I have previously talked about how so many people are using topical Minoxidil (Rogaine) on their faces to grow thicker beards. People are even using derma rollers on their face to grow more facial hair! In some cultures (e.g., Indian, Islamic), the vast majority of men have at least some facial hair. Those with very sparse beards often feel like they stand out or are unmanly. A lot of Asian men with limited facial hair also desire more coverage. Some end up getting beard transplants, a subject that I have never written about until today.
In a beard transplant procedure, people get some of their scalp hair moved to their face in order to get a larger and denser beard. This type of surgical procedure is sacrilegious to all of us who are trying everything to at least maintain our precious depleting scalp hair. Even worse, many men who have scalp hair loss also tend to have excessive body hair, including beards. I really hate shaving my beard hair daily and would love to lose 75% of it.
Note that when it comes to the reverse procedure of moving body hair to the scalp (i.e., body hair transplants, aka BHT), the type of hair that does the best on the scalp is beard hair! Of all the types of body hair, beard hair seems to be the closest to scalp hair when it comes to thickness, texture and growth cycle.
The Rise of Beard Transplants
I thought about writing this post after reading a lengthy new article published in the Guardian this week titled: “The sudden, surprising rise of beard transplants: This industry is a wild west”. One UK surgeon says that beard transplants at his clinic have tripled since 2020, with 90% of them being for aesthetic reasons. The rest are to fix scars and burns.
The article discusses the increasing popularity of beard transplants, and warns us about the dangers of getting the procedure at illicit clinics with inexperienced surgeons. The bald and bearded author Simon Usborne discusses the tragic case of 24-year old French student Mathieu Vigier Latour. He committed suicide in 2024 after a botched beard transplant he received in Istanbul.
He paid £1,000 for 4,000 grafts from the back of his head, very cheap by western standards. It turned out that his surgeon was a moonlighting estate agent.
When the new facial hair started to grow out:
“It looked like a hedgehog, it was unmanageable.”
Turkish hair transplant surgeons Dr. Özlem Biçer warns that one factor that makes beard transplants particularly challenging is the presence of so many nerves in the face.
Renowned hair transplant advisor Spencer Stevenson (Spex) is featured in the article. He discusses how beard transplants are technically challenging and the stakes are higher.
“You can have a bad hair transplant and sometimes get away with it, but with a beard it’s a whole new kettle of fish because it’s on your face. You can’t put a hat on it.”
Spex also gave an interview to the Moncrieff Highlights Podcast this week that is worth a listen. And in case you want a thicker beard, The r/beards subreddit has 1.2 million members.