Hair transplant in Turkey: Why Australian men are travelling to Istanbul

Australians are paying just one sixth of the price they would have back home to get surgery at this historical city.

First it was boob jobs and butt lifts.

Now Australians are heading to Turkey for cheap hair transplants, as the country’s reputation as a cosmetic tourism hub grows.

Doctors in Istanbul are reporting a 70 per cent rise in demand from Aussie men for the corrective procedure, which costs just one sixth of the price back home.

Founder of Istanbul’s Estenove clinic Batuhan Kizilcan said the number of Australians — either self-conscious about the size of their forehead or suffering from balding or alopecia — treated in 2023 increased 73 per cent in 2023, compared to the previous year.

Australians comprised 7.69 per cent of the clinic’s total patient count in 2022, behind the US and UK.

Brisbane teacher and actor Tim Cooper flew 20 hours to Turkey for 5000 hair grafts, paying $5000 instead of the $30,000 he was quoted in Australia.

Tim Cooper before surgery. Picture: Supplied

Six months after surgery. Picture: Supplied

“I started losing my hair when I was 23, I tried Regain and various vitamins and kept my hair for a while but then shaved my head but no longer recognised myself in the mirror,” Mr Cooper, 37, a father of three, said.

“A friend from America told me Turkey was cheaper and a world leader in hair transplant, we researched, had a spreadsheet and went over to (the clinic) Estenove in July.

“It’s life-changing, I look more like myself again and have found my confidence.”

Sydney and Melbourne labourer Simon Everett also took the plunge.

“I knew it would hurt but I needed to do it and it wasn’t as bad as I feared,” the 30-year-old said.

“In year 11 I had the best hair at school. I was always a ladies’ man and when I lost my hair, I lost my confidence. I’ve got a stride back in my step and a swagger again.”

Of those having hair transplants globally, 87 per cent are men and 13 per cent women, according to the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery in the US.

Mr Kizilcan said he treats around 4000 patients a year, of which more than 200 are Australian.

Founder and CEO of Estenove Clinic, Batuhan Kizilcan. Picture: Supplied

“People want to look good, there’s no shame in having a hair transplant anymore,” he said.

“We get men aged 18 to 64 from Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Gold Coast and women mostly in their 40s who have lost hair due to hormonal changes.”

He said as a member of the trade organisation the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey, he and other clinic owners lobbied for direct flights from Australia.

“Turkish Airlines now flies direct to Australia and we and the patients are calling it Turkish Hairlines, because Aussies are coming to Turkey for new hairlines,” he said.

Chair of the Communications Committee for the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Fabian Cortiñas says Turkey aimed to lure 1.5 million health tourists in 2023.

He warned older patients and those with heart conditions and high blood pressure not to travel abroad for surgery to avert complications.

“The procedure is cheap in Turkey which offers world class technology – but people with diabetes, heavy smokers, or with hypertension should not go abroad for this in case they need hospital intervention,” he said.