The wide array of hair restoration options is certainly a far cry from the days when men reluctantly accepted baldness. They now have a raft of options for restoring a thinning thatch. As well as transplants, there are laser therapy treatments, which claim to bring follicles back to life, stimulating hair growth.
There are nifty little weaves that attach to your existing strands and a concealer (essentially microscopic hair-like fibres that you sprinkle on your scalp like hundreds and thousands, and which cling to your thinning strands). There is even hope for billiard-ball baldies in the shape of a tattooing treatment that creates the effect of scalp stubble.
Most of these options have been around for a while, of course, but it’s the transplant — ultimately the most effective treatment — that is the procedure du jour.
There is definitely a market out there for hair restoration. Eight million men in Britain suffer from hair loss, with 40 per cent of under-35s already going thin on top — and they are worried sick about it.
A recent survey showed that men fret more about baldness than they do about finding a long-term partner, bankruptcy or their bedroom performance — a fact that comes as no surprise to the psychotherapist Lucy Beresford. ‘Hair loss in most cultures is associated with ageing, and the subtext of ageing is a loss of strength and power,’ she says. ‘The implication is that men with thinning hair aren’t alpha males.’
Certainly, you’ve got to have an alpha-male sense of adventure — not to mention a deep pocket — to undergo a transplant (which may cost between £10,000 and £30,000). The procedure, though, is relatively straightforward. The preferred technique is third-generation follicular unit extraction (FUE), a treatment that involves hairs from the back or side of the head (or the chest, if necessary) being removed and implanted into the bald spots. Because the ‘donor hair’ from these areas is resistant to the effects of dihydrotestosterone (the hormone that triggers male-pattern baldness), it has a better chance of staying put once transplanted.
