Tag Archives: autoimmune hair loss

2023: Is Turkey a Good Place to Get Your Hair Transplant?

The year 2022 has shown us remarkable improvements in patient knowledge. Patients are more and more diligent about checking doctor credentials, procedural details and a clinic’s medical reputation.

With more information online than ever, patients continue to float the question by us: is Turkey a risky place to get my hair back? Has there been improvements and better doctors in the middle east?

Yes there has, but finding and vetting those doctors continues to be a major obstacle.

The main problem persists: a lack of regulation

“People see hair transplantation as a commodity, that you can shop around at the cheapest price. That hair transplantation can be ‘bought’ cheaper in the health tourism destinations, and marketed it to an unsuspecting public.” – Dr. Greg Williams, President, British Association of Hair Restoration Surgery

In the last few years Turkey has become one of the most popular destinations in the world for hair surgery with the main driving force being the lower cost of hair transplantation.  

Medical tourism has always been a popular solution with people traveling to a number of different countries to source medical treatment, however, in recent years the boost in Turkey has been extremely high. It’s really easy for people to get tunnel vision when they look at hair transplantation and focus only on price, but it’s important to think about the issues and what can go wrong if you opt to travel to Turkey.

Although not as invasive as some, hair transplantation is still a form of surgery and ensuring you go to a reputable and regulated clinic is extremely important as it could have a detrimental effect if something isn’t right.  

During a hair transplant, you’ll be given a local anesthetic and be awake during the procedure. At a reputable clinic, an experienced doctor will perform the surgery by transplanting hair follicles from one area of the scalp to another with great care and precision.

Many Anglo-American hair transplant clinics are verified and regulated by professional organizations and associations which keep standards extremely high.

In many other countries, including Turkey, there aren’t official professional organizations which monitor and regulate the industry, making it extremely difficult to tell which clinic does good work.

There have been cases in Turkish clinics where hair transplants are performed by nurses or technicians rather than experienced doctors. With the biggest problem being that these clinics ignore regulations in order to accommodate more patients, many patients have had a consultation with a doctor and are sold the idea that the same doctor would be the one performing the surgery only to find a technician or nurse operating on them.

Medical tourism is slowly becoming a better option, but it has a far way to go. Not every clinic in Turkey or another country will take a responsible approach to hair transplantation. Now more than ever, with the growing popularity of hair transplantation, t’s important to consider what could happen if you end up at a bad clinic.

What You Should Know About Alopecia Areata

For many people whom lose their hair clump by clump, it may seem more like a nightmare than reality. This condition can have a very deep psychological effect on men and women’s lives. It starts with no warning and can be devastating to anyone who must go through this. Some people will get this periodically throughout their life, and some will lose all their hair completely or see patches that appear suddenly and permanently.
Alopecia areata causes a unique form of hair loss different to the more common age-related male and female pattern hair loss and typically strikes before the age of 30. It’s also the most common autoimmune disease – when the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues, even more common than insulin-dependent diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and thyroiditis.
About 30 percent of individuals who develop alopecia areata find that their condition either becomes more extensive or becomes a continuous cycle of hair loss and regrowth. The most prominent symptom of alopecia areata is patchy hair loss. Coin-sized patches of hair begin to fall out, mainly from the scalp. Any site of hair growth may be affected including the beard and eyelashes.
The loss of hair can be sudden, developing in just a few days or over a period of a few weeks. There may be itching or burning in the area before hair loss starts to occur. The good news is, the hair follicles are not destroyed and in turn, hair can re-grow if the inflammation of the follicles subsides.
The onset or recurrence of hair loss in Alopecia Areata (AA) sufferers is sometimes triggered by:

  • Trauma
  • Viral infection
  • Hormonal changes
  • Emotional/physical stressors

Thankfully, there are treatments that can help regrow hair faster and/or stop hair from falling out. Corticosteroid medicine can be injected into the areas where hair is falling out or missing completely. The injections are done every 4 to 12 weeks. Corticosteroid topical medicine can also be used as an ointment or cream put on the skin. These are often used along with the injections. Immunotherapy medicine is a form of treatment that causes an allergic reaction on the skin – which is what you want. Applying it once a week as a lotion onto the skin of the scalp. Topical Minoxidil is an over-the-counter medicine that helps stimulate new hair growth and slows down balding.
At Modena Hair Restoration we have also had great success with the use of PRP or Platelet Rich Plasma treatments for alopecia areata hair loss sufferers. PRP is an injection of a patients own blood plasma containing a powerful concentration of platelets that deliver an abundance of growth factors to boost healing and hair growth.
SMP or Scalp Micropigmentation may also be recommended at Modena Hair Restoration. Scalp Micropigmentation can be performed on the confined area(s) of balding or the entire scalp, including the areas where you still have hair. This is to ensure that your results not only look natural, but also last a lifetime in case your condition continues to progress in the future. Doing the procedure on the entire scalp can ensure any recurring outbreaks or changes in the patches will all be concealed permanently. This is the most effective and most natural looking solution to alopecia. A fundamental part of Dr. Yazdan’s profession is to improve the quality of life for all his patients. The results of an SMP are life changing for our patients.
The decision on the type of treatment depends on the type of hair loss, extent of changes, general health status, the patient’s age, and his/her motivation. Treatment methods should be chosen individually for each patient after an examination with a hair restoration specialist. At Modena Hair Institute, we provide both surgical and non-surgical solutions for hair loss!

 

For questions or to schedule a consultation, call one of our offices conveniently located in Irvine, Newport Beach, Beverly Hills and Las Vegas at 888-717-5273 or contact via our website at contact Modena Hair Link