Cork councillor describes undergoing 'bloody painful' hair transplant in Turkey
A Cork city councillor has spoken about his recent experience undergoing a hair transplant in Turkey.
Cllr Kenneth O'Flynn travelled abroad for the operation which took follicles from the back of his head and placed them at his hairline.
He said the recovery was quite painful but he does not regret the procedure.
"It was a lot tougher than I thought," he told Neil Prendeville on Cork's RedFM.
"I had done an awful lot of research and I was told I was going to be in pain. What I didn't really think about was the amount of discomfort I'd have for the first two weeks after getting the operation done."
Cllr O'Flynn said he found it difficult to sleep for a couple of weeks after surgery.
"It's just very difficult to sleep because you're trying to protect the donor area, and the donor area comes from the back of the head," he said.
"I had 4,300 hairs donated from the back of my head. They're taken on a strip, then they're divided one-by-one and they're implanted.
"It's a nine-hour operation. You're totally conscious for the whole lot of it. They numb you of course and you feel the needle going in but you don't have any pain from it
It was a bit like somebody doing a needlepoint.
He said he is glad he travelled to Turkey for the surgery and he met many people on the plane home who had travelled for the same reason.
"Would I have it done again? Absolutely. I'm very happy with it, where it's going and how it's going, but I can tell you it's a tough operation.
"Turkey amazed me. At the airport flying home, I met three people on the plane, one from Wexford, one from Galway and one from Cork going back to Dublin, who were all after having it done at different facilities.
"Turkey worked out at €2,500. It was working out here in Ireland at €15,000. In the UK you're talking about £8,000 to £10,000.
"It's a huge industry there. People are going out there for plastic surgery. In the hotel I was staying at there was I don't know how many women I met that were after getting liposuction and nose jobs.
I didn't know if we were in a hospital or a hotel!
The former Deputy Lord Mayor said he is happy to speak to other people interested in pursuing the procedure.
"It was a very good experience, it's something that I'd recommend to people," he said.
"I did it. I'm happy I did it. It's a bloody painful operation.
"My telephone number is available to everybody through yourselves [RedFM] or Facebook if anybody wants to give me a ring and go through it.
"There's been a pile of people on to me; husbands, wives, fellas that are thinking about getting it done that are nervous about it. I'm only too delighted to help anybody."
