BBCI'm bald and this has bothered me for a long time.
What bothered me was that I was worried. But just one scroll down my Instagram feed shows that I'm not the only man who is self-conscious about his hair.
I am greeted with videos and posts offering hair transplants, regrowth pills, thickening sprays, gap-filling powders, and hair systems (once known as wigs or wigs).
These products promise to restore my “lost confidence” and stop my lack of hair from “holding back” my life.
But does the variety of treatment options available mean a change in attitudes towards hair loss? Is what was once seen as something to be dealt with now seen as reversible, albeit at a cost?
According to the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS), hair transplantation is becoming more common around the world, and people getting it are getting younger.
This global collective of surgeons, doctors and experts found that 95% of its members' patients sought hair restoration surgery between the ages of 20 and 35 – something hair loss surgeon Dr Nilofer Farjo confirms is the case in the UK.
When my hair first started falling out in my early 20s, I tried my best to hide it by strategically styling and positioning it to hide new areas of my scalp that I hadn't seen before.
Then, while my brother was at a stag party in a Liverpool nightclub, something happened that I haven't forgotten since.
I suggested that we wear white T-shirts and carry permanent markers so people we meet can write fun things on our shirts.
“Best man? Best hair,” one woman wrote.
I laughed about it at the time, but inside I was crushed. It was clear that my hair loss was now visible to other people. And from then on, I became more and more embarrassed about my thinning hair.
When I was younger, bald men were often the butt of jokes, but trying to get lost hair back seemed effeminate and vain to me. However, I began to wonder if hair transplant was my only option. Was this an opportunity for someone like me? In my opinion, they were only meant for rich people and celebrities like Elton John.
Fast forward ten years, social media and dating apps have made us more aware of what we look like, says Dr Farjo, and the fact that celebrities and influencers have become more open about hair transplants has normalized the procedure.
She says more and more young people are now choosing to treat their hair loss, and what was once considered a “vanity indulgence” is now considered a “self-care routine”.
When I started considering a hair transplant, I had just graduated from university, had little money, and had no idea how much the procedure would actually cost.
I started doing some research and discovered a nearby transplant clinic offering free consultations and monthly payment plans.
“You’re still quite young,” I remember the hair transplant consultant telling me as he drew on my scalp with a felt-tip pen. “After this transplant, your hair may fall out even more. But you can just come and fill them out.”
Despite the payment plan, I realized that I could not afford a hair transplant, especially if I had to come and get a refill later in life.
Since my consultation in Cardiff in 2014, I have heard that men are increasingly traveling abroad to countries such as Turkey to have hair transplants. Dr Farjo says this is because costs are only a fraction of what they are in the UK.
But while the price may be attractive, she says there are concerns about industry practices and limited regulation. Dr Farjo also warns that cheap, unregulated procedures, not just in Turkey, can sometimes result in people needing “expensive corrective surgery” to combat scarring and “poor hairline design.”
But hair transplantation in Turkey is still popular, and there are many satisfied clients, including content creator Ben Placito.
After some humorous comments from his hairdresser, Ben decided to consider a hair transplant. And after months of research, he discovered that it would be cheaper to carry out the procedure in Turkey than in the UK.
Some quotes from Turkish clinics were “crazy cheap”, says Ben, offering the operation for around £1,500. But the 31-year-old decided not to go for the cheapest hair transplant and opted for the “premium” option instead.
Ben felt confident in his chosen clinic after talking to other men who had been there and had good experiences. Ben traveled to Turkey in 2022 to undergo the procedure and shared his experience on his TikTok account.
“People told me, 'This is the best thing you've done,'” Ben says. “I'm really glad I did it.”
Ben PlacitoAbout a year after I gave up on the idea of surgery, I came across an advertisement for a clinic offering non-surgical treatments, such as finasteride tablets and minoxidil cream, which can be used to stimulate hair growth.
Finasteride is one of the most common hair loss pills, taken by tens of thousands of men in the UK. It can only be purchased by private prescription.
It works by preventing testosterone from being converted into another hormone called dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which can stop hair growth.
Minoxidil, originally a blood pressure drug, causes hair growth as a side effect and is usually sold as a daily cream applied directly to the hair and scalp.
I paid several hundred pounds for a combination course of minoxidil and finasteride, but the treatment requires constant daily dosing and I often forgot the doses. Eventually I realized I couldn't justify the expense and couldn't believe I could stick with it. I also had health concerns, which the clinic made clear.
According to a 2024 report from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), finasteride is associated with mental health problems such as depression and suicidal ideation, and may have side effects that affect sexual function.
The MHRA advises users to monitor symptoms and stop using the drug if side effects occur.
My experience happened ten years ago, but since then the market for hair loss medications has exploded. Private online doctor service Superdrug says the number of new patients seeking hair loss treatment services has increased by 68% in the past three months compared to the same period last year.
After going off medication, I began wearing hats and carefully selected sunglasses that “hide” my receding hairline. If I was taking photos with family or friends, I would position the camera so that it was above the top of my head.
Then in 2019, I started seeing ads for hair systems. These smooth-looking pieces of hair are glued to the shaved scalp and mixed with existing hair during regular visits to the clinic for grooming. It seemed like an instant solution with no side effects.
But I couldn’t help but think that I would suddenly show up at work or at family events with a full head of hair – everyone knew that I was going bald. I also questioned the legitimacy of the ad. Were the results real? Or just the result of clever lighting and angles?
I've seen some people with systems tell their social media followers that they might start getting off in the middle of the day – and I was afraid of it.
But for 36-year-old Adam Lomax, who has male pattern baldness and trichotillomania (a mental health disorder where he can't stop himself from pulling out his own hair), the hair system has been “life-changing.”
Adam had already tried finasteride, which left him with anxiety, depression and low libido.
“People have been very positive,” Adam says of the reception to his new hairstyle. “The conversation around men's hair loss has changed a lot, but there are still weird trolls on TikTok.”
Adam LomaxIt's clear that there are many options for men facing hair loss, but not every bald man views hair loss as something that needs to be corrected or prevented.
“The perception of hair loss needs to change, both socially and commercially,” says Tariq Kazemi, co-founder and CEO of skincare company Bld Bro, a brand that started life as a support group for bald men.
Tariq remembers a co-worker making fun of his bald head during a shopping trip, describing it as “like an ice pick to my heart.”
Tariq later shaved his head and noticed that the jokes about his hair loss had stopped. He decided not to do any hair restoration.
“These industries prey on the fear and anxiety of young people,” he says. “We were told that our personality, our confidence and our attractiveness would disappear along with the hair on our head.”
In 2020, when the world went into quarantine due to coronavirus, many people grew their hair or tried to cut it themselves.
By this time I only had hair on the back of my head and a thin spot on my forehead. I took the plunge and decided to shave my head. I had the freedom to move into the final stages of the balding process and have continued to shave my head ever since.
There is so much buzz around hair loss on social media and there is money to be made from men's concerns about it. But after talking to different men about their experiences with hair loss, it became clear that there is no one right way to feel happy with your appearance.
The anxiety I felt when losing my hair has gradually subsided and I feel more tolerant of the way I look. I have now come to terms with my baldness and would rather be bald than balding.
