What makes this nation a prime vacation spot for hair transplants : NPR

With tons of of clinics specialised in hair transplants, Istanbul is a rising hub within the business, attracting folks from everywhere in the world.

Ozan Kose/AFP by way of Getty Photographs

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Ozan Kose/AFP by way of Getty Photographs

ISTANBUL — In a vivid clinic on the jap aspect of Istanbul, a person leans over one other man’s scalp.

There is a marker in his hand, and he is drawing skinny, cautious strains throughout the skull. It seems nearly like an artwork class. Besides the canvas here’s a human head.

Dr. Mehmet Erdogan (no relation to Turkey’s president) runs the Smile Hair Clinic in Istanbul, a smooth multistory advanced that boasts a 90-95% hair transplant success charge. Because it opened in 2018, the clinic has been treating round 5,000 sufferers yearly. Most come from overseas: round a 3rd come from the US alone.

“OK, I’ll draw based on what I like to recommend to you,” Erdogan says, because the pen squeaks towards the scalp of his affected person, Justin R., a registered nurse from California. Justin, in his early 40s, did not need NPR to make use of his final identify in order that he might talk about a personal well being care problem.

Hair transplants aren’t new — however immediately, they’re in every single place. And Turkey has turn into the business’s unofficial capital.

The nation now attracts sufferers from throughout the globe, lured by decrease prices, bundled journey packages, and a rising community of clinics. The consequence has been a booming new business, with important financial achieve. However though the process is mostly thought of secure when carried out by a talented surgeon, the business’s success has prompted considerations about attainable dangers and oversight.

For Justin, the choice got here right down to {dollars}.

He instructed NPR his transplant, together with airfare and lodging, price him about $3,400. He was given quotes for greater than double that at clinics he reached out to in California.

Within the U.S., the common value for comparable procedures runs upwards of $13,000, based on a 2023 research revealed by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

Turkey has constructed a whole business on that sort of price hole.

In line with the Turkish Well being Tourism Affiliation, round 1 million folks traveled to the nation in 2022 for hair transplants alone, spending about $2 billion.

Nationwide, well being tourism introduced in much more: about 2 million medical vacationers in 2024, producing near $3 billion, based on information from the Turkish Well being Ministry.

Stroll by way of Istanbul’s airports and you will see the adverts — smiling males with contemporary hairlines, clinics promising all-inclusive packages with motels, airport transfers, translators, even sightseeing.

The hidden dangers

Not each story ends with an ideal hairline.

The Worldwide Society of Hair Restoration Surgical procedure has flagged considerations about so-called “black market clinics,” the place unlicensed practitioners carry out delicate procedures or rush by way of a number of sufferers a day. The medical affiliation says it has acquired reviews of outcomes starting from botched hairlines to infections and scarring.

Glen Jankowski, a psychologist at College School Dublin and writer of forthcoming ebook Branding Baldness, warns there are additionally medical dangers that transcend the bodily outcomes.

“It is actually essential that, particularly the hair follicles, you are not doing an excessive amount of harvesting in a single session,” he explains. “It does impact your blood strain. It truly is essential that medically educated persons are doing it — and typically that is not the case.”

Jankowski additionally says that sufferers are typically pushed onto medicines like minoxidil or finasteride with out full consent. “These medication can have important uncomfortable side effects,” he says. “You must solely take them with correct medical recommendation and knowledgeable consent.”

The Turkish Well being Ministry has pledged stricter oversight and extra inspections. Nonetheless, critics say the sheer variety of clinics — some estimates put it at 5,000 in Istanbul alone — makes enforcement troublesome.

The social media impact

So why achieve this many males join? It is not simply the financial savings. Or the self-importance.

It is psychology — and TikTok.

“Most individuals fear about hair loss no matter their precise hair rely, as a result of the promoting is so sturdy round it,” says Jankowski.

On the Smile Hair Clinic, the ready room tells this very story. An enormous display loops TikTok and Instagram reels from comfortable shoppers, swiping their palms over contemporary hairlines. “5 months in the past I flew to Istanbul,” one man boasts. “Finest choice ever.”

Social media has turned the transplant into a way of life improve. It is a makeover to flaunt, not cover. And the extra males exhibit their outcomes, the extra regular the surgical procedure feels.

Just a few months after his operation, NPR checked in with Justin R. He says he feels youthful, extra assured — and grateful he did not need to spend twice as a lot again residence.

Docs like Erdogan say most sufferers really feel the identical. However he additionally admits the frenzy of clinics and clients has created a “Wild West” ambiance, the place it is as much as sufferers to do their homework.

After all, not everybody indicators up.

Jankowski, the psychologist, has chosen one other route.

“The hair we stock on prime of our heads, we expect it is actually significant. It is not,” he says. “[My hair] would not clog my bathe anymore. It would not fall into my porridge. There is a magnificence and knowledge to [hair loss] we’re sadly dropping.”

For some, that is the safer and most cost-effective alternative of all — shave it off and transfer on.