BY: DANIEL KORN
It’s a good time to be a dude with a beard. It used to be that a beard was a signifier of belonging to some sort of deviant subculture—a hippie, or a biker, or a metalhead. Now I can walk into a job interview rocking a full beard and it doesn’t really matter. And thank goodness, because as a guy who was practically bald by the age of 20, the ability to grow hair on my face—and the social acceptance of the same—is the only way for me to obtain a modicum of control over my hair style. Some people aren’t so lucky, and in these times of beard regularity, are envious of their fellow, more stubbly man.
To compensate, in the past few years a disproportionate amount of men—primarily, according to Dr. Jamil Asaria, in major hip cities like New York, Toronto, and Portland—have been getting beard transplants. In fact, The International Society of Hair Restoration says that the number of facial hair transplants increased 9.5 percent globally from 2010 to 2012.
The International Society of Hair Restoration says that the number of facial hair transplants increased 9.5 per cent globally from 2010 to 2012.
Photo: Damon Dashlen/Huffington Post
The procedure involved is the same as a typical head hair transplant, wherein hair follicles from the back of the patient’s head are removed and then “grafted” on to their face. If the patient is bald, chest hair can also be used as a substitute, though speaking form personal experience, I’ve never met a hairy-chested man who can’t already grow a beard of their own.
A facial hair transplant costs anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000 USD and takes about two to six hours, depending on how many follicles the doctor needs to transplant. Most of the people getting beard transplants are merely filling in patches—maybe they almost have a goatee but just can’t grow those elusive connectors, or want to connect the pasty bridge between their chin hair and sideburns to complete their chinstrap—but some of the more follically-challenged get the full package.
A facial hair transplant costs anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000 USD and takes about two to six hours, depending on how many follicles the doctor needs to transplant.
Beard transplants are permanent, and The Private Clinic of Harley Street contends that they look “completely natural.” This is certainly the case for the patch jobs, but there’s an artificial flavour to the full face transplants, mainly stemming from a lack of imperfections—it’s just a little too well-sculpted to be natural. But that’s from looking at pictures; you probably wouldn’t notice from close-up.
The idea of a beard transplant is easily scoffed at, but I fail to see how anything that makes someone more comfortable with their appearance is a bad thing.
No longer do you have to be more jealous of your fellow, more stubbly man.
Sources: phillymag.com, turkeymedica.com, huffingtonpost.com
