Donald Trump splits opinion around the world and would not win any popularity polls in the UK.
But it is hard not to disagree with his opinion on hair loss.
“Never go bald,” he once advised. “The worst thing a man can do is go bald.”
Trump’s flamboyant hair is one of his defining physical characteristics and there has been speculation that he has joined other leading American stars such as Sly Stallone and John Travolta in having a hair transplant.
The jury is still out on whether Trump has indeed had a hair transplant but he HAS admitted using Propecia, also known as Finasteride, a clinically proven drug which does slow down or halt hair loss.
Propecia will not help a patient to grow new hair but it will reduce the chances of them losing any more of their natural hair.
Crown Clinic’s consultant hair transplant surgeon Asim Shahmalak recommends Propecia to some patients – and the drug is sometimes used in conjunction with a hair transplant.
The reason why we adopt a twin-pronged approach to baldness – both surgical and medicinal – on some occasions is that hair loss is a continual process.
While any transplanted hair is permanent, there is no guarantee that a hair transplant patient will not carry on losing more of their natural hair.
That is why Propecia is an excellent option for many patients – and it clearly works for Donald Trump.
Trump is 72. At that age almost 70% of men will have experienced some form of hair loss.
Yet the US President still has a full head of hair, albeit one fashioned in a usual combover.
The only long-term permanent solution to hair loss is a hair transplant – around 80% of patients at Crown Clinic opt for a FUE (follicular unit extraction) procedure, where the grafts are removed individually from the back and side of the scalp before being replanted in the balding areas.
Famous celebrity hair transplant clients who have had FUE hair transplants with Dr Shahmalak include model Calum Best, Homes Under The Hammer presenter Martin Roberts, former footballer Didi Hamann and Chris Butland-Steed from Gogglebox.
The other form of hair transplantation is the more traditional method, FUT (follicular unit transplantation), also known as strip surgery. Crown Clinic patient, Dr Christian Jessen, has had two FUT transplants with Dr Shahmalak.
FUT is a highly effective method and it is cheaper than FUE because it is less labour intensive – that is because the donor grafts are removed in one go, rather than individually as in FUE, by surgically removing a strip of skin from the scalp – the grafts are then extracted by technicians under a microscope before being replanted by the surgeon in the same way as FUE.
FUT is not for everyone – mainly because the scarring to the scalp is much more visible than under FUT. However, if you wear your hair relatively long, like Christian Jessen, this scar is not really visible beneath your hair.
But FUT is not appropriate for patients who like to wear their hair short or shaved.
At Crown Clinic, we offer other non-surgical procedures to combat hair loss including Platelet Rich Plasma – this where a patient’s own blood is injected into the scalp to stimulate hair growth and provide fuller and healthier looking hair. The procedure takes approximately 60 minutes and provides reliable results with a very quick recovery period.
It is perfect for patients looking for a cheaper alternative to a full hair transplant but is also used to supplement a hair transplant procedure.