TV presenter Paddy McGuinness has spoken about the benefits of having a hair transplant.
The Top Gear host, whose thinning hair was evident in a recent home video he shared on Instagram, said he was thinking of having a procedure.
He was inspired to take action by his friend, the comedian Jimmy Carr, 48, who looks years younger after filling out his hairline around his temples during lockdown with a hair transplant.
Fans have been astounded by the improvement in Carr’s appearance and the comedian has spoken positively about how thrilled he is with his new look.
Paddy, 47, said of Carr’s transplant: “It’s unbelievable, his hair is like an otter’s pelt. I looked at it and I was like, ‘Now that is proper.’
“Get it done when no one realises you need it. That’s when they work the best.”
Speaking on the Two Pints of Lager podcast, Paddy added: “I know a few lads who have a good set of hair and work in the business, and I was surprised they’d had a hair transplant. You’d never question it – their hair just looks really good.
“Do it before you’ve got to the full-on bald stage.”
At Crown Clinic, our consultant hair transplant surgeon Dr Asim Shahmalak treats lots of celebrities like Paddy whose hair is thinning noticeably and they want to look younger.
Dr Shahmalak says there are two things Paddy can do to combat his thinning hair.
First of all he needs to start taking a clinically proven hair loss drug such as Finasteride, also known as Propecia.
This will slow down or halt altogether the natural loss of Paddy’s hair.
Around 2% of men who take Finasteride suffer side effects such as the loss of libido but these soon go away if you stop taking the drug.
What Finasteride cannot do is grow Paddy any new hair.
The only way he can bulk up his bald patches – and get the ‘otter’s pelt’ cover he admires so much in Jimmy Carr’s hair – is by having a hair transplant.
Most celebrities at Crown Clinic opt for a FUE (follicular unit extraction) procedure. This is where hair is extracted from the back and sides of the scalp and replanted in the balding areas.
Scarring is minimal for this procedure because the donor grafts are removed individually. Patients are left with red pin pricks where the hair has been extracted and then replanted which heal over after a couple of weeks. Around 80% of Dr Shahmalak’s patients opt for FUE.
Because FUE is more labour intensive, it is slightly more expensive than the more traditional form of hair transplantation, FUT (follicular unit transplantation). With this method, the donor hair is extracted by cutting a strip of skin from the scalp and removing the grafts under a microscrope.
Whatever method Paddy choses, he could go a long way to filling out his hairline and getting hair he was proud of like his buddy Jimmy.