Roughly 250,000 hair transplants occur in the U.S. alone each year, approaching 900,000 worldwide. This is not a rare procedure, by a long shot. Consider that well over 33% of men (and women) experience hair loss, and it’s easy to understand the appeal of a hair transplant. Believe it or not, yours truly almost took the transplant plunge…
Getting older has its benefits. In most cases, you can’t help but become at least a little wiser.
The ups and downs of life level off a bit, helping you stay somewhat more even-keeled. With any luck, you’ve gravitated towards a profession that’s a good fit, and your pay reaches new highs.
Then, there’s the crummy part. We’re not all Tom Brady, still slinging deflated footballs at 52 (or however old he is).
Physically, we take longer to recover and heal from injuries. We put on weight easier. Our eyes start to mess with us and reading glasses wind up on our Walgreen’s shopping list. And, if you’re a dude, sometimes you lose your hair.
Although I may attempt to convince you that you don’t need a hair transplant, consider the inspiring story of rocketeer and Tesla chief, Elon Musk.
The guy is an icon for innovation and quite simply making sh*t happen. Not that he needed a full head of hair to make PayPal a success, but his image is front and center these days with SpaceX, Tesla, and pot-smoking on podcasts. He went from having a thinning head of hair to a full, thick mane most men would envy.
But you and I? We’re not Elon Musk. He’s got money to burn along with all that rocket fuel. Most of us workaday fellas are simply trying to eke out a living, and looking our best shouldn’t require a $15,000 (or more) investment.
Hair Transplant Methods
There are two main types of transplants: FUSS / FUT (follicular unit strip surgery / follicular unit transplantation), where a strip of your scalp is harvested for redistribution all over your baldness. And the latest advancement is called FUE (follicular unit extraction).
The latter is a higher-cost hair transplant option, and less reliable. But, you can go about your daily life a bit easier after the procedure. FUE’s follicle-by-follicle method allows for several trips to the transplant shop if you so desire.
With FUSS / FUT, you save a few bucks (it’s about 25%-50% less expensive than FUE), but you better take a week off of work if you don’t want your colleagues to know you just got a hair transplant. Removing the donor strip leaves an incision mark that later forms a scar. And the new implants leave little red dots on the fore of your head.
Bottom line? $15K is a lot of money. And that figure wasn’t even the first one thrown at me by Lyle. The clinic I went to quoted a higher number upfront, only to lop off 25% just before the end of the consult. I suspect this common practice, as most transplant shops cater to males with a penchant for being cheap.
Oh, and it’s worth noting: the majority of hair transplant clients make average, middle-class pay. You know, the kind of gents who should be putting their hard-earned dollars towards their kids’ tuition and mortgage pay-downs?
Do Transplants Even Work?
According to Healthline.com, up to 80% of the transplanted hair will grow back within 3 to 4 months. For $15,000, I’d certainly expect to have an early 60s era Beatles mop-top by month 4.
It’s important to know that transplanted hair will thin over time too, so depending on how young you are when you go under the knife, you could be in for a few return trips later on. And that assumes you have a decent reserve of donor hair on the back of your head.
The male psyche is a fragile thing. Take it from me. For some gents, hair loss comes early and swift. I had friends in college who started losing massive amounts of hair before graduation.
I made it through my 20s and 30s with a decent crop of fuzz. Now in my mid-40s, the gig seems to be up.
I can’t hide my thinning mane with products or cute haircuts. So, when a guy like me starts to run out of options for making a thinning head of hair look good, you might understand why I even considered a hair transplant in the first place…
Besides, there are some compelling stories out there about fellas who boldly go under the knife and come away quite satisfied. Your monkey brain instantly clicks into “What if I did that too? I could pull off an Elon!”
And let’s face it, a full head of hair is what we expect to see in our movie stars, anchormen, erectile dysfunction Rx TV spot actors, and of course, our hair transplant consultants. Give in to the Dark Side… (Or at least wear a helmet?)
What a First-time Consultation Is Like
Yours truly (not a chrome dome, but making good progress in that direction) visited a hair replacement clinic here in town for a free consultation. Nice people there.
The suite was clean and tidy. The waiting room table had a dozen or so gracefully feather-stacked magazines with male models and celebrities on the covers, all (of course) with full heads of hair.
Overall, I found the one-and-a-half-hour experience a bit unnerving. The consult guy had had a transplant himself, and it looked pretty good. But admittedly, his revitalized head of hair seemed a bit “off”.
The dude could’ve been a distant cousin of Lyle Lovett. But Lyle’s famous pompadour is real. I think?? Anyhow, I should’ve got up and run away right then and there.
But I stuck around. As “Lyle” droned on about the glories of the clinic and their work, I noticed his eyes would often shift to scan my thinning hairline. I might as well have had a patient gown on, with feet dangling off the edge of a pneumatic lift table, my left nut unknowingly exposed.
After getting the download on what’s involved with the procedure, I felt pretty good about the idea. But I was curious how quickly I’d heal up to rejoin the workaday world.
I’d have to go maybe two weeks wearing a hat, or working from home, to avoid showing off the red patches where the transplanted grafts were placed. No big deal.
Towards the end of the chat, Lyle took a series of photos of my head and later showed me on the computer screen where I’d benefit from 2,500 grafts of redistributed follicles. Science! Now I was feeling good about this crazy, high-cost hair transplant idea…
The Financial Cost of a Procedure
A hair transplant can cost anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000. Of course, it all depends on how many grafts you choose to transplant from the back and side of your head to the top.
Most men (and women) will pay about $10,000 for initial treatment, but if you’re a certifiable chrome-dome with a lot of real estate up top to cover, expect to double that figure. Expect to pay additional amounts for a Propecia Rx to keep the hair you have grown strong.
Forget about shock loss of hair after a transplant procedure… How about the shock loss of cash vanishing from your wallet??
Say you’re a 30-year-old, fighting some wicked vanity issues. You plop $15,000 down for a few follicles, vs. investing those dollars in the S&P 500 (via index funds), where those dollars would grow to $300K – $500K after 40 years. By then, you’ll want those dollars to support your new Viagra habit anyhow.
You could certainly invest all $15,000, but if you’re worried about your appearance, invest $8,000 and splurge the rest on some at-home gym equipment, quality wardrobe pieces, or a tattoo removal procedure.
But remember, for $15,000 (and perhaps another $10 grand later, after the rest of your hair falls out) you can have a permanent head of hair that’s YOUR hair. And, you can check off one box on the “list of things to not have to worry about anymore” list. Just make sure you find a reputable clinic with proven results, BEFORE you plunk down your money and your remaining follicles.
Hair Growth Drugs and Their Side Effects
Besides the money factor, there’s the “Pill Factor”. All transplant shops love to push Propecia prescriptions on unsuspecting clients. After my consult, I was even given a script to fill at our local pill dispensary.
Heck, let’s start popping those pills right away! Well, that little piece of paper went straight to the garbage. Why?
Propecia works to keep the hair you’ve already got. But apparently, it works so well that its side effects are often brushed aside:
– impotence
– loss of interest in sex (and trouble enjoying it when you do)
– swelling in your hands or feet
– swelling or tenderness in your breasts
– dizziness
– weakness
– feeling like you might pass out
– headache
– runny nose
– skin rash
Then, there are the rarely reported or rarely observed side effects. Still very real. If experienced, these tend to have a Severe expression:
– Breast Cancer In A Male Patient
– Giant Hives
– Having Thoughts Of Suicide
– Hives
– Itching
– Rhabdomyolysis
– Seizures
If experienced, these tend to have a Less Severe expression:
– Depression
– Low Sperm Count
– Muscle Pain
– Muscle Problems
– Muscle Weakness
– Testicular Pain
Enough said?
The Benefits of the Venerable Buzz Cut
And then, you can get to know the heroes of the universe. The Mr. Cleans of the galaxy, who have demonstrated to us thinning heads over the years, a better path to accepting hair loss and owning it, LIKE A MAN.
I’m not talking about Telly Savalas. That’s a classic old-school bloke, far ahead of his time (pun intended).
I’m not even talking about Jean Luc Picard. Though Patrick Stewart rocks a bald head like no other starship captain.
No. I’m talking about THIS guy: Jason Statham. The man. Handsome Rob, no less.
A certified kick-a$$ bald stud you do not want to F with. Credit his buzz-cut head. It gives his look the gravitas that’s practically a billboard, screaming, “Hair is for pansies!”
So yeah, this guy is the new inspiration for me. I won’t ever possess the acting chops, Kung Fu skills, or the look that says “Cross me and I’ll twist you in half, mate!” But I’m good with that. Just give me the buzzcut and a little motivation to do my daily push-ups and pull-ups.
Statham started losing his hair in his 20s. Poor chap. But as soon as his movie-making career shot into high gear at age 32, with Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, the buzz-cut became (and remained) his trademark look.
Heck, even Prince William has gone the way of the buzz-cut, and thank Heavens. That comb-over wasn’t doing him any favors.
Only one week into my commitment to losing hair with flare, I can rattle off several benefits of keeping my follicle-farm remnants nice and tight.
1. You can cut your dang hair. Quick and easy. Set the number 1 clip on those shears and go to work! (You need to do this every two weeks to avoid a rough, “middling” look)
2. No more $ spent on hair products. That goop is expensive! I think I was paying $20 for a little puck of Jonathan Dirt. Not anymore. And bonus, I don’t need shampoo anymore, not for 1/8 of an inch of hair.
3. No more hair product winding up on your pillowcase. Nothing beats a fresh pillowcase every week, right? But having to swap out in the middle of the week because Jonathan Dirt wanted to cling to that case… No thanks…
4. You can wear a hat in all situations, and not worry about messing up what longish, spiked, or combed-over hair you used to have. This is vital in Minnesota winters.
5. Your wife gets a break from cutting your hair. Because see benefit #1 at the top. Save yourself $300 – $500 a year in barber costs.
6. You can get ready to work a lot quicker in the morning. No more primping in the mirror. You’re ready to go!
7. You can feel confident that you’ve made the best decision for your thinning hair. Owning that natural balding allows you to focus on other improvements, like fitness, relationships, and of course, your finances.
All that said, Hollywood is not afraid to put its best bald head into the arena. Fast and Furious is a great example, with three of its principal actors, Statham, Vin Diesel, and Dwayne Johnson (The ROCK!) all keeping it clean up top.
I’d expect half of the hard-driving fans of the series to shear off their hair, just to copy these dudes. Those locks just add wind resistance anyhow…
It’s a toss-up for many. Do I give in to the “autumn of my scalp”, or, do I try to fight it with drugs, painful procedures, and gobs of money? All it took was a question to my lovely wife about getting a hair transplant.
“Do you think I should go for it?”
“Hmm… No. I think aging gracefully is the way to go.”
And that was that. The buzz-cut took place exactly two days after that very brief conversation about the future of my hairline. I’m quite content with this decision. The Buzz-cut Brigade has a new member. And it’s me.
Now, every two weeks I get my hair buzzed down to 1/16 of an inch. That’s the 0.5 clipper guard if you’re using a Wahl hair trimmer.
As my wife said. Steve Jobs didn’t have hair and look how it turned out for him.
Crew cut since 8 years old here (due to a certain sport). Thinning in the middle but don’t really care.
He’s a great example. Jobs just wouldn’t have looked right, or had the same gravitas if he had hung onto that full head of hair from his 20s. I’m guessing your sport was swimming?
She’d drop you like a hot Rock for Steve. Unless your in the billion dollar club hair doesn’t matter . I’m 63 and have great hair. I love it when a baldee passes by me in a Porsche…I just put my hands through my hair and smile!
You’ll have to elaborate on the connection between money and hair. On the one hand we have Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos – wealthy and bald or balding. On the other we have Elon Musk and Donald Trump. Neither needed the hair if money was all that mattered. But at least Musk did his hair redux right. Finally, with most hair transplants being done by men with average financial means, should we be led to believe that having hair is the only way to somehow *make* more money?
I came across a few photo shopped Jason Statham pics, with full head of hair overlaid. Looks silly.
Do you drive a Honda Fit by chance? It’d make me feel better about my “wheels situation” too… 😉
Heck yes, no spending $10k on hair!! Women get bombarded from a too-young age about how much money needs to be spent to stay pretty, but it appears men are targeted for some big ones I was completely unaware of. I stopped dyeing my hair in my early 20s and now my goal is to continue NOT to dye it and let the grays come as they may. Aging gracefully is one of my big long term goals for sure. I think there’s a badge of honor there in actually showing your years. That, and maybe someday I’ll stop getting carded 😉
It was a silly notion on my part, honestly. I was surprised I went as far as I did, but glad the Mrs. pulled me quickly back to reality. Besides, some big unexpected expenses popped up after the consult, so that $10K wouldn’t have found a home anywhere near THIS budget. Graceful aging, here we come!
Welcome to the buzz club! I buzzed my hair for over 10 years now and it’s great. I must have saved over $1,000 by now. Unless your hair is a big part of your career, I don’t think a transplant is worth it. That’s a lot of trouble to go through. It’s fine for Elan because he’s a public figure. Own it! 😀
Thanks man!! I had you in the back of my mind (along with Fritz, Jeremy, Keith, Steve and others).. Loving the DIY haircuts and no product necessary.
My buzz cut might look like a shaved monkey’s butt, but I’m owning it all the way!!! 🙂
“and a left nut unknowingly exposed”, man that was funny stuff!! I spit my water out when I got to that line.
I am fortunate in that at the ripe old age of 46 I still have a full head of hair, although rapidly graying due to our 3 young children. I have been cutting it myself for the last 2 years and keep going back and forth between a buzz and longer hair. Summer its’s pretty much buzz and Michigan winters I tend to wear it longer. I do love the low maintenance of a good buzz cut though.
Hey man, if you’ve got it, you can flaunt it! I will miss the extra cold protection a longer cut gives you, but the trade off is being able to wear a winter hat without fudging up your spikes.
Keep an eye on those nuts, my friend. They’re squirrely some times… 😉
Bald is beautiful. Been a chrome dome for over 40 years. Lost it all in a few months. Was concerned until I realized I looked like my maternal grandfathers. Dam those genes, anyway.
To compensate, grew a beard, resulting in a low (no) maintenance head. It’s an engineering solution — a quick swipe with the washrag and I’m ready to go. OK, I occasionally trim the beard.
I agree with your wife. Aging gracefully is the way to go. Screw the vanity, and save/invest the $$$.
Or, nearly-bald is beautiful in my case (I hope!) 🙂 The chrome dome works on you, Daryl. It’s a small comfort sometimes to know your genetic future, when all that’s at stake is hair loss. Still, dang those genes!!!
Hopefully you’re enjoying some warmth while us up-norderners suffer through another colder-than-normal month of “autumn”.
my hair thinned around college but kinda stayed the same until a few years ago. when it goes away for good i’ll be fine with it. locks stock was one great movie. he was in snatch, too, guy ritchie’s follow up if you haven’t seen it. hair is overrated. i went and got a velvet jacket instead of caring about hair. be funny and interesting with decent shoes and all will be fine.
Thanks, Freddy – You are among the wisest! (and not just wise cracks either!) You’re absolutely right. Be interesting, and don’t try the comb over. Decent shoes – totally.
(and btw, saw “Snatch” and it is a great flick. As is “The Bank Job” and “Transporter 2”.)
I was one of those guys who was starting to thin by the end of college and was almost completely bald by my mid-20s. The best thing I ever did was to embrace it. Once I stopped trying to hide it or pretend it wasn’t happening, I felt much more confident about it. Sure, I wish I had a full head of hair, but it’s really not anything I think about too often. Just make sure you wear a hat when you’re going to be outside for long periods. Trust me, sunburn on the scalp is the worst!
Funny. That was my first introduction to thinning hair- SUNBURN. I’ll never forget hanging out at the pool one day, and having the worst burn on my temples. I didn’t realize there wasn’t hair there anymore! And now with the buzz cut, you can bet I’ll be wearing a cap.
Welcome to the club, Cubert, welcome! The club of people who have accepted one’s bald dome 😀
Thanks man! The Hairless Club for Men. I can dig that!! 🙂
Careful about the all encompassing “hairless” ….just the dome for me!
LOL. Fair enough! 🙂
I’m going to add a few brief points here. I weighed the pros and cons of a hair transplant and decided to do it. I’m not an advocate of spouting about the benefits without telling you the risks. I actually went to turkey and it was a long and exhausting trip from the USA. You risk a botched surgery in both the USA and abroad if you don’t do your research. There are several cosmetic surgery review sites on the internet you don’t have to look hard for. I posted my review monthly for the last 7 months. The people closest to me are either lying or afraid to tell me the truth when they say my hair looks much better. The buttom line is you can’t pigeon hole any person into saying they should or shouldn’t get a transplant. My argument is you will never know what it will do to your esteem and appearance until you have the procedure. That being said, I faced a long recovery and my new hair didn’t start growing for 4 full months! You have to accept that this surgery is probably least instantly gratifying of all cosmetic procedures. It literally takes months for your head to heal and hurts like a b when you are getting the numbing injections. The procedure isn’t short either- it was around 8.5 hours for me. I must say I’m thrilled with the results at the seven month mark. If your wife doesn’t care that’s great. I have an honest enough relationship with my wife for her to let me know it made a tremendous difference in my appearance- especially age. So my advice to anyone is if you are happy with the shaved look go for it! If you aren’t I would fully recommend doing something about your balding. These procedures have come a long way and my hair looks completely natural. PS- my cost was 3500 with flight from Ohio. I had 4600 grafts.
Hi Michael!
Thanks for sharing your experience. In fairness, you’re absolutely right. This procedure has come a LONG way in the last 10-20 years. The results can be spectacular. Just look at Elon Musk! And what a bonus – you saved a LOT of money by finding a solution outside the U.S. If you do your homework, you can get the results you sought, at less than HALF the cost.
My main thrust in the post wasn’t to shame anyone who has had the procedure. Instead, it was to give MYSELF a little kick in the arse to try the buzz cut and see where that takes me. I’ve found it liberating and a source of added confidence. Maybe as much confidence had I had the transplant? Maybe one day I’ll find out. But for now, I’m putting more energy into fitness so I can rock the balding look like Handsome Rob does. 🙂
Best!
A few points I actually left out. Your comments are dead on about propecia. Or the generic termed “finasteride”. I will go on record for anyone that wants to listen – this stuff is dangerous. Ignore the warning labels and the previous people who used this drug at your own peril! I took it for all of 4 days before I noticed absolutely devastating side effects. I immediately stopped the drug and threw away my 3 month supply. As far as cutting your hair, I agree it’s a great way to save money. I was rocking the ultra short look for years and when I got so thin started using fibers (SMH). The good news is I still cut my own hair but use a much longer 1.25 inch guard. Best Regards and I enjoyed reading your article!
Thanks for sharing, Michael! Rx so often comes with so-called “rare” side effects. The question is to what degree users suffer these effects?? I’ve come across way too many examples in my research of men using the drug who had to stop for a variety of issues.
So many errors in this article.
.here goes:
1
Elon Musk didn’t have a transplant, he is wearing an advanced wig ( called a “weave”)
2
Bruce Willis had a transplant and it looked horrible.
3.
Prooecia is the “weak” dht blocker. The better one is Dutasteride.
4.
10K$ for a mediocre transplant? Hardly. Go to Istanbul, the transplant center of the World and pay a fraction for 3500-4000 grafts by better and more experienced doctors.
Was anything in the article right?
Probably not, but thanks for your hyper-accurate contributions, Lars!
Dude… I wouldn’t go back at this point. Way to easy to get ready in the morning or after a workout. I do collect some hats these days, so maybe some of the savings is being eaten up by my new wardrobe. But yeah.. I’m not missing the ‘do’.
Right on! It’s almost *too* easy getting ready and such. And hats only get in the way of fast ventilation of body heat (so much of it escapes through the noggin!)
When I reached the point Elon joined the story I already wanted to come up with Jason Statham and the buzz-cut badassity. I have read somewhere a funny post about muscle setups on man. At one side the showoffs and pumped-up gym rats who only want to look good on the beach and the other side the guys like JS with functional muscles. The comment was something like “this is the type who is fighting bears in the mountains” 🙂
Hair implant? For what? As a hardware guy, you should know that the bigger the number of moving parts in a system the bigger the possibility for failure also. I would not spend 10k on hair implants even if they would put Elon’s hair on my head (still it would be kind of cool and weird the same time). I am also losing my hair slowly but the only regret is the lowering chance of rocking a mohawk once more. One fellow Hungarian bald guy said once that the biggest benefit of being bald is that you can wash your head like your hand 😀
You most definitely will NOT find me fighting bears in the mountains. Not unless Mr. 1500 somehow tractor-beams our family out to Longmont. (Which wouldn’t be bad!)
I am digging the low maintenance aspects of this change. Still using shampoo though, cuz there’s still some left in the bottle. 🙂
Men who embrace their baldness are definitely viewed as more confident than men who try to cover it up. Women love confidence! Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was voted sexiest man alive in 2016.
Thank you, Debt Shrink! The Rock hasn’t slowed down a bit, has he? If he had a full head of hair, it wouldn’t seem right to me. Bald is better!
Great post, Cubert! My hair has been thinning for a while now. I’ve been trying to hide it by using the LeBron spray paint for the past year. It’s definitely time to let go and embrace the bald look!
Thanks Peerless! Let us know how the bald look works out for you. I’m still loving it, but the weekly maintenance is something to get a little used to…
I don’t know if I agree with you. My husband makes an average salary and strongly desired a hair transplant. I would never deny him the right to feel better about himself. He researched the FUE procedure from the Newport Hair Specialists. Although it was a pricey procedure, he had excellent results and no complications. I think it all depends on who you are and how strongly you want your hair back. It can be a huge confidence booster.
I’m not one to judge, Jennifer, so congrats! I just hope he didn’t have to stick with the meds and avoids having to do a re-do later on. Ironically, I feel I have MORE confidence as the trimmer guards get smaller. In fact, my wife no longers uses a guard when cutting my hair. Stubble heads rock!