Considering a hair transplant? This is where many Americans are headed.

Look around Istanbul airport and you’re almost certain to spot a male traveler with a shaved head and a bandaged, bloody scalp. Some travel in groups or couples, while others are alone. But all have traveled to Turkey in pursuit of one thing: hair.

Many Americans and medical tourists from other countries today flock to Istanbul, which has gained a reputation as a top destination for hair transplants and restoration. Generally, the procedure involves implanting healthy hair follicles into a patient’s scalp in bald areas and along a desired hairline, resulting in natural results over time.

Turkey offers procedures that are also widely available in the US, but for a fraction of the price, according to patients who have chosen to undergo the surgery abroad. Many patients also attest to the high quality of care available in Turkey, including the deep bench of doctors with experience in this type of cosmetic surgery.

Doctors, not surprisingly, agree.

“In this world, when someone does something better, people go there,” Dr. Serkan Aygin, hair transplant doctor from Istanbul. “We have a number of very good, very serious clinics in Turkey with a deep background 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 led by two hair transplant surgeons — both members of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) — which is certified to treat international patients.

Turkey is not the only country that welcomes medical tourists on a budget looking for a variety of cosmetic procedures. And sometimes the results can be disastrous. More than 90 American citizens lost their lives after he traveled 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 restoration surgery online. His procedure, which cost $6,000, involved implanting 4,100 follicular unit grafts taken from the back of his head into his scalp. Although he found treatment at a lower price, Collins said he wanted the entire process to be done by or under the supervision of a licensed physician.

“I really came here for the price. In Turkey, it’s probably a third of the cost in the U.S.—it can be as much as a fifth. And I’ve heard that depending on where you go, the quality of the process itself is pretty equivalent,” he told CBS MoneyWatch.

Collins said technicians working under the supervision of a surgeon removed follicles from the back of his head, called the donor site, and placed them along his desired hairline. The surgeon did all the incision work and defined the hairline – something he paid extra for, but feels was worth the extra cost.

“It’s pretty crazy traveling to another country,” he said.

Medical tourism explosion

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

In the US, a hair transplant costs an average of $7,500, according to the Hair Restoration Foundationa hair transplant center based in Miami. In Turkey, a typical hair transplant costs between $1,800 and $4,500, according to Istanbul is beautifulan online guide to medical tourism.

Of course, wherever a hair transplant is performed, the cost will vary depending on the number of grafts required in a procedure as well as the experience and reputation of a particular doctor. By another measure, in 2021 the average cost of the procedure in the US was $13,610, compared to $2,676 in Turkey, according to Statistics. In markets like New York and Los Angeles, the price tends to be even higher and can go up to $25,000.

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

Recent hair transplant recipient Iyad Alieh, 28, said he recently traveled from Luxembourg to Aygin’s clinic on the recommendation of a friend. His procedure involved taking 5,000 grafts from his chest to restore his hairline. It 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 grafts are required. Aygin said the equivalent procedure in the US, performed by a doctor with similar 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 UK at a cost of £12,000 ($15,300).

Beware of the black market

Turkey, as well as other countries, also have black market clinics offering hair transplants. But all doctors and organizations are warning patients to be wary of services offered at bargain prices.

“It’s like letting a doctor do breast implants or a facelift over a doctor,” Ricardo Mejia, ISHRS vice president, told CBS MoneyWatch. “It’s the same principle—the physician should not delegate surgical responsibilities to unlicensed medical assistants.”

He knows a growing number of doctors who have taught technicians the Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) hair transplant technique. “They think if they have the technicians to do it, that’s going to bring extra income to the doctor. This has exploded into what we call a black market of non-doctors doing the surgery,” Mejia said.

Dr. Ozlem Bicer, an ISHRS member who operates a hair transplant clinic in Istanbul, advises patients to avoid unlicensed clinics not only because they can have bad results, but because it is dangerous to administer anesthesia to patients without a doctor’s supervision.

“If doctors pre-fabricate the surgery, the price has no chance of being low. Patients need to know that low cost means black market,” he said.

Bicer said she regularly treats patients who underwent surgery in black market clinics and whose donor areas, such as the back of their head, were completely depleted or whose hairlines were not properly aligned. Fixes can end up costing double or triple the original process, he said.

Bicer said the first questions medical tourists should ask about a hair transplant doctor or clinic are: “Who is doing the surgery? Are they licensed?” No, “How much does the procedure cost?”