alt.hn

6/1/2026 at 7:02:23 AM

Turkey Hacked the Hair Transplant Industry

 https://www.wired.com/story/how-turkey-hacked-the-hair-transplant-industry/

by joozio

6/3/2026 at 2:04:36 PM

I did it a few years ago when I was living in Istanbul. One evening, a friend of mine wouldn't shut up about the procedure. I ended up booking it almost on a whim, mostly just to prove him wrong. I did the transplant the next day. In the end, I was very happy with the results. I think it cost around 1500$.

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/olalonde/olalonde.github.c...

by olalonde

6/3/2026 at 4:10:54 PM

Do you have to take any medications/follow-ups forever to keep it in place or is a one and done kind of procedure?

by harshalizee

6/3/2026 at 2:41:06 PM

I had three done in the states and I'm happy with them, but it's tough to argue it was necessarily worth the increased price.

by moduspol

6/3/2026 at 3:12:48 PM

What was the cost? I've heard it's cheaper to fly to Turkey.

by ortusdux

6/3/2026 at 5:35:54 PM

It's a lot cheaper in Turkey. I don't remember the exact numbers but each of mine (in the US) was in the high four figure range.

I originally felt more confident going to a plastic surgeon, though even though the doctor oversaw the process, it was being done by highly trained technicians. That's probably more ideal anyway because it's very manual and meticulous work, so (IMO) you want someone who's done it a thousand times--not someone who did a nose job yesterday, a boob job the day before, and only does a hair transplant every couple of weeks.

I'd assume the techs in Turkey are about as experienced as you can get.

by moduspol

6/3/2026 at 2:08:30 PM

How did it hold up over the past few years?

by koolba

6/3/2026 at 2:18:11 PM

Holding up pretty well. Here's a picture from yesterday: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/olalonde/olalonde.github.c.... The transplant was in 2021.

by olalonde

6/3/2026 at 4:36:56 PM

that is actually one of the better and more natural-looking hairlines I've seen. They did a good job!

by kuhzaam

6/3/2026 at 2:30:25 PM

you or the dog? In both cases: respect!

by frnz

6/3/2026 at 2:51:31 PM

Should've clarified: the dog is 100% natural and procedure-free. Life is unfair :)

by olalonde

6/3/2026 at 3:03:56 PM

Obviously subjective, but I've got to say that looks pretty great to me. Do you mind if I ask where the transplanted hairs came from?

by drcongo

6/3/2026 at 2:10:15 PM

This is just like, my opinion man. You looked better bald.

by Teknomadix

6/3/2026 at 2:11:50 PM

this is one of those "if you have nothing nice to say" moments. there's really no reason for your comment.

by john_strinlai

6/3/2026 at 2:18:07 PM

Dude, you're crazy! You look great now, prob one of the best procedures of it I've seen.

Also I notice my wife and female friends NEVER seem to notice when someone has plugs.

When I occasionally point it out, they're always surprised.

I haven't done it as I don't need it, but I would say anyone on the fence, just do it.

From what I know it's easier to keep what you have that get a transplant so fire up that HIMs subscription

by syspec

6/3/2026 at 2:21:51 PM

Thanks! It's really hard to tell. Most people are surprised when I tell them (unless they knew me before the procedure).

by olalonde

6/3/2026 at 2:56:36 PM

The thing is, you can always shave your head, no matter how magnificent your hair is.

by amanaplanacanal

6/3/2026 at 2:19:04 PM

Thanks, I guess I could still shave :) But it's definitely not a common opinion.

by olalonde

6/3/2026 at 2:37:41 PM

Would it leave a cool pattern?

by itishappy

6/3/2026 at 2:37:22 PM

As a guy that started experiencing moderate hair loss in his 20s, I spent countless hours researching the Turkish hair transplant industry.

It's a case of having the right people at the right place, at the right time. Turkey have some of the leading doctors and clinics in this field, and have had for years. They were also located in a place which was close to both customers from Europe and the Middle-East, and could offer FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction) procedures at a very nice price.

Even the very top doctors there were charging a relatively modest price, compared to their (more) western colleagues. And I guess with the sheer volume they'd go through, they discovering new best practices, techniques, etc. along the way.

Back when I did research on this, now 15 years ago, the industry was starting to really take off. This was reflected in the prices that the best clinics charged. Some of them jumped up 50% in a short time, when photo-driven social media like Instagram started blowing up.

And then a whole industry sprung out of it. Many excellent clinics, tons more mediocre (to horrendous) ones that are only trying to compete on price.

Guess this also goes for the dental industry there.

by TrackerFF

6/3/2026 at 4:14:45 PM

Did your research turn up anything about the hacked medical devices that the article is talking about? Is that not relevant to the industry at large too? Seems like that kind of could have been a "make it or not moment", or no?

by embedding-shape

6/3/2026 at 1:10:17 PM

My grandmother used to say, "the Americans are going to space while we're just growing butt-hair". She was so close!

by patates

6/3/2026 at 1:49:06 PM 

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by rvnx

6/3/2026 at 2:20:47 PM

The only caveat is that Turkey isn't even an EU candidate anymore. So not sure why you bring Europe up.

by f6v

6/3/2026 at 1:18:16 PM

So I spent time living in Istanbul a few years ago. It really was wild. In the touristy areas (near where I lived), you really would see loads and loads of bald guys walking around with stitches on their heads.

If I were bald, I would totally go there and do the same.

by kilroy123

6/3/2026 at 1:41:57 PM

It's interesting to read about.

I visited one of those Bosley places in the US. The pitch came across as very...predatory? It did not inspire confidence. They would only consider scheduling you for the surgery if you could demonstrate that you'd use other measures for a year, meaning finasteride, one of those laser hat things, etc. They did talk about how few surgeons there were that do this stuff well though. Also talked about scalp injections I think?

It's been several years. I just decided to let it go naturally and deal with it.

by brightball

6/3/2026 at 1:47:47 PM

> The pitch came across as very...predatory? It did not inspire confidence. They would only consider scheduling you for the surgery if you could demonstrate that you'd use other measures for a year, meaning finasteride, one of those laser hat things, etc.

I don't want to defend the esthetic surgery industry in general, which I do think tends to be quite predatory, but doesn't this sound like the opposite of that? If they really wanted to fleece you, wouldn't they offer surgery instead of the safer and cheaper treatments?

by simiones

6/3/2026 at 1:56:19 PM

> If they really wanted to fleece you

Tip: Bald people the worst to fleece.

by JackFr

6/3/2026 at 5:21:22 PM

Felt more like an upsell. Maybe predatory was the wrong word.

by brightball

6/3/2026 at 2:34:04 PM

Haha, true. Another advantage of doing it in Istanbul is that you don't look like a weirdo walking around with your headband and scarred scalp.

by olalonde

6/3/2026 at 2:20:09 PM

Am I the only one that likes being bald? Hair maintenance has always been a huge drag for me (yea executive dysfunction!) and when I had it I hated it getting in my eyes. I was balding anyway. Started shaving my whole head at the start of COVID and haven't stopped. I love it.

by TylerE

6/3/2026 at 2:42:07 PM

Club Happily Bald here. My wife prefers me without hair, and razor blades are significantly cheaper than haircuts. I can't imagine trying to preserve my hair.

by S_Bear

6/3/2026 at 4:18:02 PM

I'm just using a trimmer, without any of the "sheets" or whatever in front. Used to do a 10mm trim, now I just do 0mm trim I suppose. Bought a machine maybe 10 years ago, still using the same machine, just needs lube sometimes, and a deep cleaning, otherwise it only costs the electricity! Works for hair anywhere on your body too, so you can get a 7-in-1 machine if you're lucky too! :)

by embedding-shape

6/3/2026 at 2:22:00 PM

I like a 10mm buzz cut, but it's nice to not have bold spots.

by f6v

6/3/2026 at 4:31:41 PM

I think Turkish factory style dentists accumulate something like 100 times more experience?

by econ

6/3/2026 at 2:14:39 PM

The title just goes to show that

1. the turkish government had reasons for trying to get people to use "Türkiye" instead.

2. It's still not working.

I 100% thought this was about birds until clicking

by laszlojamf

6/3/2026 at 4:18:44 PM

> I 100% thought this was about birds until clicking

Same, I was really curious reading about the hair transplant industry organized by turkeys and got really disappointed :(

by embedding-shape

6/3/2026 at 1:07:26 PM

Words are truly losing their meaning if its a hack to develop a business.

by tokai

6/3/2026 at 1:11:24 PM

I can't read the article myself, but the blurbs I can read:

> Turkey’s billion-dollar hair-transplant industry is the result of a constant process of innovation. [...] it’s also a tale of “hacked” medical equipment and algorithmic craftsmanship

Seems there was some actual "hacking" involved, if they had to patch medical equipment, but who knows how much of the article is actually about that, I can't actually see any text.

by embedding-shape

6/3/2026 at 2:02:33 PM

> I can't actually see any text.

Turn off JS

by graemep

6/3/2026 at 1:11:19 PM

Yeah they totally isomorphed that industry!

by patates

6/3/2026 at 1:26:40 PM

Hack is being used to get more clicks.

by wil421

6/3/2026 at 3:15:25 PM

[dead]

by aaron695

6/3/2026 at 1:43:07 PM

If you're not white enough, it's a hack. You can get around this problem by attracting some VC funding and building your HQ in Silicon Valley. /s

by m000

6/3/2026 at 1:12:36 PM

It’s hacking when it’s someone you don’t like.

by asibahi

6/3/2026 at 1:40:20 PM

In this context it's being used in much the same way as in "growth hacking", which is an actual position people hire for.

by antonvs

6/3/2026 at 1:05:13 PM

Has there been any progress on cloning hair follicles? I don’t want to move the hair around. I simply want more hair.

by cactusplant7374

6/3/2026 at 1:19:31 PM

I saw a headline about this the other day. I couldn't find it but did come across this article. https://www.zmescience.com/medicine/genetic/lab-grown-hair-f...

No idea if ZME science is reputable at all.

by giarc

6/3/2026 at 2:22:39 PM

Totally unreputable. That is not a scientific journal. That is some guy (Who's degree is in geophysics) biog. The article was written by him.

by TylerE

6/3/2026 at 1:13:18 PM

Could I donate mine to you? Been shaving my head for the last 20 years and I cannot wait for it to stop growing eventually... Seemingly it grows faster every year, as I need to continuously increase how often I trim it, I simply want less hair.

Edit: I love that someone downvoted me for offering my hair follicles to a random stranger, downvotes truly happen randomly here :)

by embedding-shape

6/3/2026 at 1:42:19 PM

You can't donate hair follicles .. it has to come from your own body

by ratg13

6/3/2026 at 5:00:32 PM

But all these people in Turkey walking around with their brand new hair follicles, aren't those from other people? Or from the same person, just elsewhere?

by embedding-shape

6/3/2026 at 2:00:48 PM

Buddy, I hope you have a glove on because you're about to catch these fists!

by PyWoody

6/3/2026 at 1:08:57 PM

Yes, yes it's coming. In 10 years.

by Traubenfuchs

6/3/2026 at 1:16:08 PM

Just in time for fusion energy?

by Maken

6/3/2026 at 1:19:41 PM

Yes, imagine endless energy and endless hair. It's like nuclear and hippy again, but stronger and ai-government-mandated

by postsantum

6/3/2026 at 1:23:04 PM

No no fusion energy company is going public shortly so the technology must be closer than that :)

by boringg

6/3/2026 at 2:24:27 PM

There wasn't an effective weightloss drug until suddenly there was though.

by XorNot

6/3/2026 at 2:23:14 PM

Wayne Rooney lost his strength, motivation and creativity directly after his hair transplant. Some speculate the pills you need to take forever afterwards mess up your hormones. It's not worth it just to look good for women and "impressing" other people. His body turned into a fat womens body.

by n64controller

6/3/2026 at 2:28:37 PM

There are no pills to take afterwards, except perhaps painkillers. Some people who are balding chose to take finasteride but it's unrelated to the procedure itself.

by olalonde