The Allures and the Alarms of the Hair Transplant Tourism Industry.

Background: Hair transplant tourism has surged globally, with Turkey, especially Istanbul, becoming the epicenter, generating about US$1 billion annually. This growth is fueled by substantially lower costs and appealing all-inclusive packages, leading patients to prioritize perceived value despite associated risks abroad.

Objectives: This review critically examines the multifaceted international hair transplant industry, using Turkey as a case study. We aim to analyze economic drivers and the perception that high surgical volume equates to expertise, against significant patient safety concerns.

Methods: A comprehensive review of existing literature and reports was conducted. We documented trends including aggressive digital marketing, the expanded role of unsupervised technicians, bait and switch practices, and alarming complication rates reported by regulatory bodies, which burden patients' home healthcare systems.

Results: While the hair transplant tourism industry can offer effective solutions and high graft survival in some centers, it primarily operates within a permissive regulatory environment, lacking standardization, oversight, and consistent reporting, creating a "data black hole." This, combined with the psychological distress of hair loss and the false perception of transplantation as minor, creates profound patient vulnerability, intensified by marketing campaigns that downplay risks.

Conclusions: While the industry offers affordable pathways, regulatory gaps and quality variability introduce substantial risks. Prospective patients should recognize that significant price variations may correlate with differences in resources, surgeon experience, technology, and safety protocols. Urgent development of international standards, robust verification, transparent reporting, and comprehensive patient education are imperative for patient safety and the ethical growth of this rapidly expanding medical tourism sector.

Level of evidence v: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .