There is something about the old Israeli phrase, "the Jewish mind is always inventing things", that has resonated for decades. A small country with few natural resources and a constant need to find solutions, Israel has succeeded in making innovation one of its defining characteristics. It has done so in agriculture, high-tech, cyber security, water technologies and many other fields, including medicine.
Today, Israel is home to more than 1,800 health tech companies employing some 80,000 people, alongside hospitals, researchers and Israeli physicians working at the forefront of their respective fields. Now, another area is beginning to follow a similar path: Hair transplantation.
Patients from the US and Canada are beginning to choose Israel instead
Until recently, when people spoke about travelling abroad for a hair transplant, one country almost always came to mind first: Turkey. For years, Istanbul was a major destination for patients from around the world, including Israelis, Americans and Europeans, who travelled there to undergo the procedure.
In recent years, however, a trend has begun to emerge in the opposite direction. Patients from the United States, Canada and Europe are increasingly considering a hair transplant in Israel, with some travelling specifically to the country to undergo the procedure.
At the forefront of this shift are physician brothers Asi and Eric Peretz, who grew up in South Africa and founded Trichogenics. They know Turkey’s position in the industry particularly well. The brothers lived and worked in Istanbul for four years, where they established and ran a clinic that treated patients from a range of countries.
Following a series of antisemitic incidents that began to affect their work, Assi and Eric left Turkey and relocated their operations to Greece and Israel, where they continue to treat international patients seeking a hair transplant in Greece or Israel. Before long, they discovered that some of their international patients were willing to follow them to Israel to undergo treatment with them personally.
These are not only Jewish patients or people who were already planning to visit the country. According to the Peretz brothers, some of the patients arriving at their Herzliya clinic are not Jewish and choose to travel to Israel specifically for the transplant.
"At first, we were convinced that our patients from abroad would mainly come to our clinic in Greece,” they say. “But we discovered that there are people from the United States and Canada who are willing to come specifically to Israel. They’ve heard about us and received recommendations from previous patients, so they know our work and our approach, and they want us to be the ones who perform their transplant".
The expertise, precision and team that make the difference
One reason patients are willing to make the journey to Israel lies in the way Asi and Eric approach the procedure. Every transplant is planned individually, taking into account the structure of the scalp, the condition of the donor area, the patient’s age and the way their hair is likely to change over time.
They work with both FUE and DHI techniques, use microscopes to examine and sort follicles precisely, and carefully match the type of follicle, angle and density to the area into which it is being transplanted. At the same time, they choose to perform only one operation per day, working with the same dedicated team so that every stage of the process is carried out with the same level of oversight and to the same standard.
For them, advanced equipment is an important tool, but it only becomes meaningful when combined with medical knowledge, experience and the ability to make precise decisions throughout the procedure.
Asi and Eric also bring a professional background that is unusual within the field. Both are physicians who previously worked in emergency departments, underwent specialist training and gained international experience in hair transplantation, and hold ABHRS certification.
The same approach that enabled them to work with an international patient base in Turkey and Greece is now being brought to Israel, building on something the country already does particularly well in other areas of medicine: Combining knowledge, technology and medical precision to create standards that attract patients from beyond its borders.
When a hair transplant becomes part of a visit to Israel
The idea of attracting patients from abroad also fits into an existing trend. According to Israel’s Ministry of Health, around 30,000 medical tourists have arrived in Israel each year in recent years, and Assi and Eric are seeking to add hair transplantation to the country’s medical tourism landscape.
For some patients arriving from the United States, Canada and other countries, the treatment becomes part of a wider stay in Israel. Some come to Israel for a holiday or to visit family and take the opportunity to undergo the transplant during their stay. Others come specifically for the procedure and combine the trip with time in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and other parts of the country.
For Asi and Eric, this is one of the significant advantages of undergoing the procedure in Israel: The opportunity to receive professional medical treatment while also making the most of a visit to the country.
Considering the international experience they have accumulated, their medical expertise, advanced equipment and the innovation they bring to the field of hair transplantation, it appears that Asi and Eric are only at the beginning of the chapter they hope to write in Israel.
After years in which Turkey was regarded almost as the default destination for patients from around the world, the Peretz brothers are helping to change the picture and position both Trichogenics and Israel at the forefront of the field.
This article was written in cooperation with Trichogenics