It has been a reported that the Real Madrid footballer Gareth Bale is to undergo a hair transplant.
Welsh-born Gareth – the UK’s most successful soccer export – is seeking treatment in Spain to cover the bald spot around his crown.
For years, the 27-year-old star has worn his hair long and tied up in a ‘man bun’ when he is playing so that his hair does not get in his eyes.
Pictures recently released show that Gareth has significant male pattern baldness towards the back of his scalp.
He is an excellent candidate for a hair transplant.
He would be suitable for either of the two procedures carried out by Crown Clinic’s consultant surgeon Asim Shahmalak –FUT (follicular unit transplantation), also know as strip harvesting, or FUE (follicular unit extraction).
Because Gareth wears his hair long he might want to follow the example of Crown Clinic patient, Dr Christian Jessen, who has had two FUT procedures at the clinic.
With FUT, the donor hair is extracted by cutting a strip of skin from the back or side of the scalp – the grafts are then removed from the strip by technicians using microscopes before being ‘planted’ into the balding area.
FUT does leave a scar on the scalp but it would be covered up by Gareth’s long hair. Christian also wears his hair quite long and his scars are not noticeable.
Until five years ago, 80% of the patients at Crown Clinic underwent FUT procedures while only 20% chose FUE which is more labour intensive and therefore more expensive.
That has changed markedly in the last five years and now 80% of Dr Shahmalak’s patients opt for FUE and only 20% choose FUT.
FUE has become popular because of soccer stars like Wayne Rooney and Crown Clinic patients Didi Hamann, model Calum Best and Gogglebox’s Chris Steed who have all benefitted from transplants using this procedure.
In FUE, the donor hair is harvested by removing the grafts individually from the scalp. There is some minor scarring in the days after the procedure – red pin pricks where the hair has been removed – but these soon go away.
Good luck to Gareth with his procedure and we look forward to seeing his new hair.