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Choosing a hair transplant surgeon in Istanbul can feel like a small project of its own. Istanbul is home to some of the most recognized specialists in the field, and their work attracts people from all over the world for a reason. Studies on modern FUE and DHI methods show graft survival rates often landing above 90 percent, and in skilled hands, even higher, which is exactly why the choice of surgeon matters so much. (Journal of Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery, 2019)
At Experts Medical, we selected the best specialists for you based on the real experience of more than 12000 patients who have undergone treatment and surgery with our team. That kind of volume teaches you something important: even though hair transplantation is considered a safe, minimally invasive procedure, the wrong approach can still lead to avoidable complications, patchy growth, or unnatural hairlines that are hard to fix later. This guide takes a calm, practical look at the surgeons who stand out.
1. Dr. Oya Sisman
Dr. Oya Sisman is a specialist in hair transplantation who practices at the well-known Istanbul Aesthetic Center in Istanbul. Over her 25+ years in the field she’s become known for her consistent, patient-first approach: she takes time to assess donor sites, tailors each plan individually, and focuses on natural-looking results. Her method covers several techniques: traditional and Sapphire FUE, DHI, beard and eyebrow transplants, and other hair-restoration treatments.
- Package price: from 1750 EUR
- Experts Medical doctor’s rating: 4.9
- Specialization: Hair transplantation (FUE, Sapphire FUE, DHI, organic transplants, beard and eyebrow restoration)
- Number of procedures performed: 4000+
- Accreditation: Cosmetology training (2008), scalp micropigmentation training (2014), professional education programs approved by the Turkish Ministry of Education
- Hotel and transfer: included
- Years of experience: 25+
2. Dr. Mustafa Cetin
Dr. Mustafa Cetin is a hair transplant specialist who works at Medical Park Gaziosmanpasa in Istanbul. Even though he’s younger than some long-time surgeons in the field, he has already built a strong track record by performing nearly 8000 procedures. He works mostly with FUE, Sapphire FUE, and DHI, and he’s also known for integrating supportive treatments like PRP or mesotherapy when needed.
- Package price: from 1800 EUR
- Experts Medical doctor’s rating: 4.9
- Specialization: FUE, Sapphire FUE, DHI, eyebrow and mustache transplants, hairline correction, PRP
- Number of procedures performed: almost 8000
- Accreditation: Specialized courses in hair transplantation and aesthetic medicine, member of the Turkish Hair Transplantation Association
- Hotel and transfer: included
- Years of experience: 8+
3. Dr. Sait Gokhan Bircan
Dr. Sait Gokhan Bircan is a plastic surgeon and hair transplant specialist who leads Dr. Birkan Hair Transplant Clinic in Istanbul. After graduating from Istanbul University Faculty of Medicine in 2010, he trained in transplant surgery at Cambridge University Hospital and worked in the Department of General Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College, Columbia University. In his own clinic, Dr. Bircan focuses on FUE and DHI hair transplantation and has performed thousands of procedures over the last 9 years. The clinic usually limits the schedule to 2–3 operations per day so he can stay personally involved and not rush the process.
- Package price: from 3000 EUR
- Experts Medical doctor’s rating: 5.0
- Specialization: FUE and DHI hair transplantation, treatment of baldness, hairline design
- Number of procedures performed: Thousands of hair transplants over 9+ years
- Accreditation: Training in transplant surgery at Cambridge University Hospital, experience at Weill Cornell Medical College and Addenbrooke’s Hospital, member of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS)
- Hotel and transfer: included
- Years of experience: 15+
4. Dr. Ilker Apaydin
Dr. Ilker Apaydin is a well-established plastic surgeon and hair transplant specialist with more than 20 years of clinical experience. He is one of the few surgeons in Turkey who performs FUT, FUE, and combined FUT+FUE techniques, which makes him a strong option for patients with different levels of hair loss or limited donor areas. Over the years, he has worked in leading state hospitals and private clinics, and since 2012 he has been running his own hair transplant clinic in Istanbul.
- Package price: from 2000 EUR
- Experts Medical doctor’s rating: 4.8
- Specialization: FUT, FUE, combined FUT+FUE, beard and eyebrow transplantation
- Number of procedures performed: thousands over 20+ years
- Accreditation: ISHRS certification, membership in ISHRS, EPCD, TPCD
- Hotel and transfer: included
- Years of experience: 20+
5. Dr. Vedat Tosun
Dr. Vedat Tosun has been in the field for more than two decades. He holds a Doctor of Medicine degree and has built his career around modern hair transplant techniques, especially DHI and FUE. Over the years, he has completed more than 14,000 hair transplant operations, which puts him among the more experienced specialists in Istanbul. He is also one of the founders of MedHair Clinic, a center known for handling both standard and complex cases. The clinic operates within Istinye University Liv Hospital, which gives him access to a strong clinical infrastructure and advanced medical equipment.
- Package price: from 2000 EUR
- Experts Medical doctor’s rating: 4.9
- Specialization: FUE, DHI, hair loss prevention and diagnostic evaluation
- Number of procedures performed: 14,000+
- Accreditation: Medical doctorate, specialized training in modern hair transplant techniques
- Hotel and transfer: included
- Years of experience: 20+
6. Dr. Ozlem Duras Cologlu
Dr. Ozlem Duras Cologlu has a blended background. She handles Sapphire FUE, unshaven FUE, DHI, and beard and eyebrow transplants. Patients usually describe her as attentive and calm, someone who explains things clearly instead of rushing through the consultation. She also co-founded the DRHARUNS aesthetic surgery and hair transplant clinic, where she continues to practice.
- Package price: from 2000 EUR
- Experts Medical doctor’s rating: 4.75
- Specialization: Sapphire FUE, unshaven FUE, DHI, beard and eyebrow transplantation
- Number of procedures performed: Thousands
- Accreditation: Scientific publications, training in liposuction, PRP, and advanced hair transplantation
- Hotel and transfer: included
- Years of experience: 10
7. Dr. Ilhan Serdaroglu
Dr. Ilhan Serdaroglu is one of the more established names in Istanbul’s hair transplant field, with more than 20 years of clinical experience behind him. He works across a wide range of techniques, including FUE, eyebrow and beard transplantation, female hair restoration, and regenerative options like stem cell supported transplants and G Cell Regenera. Today, his center is considered one of the more reputable hair transplant clinics in the city, especially for people who prefer a surgeon led operation rather than a technician-heavy setup.
- Package price: from 2000 EUR
- Experts Medical doctor’s rating: 4.8
- Specialization: FUE, beard and eyebrow transplantation, female hair transplantation, stem cell supported transplants
- Number of procedures performed: Thousands
- Accreditation: ISAPS, ASPS, ISHRS, EPCD, TPRECD
- Hotel and transfer: included
- Years of experience: 20+
8. Dr. Levent Acar
Dr. Levent Acar is one of the more recognizable names in Istanbul’s hair transplant scene, largely because he has been practicing for more than two decades and has worked with a huge range of patients. He performs FUE and DHI, but he is also known for using a hybrid method called Sapphire DHI, which combines sapphire blades for channel creation with direct implantation to improve control over density and growth direction.
His experience is broad. He trained in Germany early in his career, gaining exposure to FUE, laser treatments, mesotherapy, and medical aesthetics. Over the years, he has performed more than nineteen thousand procedures and maintains a high reported success rate. Since 2011, he has been the lead physician at Cosmedica Clinic, one of Istanbul’s well-known hair transplant centers, and he now also collaborates with Cosmedica Haarpflege & Antiaging in Düsseldorf.
- Package price: from 2000 EUR
- Experts Medical doctor’s rating: 4.8
- Specialization: FUE, DHI, Sapphire DHI, medical aesthetics related to hair loss
- Number of procedures performed: 19,000+
- Accreditation: over 15 certifications and awards, ISHRS membership
- Clinic: Cosmedica Clinic
- Hotel and transfer: included
- Years of experience: 20+
How the Hair Transplant Process Works and What to Expect
A hair transplant usually starts with a simple but important step: a detailed consultation. The surgeon looks at your scalp, checks the strength of your donor area, and makes sure your expectations match what’s realistically possible. Once everything is agreed on, the plan is set.
During the procedure itself, most specialists in Istanbul use either FUE or DHI. Both methods rely on extracting healthy follicles one by one and placing them into the thinning or bald areas. It’s all done under local anesthesia, so you stay awake but feel comfortable throughout the process. Depending on how many grafts you need, the whole thing can take anywhere from four to seven hours. It sounds long, but most people describe it as surprisingly calm, almost like sitting through a long appointment rather than a big medical event.
How Many Days You Spend at the Clinic
One nice thing about this procedure is that it doesn’t require staying overnight. It’s outpatient. After the surgery, you spend a short time under observation just to make sure everything looks stable, and then you’re free to return to your hotel. Many patients appreciate that they can rest in their own space instead of a hospital room.
How Long Recovery Takes
For the trip itself, it’s a good idea to plan around three days in Turkey after the procedure. This gives you enough time for your first follow-up visit, your initial hair wash, and a quick check to make sure the grafts are settling in properly. You might notice a bit of swelling or redness for a couple of days, but it fades fairly fast.
Most people feel well enough to return to light activities within a week. The new hair doesn’t start growing right away - that part takes patience. You’ll usually see the first signs of new growth around the three or four-month mark, with the fuller, more final results showing up somewhere between ten and twelve months. It’s a slow process, but when the growth comes in, it feels incredibly rewarding.
Treatment Outcomes in Istanbul
When people talk about Istanbul delivering good hair transplant results, it’s not just hype from clinics. A lot of what we know comes from medical studies that look at how transplanted hair behaves over time. These aren’t Istanbul-specific, but they cover the same techniques used in the city’s top centers, so the numbers line up pretty well with what patients actually experience there.
How Well the Grafts Survive
One of the more detailed follow-ups comes from a long-term study on FUT patients, which looked at results over four years. Most of the men in the study maintained solid density, and only a small group showed little to no change by year four. It’s not perfect, but it shows that transplanted hair tends to hold on for the long haul. (Journal of Cutaneous and Aesthetic Surgery, 2020)
What This Means for Istanbul
If you take all of this and translate it into real-life Istanbul outcomes, the pattern is pretty clear:
- In typical male or female pattern hair loss, modern FUE and DHI techniques regularly hit 90-95 percent graft survival.
- With a strong surgeon and proper handling, results can push into the 95-97 percent range.
- Long-term thickness may dip slightly over the years, which is normal and also matches what the 4-year study found.
You still need to choose the right surgeon, the research makes that very obvious, but the techniques used in Istanbul are supported by solid medical data. When someone in Istanbul tells you their hair came back thick and natural, the numbers line up with that experience.
How Experts Medical Supports Your Hair Transplant Journey
For us, the most important step is matching you with a surgeon who consistently delivers natural results. At Experts Medical, we rely on the real experience of more than 12000 patients who have undergone treatments and surgeries with our team since 2016. This helps us filter out clinics that look good online but don’t meet medical standards in real life.
Organizing Your Trip Smoothly
Once the surgeon is confirmed, we take care of the practical things that usually cause the most stress. We help with appointments, accommodation close to the clinic, transfers, and translation support during every medical visit. You don’t pay us for these services - all payments go directly to the clinic.
Staying With You Through the Whole Process
Your coordinator stays in touch from the moment you reach out to us until long after you return home. We check in before the procedure, follow you through your aftercare visits, and stay available during recovery for photos, questions, or anything unexpected that comes up.
Making the Experience Safe and Comfortable
Our goal is simple: make the entire journey feel clear and manageable. Hair transplantation isn’t just a one-day procedure - it’s a full experience. Having someone guide you through the details, answer the awkward questions, and stay close during recovery can make a huge difference in how confident you feel along the way.
FAQs
1. Can a surgeon adjust the implantation angle based on ethnic hair characteristics, like Afro textured or Middle Eastern curl patterns?
Yes, but not every clinic has the experience to do this well. Surgeons familiar with ethnic hairlines adjust the angle, direction, and curl calibration during implantation, because tightly coiled or high density follicles behave differently when placed. If this step is rushed or done by technicians with limited training, the result can look lifted or mismatched as the hair grows out.
2. Is it possible to combine unshaven FUE with crown restoration in the same session without risking over extraction?
It’s doable, but only when the donor capacity is strong and the surgeon limits the punch size. Many experienced surgeons avoid extracting too aggressively from the same zones when mixing crown and unshaven work, since the crown typically requires more grafts and can drain resources if not planned carefully.
3. How do surgeons evaluate whether someone qualifies for regenerative add ons like stem cell supported grafts or G Cell therapy?
Specialists usually look at donor quality, active shedding levels, and the vascularity of the recipient area. These treatments are not magic boosters; they work best in patients whose follicles are weakening but not fully miniaturized. Surgeons also consider autoimmune activity, recent medications, and previous failed transplants before recommending them.
4. If I had a poorly designed hairline from a previous transplant, can the surgeon correct it without creating a visible double layer of grafts?
In many cases, yes. Skilled surgeons extract the misplaced grafts using micro punches and rebuild the new line using finer single hair follicles. The key is planning density transitions so the correction blends smoothly rather than creating a thick block of hair or a second ridge. This is one of the more advanced procedures and not every clinic takes it on.
5. How does Experts Medical verify that a surgeon actually performs the critical steps of the transplant and not just oversees the work?
We check more than reviews. Our coordinators confirm the surgeon’s role in extraction and channel opening, review real patient cases from our 12,000 supported treatments, and monitor consistency over time. If a clinic shifts toward technician driven work or changes personnel, we update or remove the surgeon from our list. Our focus is always on safety and long term outcomes, not marketing claims.
