to the hotel that has many shops, places to eat, theater and a grocery store. This was all I needed. The next day was my procedure. They meet me in the lobby and we went to the clinic which is just around the corner (about a 20 second walk). The clinic is very nice. It is very clean and sterile. Everyone was very polite and friendly and professional. You will then give a blood sample to make sure you do not have any diseases. The whole procedure went very well. It was painless. The only little discomfort was from the few shots they give to numb up the area. Once numb everything was painless. The whole procedure took about 8-9 hours. I’m sure time varies depending upon the amount of transplants that are needed. The Doctors and techs that worked with me were great, they were constantly checking on me to make sure I did not have any pain or discomfort. About 1/2 way through the procedure we took a short break for a great lunch that they provided (at no additional cost). After the procedure they explain the aftercare that you need to follow. This also comes with medicine that you will need to take following the transplant. I am very happy the choice that I made choosing AEK hair clinic in Turkey. I hope to post some photos as the hair starts to grow back. This will take some time so come back and I will have my initial photos with the current pics as well. I was able to meet many others there for the same procedure who all came from around the world. It was really a great experience.
*** IF YOU FIND NEGATIVE REVIEWS about AEK in Turkey, just know that the bad reviews are fake. They are posted by the jealous competitors in the area. There are many clinics in the area but only AEK has amazing service and results.
Hello everyone, i have had a surgery a few weeks ago in aek and everything was great. Sure the operation is not meant to be pleasant, especially after, but I know it was done to best comfort I could get. The procedure was painless I must assure you. and doctors and staff are the best professionals. I recommend this clinic surely. The clinic is nice and clean, doctors did amazing work, people were warm and professional. Thank you, I surely recommend.