Hair Transplant Facts and Myths
- Hair restoration is restoring hair to a thinning or balding area.
- Hair restoration may involve hair follicle transplants to fill in a thinning or balding area, a receding hairline, or an area of the scalp that has gone completely bald.
- Hair restoration may also refer to restoring natural hair growth through regenerative techniques.
- Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a hair restoration technique.
- For hair restoration, prescribed hair growth medications might also be necessary in some cases.
- A hair transplant It’s a surgery that moves hair you already have to fill a patch with thin or no hair.
- Surgeons have been doing these transplants in the U.S. since the 1950s.
- The best hair transplant candidates are people in good health who still have areas of thick hair and know what to expect about hair replacement results.
- Different types of hair transplant procedures include grafting, scalp reduction, flap surgery, and tissue expansion.
- In the United States, all hair transplant doctors are medical school graduates who have passed national board exams and received a license to practice medicine and surgery in their particular state.
- A doctor can legally perform a hair transplant procedure only with a license in the United States.
- Hair transplant techniques have advanced a great deal in recent years. The procedure is performed in a doctor’s office.
- The surgeon first cleans your scalp and injects anesthesia to numb the back of your head.
- There are 2 methods for hair transplants: Follicular Unit Strip Surgery (FUSS) and Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE).
- The FUSS procedure refers to removing a 6- to 10-inch strip of skin from the back of the scalp.
- The strip is set aside and sewed the scalp closed. The hair around it immediately hides the area.
- With the FUSS procedure, the surgeon divides the strip of removed scalp skin into 500 to 2,000 tiny grafts, each individual or a few hairs.
- In the FUSS procedure, the number and type of graft you get depend on your hair type, quality, color, and the size of the area where you’re getting the transplant.
- With the FUE procedure, the surgeon will shave the back of your scalp.
- In the FUE procedure, the doctor will remove hair follicles one by one from the back of the scalp.
- In the FUE procedure, the area heals with small dots, which your existing hair will cover.
- Depending on the side of the hair transplant, the procedure will take between 4 to 8 hours.
- The most common myth about hair loss and transplants is that it’s only for males. Females also require the procedure.
- The second myth is that hair loss and transplants are only for elderly men and women.
- Benefits of a hair restoration procedure include a fuller head of hair with fewer bald areas, improved self-esteem, and a permanent hair loss solution.
- Areas of hair restoration include head, eyebrows, beard, and sideburns.
Hair Transplant Statistics
- Hair restoration is the process of stimulating new hair growth with regenerative treatments.
- Hair growth medications and hair transplants are procedures for hair restoration.
- The hair transplant process involves transplanting healthy hair follicles to thinning or balding areas.
- 12 months is the time it takes on average to see results from a hair transplant procedure.
- More than 2.2 million hair restorations were performed in 2021.
- 7% was the increase in hair in 2021 from 2019.
- Over 703,000 hair restoration procedures were done worldwide in 2021.
- The total hair restoration market value in the United States in 2021 was valued at $4.5 Billion USD.
- 37% were the reported hair restoration procedures reported in 2021 by the transgender community.
- 81% had hair restoration treatments in 2021 due to genetic hair loss.
- 68% of hair transplant cases in the United States reported in 2021 performed at least one hair transplant procedure.
- Males in the United States reported 87% of surgical hair transplant cases in 2021.
- Females reported 13% of surgical hair transplant cases in the United States in 2021.
- 62% of non-surgical hair transplant cases were reported by males in the United States in 2021.
- Females reported 38% of non-surgical hair transplant cases in the United States in 2021.
- 11% of females reported having eyebrow hair transplants in 2021.
- 4% of females reported having mustache/beard hair transplants in 2021.
- 25% of hair transplant surgeons reported increased procedures due to being on camera at Zoom meetings.
- 54% of hair transplant professionals witnessed an increase in hair transplant procedures in 2021.
- 5.4% of hair restoration patients sought treatment to repair previous hair restoration procedures on the black market.
- 4.2% was the increase in repairing hair restoration procedures performed in the black market before 2021.
- 51% of patients reported there are black market hair restoration clinics operating in the United States.
- 16% of accredited hair transplant professionals reported adjusting their prices due to black market clinics’ competition.
- The top 3 most commonly prescribed non-surgical treatments in 2021 included oral finasteride, topical minoxidil, and platelet-rich plasma (PRP).
- 26% of hair transplant patients were prescribed oral minoxidil in 2021, a 10% increase from 2019.
- 12% of hair transplant patients were prescribed dutasteride in 2021, a 6% increase from 2019.
- 17% of hair transplant patients were prescribed topical finasteride in 2021, a 14% increase from 2019.
- Risks associated with hair transplant procedures include allergic reaction to anesthesia., excessive blood loss, failed grafts or flaps, Infection, loss of feeling on your scalp, and scarring.
- Side effects of hair transplant surgery include crust or scabs, itching, loss of feeling, pain or throbbing, swelling, and tightness.
- On average, a person might need “touch-up” hair transplant procedures to achieve a natural-looking result.
- 66.2% of hair transplants are FUE, 31.5% are FUT, and 2.35% use both procedures.
- 87.3% of patients who get hair transplants are men, according to the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (2022).
- Every 13th man has a hair transplant.
- Men are 5.3 times more likely to seek treatment.
- Only you can be your hair donor.
- The average cost of a UK hair transplant is £4,820.
- The market for hair restoration surgery has increased by 10% since 2016.
- 34.7% of people worldwide have a hair transplant.
- 37% of people worldwide choose surgical hair restoration to better their appearance.
- £4,820 on average is the cost of a hair transplant procedure in the United Kingdom.
- 6% are hair repair procedures due to botching black market hair transplant surgeries in the United Kingdom.
- 97% or higher is the success rate of a hair transplant procedure reported in the United Kingdom.
- 87% of hair transplant clinics offer free consultations in the United Kingdom.
- 42.7% of patients will require more than 1 hair transplant procedure before age 80.
Sources: WebMD, Cleveland Clinic, Hair Transplant, ISHRS, Hair Loss Doctors, Wolfeld, AAD, Wimpole.