Richie Clemente started losing his hair in his early 20’s, and often wore a ball cap to hide his hair loss. Now in his 30’s, he’s started to embrace his baldness and shaved his head completely, just like many Hollywood celebrities, including Bruce Willis, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, and Vin Diesel, among others.

“A lot of like actors have been doing the shaving and keeping their stuff bald and low, and it kinda looked good. Pitbull (the popular American rapper) does it,” Clemente said.

Even though the bald look is gaining popularity, wanting a full head of hair—like when you were young, is still undeniably appealing.

Recapturing Youth

Bill (who asked us not to use his last name) is in his 60’s and got a hair transplant about three years ago.

“I think having a full head of hair, it gave me some confidence, that maybe I was losing with each follicle,” Bill said with a laugh.

Hair transplant surgeon Dr. Michael Markou performed Bill’s first hair procedure and is consulting with him again for a possible second procedure to make his hair even thicker.

Dr. Markou says hair transplants have become more accepted these days, just as most other cosmetic procedures have.

“Everybody’s getting a little Botox, a little lunchtime facelift,” he said, “and they talk about it openly. They have fun with it and enjoy the idea of looking younger.”

Advancements in Technique

“The grafts have all grown in,” Dr. Markou told Bill, checking his scalp. “They look great.”

The hair transplant process has evolved in recent years.  When Bill had it done, Dr. Markou removed a thin, strip of hair and tissue from the back of his head, dissected it into individual units, and implanted them in the balding area of his receding hair line. Today, he can also use a robot to remove individual hair follicles, which are then implanted.

Dr. Markou says both procedures work, but the robot leaves no visible scar, instead of the thin line left by the strip method.

“I anaesthetize the front locally.  I’ll create all the pores, and will place the grafts in there and they’ll coagulate,” Dr. Markou said explaining the process.

He says the success rate for transplants is as high as 90-100 percent, as long as the patient is a good candidate.

“The hair will grow when transplanted, as long as it would have grown back here,” he said motioning to the lower back of the head, just above the neck.  “A good candidate is a patient who has a lot of hair back here, that’s not thinning; that’s still thick.”

Growing Popularity with Women

Men still make up the overwhelming majority of hair transplant patients, but it is becoming more popular with women who have thinning hair as they age or conditions like alopecia areata.

“Women lose the receding area. So we can redraw that line and fill this back in and now they have hair and bangs to comb,” Dr. Markou said.

He says the hair growth can also be aided by new stem cell treatments injected into the implanted area.

“We inject it into the thinning areas and it helps to grow back hair, helps to thicken existing hairs, and it helps to decrease hair loss in many patients.”

Results Not Immediate

One thing to note is that results are not immediate. Bill says that made him nervous, at first.

“Some of them (the hairs) fall out and that caused a lot of anxiety with me at the beginning,” Bill said.

Dr. Markou explained that some hair falling out is normal due to the trauma of the implant, but the follicle remains, and that is what regrows the hair.

“The permanent hair growth will grow in about 3-6 months, and most of the hair transplanted will be fully grown out within 6-9 months,” he said.

Cost of Hair Transplant

The cost of a hair transplant depends on the size of the area being treated. Dr. Markou says the average is about $4,000 with the strip method or $8,000 to $9,000 with a robot. It is generally not covered by insurance.

If you decide to make that investment, be sure to go to a licensed physician and ask to see before and after pictures from that doctor’s own patients.

It’s not for everyone, but the pay-off for many is worth it.

“It gave me confidence,” Bill said, “made me feel good.”