CAN YOU GET A BETTER HAIR TRANSPLANT IN TÜRKIYE?

Randy Lehoe and his wife are LA-based social media marketers with more than 1.5 million followers on their Instagram accounts. The 29-year-old Lehoe spends a lot of time in front of the camera creating content to post, thus he’s conscious of his looks. A year ago, a slowly receding hairline and balding crown prompted him to take a bold step: In July, he had a hair transplant. But in Türkiye, not the United States.

Hair transplants are among the most popular procedures men seek abroad—and Türkiye has emerged as a leading destination for them, attracting medical tourists from around the world, according to the Medical Tourism Association. It’s not clear how many Turkish clinics provide these surgeries, but some estimates put that figure at more than 500 in Istanbul alone. The clinics’ affordability makes them enticing, with transplant prices ranging from about $1,000 to $4,000. “I used to live in Beverly Hills, California, where I got astronomical quotes of $15,000 to $20,000, although most clinics in the United States charge $10,000 to $15,000,” Lehoe says.

A skeptical Dr. Ricardo Mejia, who sits on the Board of Governors of the International Society for Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS), issues a warning about the low prices. The Jupiter, Florida–based surgeon worries that many Turkish clinics use assistants and technicians, not doctors (who are in much shorter supply than in the United States), to perform most aspects of the surgeries, which typically take five to seven hours. That allows these so-called hair mills to perform more transplants in a day and charge so little. “A clinic doing 50 a day is a factory,” he says. One or two per day per doctor is ideal, he adds, noting that up to four can probably be done safely by the right doctor.

Based on the recommendation of a friend who had researched the topic extensively, Lehoe had his surgery done at EsteNove (estenove.com), an Istanbul clinic that operates out of a hospital partnered with Harvard Medical School. Its transplants cost about $3,500 and include hotel accommodations, local transportation, and meals (an incentive other clinics offer too). EsteNove does six to eight surgeries a day, sometimes 10, so that its two doctors can indeed participate in all of them, says co-founder Murat Alsaç. Nurse practitioners and technicians trained in health care assist them. While acknowledging the hair mills, Alsaç says there are reputable clinics like his and names just a few: Asmed, Cosmedica, Smile, and Vera. Visit their websites and you’ll see information meant to establish their expertise, including their doctors’ credentials, the advanced techniques they use, before/after photos, and patient testimonials.

Alsaç notes that affordability isn’t the Turkish clinics’ only selling point. High demand is helping to attract more specially trained doctors, and financial incentives from a government dedicated to promoting medical tourism allow clinics to invest in modern equipment and stay up-to-date on advanced techniques, such as the two EsteNove uses: Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) and ICE DHI (Ice Direct Hair Implantation). Both are minimally invasive and leave no scarring

Lehoe started his journey last spring by submitting photos and completing a medical history form that the doctor used to determine his surgery eligibility and devise a transplant plan. A 45-minute video consultation with the doctor followed in early June and a surgery date was scheduled. On the big day, the doctor first met with him to examine the donor areas (the shaved sides and back of his head), draw the hairline, and discuss Lehoe’s expectations. He was also given a blood test since there are different government regulations should a patient test positive for HIV or hepatitis. The procedure commenced with only a local anesthesia. The doctor and his team extracted 3,500 grafts from the donor areas and implanted them one by one in the transplant areas, using a syringe-like pen that goes under the skin and requires no incision. EsteNove uses microscopic separation of grafts, a process that allows it to identify single grafts that are then implanted in the hairline because they grow in one direction, helping ensure a natural look. “Double and triple grafts, which can grow in different directions, are used in the middle of the head and crown,” Alsaç says.

After Lehoe’s six-hour procedure, he was sent back to his hotel with bandages on his donor areas, but not transplant areas. He returned the next morning to have the bandages removed and for a hair washing, then flew home with an aftercare kit that included special shampoos, hair serum, and vitamins. As part of its aftercare, the clinic has required him to submit progress photos periodically, and he has had several follow-up video visits. This continues for a year after a patient’s transplant.

How painful was the surgery? Lehoe only felt pain when needles were used to administer the anesthesia, describing that as “not enjoyable.” During the procedure, it felt as though he was wearing a bicycle helmet and someone was tapping on it. “I felt pressure, but it wasn’t painful.” The most difficult part came post-surgery. To protect the transplanted follicles, which aren’t yet locked into place, patients must avoid bumps and scratches to the head, and sleep with their heads elevated for about two weeks. “I slept sitting up in bed with multiple pillows behind me, which was as fun as it sounds,” he says.

Patients experience swelling around the head for about 12 days post-surgery, Alsaç says, and then lose most of the transplanted hair, which starts to grow back by the third month. (Lehoe lost very little of his.) About 50 percent of the results are visible by the sixth month. Full results take about a year, though regrowth in the crown can take up to 18 months due to blood circulation.

Lehoe is already pleased. “My hair was thicker around four months, and the difference is huge now,” he says. “There were some very small, noticeable patches where they extracted hair, but they were filled in within two or three months. And I have no scars.”

“My job is to look a certain way, and if I can get more work because I look good, that makes me happy,” he adds. “There’s a taboo around hair transplants, but to me it’s not any different than getting braces.”