Is It Safe To Go To Turkey For A Hair Transplant Surgery?

[worrywart]

I am in the middle of booking an appointment with Dr ********* but I'm scared of traveling to the middle east. Any input?

 

[Hairloss23]

Username checks out.

 

[Toddskii]

Hahahahaha

 

[worrywart]

I know I sound ridiculous. Apparently the city, antalya is a safe tourist spot, but Jesus it's 300km from the Syrian border.

 

[Wolff]

I wouldn't worry about the Syrian conflict, but about ********* and his team. www.**********************.com/eve/181266-warning-if-considering-dr-hakan-*********-read-first.html
Are links to other forums censored?

 

[garyhary]

Turkey is pretty much save. The risk of terror attacks is the same as in other major European cities. 300 Km from Syrian border is enough. The Turkish army is one considered as of the strongest ones in the world. They will kick *** if they had to.

 

[Rocknroutlaw]

Turkey has been a popular back-packing destination for decades. The current conflict should not impact daily lives in cities far from border.
I am also considering this option. Rather than the safety of the nation itself, I am more concerned about the medical facilities, ethics, and regulations etc.
Having read the positive reviews on this forum, it gave me more comfort, but I am still a little apprehensive.

 

[follicle2001]

So, I have to weigh in here. I have never been to Turkey myself, but a well known radio show on hair loss recently had a show on this very topic. From a personal safety POV, remember you are going to the middle east, with all that entails (although Turkey is clearly not Syria, for example). From a medical POV, many of the turkish clinics are pretty much run by technicians from top to bottom and you may have little to no interaction with an actual doctor. Also, if you have a bad experience or outcome you have little or no recourse in terms of getting your money back, legal protection, etc.

I, personally, would not go to Turkey for hair transplant when there are so many other good options in Europe and the USA. The price of Hotel and airfare may significantly cut into any cost savings. If others have gone and had great experiences, more power to them, but I would not go myself.

 

[Rocknroutlaw]

So, I have to weigh in here. I have never been to Turkey myself, but a well known radio show on hair loss recently had a show on this very topic. From a personal safety POV, remember you are going to the middle east, with all that entails (although Turkey is clearly not Syria, for example). From a medical POV, many of the turkish clinics are pretty much run by technicians from top to bottom and you may have little to no interaction with an actual doctor. Also, if you have a bad experience or outcome you have little or no recourse in terms of getting your money back, legal protection, etc.

I, personally, would not go to Turkey for hair transplant when there are so many other good options in Europe and the USA. The price of Hotel and airfare may significantly cut into any cost savings. If others have gone and had great experiences, more power to them, but I would not go myself.

Good point, and I totally get what you're saying. I am very much in two minds about it...
Let's just say I am prepared to spend a decent amount, and the cost will be of a lesser important consideration.
I would like to know by paying more I will get equally good or better results in Western Europe/US/UK. As mentioned above, the opinion seems to be that the top of Turkish surgeons is likely to outperform the UK ones. If assuming this is definitely the case, would you still opt to pay more in say UK, when the top of Turkish clinic is affordable?

 

[follicle2001]

I do not think you can say turkish surgeons outperform UK surgeons. Are you looking for something unusual or a garden variety hair transplant?

 

[Rocknroutlaw]

I do not think you can say turkish surgeons outperform UK surgeons. Are you looking for something unusual or a garden variety hair transplant?

It is a rather big statement, I agree...
Speaking for myself, I am looking for a decent job (with realistic views) and prepared to pay the 'right' price. If I do opt for Turkey, I would like someone top notch who I feel can outperform or equally successful as those I can find in the west.
Someone I recently became acquainted to who attended a few personal consultations (with NW7), a Turkish clinic declined to perform the hair transplant as they do not think there are enough for a FUE (5000 grafts needed). Meanwhile, the London clinic where I go for laser has offered to do 3000 grafts for him. I am unsure what to make of this....but part of me feels that perhaps the Turkish clinic values their outcomes while the London counterpart just wants you in the chair?

As for myself, I have no clear answer regarding my Norwood staging but I have diffuse hair loss... from the on-line consultations I received so far, two Belgian clinics estimated around 2800-3500 follicular units, while all three Turkish clinics quoted 4000-5000. I have no idea what to think, except hoping to see more personal testimony on each one.

 

[alex85]

This is really sad to hear that kind of reviews about Turkey hair transplant surgeons. I had a plans to make FUE with Dr. ********* or Dr. Erdogan in future.

 

[nikko]

Some of the best FUE doctors are in Turkey. Then again I do not know many from the UK.

In terms of safety as said by others you d be in the middle east, hence relatively next to the core conflict ares. Yet we see that in EU either we are safe, as the recent terrorists' attacks showed us.

 

[arfy]

As mentioned above, the opinion seems to be that the top of Turkish surgeons is likely to outperform the UK ones. If assuming this is definitely the case, would you still opt to pay more in say UK, when the top of Turkish clinic is affordable?

That's comparing apples and oranges. As mentioned above, in Turkey you have very little contact with a doctor, and your procedure is mostly performed by medical technicians (if that is indeed true). In which case, the reputation of the doctor is somewhat meaningless, as the doctor is only minimally involved. There's no way to know if a previously satisfied patient's excellent staff were replaced by new employees, for example. In my opinion, if the doctor is only minimally involved, it makes researching a clinic much more difficult, because there's no way to be sure what you're paying for.

 

[Rocknroutlaw]

That's comparing apples and oranges. As mentioned above, in Turkey you have very little contact with a doctor, and your procedure is mostly performed by medical technicians (if that is indeed true). In which case, the reputation of the doctor is somewhat meaningless, as the doctor is only minimally involved. There's no way to know if a previously satisfied patient's excellent staff were replaced by new employees, for example. In my opinion, if the doctor is only minimally involved, it makes researching a clinic much more difficult, because there's no way to be sure what you're paying for.

Valid points. So far the three online consultations with Turkish clinics have all confirmed it would be the reputable doctor doing the insertion, although others will be doing the extraction.
I totally get your concerns for having the procedure performed there, hence still very much undecided. I guess given that UK doesn't seem to have well-known surgeons or numerous testimonies, by eliminating Turkey I would be pretty much left with Belgium.

- - - Updated - - -

This is really sad to hear that kind of reviews about Turkey hair transplant surgeons. I had a plans to make FUE with Dr. ********* or Dr. Erdogan in future.

At this early stage of my learning, I am at the moment in favour of the two you mentioned as well... both clinics offer very similar levels of surgery, and seem to be transparent in communication...do you have any particular thoughts ?
If I find someone in Europe who have the same level expertise and positive genuine testimony, I will definitely also consider paying more for it.

 

[crystalfisk282]

Poultry is save. The risk of fear strikes is the same as in other significant Western places.


Accelerators | Supre Tan

 

[Abu Hairy Al-Forhedi]

Its pretty safe, IMO. Turkish government is one of the closest ISIS allies and therefore Turkey has been left alone, apart from few staged attacks. There are many western tourists in Turkey and I haven't heard of any incident so far.

 

[arfy]

Valid points. So far the three online consultations with Turkish clinics have all confirmed it would be the reputable doctor doing the insertion, although others will be doing the extraction.

In pretty much every clinic, the doctor creates the "recipient sites" (the slits that the grafts are inserted into). That's supposed to be the "artistic" part of the transplant. The bigger question is who does the FUE extractions? Medical techs are generally low-paid, and may or may not have specific experience before you sit down in the chair. That's how some clinics are able to keep prices down - by hiring low-paid workers to perform a large part of the procedure. Harvesting the grafts is not secondary in importance though - if your grafts aren't properly harvested, it will impact survival and growth. Since you have a limited amount of donor hair (and most patients don't have enough supply, over the long run) wasting donor hair is a big concern. I don't think any doctor has 100% survival with FUE or strip. The question is whether your clinic has 90, 80, 70% survival? Those are big differences.

Lets make it easy and say you have 10,000 grafts done in total, over time. The difference between 100% survival and 80% survival is 2,000 grafts. That can really make a difference. Besides basic "survival" grafts can be damaged during basically every phase of surgery, and while they might survive, the hairs don't grow very robust, or can emerge at improper angles, or the grafts can easily be distorted casing the hairs to grow out somewhat kinky.

A lot of things can go wrong during your transplant (and you won't even realize it, until years later). It's not as easy and fool-proof as some clinics like to portray it. Personally, I had the best FUE results with Dr Campbell at the Woods clinic (no techs, the doctor did everything) and the worst results at the Cole clinic (the techs did about half the procedure, including most of the harvesting. The only thing Dr Cole did by himself was create the recipient sites. Virtually none of my grafts grew.)

 

[shookwun]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...ive-updates-sultanahmet-tourist-a6807136.html

 

[Dench57]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...ive-updates-sultanahmet-tourist-a6807136.html

Get hair or die trying.