Hair apparent: inside the transplant capital of the world – photo essay

“I used to look at my father and understand that I was destined to go bald,” says James McElroy. He smiles when he thinks back to his trip to Istanbul a year ago. “I had a few doubts at the beginning, but today I’m happy and satisfied. Yes, I had a hair transplant, I don’t hide it and I’m not ashamed of it. It was a somewhat intense experience, but I’d do it again – especially now that I’m single. I’m happy to talk about it and I’m happy to receive compliments. That wasn’t the goal, but I appreciate them.”

• A patient is reading the terms and conditions of his contract before the transplant begins at Sule Hair Clinic.

• Tristan Tardieu, 28, from Montreal, Canada, a bank employee, is treated by a nurse after his transplant at Sule Hair Clinic.

James McElroy flew to Istanbul for a simple reason: the Turkish metropolis is the world capital of hair transplants. It’s estimated that every year more than a million bald or receding people arrive on the shores of the Bosphorus, convinced mainly by two factors – medical quality and competitive costs.

• Dr Ismail Aldemir, centre, the director of the clinic, talks to Fabio, right, a 66-year-old Italian, via interpreter Cenk Subasi at Turkey Hair clinic. “A transplant costs an average of €1,500 here,” says Aldemir, who advises patients to significantly reduce their alcohol and cigarette consumption after the transplant.

• Javier Perez relaxes in the apartment he has rented in the Şişli district, not far from the Hairmedico clinic where he underwent a hair transplant the day before. Javier is 26 years old, of Dominican origin, but lives and works in Germany.

In Europe and the US you might spend between €6,000 and €15,000, but in Istanbul you can often get it done for under €3,000.

• Italian patient Luca Bassetti, 57, sits on a pre-operative planning machine that creates a 3D model of his head, takes 49 photographs from different angles, and analyses the thickness, density and number of his hairs.

• Dr Serkan Aygin poses in the office of his eponymous clinic. A dermatologist by training, Aygin decided to devote himself to hair transplantation 25 years ago.

• Left: Johnny Peck, 48, from Singapore, poses in the clinic corridor after his transplant. Johnny wears a bandage to reduce post-operative swelling, preventing anaesthetic fluids from draining downwards. Right: A patient is exposed to red LED light after a transplant, which stimulates the hair follicle and increases the growth rate.

• At the clinic bar, a patient discusses post-transplant treatments with a consultant.

• After their transplants, two patients talk with a consultant about post-transplant treatments under a painting by American artist Kehinde Wiley (Serkan Aygin is a major art collector and has displayed his works throughout his clinic).

There are countless clinics, and James McElroy chose one of the best known, Serkan Aygin. “Our patients,” says Dr Serkan Aygin, “come from Europe, the United States and Arab countries, but now we’re also targeting Russia and China.” Serkan is a dermatologist who doesn’t look his nearly 60 years; he is impeccably groomed and has a full head of hair (“I myself admit I had a transplant”). His clinic is a labyrinthine, warm and welcoming, and packed with expensive contemporary artworks on the walls.

Owner of First Class Esthetic clinic Erkan Ünsalan shows off his hair, the result of a transplant performed a few years ago.

• A Japanese patient undergoes hair transplantation using the direct hair implant technique, whereby the extracted follicles are inserted using a special pen. The peak season for hair transplantation is between December and January, a time with many vacation days and no intense sunlight.

• Left: A Japanese patient undergoes hair transplantation at Estepera clinic. Right: A group of Spanish patients who underwent hair transplants the day before return to the clinic for post-transplant checkups.

• The Estepera clinic has a representative in Spain, and up to 1,000 people from Spain come for a transplant every year.

The transplant boom is recent, dating back about a decade, and is linked to innovations that have consigned old strip grafts to history. Those procedures, which caused pain and long scars, have been replaced by fast, minimally invasive implantation techniques. In simple terms, thousands of follicles are implanted using a special pen fitted with a hollow needle.

• An advertisement featuring actor Jason Statham on the streets of the city. Hair loss, although often experienced as a traumatic event linked to self-esteem, is not a drama for many.

With an operation lasting no more than half a day, people can get back the hair they lost. So, in recent years, Istanbul, an easily reachable hub from every corner of the planet, has filled with hundreds of clinics advertising their “all-inclusive” packages on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. “For example, I found my clinic on Instagram,” says Mathew Powell. “I’ve already had two transplants: I’m very satisfied.” Mathew is 44, lives in Wales and co-owns a construction company: “Until about 35 I had plenty of hair, but then I started losing it quickly and I got deeply discouraged. I absolutely had to do something.”

• A patient who has undergone a hair transplant watches a currency exchange in the city’s Grand Bazaar.

• A man who has just undergone a hair transplant is visiting the Sultan Ahmet Camii, better known as the Blue Mosque.

The average stay for those undergoing a transplant in Istanbul is between two and four days, even though the transplant itself lasts no more than six to eight hours on average.

The clinics range from the most renowned centres to what Dr Ahmed Yüksel of Micro Fue Turkey calls “illegal basement operations”. Ahmed is bald and decided not to get a transplant: “I could do it for free and yet I like myself as I am. But what satisfies me about my work is knowing that I’m making a lot of people younger, happier and more confident.”

• Eric Stephen Mazzola, 30, a tax accountant from Boston, on the minibus early in the morning, taking him from his hotel to the Smile Hair Clinic. Here, after a checkup and a series of blood tests, he will undergo a hair transplant later that morning.

• Eric Mazzola undergoing a series of blood tests before his hair transplant.

Eric Stephen Mazzola, 30, a tax accountant who, after landing from Boston, was taken in a luxury van straight to Smile Hair Clinic.

• Elisa Perin is examined by a consultant after Dr Aygin has indicated the areas for transplantation.

Elisa Perin, a former singer who lives in Sardinia, says: “I started losing my hair after an intense weight loss treatment, but I would like to go back to how I was before. I used to have a head full of curls – I want them back.”

• Michail, from Belarus, undergoes his second transplant. “After the transplant, you can’t touch your head for 15 days and you can only wash it with a special anti-dandruff shampoo,” says Dr Ismail Aldemir.

Michail listened to Dr Ismail Aldemir’s advice. “In the first months after the transplant, you will absolutely have to stop smoking, drinking alcohol and going to the gym, but you will have to drink lots of water”.

• A patient who has undergone a hair transplant returns home and checks the return flight schedule.

Allan Nuttall, 31, who lives in Leyland, England, had his transplant at Smile Hair Clinic. “My hairline was getting worse and with it my confidence,” he says. “Until I met a colleague at work who recommended a clinic in Istanbul.” Allan is a telecommunications engineer, not married and with no children: “It’s been about 12 months since the transplant,” he says. “I’m very happy, even though full growth takes about 18 months. But everything looks so natural … The barber admitted that if I hadn’t told him, he wouldn’t have noticed my new transplanted hair!”

• A man who has undergone a hair transplant buys corn on the cob in the evening in Sultan Ahmet Park, one of the most popular tourist attractions.

• A glimpse of the historical city centre with the Hagia Sophia mosque on the left and a tram passing by the Byzantine ruins.