With tons of of clinics specialised in hair transplants, Istanbul is a rising hub within the business, attracting folks from all around the world.
Ozan Kose/AFP through Getty Photos
conceal caption
toggle caption
Ozan Kose/AFP through Getty Photos
ISTANBUL — In a brilliant clinic on the japanese 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 to be 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 glossy multistory complicated that boasts a 90-95% hair transplant success charge. Because it opened in 2018, the clinic has been treating round 500 sufferers yearly. Most come from overseas: round a 3rd come from the US alone.
“OK, I will draw according to what I recommend to you,” Erdogan says, because the pen squeaks in opposition to 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 title in order that he might focus on a non-public well being care concern.
Hair transplants aren’t new — however immediately, they’re in every single place. And Turkey has turn out to be 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 outcome has been a booming new business, with important financial acquire. However though the process is usually thought-about protected when carried out by a talented surgeon, the business’s success has prompted considerations about doable dangers and oversight.
For Justin, the choice got here all the way down to {dollars}.
He informed 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, in keeping with a 2023 research printed by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
Turkey has constructed a whole business on that sort of price hole.
In accordance 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, in keeping with information from the Turkish Well being Ministry.
Stroll by way of Istanbul’s airports and you may see the adverts — smiling males with contemporary hairlines, clinics promising all-inclusive packages with inns, 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 obtained studies of outcomes starting from botched hairlines to infections and scarring.
Glen Jankowski, a psychologist at College School Dublin and creator of forthcoming e-book Branding Baldness, warns there are additionally medical dangers that transcend the bodily outcomes.
“It’s really important that, especially the hair follicles, you aren’t doing too much harvesting in one session,” he explains. “It does have an effect on your blood pressure. It really is important that medically trained people are doing it — and sometimes that’s not the case.”
Jankowski additionally says that sufferers are generally pushed onto medicines like minoxidil or finasteride with out full consent. “Those drugs can have significant side effects,” he says. “You should only take them with proper medical advice and informed 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 accomplish that many males join? It isn’t simply the financial savings. Or the vainness.
It is psychology — and TikTok.
“Most people worry about hair loss regardless of their actual hair count, because the advertising is so strong around it,” says Jankowski.
On the Smile Hair Clinic, the ready room tells this very story. A large display loops TikTok and Instagram reels from completely happy shoppers, swiping their palms over contemporary hairlines. “Five months ago I flew to Istanbul,” one man boasts. “Best decision ever.”
Social media has turned the transplant into a life-style improve. It is a makeover to flaunt, not conceal. 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 dwelling.
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 carry on top of our heads, we think it’s really meaningful. It’s not,” he says. “[My hair] doesn’t clog my shower anymore. It doesn’t fall into my porridge. There’s a beauty and wisdom to [hair loss] we’re unfortunately losing.”
For some, that is the safer and most cost-effective alternative of all — shave it off and transfer on.
