The Life of a Hair-transplant Secret Agent
In
the pursuit of a permanent answer to hair loss, Spencer Stevenson
has endured an amazing FIVE hair transplants and spent £33,000
in his battle to beat baldness.
Now he tells us about his double life, running a property
business, but also working as a renowned hair transplant expert,
respected by thousands of fellow sufferers around the world,
including many A-list celebrities.
The job also involves answering some tricky questions, such
as:
1. A well-known A-list celebrity asked how soon he was able
to make love after the procedure?
2. An actor from a well known UK TV show wanted to know how
soon after his hair transplant would he be able to put his
highlights in?
3. A famous sportsman asked if it were possible to use pubic
hair for a hair transplant?
(Answers at end of article)
Here Spencer tells us his about his life…
“An A-list actor is bending his head to show me his balding
pate. I now have a vantage point on something he, his agent
and the makers of the Hollywood films he stars in want no
one to see.
I know this because he has flown me to the US, put me up in
a hotel and made me sign a confidentiality agreement.
His hair loss is not too bad: a spot in the crown, coupled
with thinning at the temples – a scenario familiar to millions
of men the world over. But I’m here to give him advice, on
the quiet, about hair transplants.
Most of my friends and colleagues know only that I’m 37, I
live in Nottinghamshire with my wife and four-year-old twins
and I run my own property business. But today, I want to reveal
my other life: I am a hair-transplant guru.
I meet men all over Britain, Europe and America to advise
them on this operation. Some are famous names in showbusiness,
terrified that their hair loss will spell the end of their
career.
Recently, I visited a soap star who had already had one hair
transplant, with bad results. His major concern was that the
head usually has to be shaved before a transplant and he didn’t
want to get ‘papped’ in this state.
He decided to go to America for his surgery, which has gone
undetected. Then there was the American actor, well-known
for a hit US series, who wanted to know (true to his on-screen
persona) how soon after the operation he would be able to
make love. The answer, of course, is straight away if you’re
careful.
But the majority of my work is with ordinary men like me.
Most recently, I helped Morgan Spurlock – of Super Size Me
fame – with his latest documentary, Mansome, an exploration
of the booming male-grooming phenomenon.
Between
2002 and 2006, the market in Britain alone tripled to an estimated
value of £781 million. Sales of body lotions, body-toning
gels, depilatories and sun-care products among men increased
by 77 per cent in this period.
Cosmetic surgery for men has witnessed a similar explosion.
But the most prominent rise has been in the number of hair
transplants. Worldwide last year there were almost 300,000
– and 83 per cent of patients were men. This boom is in part
due to how common hair loss is: a quarter of men start to
lose their hair by 30 and two-thirds by 60.
But it’s also been boosted by several high-profile figures
‘coming out’ about their transplants: footballer Wayne Rooney,
actor James Nesbitt and, most recently, singer Jason Donovan.
Rooney’s and Nesbitt’s are excellent examples: natural-looking,
with great hair coverage.
But some rumoured transplants aren’t such good adverts: Nicolas
Cage’s, Mickey Rourke’s and Mel Gibson’s.
I’m known in the industry as Spex, a childhood nickname I
revived to use in hair-transplant forums. My blog about the
treatments for male-pattern baldness is one of the most trusted
in the field.
My second, covert career came about through bitter personal
experience.
In 1997, I was 21 and losing my hair. It horrified me. My
brown, messy locks were my thing, part of my identity. I felt
robbed. I stopped going out and feeling good about myself.
To try to disguise the hair loss, I shaved my head. But people
just made jokes, saying I looked like Grant Mitchell from
EastEnders.
After a couple of years, I was so self-conscious about going
bald – none of my friends was – that I needed to be around
people who didn’t know me before. So I decided to go traveling
for six months.
Towards the end of my trip, in 2000, I was in New York, watching
the Super Bowl on television. An advertisement came on for
something called a hair-restoration clinic. I looked them
up when I got home, did a bit of research and called them.
A few weeks later, I was flying off for a consultation.
They told me they could give me all of my hair back via a
procedure called follicular-unit transplant, also known as
‘strip’. A couple of months later, I flew out for the treatment.
Over four hours (it can take a few procedures for the entire
crown or top to be filled in, but mine was a smaller area),
they removed a strip of hair-bearing skin from the back of
my head and dissected it into clumps of three or four hairs.
These ‘micro grafts’ were then transplanted to the part of
my head where there was balding. It didn’t hurt, as they used
a good local anaesthetic.
At the time, it was the most advanced option – in the Seventies
and Eighties they grafted up to 20 hairs at a time, giving
that telltale doll’s-hair look. My procedure cost £6,000 –
money I didn’t have. My mother paid for it because she knew
how desperate I was.
At
the time, I thought the transplant had gone well and I flew
home the next day. There was redness and swelling, covered
by bandages, and I wore a hat for a few days. It was very
uncomfortable but, like the redness, this subsided after a
few weeks.
I only told my mother and my sister I’d had it done. Later,
I turned to online forums for hair transplants and started
sharing my story anonymously.
The full effect of a transplant takes months to emerge, as
many of the hairs fall out before regrowing. But after seven
months, mine was not looking good. The transplanted hairs
didn’t fully cover the bald areas and, because the hairs had
been transplanted in clumps, my transplant was obvious.
The clinic said they could fix it. Several months later, I
went back. They transplanted a further 500 hair grafts, widening
the scar on the back of my head. A further seven months went
by. The effect was still patchy.
Over the next three years, I had another two transplants at
this New York clinic. I should have cut my losses and gone
elsewhere but I was naive. The total price was about £25,000.
After four procedures, I had better, but not sufficient, hair
coverage. I was taking the drug Propecia, which helps prevent
further hair loss by blocking the hormone that causes it –
dihydrotestosterone. But still my hairline looked unnatural.
I wore a hat most of the time and for occasions when I couldn’t,
I started applying a hair-thickening powder called Toppik.
By 2004, I had started dating my future wife, Natalie, who’s
35. At first, if she tried to touch my hair, I would push
her hand away. It took six months for me to tell her and she
said my hair didn’t matter to her. That was nice but it didn’t
resolve my low self-esteem.
I started sharing my experiences in internet forums, warning
people about the risks. I kept seeing a surgeon’s name mentioned:
Dr Alan Feller.
I decided to contact him. He is also based in New York and
was pioneering follicular-unit extraction, where individual
follicles are taken from the back or sides of the head and
implanted separately, or in small groups, for a natural look.
He examined my hairline and promised to fix it. To my huge
relief, he did, even filling in the scar on the back of my
head with hairs.
This time, the procedure, which costs from about £8,000, took
eight hours, which is average. It is painstaking but not painful.
You can walk around, go to the loo, and have lunch.
In 2008, I set up my blog giving advice about hair transplants.
Realising its impact, Dr Feller asked me to become a paid
adviser for him. I wouldn’t have to recommend him, I would
simply talk to men who made enquiries, and meet them to show
them my hairline.
Soon, I was advising dozens of men a week via email, and now
meet with three or four a week. The key advice I would offer
to anyone wanting a transplant is: do not rush into it and
do a lot of research.
There are exploitative companies in this industry that know
they can take vast sums of money from vulnerable guys. Many
clinics are dishonest – even their ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos
may not be realistic. The best way of spotting this is if
the angle and lighting of the two photos is different.
Also, do not be swayed by offers – if they’re offering ‘special
deals’, run a mile. If they suddenly have a cancellation,
don’t take it. These are all signs that they need your business
more than you need their service.
Ask to meet former patients. Don’t be afraid to inspect their
hair. When I meet men considering a transplant, they can touch
my hair, I will wet it for them, comb it in front of them,
whatever they want. Be prepared to travel. In my experience
the best surgeons are at present in North America.
Most
importantly, manage your expectations – if you’re almost completely
bald, you will not be able to get it all back. Not everyone
has enough donor hair to fill their bald patch.
Many men ask what proportion of transplants succeed or fail,
but it isn’t that transplanting hairs doesn’t work, or the
hairs fall out. It’s more that men either aren’t satisfied
or the transplant doesn’t fill the bald patch completely,
or naturally.
Before you even consider a hair transplant, look into going
on Propecia (not suitable for women) or applying Minoxidil
(a topical hair-loss treatment) for at least six months first,
to strengthen existing hair and prevent further hair loss.
Finally, after ten years, I am happy with my hair. I want
everyone to feel like this by going into hair-transplant surgery
armed with facts. If you are one of the celebrities, sportsmen
or politicians I’ve advised, you can relax, too: I’ll take
your secret to the grave.”
Article by Spencer Stevenson
Answers to questions at top of article:
1. A well-known A-list celebrity asked how soon he was able
to make love after the procedure?
Answer: Straight away if you’re careful.
2. An actor from a well known UK TV show wanted to know how
soon after his Hair transplant would he be able to put his
highlights in?
Answer: At least 6 months, to allow the scalp time to recover
and hair grow.
3. A famous sportsman asked if it were possible to use pubic
hair for a hair transplant?
Answer: Unfortunately no, it’s not a matching texture.
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