Hair Transplant in India

Reports suggest that India received almost half a million medical tourists last year! The industry itself is going to be worth about $20 million by 2020. Now those are some staggering figures. Not to mention, these numbers also tells us how many patients from around the world trust doctors in India with their lives and the lives of their love ones. Various factors have led to the recent increase in popularity of healthcare tourism in India.

As a destination for medical tourism, India is also not just a spot for patients from under- or developing countries, whose medical infrastructure is not very sound. But, we are talking about patients from pretty much all parts of the globe, including Europe, America, the Middle East and Africa. For all these patients, India is not just important for the affordability of procedures, but also the fact that it has qualified, experienced, reputed doctors, comparable to their counterparts in most developed countries. Added to that are the well-equipped clinics and hospitals, the availability of the latest, cutting-edge technology in medical equipment, and the easy availability of all essential facilities. India has today become a destination of choice for different kind of surgeries like orthopaedics, IVF, Hair Transplant, Gastrointestinal surgery, urology, cardiothoracic surgery, and obesity surgery. Ayurveda and other modalities of alternate medicine have also contributed to the aspect of health care and wellness tourism.

A portion of these medical tourists in India, today come for hair transplants. Hair transplant in India procedures by Indian surgeons are extremely popular. These procedures are more affordable in India compared to counties like the U.S., the UK, or Australia (surgeries in India are almost at one-fourth or one-fifth the cost compared to these countries). If we compare the cost and pricing of doing a treatment or surgery in India with that of abroad, then it will not be untrue to say that the combine cost of treatment along with leisure tourism is approximately equal or even less than that of the cost of treatment alone in abroad. World-class treatment is offered at a substantially low cost as compared to those in developed countries with the use of same technology and level of skill and competence.

Here’s how: While a hair transplant is a very serious surgery, it also has a short recovery time, it is done under local anaesthesia, which means the effect wears off in a day, and the patient does not have to stay in the clinic. This means that while the patient wants the redness and minor swelling from the surgery to wear off before going back to work or just regular everyday life, meeting family and friends, they can just put on a hat and tour around the country.

Leisure tourism is already very much in demand in India as it offers diverse tourist destination with cultural heritage and scenic beauty. The hospitality in the Indian culture is well known by the saying "Atithi Devo Bhava". India offers a wide variety of climates, geographies, and cuisines; it is more like a little continent in itself. You have the Himalayas in the north for those who like the mountains, there are states like Kerala, Goa, Orissa, etc for those who love the sun and sand, and there is the lush, untouched hills and mountains in the North-East for those who want to explore the unexplored.

India is also very well connected to most big cities in the world, and there are many flight options for all kinds of travellers. Most big cities in the country, Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, all have modern facilities, and good hotels and guesthouses to stay at.

Most importantly, the clinics here offer most the latest techniques in hair transplant, like:

FUE or Follicular Unit Extraction
A modern, minimally invasive technique, FUE involves removing one follicle at a time from the donor site on the scalp, which is the back and sides of the head, using micropunches, and replanting them on to the bald spots. FUE offers natural looking results and leaves very small dot-like scars, which disappear over a period of time. For patients who don’t have enough donor hair on the scalp, there is Body Hair Transplant or BHT. BHT involves using the legs, chest, arms, back etc as hair donor areas for extracting grafts, and using them to fill in the thin or bald spots on the scalp. In this as well, the FUE method is used for extraction.

FUT or Follicular Unit Transplantation
FUT is a strip method. It involves extracting a strip of follicles from the donor area, dissecting it into individual grafts and then replanting the grafts on to the recipient area. FUT leaves a thin, linear scar, which can be easily hidden by keeping the hair around it longer.

India is a great option for tourists who want hair transplant done as well as vacation to be planned at an affordable budget. It is for people who are ready to fight the emotional and mental trauma that hair loss can cause. Although, they must be careful about choosing the right clinic and a good surgeon by doing thorough research, shortlisting clinics and picking one by comparing their before and after photos, checking the location of the clinic, and the experience of the doctor.