Hair Transplant in Vietnam: FUE vs DHI, Recovery and Risks
Hair transplant in Vietnam starts with the doctor: under Vietnamese law, a person may practise only with a practising licence that is in force. No official price was found. The law says a private clinic sets its own prices and must post them in public. On methods, the hair surgery society ISHRS says DHI is not a hair transplant method. This guide covers who may do the surgery, how to look up a licence, what it costs, the risks and the recovery.
Short answer
- How much does a hair transplant cost in Vietnam?
- No official price was found. Law No. 15/2023 says a private facility decides its own prices and must declare them and post them in public. The posted price is what the law requires; a written quote is a sensible extra check.
- FUE or DHI?
- FUE takes hair units out one by one with a small round micro punch. The ISHRS says DHI is not a hair transplant method and should not be marketed as such.
- Who may do it?
- Vietnamese law requires a practising licence in force, and bans work outside the licence's scope. The ISHRS says the surgical steps should only be done by a licensed physician.
- When are results seen?
- The NHS says new hair usually starts to appear after 4 months, and full results should be seen after 10 to 18 months.
Sources: Law on Medical Examination and Treatment No. 15/2023/QH15 (consolidated text); ISHRS, Surgical Treatments; ISHRS, Position Statement on Qualifications for Scalp Surgery; NHS, Hair transplant
What is a hair transplant?
A hair transplant is surgery that moves hair to thin or bald areas. The International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) puts it this way: it restores naturally growing hair to areas that have been thinning or bald. The ISHRS is a professional society. Its pages are written for patients anywhere, not for Vietnam.
This page is about the surgery. For the causes of hair loss and the treatments that are not surgery, see our hair loss treatment guide. For what research says about peptides and hair, see peptides for hair growth.
Sources: ISHRS, Surgical Treatments
FUE vs DHI vs FUT: what is the difference?
The difference is this: FUE and FUT are two ways the ISHRS describes for taking hair from the donor area, while DHI, the society says, is not a hair transplant method at all.
With FUE, the ISHRS says, follicular units are taken out one by one from the donor area. The tool is a small round micro punch. FUT stands for follicular unit transplantation. It means taking out a strip of tissue that holds skin and hair follicles. The cut is then closed with stitches or staples.
The ISHRS is blunt about DHI. It says DHI is not a hair transplant method and should not be marketed as such. On robotic hair transplant, the ISHRS says robotic devices count as an extension of the operator's hand. So, it says, every operator of these devices must be a physician.
| Name | What it is | What the ISHRS says |
|---|---|---|
| FUE (follicular unit excision) | Follicular units are taken out one by one from the donor area with a small round micro punch. | A harvesting method the ISHRS describes. |
| FUT (follicular unit transplantation, strip) | A strip of tissue with skin and hair follicles is taken out, and the cut is closed with stitches or staples. | A harvesting method the ISHRS describes. |
| DHI | A term the ISHRS addresses in its position statement. | The ISHRS says DHI is not a hair transplant method and should not be marketed as such. |
| Robotic FUE | A robot device used for FUE harvesting. | The ISHRS says robotic devices count as an extension of the operator's hand, so the operator must be a physician. |
This page does not say one method is better. No source used here compares FUE and FUT results in Vietnam.
Sources: ISHRS, Surgical Treatments; ISHRS, What is a FUE Hair Transplant?; ISHRS, Position Statement on Qualifications for Scalp Surgery
Who may do a hair transplant in Vietnam?
A licensed practitioner, working within the scope of that licence. That is the general rule in Vietnam's Law on Medical Examination and Treatment, No. 15/2023. We found no official Vietnamese rule or statement that names hair transplant itself.
The law says a person may practise only with a practising licence that is in force. The person must also be registered to practise, apart from limited exceptions. The law lists what a practising licence shows. Among the items are the professional title, the scope of practice and the term of the licence. It also bans treating outside the scope a practitioner or a facility has been allowed. The exceptions are emergencies and work the authorities call a practitioner to do.
The place matters too. Decree 96/2023 says a facility that offers the cosmetic services it lists, or uses products with a drug effect, must be set up as a hospital, a general clinic or a specialty clinic. We could not confirm that this list names hair transplant.
One older city statement covers beauty shops. In December 2022, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health wrote about beauty places that use cosmetic clinic signs. It said skin care spas, hair cutting and washing shops, and nail shops may operate without health sector conditions. It said these beauty places are not allowed to use anaesthetic in any form. It also said every intervention technique must be reviewed and approved on a technique list by the Ministry of Health or the Department of Health. Techniques outside the allowed list break the law, it said. Read this as a 2022 statement about signs. It was written before Law No. 15/2023, and it does not mention hair transplants.
The ISHRS adds a professional view, which is not Vietnamese law. It says these steps should only be done by a licensed physician: the diagnosis before surgery, the surgery planning, taking the donor hair, designing the hairline and making the recipient sites. It warns that using unlicensed technicians for these steps puts patients at risk of misdiagnosis, and of missed hair disorders and related diseases. In the most dangerous case, it says, a black market clinic may have no licensed medical practitioner present at all.
Sources: Law on Medical Examination and Treatment No. 15/2023/QH15 (consolidated text); Decree 96/2023/ND-CP, Article 40(12); Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, article of December 2022 on beauty shop signs; ISHRS, Position Statement on Qualifications for Scalp Surgery; ISHRS, Consumer Advocacy; ISHRS, What is a Black Market Clinic in Hair Restoration?
What to check before you book, and who says so
Seven checks come from Vietnamese law, Vietnamese official statements, Australian government advice and the ISHRS, a professional society. The table puts each one next to the body that says it and where you can check it. Vietnamese rules and outside advice are kept apart, so you can see which is which.
| Check | What the source says | Who says it | Where to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| The practitioner has a practising licence | A person may practise only with a practising licence that is in force and a practice registration, apart from limited exceptions. The law we retrieved does not name a specific doctor title for hair transplant. | Vietnam, Law No. 15/2023, Article 19(1) | Ho Chi Minh City lookup (search for a medical practitioner) or Hanoi lookup (practising certificates). |
| The licence covers this work | A practising licence states the professional title, the scope of practice and the licence term, among other items. Treating outside the allowed scope is banned, except in an emergency or when the practitioner is mobilised or assigned by a competent authority. | Vietnam, Law No. 15/2023, Articles 27(3) and 7(4) | The licence record, or ask the clinic to show the licence. |
| The place is a hospital or clinic | A facility that offers the cosmetic services the decree lists, or uses products with a drug effect, must be set up as a hospital, a general clinic or a specialty clinic. We could not confirm that the list names hair transplant, so we cannot say this rule covers it. | Vietnam, Decree 96/2023, Article 40(12) | Ho Chi Minh City lookup (medical facility or cosmetic facility) or Hanoi lookup. |
| The technique is on an approved list | Every intervention technique must be reviewed and approved on a technique list by the Ministry of Health or the Department of Health. Techniques outside the allowed list are against the law. | Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, December 2022 article (before Law No. 15/2023) | Ask the clinic. We could not confirm whether hair transplant is on the current national list. |
| A doctor does the surgical steps | Diagnosis, surgery planning, donor hair harvesting, hairline design and recipient site creation should only be done by a licensed physician. Every operator of an FUE tool, robots included, must be a physician. | ISHRS position statement, revised July 2024 (a professional society, not Vietnamese law) | Ask who will do each step on the day. |
| The hospital is accredited, the surgeon qualified | Find out if the hospital is accredited by the local authorities. Do not go to an unofficial medical facility. Check if the surgeon is qualified and accredited. | Smartraveller (Australia), August 2026 | The official lookups above. |
| Local rules on doctors and technicians | Check with your local health authorities. Each country has its own laws on what a doctor and a technician should do. | ISHRS, Before You Choose a Surgeon | The Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi Department of Health. |
Smartraveller adds that most countries have the surgeon's details on an official website. For Vietnam, this research confirmed two city lookups, for Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, in the next section. We found no single nationwide lookup.
Sources: Law on Medical Examination and Treatment No. 15/2023/QH15 (consolidated text); Decree 96/2023/ND-CP, Article 40(12); Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, article of December 2022 on beauty shop signs; ISHRS, Position Statement on Qualifications for Scalp Surgery; ISHRS, Before You Choose a Surgeon; Smartraveller, Going overseas for a medical procedure
How to look up a clinic or doctor licence in Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi each have an official lookup. Both are in Vietnamese.
- Ho Chi Minh City: the Department of Health lookup at thongtin.medinet.org.vn. Its home page offers three searches: medical practitioner (Người hành nghề Y), medical facility (Cơ sở khám chữa bệnh) and cosmetic facility (Cơ sở thẩm mỹ).
- Hanoi: the health data lookup at suckhoethudo.vn/data-lookup. It says it searches groups of data that include medical facilities, practising certificates, beauty service facilities and drug retailers.
The ISHRS gives the same advice for any country: check with your local health authorities. Each country has its own laws on what a doctor and a technician should do, it says. For licence checks across all of healthcare in Vietnam, see our guide to healthcare in Vietnam for foreigners.
Sources: Ho Chi Minh City licence lookup (thongtin.medinet.org.vn); Hanoi health data lookup (suckhoethudo.vn); ISHRS, Before You Choose a Surgeon
What a hair transplant in Vietnam costs
No official price list was found, so this page prints no price. We looked for one from the Ministry of Health, the Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi Departments of Health, Vietnam Social Security and several embassies, and found none.
The official price rule we found is in Law No. 15/2023, Article 110(8). It says a private facility has the right to decide its own prices. It must also declare them and post them in public. So the price comes from each clinic's posted list, which the law requires. Asking for a written quote is a sensible extra check, not a rule set by that law.
What about a low price? The ISHRS says surgery fees vary around the world with local economies and costs of living. It says lower prices at some clinics in a region do not, on their own, show that they offer black market surgery. In other words, price alone does not settle whether a clinic is a problem. The licence and scope checks above test only whether a clinic and its practitioners are authorised; they do not prove the care is safe or good.
Questions worth putting to the clinic in writing, drawn from the sources on this page:
- Is the price on the clinic's posted price list? The law says private clinics must post their prices.
- Which steps will a licensed doctor do? The ISHRS lists harvesting, hairline design and recipient site creation among the steps for a licensed physician.
- What follow-up is included after you fly home? The NHS warns that overseas clinics may not provide follow-up treatment.
Sources: Law on Medical Examination and Treatment No. 15/2023/QH15 (consolidated text); ISHRS, What is a Black Market Clinic in Hair Restoration?; ISHRS, Position Statement on Qualifications for Scalp Surgery; NHS, Cosmetic surgery abroad
Is Vietnam a good place for a hair transplant?
No official source used here rates Vietnam for hair transplants, and this page gives no verdict of its own. What official sources give is cautions.
Australia's Smartraveller says the standard of medical facilities and care in Vietnam varies. It says care is generally below Australian standards, and may lack medicine and supplies. It also says foreign private medical clinics are available in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang. Those lines are about medical care in general, not hair surgery.
The ISHRS writes about travel for hair surgery in general. It says consumers need to use extreme caution about a hair restoration procedure across borders. Do your homework, it says, well before tickets are booked and bags are packed. The NHS adds a point about after you go home. Overseas clinics may not provide follow-up treatment, or not to the same standard as in the UK. And there may be no health professional at home to turn to if there are problems.
Cover for problems abroad is covered in our health insurance in Vietnam guide. Other cosmetic surgery is in our plastic surgery in Vietnam guide.
Sources: Smartraveller, Vietnam travel advice; ISHRS, Medical Tourism: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly; NHS, Cosmetic surgery abroad
What are the risks of a hair transplant?
The NHS says there is always a small risk of bleeding, infection, or an allergic reaction to the anaesthetic. It says your surgeon should be able to treat these problems quickly. There is also a small risk that the transplant will not take and the hair falls out, or that a noticeable scar may form.
FUE has a risk of its own, says the ISHRS. Some of the greatest risks involve taking too much from the donor area. Another is taking hair from too wide an area, outside the safe donor area.
Who does the work is part of the risk, in the ISHRS view. As set out above, it links unlicensed technicians to misdiagnosis and to missed hair disorders. We found no official data on complication or satisfaction rates for hair transplants done in Vietnam. So this page gives none.
Sources: NHS, Hair transplant; ISHRS, What is a FUE Hair Transplant?; ISHRS, Consumer Advocacy
Recovery and results: what happens after a hair transplant?
Results take months, not weeks. The NHS gives the timeline below. It is about hair transplants in general.
| When | What the NHS says happens |
|---|---|
| After a few weeks | The transplanted hair will often fall out, and later start to grow back. |
| After 4 months | New hair will usually start to appear. |
| After 10 to 18 months | The full results should be seen. |
For a trip to Vietnam, that means the full result shows long after you are home. That is why the NHS point on follow-up, above, matters. No official source used here gives a set wait before flying after a hair transplant. We found no official source on long term results or regret rates either.
What we could and could not confirm
This page was built from written records, not from a visit. We read every record in October 2026. Here is what we could confirm.
- The Vietnamese rules quoted: Law No. 15/2023 in its consolidated text, and Decree 96/2023, both from the Official Gazette.
- The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health article of December 2022, and the two city licence lookups.
- Seven ISHRS pages, two NHS pages and two Smartraveller pages. The Smartraveller pages and the Hanoi lookup were read in a browser, as our fetch script could not open them.
Here is what we could not confirm.
- An official price for a hair transplant in Vietnam. We found none in the sources we searched.
- Whether hair transplant is named on the Ministry of Health's current list of techniques. We could not open the list's annexes.
- Any Vietnamese official statement that names hair transplant, or technicians doing hair transplants.
- A set wait before flying after a hair transplant.
- Complication, satisfaction or regret rates, in Vietnam or long term.
- How many clinics or doctors in Vietnam are licensed for this work. We did not count them.
Both NHS pages were past their own review dates when we read them. We did not visit a clinic, have treatment or speak to a surgeon for this page.
Hair transplant in Vietnam questions
Is Vietnam good for hair transplants?+
No official source used here rates hair transplants in Vietnam, good or bad, and this page gives no verdict. Australia's Smartraveller says medical care in Vietnam varies and is generally below Australian standards. It also says foreign private medical clinics are available in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang. The ISHRS, a hair surgery society, urges extreme caution about any hair transplant across borders. It also says a lower price alone does not show a clinic is black market.
How much is a hair transplant in Vietnam?+
We found no official Vietnamese price for a hair transplant in the government and embassy sources we searched. We found none from the Ministry of Health, a Department of Health, Vietnam Social Security or an embassy. Vietnamese law says a private facility decides its own prices. It must declare them and post them in public. So the price comes from each clinic's posted list, which the law requires, with a written quote as a sensible check.
What is the difference between FUE and DHI?+
The main difference is that FUE is a recognised way to harvest hair, while the ISHRS says DHI is not a hair transplant method at all. With FUE, the ISHRS says, follicular units are taken out one by one with a small round micro punch. The ISHRS says DHI should not be marketed as a method.
Who is allowed to do a hair transplant in Vietnam?+
Vietnamese law says a person may practise medicine only with a practising licence that is in force and a practice registration. Treating outside the scope on that licence is banned, except in an emergency or when the authorities mobilise or assign the practitioner. A facility offering the cosmetic services listed in Decree 96/2023 must be a hospital, a general clinic or a specialty clinic. We found no official Vietnamese statement that names hair transplant. The ISHRS says the surgical steps should only be done by a licensed physician.
How do I check a hair transplant clinic in Vietnam?+
Both big cities have official lookups, in Vietnamese. The Ho Chi Minh City lookup at thongtin.medinet.org.vn searches medical practitioners, medical facilities and cosmetic facilities. The Hanoi lookup at suckhoethudo.vn/data-lookup covers medical facilities, practising certificates and beauty service facilities, among other data. Smartraveller says to check that the hospital is accredited by the local authorities and that the surgeon is qualified and accredited.
What are the risks of a hair transplant?+
The NHS says there is always a small risk of bleeding, infection or an allergic reaction to the anaesthetic. There is also a small risk the transplant will not take and the hair falls out, or that a noticeable scar may form. For FUE, the ISHRS says some of the greatest risks are taking too much from the donor area or from too wide an area.
How long until you see results from a hair transplant?+
Full results are usually seen 10 to 18 months after a hair transplant, the NHS says. Its timeline: after a few weeks, the transplanted hair will often fall out and later start to grow back. After 4 months, new hair will usually start to appear. After 10 to 18 months, the full results should be seen.
Sources: Smartraveller, Vietnam travel advice; Smartraveller, Going overseas for a medical procedure; ISHRS, Medical Tourism: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly; ISHRS, What is a Black Market Clinic in Hair Restoration?; ISHRS, Surgical Treatments; Law on Medical Examination and Treatment No. 15/2023/QH15 (consolidated text); Decree 96/2023/ND-CP, Article 40(12); Ho Chi Minh City licence lookup (thongtin.medinet.org.vn); Hanoi health data lookup (suckhoethudo.vn); NHS, Hair transplant; ISHRS, What is a FUE Hair Transplant?
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This guide is for general information only and is not medical or legal advice. It describes what Vietnamese law, official bodies and a professional society say. Questions about your own hair or treatment belong with a licensed doctor. See our editorial policy.