Turkey’s hair transplant tourist explosion

Men with bloody, overwhelmed skulls are an impressive feature of the busy urban landscape of Constantinople, either walking along live shopping roads or set in front of virtual milestones.

The Turkish Metropolis, crossing the Bosphorus – a renowned floating road connecting Europe and Asia – has become a worldwide hub for hair transplants, hosting about 5,000 clinics that feed patients from around the world.

However, views are separated as to whether Istanbul can maintain its crown as the world’s hair transplant chapter.

Winter is high for the Istanbul hair transplant clinics, which operate with full capacity. One such patient is Aydin Kesti, a 27 -year -old from Zurich.

He is lying on a treatment sofa, slightly stunned by stop -granting painkillers, while medical staff meticulously introduces hair follicles into his scalp.

He does this for his ego, he says. “Everything was great,” he says about his experience at the hair transplant clinic.

Kesti has combined his process with a mini vacation in Istanbul, which is attracted to the city not only for its reputation but also with a recommendation that led him to choose the Asmed hair transplant clinic.

Hair transplants go mainstream

Many hospitals in the city are no longer involved in scalp hair. Beards, mustaches, eyebrows and sometimes even breast hair are also treated, they report various facilities.

In some places, a nose work or other cosmetic procedure can be recorded in addition to hair treatment.

“Demand for hair transplants has increased huge in recent years,” the states of the Serkan Aygin clinic. Surrounded by a lot of art on the walls, it is almost like an assembly line.

The men who are in charge sit at the clinic’s cafe bar waiting for the next stage of their treatment. Others have already undergone the process, as their scalable scalables reveal.

Once a discreet process, hair transplants have become “mainstream”, clinical notes. Patients are now boasting their new wools in social media and many clinics work with influences to enhance their range.

Women are also increasingly focused on hair rehabilitation treatments, breaking a long stereotype.

Risks of the process

While Turkey’s hair transplant industry attracts patients from around the world, not every experience with perfect results ends.

Online forums reveal complaints about abused procedures: hair growing in the wrong direction, unsatisfactory density or transplanted follicles falling after a few years.

Still, Turkey’s reputation as a hotspot of health tourism insists.

According to the state tourism union Türsab, 1.5 million health tourists visited Turkey in 2023, making hair transplants the second most sought after process.

The future of industry in Turkey

“There are as good as bad clinics in Constantinople,” says Koray Erdogan, a doctor and founder of the Asmed Clinic.

When he opened his clinic in 2001, it was common practice to remove entire strips of the skin from the back of the head. In the early 2000s, the clinic began to remove individual hair roots without removing parts of the skin and leaving a scar.

A “revolution for hair transplantation,” says Erdogan.

The new method quickly spread to Turkey. In Europe and the United States, however, the trend has faced skepticism abroad. In 2011, when he presented his technique at the Boston US Metropolis, he remembers that he was not taken seriously.

“This worked in Turkey’s favor,” he says. Turkey’s willingness to embrace innovation, coupled with the lowest cost, gave the country a competitive advantage.

Turkey ‘golden age’ comes to the end

Despite its pioneering role, Turkey’s sovereignty in the hair transplant industry faces challenges. Health tourism, once a growing sector, does not meet expectations.

According to the Ministry of Health, today’s data have no prior views.

In 2023, according to the National Statistics Authority, Turkey earned about $ 2.3 billion from health tourism.

However, this is deformed compared to forecasts a decade ago, when the Türsab Tourism Association estimates the revenue of about $ 21 billion to $ 26 billion from this point.

In addition, Erdogan notes that hospitals in Europe are now offering hair transplant procedures for about $ 2,000 – a development that was unheard of a few years ago.

With affordable choices closer to the home, the need for patients to travel to Turkey is declining.

“The golden age in Turkey is coming to an end,” he says.