How Long Does a Hair Transplant Take in Turkey (In Hours and Days)?

  Medically reviewed & verified by: Avrupa Hair Transplant Clinic

Written by: ClinicAdvisor

Those coming from outside Turkey wonder about its duration and how long it takes in terms of days and hours.

It’s important to know these details for them to make the necessary arrangements, whether it’s taking a leave of absence from work or university. 

While others would like to know the duration so that they can spend some time traveling around Turkey before doing the operation.

In this article, we will explain how long does hair transplant take in Turkey and how many days you must be there.

How long does a hair transplant process take in Turkey?

In short, patients have to be in Turkey for 3-4 days to undergo hair transplantation. This period is sufficient to get the operation done and go for follow-up visits after the operation.

Your hair transplantation program will be as follows:

• On the first day: the operation is performed and it takes 6 to 8 hours.
• On the second day: the patient makes a short visit to the clinic or hospital in order to remove the dressing.
• On the third day: the head is washed, which takes about 40-45 minutes.

This program may differ from one clinic to another. However, the clinic will give you the program in detail before you come.

How long does a hair transplant last?

As for the duration of the hair transplant process in terms of hours, it usually ranges from 6 to 8 hours. 

During this time your will be given some short periods of rest to use the toilet and have a light snack.

This time varies depending on a number of factors, including:

The degree of baldness and the number of hair follicles:

Of course, people with a receding hairline will need fewer follicles than those with advanced baldness. This, in turn, will affect the duration of the hair transplantation process.

For example, transplanting 2000 to 2500 grafts takes between 5-6 hours. While transplanting 3000-4000 hair grafts takes approximately 7 hours.

As for cases that require a larger number, such as 4500-5000 grafts, the process takes up to 8 hours.

The technique used:

Another factor that determines the duration of hair transplantation is the type of technique used. 

The FUT technique is considered the least in terms of the number of hours because it does not contain many stages such as the FUE technique.

Where a strip of skin tissue is extracted from the donor area containing approximately 2500 grafts, and the wound is sutured.

After that, the grafts are dissected and it doesn't take long to divide the follicles either. Therefore, the process finishes within 4-6 hours.

While in the FUE technique, the duration may be longer, as it consists of 3 stages. Each of these takes approximately an hour and a half to two and a half hours.

• The first stage (extracting the hair follicles) may take between one to two hours. This period may be longer if manual follicle extraction is used.
• While the second stage of opening the channels takes about an hour to two and a half hours.
• Finally, the third stage of transplanting the follicles takes about two to three hours.

Thus, the process ends within 6 to 8 hours.

But if the operation is done with the DHI technique, the process may take a little longer. Especially if a large number of follicles are transplanted.

Although two stages are combined into one using the DHI method; however, it takes longer. 

That’s because it requires a high level of accuracy in placing the follicles in the Choi implanter pens so that they are not damaged or broken.

For that reason, hair transplant using the DHI (Choi Implanter Pens) takes between 8-10 hours to transplant 2,500 to 3,500 grafts.

The Type of Anaesthesia:

It is known that the method used for anesthesia in hair transplant is local anesthesia, which usually takes 15 minutes.

However, some people may become frightened during the anesthesia process and require time to rest, which increases the time of applying the aesthetic.

For this, some may request using anesthesia with sedation. This is a state similar to sleep. Patients are generally unaware of their surroundings but may still respond to external stimuli.

During this period, the medical staff can apply the anesthetic faster and more smoothly.

Shaving method (full or partial)

Before starting the operation, the first thing to do is to prepare the patients with haircuts. If the shaving is done completely, this helps to carry out the process smoothly and quickly.

But if the patient requests a hair transplant without shaving, then the hair transplantation period can be prolonged.

This is because it would be important to do the extraction of the grafts, opening the channels, and transplant the grafts with utmost precision. Since the presence of long hair may be an obstacle to clearly seeing the hairs.

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