A less expensive hair transplant alternative to Turkey

Turkey is home to many legitimate hair transplant clinics. Still, the rapid growth of this industry in this and a few other countries has led to thousands of “black market” clinics with unscrupulous practices. These clinics advertise unrealistic results and fail to disclose the risks to patients. Many have no doctors trained in hair transplantation as an art or a surgical technique. Hair is often placed in the wrong direction or in the wrong area.  In too many clinics there, so much hair is removed from the donor area of the patient that they leave no reserves for future hair transplants as balding inevitably progresses, especially in young men.  They prioritize volume because they don’t produce quality. Consistent aggressive marketing and time-limited offers put patients under pressure to book surgeries, leaving no time for the patients to research the clinic or consider any alternative options thoroughly.

The facts are that unlicensed technicians frequently perform these procedures, is hidden from unsuspecting buyers. Unqualified staff produced inconsistencies in the standard of care, and less than hygienic surgical practices will increase the risk of complications leading to poor results and long-term permanent damage to the patient. This damage is often irreparable. These problems are now more common than ever before,  so much so that it has come to the attention of the International Society for Hair Restoration Surgeons who are speaking out against these clinics to raise patient awareness. They have created a campaign called “Fight the fight” in order to combat the black-market hair transplant industry and the growing abuse that arises out of this shadow group.

Turkey’s black-market hair transplant industry is heavily commercialized, with over 2000 clinics that don’t have trained surgeons. The Turkish Health Ministry reported 20 deaths last year, but this number may be underestimated. Follow-up appointments and post-surgical care are often left up to the patient, meaning they are virtually alone when they return home. If a patient has a complication such as skin necrosis or infection (frequent in these non-physician clinics), it is up to them to deal with it, as there is no legal recourse. One of the biggest problems that impacts patients is overharvesting of the donor area. Each patient has a limited donor graft supply. When a clinic aims to maximize its financial potential, and knowing there is little legal recourse, it will often convince patients to agree to transplant as many grafts as possible. The problem with this is that since hair loss is progressive, the progression of balding areas will likely advance as you age. Progression can even take you as far as stage 7 balding pattern on the Norwood scale, leaving you with no option of transplanting any future hair loss. This is the reason hair transplantation requires careful planning for the long term.  Any surgery is just one step in possibly additional surgeries as your hair loss progresses. If you have no donor area hair left for needed future surgeries, then you may never look normal. Over-harvesting also results in damage to the donor area, leaving you looking as though you are balding in the donor area, a situation that is irreparable.

I work for Dr. Gerbrands, a board-certified hair restoration surgeon (De Haar Hair Restoration Clinic in Regina, Canada), and she has been doing hair transplants for over two decades.  We are finding more and more patients driving from the US to Regina (just an hour from the US Border), many of them considered Turkey before coming to us. Some even fly to Regina.  Our patients tell us that it is a better choice than going to Turkey, as the Canadian dollar now trades for 60 cents to the US dollar so not only is there value, but Canada has some of the best hair transplant doctors in the world. Canada also has some of the strictest regulations when it comes to medical practices and hair restoration clinics so you would never see a non-physician operated hair transplant clinic in Canada. Americans are learning that there safer options available for those seeking high quality, low cost, affordable transplants without the enormous risk, and that is what Canadian hair transplant surgeons offer. Americans are cashing in as they realize that they can get their hair back at an affordable price, right in their own backyard. 

To read more about black market clinics and hear patient stories, please visit the ISHRS website here:  https://fightthefight.ishrs.org/patient-stories.