Questions from patients travelling to Istanbul

Hairline design and channel opening are carried out under physician supervision. Graft harvesting and placement are performed by the clinical team working to that plan — this is standard practice and it is how a session of six to eight hours is possible at all.

What matters is which parts the physician does personally. Ask any clinic that question directly, and be wary of an answer that avoids it.

The clinic operates in Levent, Istanbul with an accredited operating room, and blood tests are required before every procedure. Licence and health tourism authorisation details can be requested and are provided in writing.

Turkish, English, German and Arabic. Your coordinator does not change during the process, so travel planning and clinical information come from the same person rather than being handed between departments.

A remote assessment can only be as good as the photographs it is based on — front, top, both sides and the back, in good light. Anyone who quotes a graft number and a price from a single selfie is guessing.

You should receive a range, not a single number, and a written note of what that range depends on. If your case is not suitable, you should be told so rather than sold a compromise.

A price quoted before any assessment. A guaranteed result. A graft count that is never documented during the procedure. No named physician. No follow-up programme. Pressure to book within a deadline.

There is no fixed upper limit — donor density matters more than age. The lower limit is practical rather than legal: in a young patient whose loss is still progressing quickly, transplanting into an area that will keep receding produces a result that looks wrong within a few years. Medical management usually comes first in those cases.

Because the total is decided by the graft count, the technique, the condition of the donor area and how long the session runs — and none of those are known before assessment. A figure quoted in advance is either a sales tactic or a number that will change later.

Your own figure is confirmed in writing before you travel, not after you arrive.

Not unless something outside the agreed scope becomes necessary, and in that case you are consulted before anything continues. The written quote lists what is included line by line, so anything outside it is visible in advance.

Staff costs, facility costs and the exchange rate — not the quality of the grafts. That is the honest answer. The same factors, however, also allow poor operators to undercut good ones, which is why the questions above about physician involvement and documented graft counts matter more here than the headline figure.

At least three full days: consultation and blood tests, the procedure, and the first wash at the clinic. Return flights are booked after the first wash, not before.

Yes, with your appointment dates, on request. The outcome of a visa application is decided by the consulate and cannot be guaranteed by the clinic, so do not book non-refundable flights before your visa is issued.

Airport transfers, two nights of accommodation near the clinic and coordination throughout are arranged by the clinic. Flights and visas are yours to arrange. A companion can be accommodated too — tell us when planning dates.

Usually two to three days after the procedure, once the first wash has been done at the clinic. Keep luggage away from your head and wear a loose hood rather than a cap.

Reviews are scheduled at months 1, 3, 6 and 12, done by photograph and video call through the same coordinator. The month-three call matters most: that is when shock loss makes people think the procedure failed, and it is easier to explain that in a conversation than in a message.

Growth begins around month three and becomes visible from month six. Density keeps building until months twelve to eighteen — thick or wavy hair takes longest. Judging the result before month six is judging an unfinished process.

Contact your coordinator directly, with photographs. Most early-stage concerns — crusting, swelling, an area that looks patchy at month three — are expected stages rather than complications, and can be resolved in a call.

If something genuinely needs examination, you will be told to see a doctor locally rather than asked to wait for a flight.

The result is assessed at month twelve against the written plan agreed before the procedure. If density in an area falls short and donor capacity allows, a support plan is discussed. This is why the graft range and scope are put in writing beforehand — it gives both sides something concrete to measure against.

No, and you should treat any clinic that does with caution. Hair transplantation is a medical procedure and individual healing varies. What can be committed to is the plan, the scope, the documented graft count and the follow-up programme — and those are put in writing.