Why Istanbul has become the capital of hair transplantation

Having a unique location between continents and conceptualizing a rich history, Istanbul has always been an attractive city to live in or visit. Its architectural patterns, delicious foods, unique music, and ethnically varied society appeal to people from different cultures, making the shotgun city a top tourist destination.

In recent years, the city has also become an address of preference for people suffering from baldness and who want to rebuild their hair. It is hard to believe that Istanbul is the capital for hair transplantation and that the techniques, workforce, and eligibility are improving quickly. How did hair transplantation in Istanbul become this powerful?

Hospitality

Turkey has had a long tradition of hospitality for centuries. The guests have always been considered to be treated as a member of family. From the moment you set foot in this city, you feel welcome. Most of the patients return home after realizing they have achieved the desired results, far exceeding their expectations, and exposed themselves to proper care, assistance, and patronage.

History of Hair Transplantation in Istanbul

Although hair transplantation is expensive in Europe and the USA, you can get hair transplantation in Turkey with a much more affordable cost. So, hair transplantation tourism has been trending in Turkey. As a result, hair transplantations in Turkey increased by 39.2 percent compared to the previous year. Experts say the lack of regulations related to cost of hair transplantation by the American Association of Hair Restoration Surgery strengthens this market. Hair transplantation costs in the USA $20,000-$25,000. The average cost of hair transplantation in Turkey is $3,000. Turkey has become the most important country in health tourism through the quality, price ratio, and the most preferred sector.

Turkey is where people from Europe, the USA, Canada, and the United Kingdom mostly have hair transplants. Besides naturally spectacular hair having popped up in the USA, Canada and England, the increase in the prices of hair transplantation in Europe, the existence of famous hair transplantation specialists in Turkey, and the rush of Middle Eastern people to Istanbul for having their hair transplants have been the main reasons why hair transplantation has become so popular in Turkey in such a short time. The high number of tourists in Turkey, the low cost of accommodation, cheap transportation, and the abundance of historical places to visit are other factors in the growth of hair transplantation and people’s appreciation for beauty.

Pioneering Surgeons

Hair transplantation is Turkey’s signature success story; it is a recipe that could be an excellent example of successful brand leadership. After many years of learning from the pioneering surgeons and the challenges faced, Turkey has now concluded a perfect formula that created a worldwide market’s unique dominance. It was confirmed that the world’s hair transplantation center also performed cosmetic surgeries, oncologic surgeries and organ transplants to medical tourists which are coming from Eastern Europe and Gulf Countries. Even though it was invented long ago, new curing techniques, and experience increase by operating many people became the main breakthrough. Turkish hair techniques captured public attention and acceptance less than a decade ago because Turkish patients were glad to seek a new cure.

In the early 1980s, dermatologist Dr. Carlos Uebel utilized individual grafting (from the nape of the neck and forehead) techniques to treat male-pattern baldness and was considered the first surgeon to do so successfully. He established a hair clinic in Brussels, Belgium, which opened in the United States and several other countries, including Turkey, in the early 1990s. The plastic surgeons in Turkey, particularly the dermatologists who started their hair transplantation career, improved Uebel’s 1982 technique and then developed unique variations. In Turkey, a series of doctors, including Dr. Mehmet Erdoğan and Dr. Gökay Bilgin, pioneered hair transplants. They were also followed by other doctors who raised the bar for the industry, such as Dr. Firdavs Ahmedov, among many other skilled doctors who worked in Smile Hair Clinic.

Technological Advancements

The technological advancements in FUE have contributed to physicians’ success. The ease of use of automation tools has increased the extraction speed, decreased the physical demands on the surgical team. This technology has also made the surgery less tiring and demanding, which has drawn physicians who previously may have avoided hair transplantation because of the physical demands of the procedure. There are several manufacturers of automated FUE (AT-FUE) systems and technologies. While there are some cost and technical differences between the systems used, it is now possible to perform FUE utilizing an array of instruments that can extract hair follicular units (FUs), but, until recently, most device manufacturers require a skilled surgeon or a trained technician to manually or semi-autonomously align the FUE equipment on the follicular unit and start the cutting.

In addition to the steady improvement in results and satisfactory clinical experiences, long-term safety and donor outcomes associated with the experienced teams continue accumulating.

International Recognition

The success of medical tourism in Turkey has become increasingly important. This success has proven itself by growing further every day, especially in recent years. As the capital of the hair transplant sector, Istanbul hosted 435,395 medical tourists in the first months of 2018. This success has significantly contributed to the country’s health tourism development. Hair transplantation in Turkey is based on three fundamentals: the aforementioned technical infrastructure, human resources, experience, and finally, international recognition of national authorities. Examination of two critical parameters, such as the growing capacity and success ranking in hair transplantation in recent years, shows that the main actors of this sector in Turkey are well-established, foreign-funded Turkish companies.

The Role Of Turkish Airlines

In the last decade Turkish Airlines also became one of the biggest airlines in the world. The increase of flight destinations to Istanbul caused people to find tickets easily and much cheaper. This caused medical tourists to choose Turkey rather than other destinations.

Medical Tourism in Istanbul

“In a world increasingly dominated by the service industry, most developing countries are focusing on tourism to grow economic conditions and balance global budgets, and to accomplish these goals; they assess their capabilities. Turkey is making a great effort for its cities to have a say in the global tourism industry. Istanbul, already known in the foundations of modern medicine, particularly in organ transplantation, was preparing to undertake another important mission in health tourism. Hair transplant surgery has become a career in its own right, and experts trained in this field are bringing skilled hands into the field daily. With successful results, the number of patients has also increased by activating visual media publicity.

Affordable Costs

Haie transplant expenses in the United Kingdom, United States and Canada are much more expensive. Therefore, patients prefer to come to our country for baldness treatment. According to statistics published in this regard, costs in America can vary between 4 and 5 times. The main reasons for the high cost of this procedure at home are as follows: this operation is considered a couple of operations, clinics charge per grafts, and there is not a limit by boards per graft.

Quality Healthcare Services

The hospital services in Turkey are also of high quality and capture the interest of foreigners from economically disadvantaged or underdeveloped countries. Most healthcare investors operating in Turkey are particularly interested in high-quality healthcare services because of Turkey’s reputation as a tourism paradise. These investments have been made in cities known for their wonderful weather and rich culture. Visitors, unable to access state-of-the-art medical services in their country, seek treatment in a country where healthcare is provided at international standards, with service quality and diversity. Visitors are being reassured because they have a wide range of logistics options and high-quality healthcare opportunities compared to developed countries, such as holiday-cum-treatment plans, alternative hot-spot locations, visas, a wide range of transportation options, and attractive medical opportunities. The importance attributed to service quality continues to increase investment in the sector. The country is thus positioned to outperform all rivals.

Quality and cost-effectiveness are the key characteristics of Turkish healthcare, offering advanced services at affordable rates. Both national and international patients have quality treatment in Turkey, largely as a result of Turkey’s increasing investments in its healthcare sector and medical tourism. The competitiveness of the Turkish healthcare system relative to countries with similar levels of income stems from several interrelated advantages: significantly lower costs of care; geographic proximity to major patient markets; high quality of care; low rates of medical errors; and a variety of easily accessible cultural destinations.

Research and Development

The continuous work in hair transplantation surgery in Turkey led to the formulation of many experiences through the work of doctors in several fields that differ in their level. In hair transplantation, this encouraged our scientists to develop new techniques which raised this type to achieve high standards, and due to the continuous work of our youth and the good use of these techniques, many hair transplantation leading doctors have appeared whose names became accentuated in this field. In light of that, they opened new horizons to give importance to this science and provided many job opportunities for people. This resulted in an increase in the special attendance of this type of magic world, which became a kind of hope for many young people who are living and believing in walking with a head filled with hair, adding great hope for young people since hair loss kills the cells of the spirit.

Does it worth to travel Istanbul for a hair transplant?

Benefits of Hair Transplant in Istanbul

The cost of living in Turkey is lower than in other European countries, resulting in generally lower prices for patients than in different countries. Some have noticed that Turkish hospitals offer less expensive healthcare costs. In cases where hair transplantation is performed in other European countries, the high costs can put patients off. The Turkey hair transplant process is professional and reliable, and the final result is impressive.