If you’re considering hair restoration surgery, you’ve doubtlessly read about the advantages of traveling to Turkey for the procedure. Surgery at a bargain price combined with an exotic vacation are strong lures for many men eager to restore their youthful hairline. However, much of what you read about Turkish hair transplant clinics are a combination of deliberate disinformation produced by the clinics themselves, social media hype and publicity provided by mainstream publications more eager for readers’ eyeballs than presenting the facts.

Yes, facts can be boring. But there are far worse things than being bored – for example, being permanently disfigured by a botched hair transplant procedure performed by non-medical clinic employees who go to their other jobs, like waiting tables or driving taxis, after their shift at the clinic. Unfortunately, since the publication of our blog post – “Consumer Beware – The Risks of Medical Tourism for Hair Transplants” – this dangerous trend is still on the rise.

In 2019, the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) – the world’s leading medical authority on hair loss treatment and restoration – launched a worldwide campaign designed to raise awareness of the risks of medical tourism for hair transplants. Its Fight the FIGHT (Fraudulent, Illicit and Global Hair Transplants) campaign targets the hair transplant black market, which is built upon fraudulent hair restoration clinics and misleading advertising claims.

Dr. Marco Barusco – Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Tempus Hair Restoration – is a Fellow of the ISHRS. This is a distinction that is only given to those who achieve certain landmarks on teaching and leadership. Currently, fewer than 10% of the ISHRS members are Fellows. As such, Dr. Barusco and the Tempus Hair Restoration team are proud to help the ISHRS in this important mission.

We want to make it clear that many members and Fellows of the ISHRS are Turkish citizens, and uphold the organization’s code of ethics. They are as concerned as all other members regarding the alarming proliferation of black market clinics, and are doing their part to educate consumers about how to identify and avoid them.

Yet despite the ongoing work of the ISHRS on a global level, black market clinics continue to thrive. There are two big reasons for this: social media and mainstream media – especially men’s lifestyle and fashion magazines.

One such magazine featured an article by a reporter who traveled to Istanbul for hair transplant surgery, and referenced (as well as quoted) the ISHRS website’s FightTheFIGHT page about the risks of black market clinics. The reporter also interviewed Dr. Ricardo Mejia, who sits on the ISHRS Board of Governors. Dr. Mejia advised him to conduct thorough research to ensure that any doctor he was considering is registered with the ISHRS. Despite Dr. Mejia’s caution and the warnings on Fight the FIGHT, the reporter was still more influenced by posts on Reddit and before-and-after photos showing apparently impressive results.

In a follow-up article written 10 months post-surgery, the reporter related a satisfactory outcome. Still, such articles do a disservice to readers, as they give the impression that the risks are exaggerated, and your experience may also be positive. The reporter provided no information as to how he determined the clinic he chose was legitimate. Instead, he seemed to take a leap of faith that his surgery wouldn’t be botched. He was lucky. You may not be.

Risks of Having Hair Transplant Surgery at a Turkish Black Market Clinic

At a legitimate hair restoration practice, you’ll have a consultation with the surgeon, who will diagnose the cause of your hair loss and recommend the best transplant procedure for your individual situation. A black market clinic only wants your money. The person you meet may wear a white lab jacket or surgical scrubs, but may or may not be a surgeon – or any licensed medical professional at all. You aren’t likely to receive an accurate diagnosis or solid treatment plan.

And you definitely won’t be told if you’re not a good candidate for the surgery. Reasons a legitimate hair transplant surgeon will turn away a patient include serious health conditions (such as uncontrolled type 2 diabetes), and not enough availability of donor hair. As long as you can pay, a black market clinic will take your money – and, of course, not produce the result you had expected while quite possibly endangering your life.

But that’s just the starting point. Other risks include the following:

An unnatural-looking hairline – Achieving a male hairline that looks natural is harder to do than you might think. An experienced hair transplant surgeon with knowledge of how the male hairline changes over time can implant hair grafts to get the right amount of coverage while looking age-appropriate. A hairline that’s too aggressively forward, goes straight across the forehead with no variations, etc., will look “off” at best, bizarre, at worst. Our blog post – “Principles of Male Hairline Design” – covers this topic in detail.

Hair growing in the wrong directions – A knowledge of the directions of hair growth is essential in placing grafts. Personnel at black market clinics lack this knowledge, which means hair grafts are implanted incorrectly – resulting in a strange, unnatural growth pattern.

Improper graft preparation – When hair grafts are harvested from the donor site, time is of the essence in preparing them for implantation. Improperly treated grafts quickly die, and will not grow in the recipient area – resulting in a failed transplant. Poor quality control conditions include dehydration, warming and oxygen deprivation. A photo taken at one Turkish clinic shows hair grafts on strips of cotton gauze laid out in bloody rows in what appear to be baking pans, evidently drying into non-viability as they wait to be transplanted.

Overharvesting of grafts from the donor area – The donor area is where grafts are harvested for implantation into bald areas of the scalp. Once a graft is taken from this area, no hair will grow there again. Black market clinics tend to offer a large number of grafts – usually between 2,000 – 4,000 graft extractions per session – but with no consideration for the patient’s degree of hair loss. A licensed, ethical hair transplant surgeon takes into consideration the amount of donor hair each patient has available, and plans the surgery according to anticipated – as well as current – hair loss. This helps ensure that enough donor hair will be available for future hair transplants. There are numerous accounts of black market clinics decimating donor areas, leaving disfiguring permanent scars – and no way to correct the often-botched transplant.

Infection from Unsanitary Operating Room Conditions – When you think of an operating room, you assume the surgical theater will be sterile. In black market clinics, it’s common for several patients to undergo transplant surgery simultaneously in one large room, much like a warehouse. Under such conditions, maintaining a safe, sanitary environment is impossible – putting patients at risk for hepatitis, HIV or other infections. This is because the emphasis for the clinic is volume – performing as many hair transplants as possible each day for maximum profit. Patient safety is not a priority.

Don’t be a Victim of a Turkish Black Market Clinic! Choose Your Surgeon Wisely!

We hope we have provided information that will prevent you from making a serious mistake that can negatively impact the quality of your life and general health. To further educate yourself, we recommend visiting the links we’ve provided in this blog post to the ISHRS website. This organization is an unbiased source of information, and holds its members to the highest ethical standards – as well as establishing and enforcing industry standards.

Ultimately, choose your surgeon based on experience, results and integrity. Dr. Barusco’s long list of accomplishments, his notable artistic ability and his successful surgical team make Tempus Hair Restoration a renowned practice.

We understand that the main concern you may have is cost, which is why we offer financing options that can place this important goal within reach. Putting yourself at risk of the consequences of a hair transplant procedure at an overseas black market clinic – or even an unscrupulous domestic clinic where unlicensed non-medical personnel harvest and implant hair grafts – isn’t worth the perceived savings.

Contact us to schedule your free virtual consultation. Dr. Barusco conducts every consultation himself, giving you the opportunity to learn your options in the comfort of your home – or any location, on any internet-enabled device. 

Dr. Barusco conducts consultations in English, Spanish and Portuguese. For your greater convenience, Tempus Hair Restoration offers a two-night complimentary hotel stay to out-of-town clients who travel 100 miles or more to our Port Orange, Florida, surgical center. No matter how far the distance, we welcome the opportunity to help you on your hair restoration journey!

Are you the victim of a hair transplant performed at a clinic you thought was a legitimate facility, but actually wasn’t – and are now living with the results of a seriously botched procedure? Or do you know of someone who is? You have the opportunity to be selected for pro bono (free) corrective surgery by Dr. Marco Barusco – Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Tempus Hair Restoration – on November 11, 2022.

On that date, Dr. Barusco will be among 65 hair transplant surgeons worldwide participating in World Hair Transplant Repair Day. This is the second year that the International Society of Hair Restoration (ISHRS) is holding this event as part of its Fight the FIGHT (Fraudulent, Illicit and Global Hair Transplants) global consumer awareness campaign.

With more than 1,000 members throughout 70 countries, the ISHRS is dedicated to achieving excellence in patient outcomes by promoting the highest standards of medical practice, medical ethics and research in the medical hair restoration industry. Dr. Barusco is a Fellow of the ISHRS. This is a distinction that is only given to those who achieve certain landmarks on teaching and leadership. Currently, fewer than 10% of the ISHRS members are Fellows.

Toward increasing consumer awareness of this problem and his involvement with World Hair Transplant Repair Day, Dr. Barusco has produced this video for his YouTube channel, Hair Loss Medical Advice. The video – “The Dark Side of the Hair Restoration Industry” – provides an overview of the prevalence of black market clinics, substandard operating room conditions, disastrous results and how to recognize and avoid such clinics.

Learn about this important campaign and how you can submit yourself as a candidate for a pro bono corrective procedure performed by Dr. Barusco on November 11. If you know someone who is the victim of an illicit black market hair transplant, share this information and encourage them to register. Dr. Barusco will select the recipient in October, so please act now to be sure that you – or a friend or family member – will be considered.

The Story Behind the Fight the FIGHT Campaign

ISHRS launched Fight the FIGHT in 2019 in response to the ever-increasing incidents of disfiguring hair transplants performed by unlicensed, non-medical technicians in illicit clinics. The use of unlicensed technicians to perform aspects of hair restoration surgery – which should only be performed by a properly trained and licensed physician – places patients at the following risks, all of which jeopardize patient safety and outcomes:

• Misdiagnosis of the cause of hair loss.
• Failure to diagnose hair disorders and related systemic diseases.
• Performance of unnecessary or ill-advised surgery.
• Unlicensed technicians may not be covered by malpractice insurance.

As the ISHRS states, “Vulnerable patients are lured by cheap prices and false advertising presented with misleading information alongside attractive medical tourism packages to visit clinics that use non-medical persons with very little training in aesthetic hair transplantation. This type of surgery is unsafe. It is a serious health risk often leading to tragic side effects such as permanent scarring, infection that leads to disfiguring results with very little to no recourse for correction.”

The lure of foreign clinics to consumers unfamiliar with ethical standards and practices in the field of hair transplantation is understandable. As our blog post – “Consumer Beware – The Risks of Medical Tourism for Hair Transplants” – covers, such clinics offer transplants at bargain rates, included as a package deal with airfare, luxury hotel accommodations and transportation. Combining an exotic vacation with a hair transplant procedure at a total cost lower than a comparable procedure alone by a reputable surgeon in the U.S. seems like an attractive deal. Slick clinic websites look professional and position the facility as trustworthy. But it’s all a sophisticated deception. False claims about their legitimacy, staff experience and positive patient outcomes do effective groundwork in misleading potential patients.

What do patients actually get for their hair transplant package? Poor growth, improper graft preparation (which means a higher number of grafts become non-viable), misangled graft placement, unnatural hairlines, a pluggy doll’s hair appearance and complete donor decimation are often reported. Severe scarring and disfigurement are also common. Add to that the risk for such infections as hepatitis or HIV. This is because the emphasis for the clinic is volume – performing as many hair transplants as possible each day for maximum profit.

Hair Transplant Surgery Performed by Non-medical Technicians – an Ongoing Problem

However, this disturbing trend is not limited to foreign clinics. Over the past several years, Dr. Barusco has dedicated himself to educating consumers about the risks of hair transplant surgeries performed by non-medical technicians using robotic devices to harvest and implant hair follicles. Our blog post – “Don’t Let a Technician Perform Your Transplant Surgery” – covers this important topic in detail. We also frequently reference Dr. Barusco’s article – “The Truth Behind Advertising Devices Instead of Surgeons” – which provides his insights on the marketing of such devices to cosmetic surgeons, plastic surgeons, family practitioners and others who have no training or experience in hair restoration surgery. In the article, Dr. Barusco relates his own experience in correcting the damage done to patients who had placed their trust (and money) in doctors who depend on these machines to perform the delicate procedures that only a highly skilled surgeon can.

The practice is becoming so prevalent that consumers have come to accept this as a typical, legitimate situation – which it is definitely not. These clinics gear their marketing and advertising to mislead the public into believing that technicians have a high degree of training and are just as capable as a surgeon to perform most – if not all – of the procedure. And that doing so allows them to offer hair restoration surgeries at a discount.

As the ISHRS states, “In fact, this is a common occurrence in many cosmetic surgery offices in the United States, where a surgeon will buy a heavily marketed device to assist with donor harvesting, then advertise their own credentials to attract patients, and in a ‘bait and switch’ type operation, bring in technicians to perform most if not the entire procedure.”

According to ISHRS policy, hair restoration surgery should only be performed by qualified physicians who possess education, training, and current competency in the field of hair restoration surgery or other licensed health care professionals who are properly trained, performing the procedure within their scope of practice, and supervised by a qualified and experienced physician.

“The cons of some of the heavily advertised, new technology available for hair transplantation (suction-assisted, easy-profit devices and robotic technology) are rarely discussed,” says Dr. Barusco. “Marketing campaigns make the unaware consumer think that unless a doctor has one of these devices, he or she is not up to par with the science. Even worse, they lead the consumer to think that if a practice or doctor owns one or more of them, he or she automatically knows what they are doing and will provide good results. Neither could be farther from the truth.”

The truth is, hair transplant surgery is surgery – and as such, requires a surgeon to perform. The position of the ISHRS is that “ . . . any procedure involving a skin incision for the purpose of tissue removal from the scalp or body, or to prepare the scalp or body to receive tissue, (e.g., incising the FUE graft, excising the donor strip, creating recipient sites) by any means, including robotics, is a surgical procedure. Such procedures must be performed by a properly trained and licensed physician. All FUE harvesting tools, including robotic devices, are considered extensions of the hand of the operator, and as such, all operators of these devices must be physicians. Physicians who perform hair restoration surgery must possess the education, training, and current competency in the field of hair restoration surgery.”

To help ensure you have the information to make informed decisions about who performs your hair restoration surgery, the ISHRS urges you to ask the following questions – as well as questions regarding costs, risks, and short and long-term benefits and planning:

• Who will evaluate my hair loss and recommend a course of treatment? What is their education, training, licensure, and experience in treating hair loss? (Otherwise, the person recommending procedures and/or treatments is practicing medicine without a license, a Felony crime in Florida and many other states.)
• Who will be involved in performing my surgery, what role will they play, and what is their education, training, licensure, and experience performing hair restoration surgery?
• Will anyone not licensed by the state be making incisions or harvesting grafts during my surgery? If so, please identify this person, explain their specific role and why they are legally permitted to perform it.
• Is everyone involved in my surgery covered by malpractice insurance?

Has Your Hair Transplant Been Botched by a Non-medical Technician?

As much as Dr. Barusco and the ISHRS strive to educate consumers about the risks of illicit clinics and non-medical technicians performing hair restoration procedures, far too many people aren’t reached. If your hair transplant was botched under the circumstances this blog post covers, you have the opportunity for Dr. Barusco to perform corrective surgery free of charge if you are selected as his patient for World Hair Transplant Repair Day. To submit yourself as a candidate for surgery on World Hair Transplant Repair Day, please click here to access the contact form.

Note: According to the ISHRS rules for this event, contact with the physician does not guarantee participation and pro bono procedures are limited. Local laws and regulations may apply.

For those who are not selected, we invite you to schedule your free virtual consultation with Dr. Barusco to learn your options for a corrective procedure. Dr. Barusco has helped numerous patients achieve the look they had originally anticipated. Our blog post – “Undoing the Damage of a Bad Hair Transplant” – provides examples of how Dr. Barusco was able to mitigate the poor aesthetic effect of an ineptly performed procedure.

We understand that the main concern you may have is cost. Tempus Hair Restoration offers 12-month interest-free financing, or up to 60-month terms with low interest. Your hair restoration journey should take you where you want to be, with a result that improves your self-image and self-confidence. Dr. Barusco and our Tempus Hair Restoration team are here to help.