I Went To Türkiye on a Hair Transplant Journey. Here’s What It Was Like.
16.12.2023 - 14:54
/ matadornetwork.com
The first person I asked, “hey, how would you feel about getting a hair transplant in Türkiye?” replied, “uhhh…weirded out.”
Weirded out by the out-of-nowhereness of the question, or by the prospect of getting a medical procedure in another country, I wasn’t quite sure. “Weirded out,” however, proved a common theme in my search for a friend willing to get a hair transplant in Türkiye (the official spelling of the name for the country, formerly Turkey).
Turns out, pitching affordable hair transplants in a different country to balding men can be tougher than selling dry aged steak to a vegan. The reason? People tend not to trust the things they don’t understand. In the United States, many people are conditioned to believe the only good medicine is American medicine, and though we complain about the exorbitant cost of our healthcare, we think that exorbitant cost means we’re paying for world-class service we can’t get anywhere else.
That’s not true.
While US doctors are certainly some of the best in the world, there are plenty of other countries that provide equally high-quality medical services at a fraction of the cost. That’s why medical tourism has been soaring in popularity, with people flocking to places like India, Serbia, and Mexico for affordable procedures that would make their bank accounts weep in the US. Indeed, a hair transplant in Türkiye, at the EsteNove clinic, costs $3,500, while the same hair transplant in the US can set you back as much as $16,000.
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Let me back up a little. I was approached by EsteNove, a hair transplant clinic in Istanbul – one of the many reputable clinics in Türkiye’s capital city – to help them educate an international audience about the medical tourism experience in Türkiye. They understood that getting a medical procedure abroad isn’t a logistical inconvenience, but a cool opportunity to experience a new culture while also receiving affordable medical treatment. This intersection of medicine and travel is why they reached out to me.
Of course, I couldn’t be expected to write about Türkiye’s medical tourism without experiencing it firsthand. And unfortunately (well, fortunately for me) I’m not quite a hair transplant candidate myself just yet. So they asked if I had any friends who might be in need.
Six “nos” later, I finally got a “yes.” My friend Jeff, who that very week had been looking into getting a hair transplant in Boston, committed to the experience with very few questions asked. I’ll admit, I was surprised and impressed by Jeff’s immediate willingness to take a chance on a new experience, and his open-mindedness where others had shown extreme (though unfounded) skepticism.
The first step for