Why is Turkey so popular for things like hair transplants?

Posted by Thehappylatif@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 20 comments

I’ve been looking into this recently and something surprised me.

Whenever people talk about hair transplants (or even other procedures), Turkey seems to come up again and again.

Is it mainly price?

Or is there something about the clinics / experience / volume that actually makes a difference?

Curious to hear from people in the UK who’ve either done it or seriously considered it.

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Big-Cartographer-556@reddit

Cheap, yes. But also the amount of competition there has driven innovation and very high quality at the top places.

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DaveBeBad@reddit

See also lower clinical standards and less comeback if it goes wrong.

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Big-Cartographer-556@reddit

Yes, this of course happens if people don't do research and go for price over quality. As with anywhere.

But I'd argue the top places in Turkey are better, and cheaper, than the UK due to competition. It's like pizza in Naples, croissants in Paris...everybody's doing it so you need to be decent to stick around long term.

Source: in-laws are doctors in top Istanbul hospitals, though don't do these procedures.

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TiredHargaysawi@reddit

Every Tom, dick and harry has set up shop. You have no recourse if it goes pear shaped.

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MattWillGrant@reddit

People are vain but poor.

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WhalingSmithers00@reddit

It's cheap and because a lot of people did it because of price a quite sophisticated industry has developed around it now.

There seems to be places that are just wall to wall transplant clinics, they've probably now got a lot of doctors who specialised in it to meet demand and it's a little bit discreet in a foreign country.

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YouSayWotNow@reddit

Flights and accommodation from UK are quite affordable (whereas other destinations known for this kind of treatment are longhaul from UK so cost a lot more).

They have high level of skills in both medical and supporting staff.

The hospitals are very good.

Pricing of treatments is reasonable.

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Alert_Mine7067@reddit

Based on what I've heard from people who have went to Turkey for hair transplants, pricing is a big factor as it is a lot more expensive in the UK.

There's also the going on holiday element, and I'd imagine that because of the lower prices that it drives more voulume, so they've probably got a lot of experience.

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Snooker1471@reddit

Price and going against what some doom mongers would have you believe the quality is often higher than the UK. If it wasn't at least on a par then you can bet the UK media would have the stories of the hundreds or thousands of people in trouble because they went cheap. The NHS would also be doing their own advertising showing the true "cost" of going overseas. The government would also ban the adverts and indeed the events over here often in hotels in the UK where some of the companies send over reps to "sell" their services. The truth is their fail rate is no higher than any other country and their technology is often well ahead of what is even allowed never mind available in the UK. I say all of this as someone who fortunately doesn't need any "work" done but if I did then I wouldn't hesitate. Hell I would even go to India for my teeth as I hear it's even cheaper over there and still of a very high quality from what I have seen.

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WheyJordan@reddit

Weird because when I researched I found cheaper hair transplant prices in the UK, as long as you stay away from Harley Street London in the UK you're fine. I got mine done for £1500, which when I factored in flights etc it worked out a bit cheaper and thank god I didn't have to sit in the airport during the aftercare would've been very uncomfortable.

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ember_eb@reddit

Not a hair transplant but I had a nose job in turkey a few years a go, partly because it's so so so much cheaper than the UK but far more importantly because they are just way more skilled than over here. They have more sophisticated technology used less invasive and more effective methods which haven't really been introduced over here yet. That, coupled with cost, and with a really fantastic medical-tourism industry meant that I had such a bloody good experience albeit terrifying and feeling like I may have been making a really foolish decision. I suspect it's possibly the same for hair transplants too. Just my tuppenceworth. (Gotta say the flight home was hilarious, it just felt like a plane full of insecure losers, all of us with bandages and red-bald heads - a fairly humiliating experience)

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Of course, there are horror stories and I don’t think the NHS should be responsible for saving you if it goes tits up, but that’s nearly another subject…

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YarnPenguin@reddit

Lots of budget airlines fly direct to Turkey from many UK airports

Cheap

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