There are many reasons for hair loss in both men and women, but despite it being very common, for many the loss of their hair is absolutely devastating. Research has shown that it can seriously impact emotional well being, confidence and mental health.
This is where clinics in Turkey are stepping in as a knight in shining armour to help solve permanent hair loss through innovative and new hair transplant procedures that can completely reverse hair loss. But why is Turkey the location of choice for thousands of health tourists every year?
Many cause of hair loss are treatable, but many are not
When it comes to the decision to have a hair transplant, the first think you should do is see your doctor.
This is because some hair loss can be easily treated through medication, changing existing medication, or by making other lifestyle and diet changes that can mean the hair will grow back. You need to make an informed decision on which treatment you need. For some bacterial, fungal or viral infections, it can simple be a case of treating that and the hair will then recover by itself.
The other factor in hair loss, can be stress or depression. These are serious conditions that must be properly treated. The hair loss is just a secondary symptom. Once you have found a way to live with those conditions then you can see if the hair loss is permanent and what to do about it – if anything.
Finally you may need to look at the medications you are taking, as a side effect of some, like hormone replacements, blood pressure and heart medication and especially chemotherapy can cause hair loss.
Of course the most common cause, especially in men is pattern baldness. This is a result of genetics and male hormone production. Which is permanent.
If you are unfortunate enough to suffer from pattern baldness as a young man, you may need to wait a few years for the full extend of the baldness to become apparent before you can look to get a hair transplant.
Why is Turkey the best place for a hair transplant?
In 2017 almost 750,000 health tourists visited Turkey for procedures, of that around 60,000 were there purely for a hair transplant. There are around 150 to 500 transplants taking place every single week. This number is growing. But why is it drawing so many people?
One of the main reasons it the great care and top specialists in the procedure that are developing new and innovative technique that show much better result than the early attempts at hair transplants, and reducing recovery time substantially.
Patients do not need to undergo general anesthetic during this largely bloodless semi-surgical procedure where hairs are removed individually from one location and implanted in the new site. They are completely conscious the whole time, which although disconcerting carries far lower risk.
Procedures are carried out by the best experts in the world, in the state of the art modern specially designed hospitals. With Turkey now the leader in the sector it has the infrastructure to deal with the huge number of inbound medical tourists, and is fiercely protective of its reputation for quality and safety. Hospitals are top of the range, and are Joint Commission International (JCI) accredited, that is to say independently evaluated for service standards to ensure the best for patients. They are also set up to deal with the full range of medical tests and procedures including emergency care.
After care is also second to none, and the top clinics partner with overseas clinics, such as CapilClinic in UK, for follow up session when they get home.
Turkey is the best travel choice for hair transplants
Turkey is a very practical country to get to in terms of travel arrangements. For Europeans visiting gaining permission to enter the country is incredibly simple, and for non-europeans it is quite easy to obtain a visa for most travellers.
Flight prices are reasonable and there are many available flights, and from most of the Middle East and Europe relatively short.
On arrival the clinics are extremely good at looking after their guests and patients. This goes a huge way to reassuring those landing in a new country for the first time, especially if you don’t speak the language.
Typically you will be picked up by private chauffeur and transferred directly to a 5 star hotel, with transport to and from appointments and also access to a translator who will help you with anything you might need during your stay. This is a service you simply wouldn’t get elsewhere. And what is perhaps even more surprising is that the entire service and procedure can be as much as 80% cheaper than in your home country.
How can the procedure be so cheap and yet still off the best service?
When researching the cost of hair transplantation, you will see that in the UK it comes in at around €12,500 , and in the US even more at €25,000. This is no small amount of money for most people and can make the whole this prohibitive.
But in Turkey you can get the whole thing, plus the 5 star treatment for around €2,500, much, much less than in western countries, yet without the drop in quality of treatment.
The reason is very simple. The local currency in Turkey, the Lira, does not perform well against stronger currencies, like the Euro, the US dollar or Sterling. This benefit of the exchange rate makes a huge difference to the price for those travelling from overseas.
Added to this the running costs are considerably lower, even with state of the art medical facilities and the best medical teams. And competition is fierce, with Istanbul the capital of all things hair transplant, clinics are constantly trying to find ways to give the best service for the best price.
