What happened to these men's scalps?

June 29, 2014 1:22 PM

On Saturday (the 28th) in Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, I saw three men who looked like they had burns or injuries to their scalps (two were together, one was separate). What was I seeing?

Their hair was shaved short, but stubbly, and the scalp looked raw and injured, like it had been burned in places. The injured skin also appeared to have some sort of pattern from what I could see; on the top like a monk's tonsure, and around the edges. All three men also had some sort of wrapping around their heads, although it did nothing to hide or cover their injuries. Two of the men were wearing athletic sweatbands, and one man just had gauze wrapped around his head in a strip. The men looked Turkish or Middle Eastern in ethnicity. Any idea as to what I was I seeing?

posted by Rora to Grab Bag (3 answers total)

Buddhist monks use incense to burn their scalps in ordination, could it have been something like that?
posted by KateViolet at 1:56 PM on June 29, 2014

Best answer: That sounds a lot like hair transplant surgeries. The headband is to help prevent forehead swelling. A quick search seems to indicate Turkey is a popular place to have the procedure done if you live in the general region.
posted by teremala at 2:04 PM on June 29, 2014 [3 favorites]

Mod note: Comment deleted. Just a reminder: There's no need to answer if you really don't have specific info on something, especially when purely throwing something out as a guess about other cultures or religions. Thanks.
posted by taz (staff) at 4:20 AM on June 30, 2014