Are you thinking about getting a hair transplant? Here’s what many Americans are doing.

If you look around Istanbul airport, you’re almost certain to spot a male traveler with a shaved head and a bandaged, bloody skull. Some travel in groups or pairs, others alone. But they all traveled to Turkey to find one thing: hair.

Many Americans and medical tourists from other countries now flock to Istanbul, which has earned a reputation as a premier destination for hair transplants and restoration. Generally, the process involves implanting healthy hair follicles into a patient’s scalp in bald areas and along a desired hairline, producing natural-looking results over time.

Turkey offers procedures that are also widely performed in the United States, but at a fraction of the price, say patients who have chosen to have the procedure abroad. Many patients also attest to the high quality of treatment in Turkey, including the large number of doctors who have experience with this type of cosmetic surgery.

Not surprisingly, the doctors agree.

“If there is someone in this world who does something better, people go there,” Dr. Serkan Aygin, an Istanbul-based hair transplant doctor, told CBS MoneyWatch. “We have a number of very good, very reputable clinics in Turkey with extensive experience in hair transplantation.”

“Here for the price”

Aaron Collins, 30, traveled from Chicago to Turkey in August for an appointment at Smile Hair Clinic, an Istanbul-based clinic run by two hair transplant surgeons — both members of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) — and certified to treat international patients.

Turkey is not the only country that welcomes budget-conscious medical tourists seeking a variety of cosmetic procedures. And sometimes the results can be disastrous. More than 90 US citizens have died after the trip to Dominican Republic for cosmetic surgery between 2009 and 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Collins chose Smile after researching hair transplants online. His procedure cost $6,000 and involved implanting 4,100 follicular units, taken from the back of his head, into his scalp. Although he found a cheaper treatment, Collins wanted the entire procedure to be performed by or under the supervision of a licensed physician.

“I really came here because of the price. In Turkey, it’s probably a third of what it costs in the U.S. – maybe even a fifth. And I’ve heard that the quality of the procedure itself is pretty much the same depending on where you go,” he told CBS MoneyWatch.

Collins said that under the supervision of a surgeon, technicians took follicles from the back of his head, identified the donor area and placed them along his desired hairline. The surgeon made all the incisions and established the hairline – something he paid extra for, but which he said was worth the extra cost.

“It’s crazy enough to travel to another country,” he said.

Boom in medical tourism

Collins is one of many Americans who have traveled thousands of miles to undergo a cosmetic procedure for a fraction of what a top-notch version of the same procedure would cost in the U.S. In 2023, more than 1.5 million tourists visited Turkey for medical procedures, spending around $3 billion, according to a state-run healthcare company set up by the country’s health ministry to promote medical tourism.

In the United States, a hair transplant costs an average of $7,500, according to the Foundation for Hair Restoration, a hair transplant center in Miami. In Turkey, a typical hair transplant costs between $1,800 and $4,500, according to Istanbeautiful, an online medical tourism guide.

Regardless of where a hair transplant is performed, the cost varies depending on the number of grafts required for the procedure and the experience and reputation of the individual doctor. According to Statista, the average cost of the procedure in the United States in 2021 was $13,610, while in Turkey it was $2,676. In markets like New York and Los Angeles, the cost tends to be even higher and can be as high as $25,000.

Aygin said that of the approximately 20 hair transplants he performs on patients each day, up to eight are from the U.S. However, he treats patients from all over the world.

Iyad Alieh, 28, who recently underwent a hair transplant, said he recently traveled from Luxembourg to Aygin’s clinic on the recommendation of a friend. His procedure involved removing 5,000 grafts from his chest to restore his hairline. The procedure cost him about $3,300, Alieh said.

Aygin’s clinic confirmed that it charges patients a flat fee of 3,000 euros (about $3,300), regardless of how many transplants are needed. Aygin said the equivalent procedure in the U.S., performed by a doctor with comparable experience, would cost $25,000.

“It’s cheaper and better,” Alieh said, comparing his experience to that of a friend who had similar work done in the United Kingdom for £12,000 ($15,300).

Beware of the black market

There are also black market clinics offering hair transplants in Turkey and other countries, but doctors and organizations warn patients to be suspicious of services offered at bargain prices.

“It’s like having a breast augmentation or a facelift performed by a doctor or a medical assistant,” Ricardo Mejia, vice president of the ISHRS, told CBS MoneyWatch. “The same principle applies – the doctor cannot delegate surgical tasks to unlicensed medical assistants.”

He knows of a growing number of doctors who have been teaching technicians the follicular united extraction (FUE) hair transplant technique. “They believe that if they let the technicians do it, the doctor will make extra money. This has led to what we call the black market for non-doctors to perform the surgery,” Mejia said.

Dr. Ozlem Bicer, an ISHRS member who runs a hair transplant clinic in Istanbul, advises patients to avoid unlicensed clinics, not only because they can produce poor results, but also because it is dangerous for patients to receive anesthesia without medical supervision.

“If doctors perform the surgery, the price cannot be low. Patients should know that low cost means black market,” she said.

Bicer said she regularly sees patients who have had surgeries at black-market clinics whose donor areas, such as the back of the head, are completely exhausted or whose hairline is not aligned properly. Corrections can end up costing twice or three times as much as the original procedure, she said.

Bicer said the first questions medical tourists should ask a doctor or hair transplant clinic are, “Who is performing the surgery? Are they licensed?” and not, “How much does the procedure cost?”