Beard, moustache and eyebrow transplant
Facial hair restored one follicle at a time in Turkey, where the angle matters more than the number.
At a glance
- In theatre
- 4–6 hours
- Anaesthetic
- Local
- Back to work
- 4 to 6 days
- Final result
- 9 to 12 months
Facial hair is less forgiving than scalp hair. Beard and eyebrow follicles sit at acute, shifting angles, and a graft placed a few degrees out reads as wrong even when the density is right. The work is slower per graft and the count is lower.
Why people come
Patchy growth, scarring, and loss from earlier procedures are the usual reasons. Eyebrows are their own case: the direction reverses across the brow, so each follicle is placed to lie flat rather than stand.
The count is not the point
A beard case is often between 1,000 and 2,500 grafts and an eyebrow case a few hundred. Those numbers mean less here than they do on the scalp. A brow rebuilt with four hundred well-angled follicles reads as a brow; one built with seven hundred placed a few degrees out reads as a mistake, and it is a mistake that is difficult to undo. Density can be added at a second sitting. Direction cannot be corrected without removing what is already there.
It spends the same donor area
The donor area is almost always the scalp, which means this draws on the same finite supply as a hair transplant. If both are a possibility for you, that is a conversation to have before either is booked, not after.
Scalp hair on a face
The follicles keep their scalp behaviour after they move. They grow continuously and will need trimming, and the calibre is rarely an exact match for whatever beard you already have — usually slightly finer, occasionally straighter. Most people adjust to this quickly and stop noticing within a few months. You should know it beforehand rather than discover it.
The day, and the first year
It is a day case under local anaesthetic, generally shorter than a scalp transplant — three to five hours for a beard, less for brows. The grafts shed at around week three as they do on the scalp. Brows take longer to look settled than beards, and the first three months are the stretch in which patients most often conclude it has not worked. It has; the hair is in its resting phase, and the timeline on this page is the one to measure against rather than the mirror.
Travelling for it
Two days in Istanbul is usually enough: the procedure, and a check the following day before you fly. Facial work is more visible in the first fortnight than scalp work is — the recipient area is pink and crusted for seven to ten days and sits where a hat cannot cover it. Plan the trip around that rather than around the flights.
When Dr Erol says no
Active skin disease in the area, scarring still remodelling, and a donor area already committed to a planned scalp transplant are all reasons to wait or to decline. A patchy beard in a man in his early twenties is frequently another: facial hair fills in later than most people expect, and operating on a pattern that has not finished developing spends grafts that cannot be replaced.
Interested in Beard, moustache and eyebrow transplant?
Tell us your goals and we will map out your options.
Growth is slow and uneven. This is the ordinary course, not the fastest one.
- Day 0
Grafts placed one at a time at the angle each area demands. The face is visibly crusted.
- Day 7
Crusting has cleared. Redness settles over the following fortnight.
- Week 3–6
The transplanted hairs shed, exactly as they do on the scalp.
- Month 9–12
Full growth, by which point the beard can be shaved and shaped normally.
See it in his own words.
A short film from the clinic’s own channel — the procedure explained plainly, by the surgeon who performs it.
Questions
How many grafts does a beard take?
Often 1,000–2,500, and a few hundred for brows. Those numbers mean less here than on the scalp: four hundred well-angled follicles read as a brow, seven hundred placed a few degrees out read as a mistake.
Can it be done at the same time as a scalp transplant?
Sometimes, but it draws on the same finite donor area. If both are a possibility that is a conversation to have before either is booked, not after.
Will it match my existing beard?
The follicles keep their scalp behaviour — they grow continuously and need trimming, and the calibre is rarely an exact match, usually slightly finer. Most people stop noticing within a few months.
Do grafts survive on scar tissue?
Often, but less reliably than on healthy skin, and scarred areas may need a second pass. Scarring still remodelling is a reason to wait rather than to proceed.
How long in Istanbul?
Two days is usually enough — the procedure and a check the following day. The recipient area is pink and crusted for seven to ten days and sits where a hat cannot cover it, so plan the trip around that rather than the flights.
Can it be reversed?
Not easily. Density can be added at a second sitting; direction cannot be corrected without removing what is there. That is why the angle, not the count, is what the planning is about.
Sources
- 01Facial hair transplantation: techniques and considerations — Facial Plastic Surgery Clinics of North America, 2020