Rodney Möckli looks anxiously out of the train window. He has longed for this day for a long time: the Eastern Swiss has his hair transplanted.
For several years now, the spots on the front of Möckli’s head have been clearing up. He used to wear an afro. He loved to do his hair, wore different haircuts, liked going to the hairdresser. “Today that’s no longer possible,” says the 38-year-old: “I always have to wear my hair short, otherwise it looks unkempt.” So he doesn’t feel good anymore.
Legend:
Rodney Möckli wants longer hair again. That is why he decided to have a hair transplant.
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At a Zurich start-up, Möckli has more than 3,000 hair roots, so-called grafts, transplanted from the back of the head to the front. The procedure costs 6,000 francs – two francs per hair.
Legend:
Rodney Möckli has hair transplanted at «Hair&Skin».
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The Zurich company “Hair&Skin” has been around for two years. Since then it has been expanding: in Switzerland it opened several branches in prime locations.
The business model: “Hair&Skin” is not operated by doctors, but by hair technicians from Turkey. However, a surgeon oversees the operation, going from operating room to operating room and checking the patient’s condition. In this way, several operations can be carried out at the same time.
The operation is cheaper for the patient because no doctor operates and the hair technicians are experienced and work quickly. An operation costs between 2,000 and 7,000 francs, depending on how many hair roots are transplanted. In clinics where doctors operate, a hair transplant costs 10,000 francs or more.
Criticism comes from the Society for Hair Transplantation Switzerland: It recommends that the procedure be carried out exclusively by doctors. Otherwise, the quality of the desired hairstyle and the health of the patient could suffer. However, there are no binding regulations.
The plastic surgeon and co-founder of «Hair&Skin», Omar Haroon, says: «Transplants are a delegable work. The technicians from Turkey have five or ten years of experience in transplanting hair roots. With the know-how of these employees, the results are much better than when the operation is performed by an inexperienced surgeon.”
The cosmetics industry knows they can benefit from hair loss. A Google search for hair loss solutions returns tens of thousands of results.
For several years now, modern hair clinics that have grown out of the cosmetics industry have been springing up like mushrooms. They advertise with slogans such as: “Detox for the hair”, “Laser light to stimulate the hair roots” or “Autohaemotherapy for full, strong hair”.
Laser and autologous plasma
In “low-level laser therapy”, for example, blood circulation in the scalp is stimulated with a laser. With “Platelet Rich Plasma” therapy, PRP for short, autologous blood plasma is injected into the scalp to stimulate hair growth.
Legend:
The effect of laser therapies is insufficiently documented, says dermatologist Thomas Kündig.
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Such therapies cost around CHF 3,000. They work for four months. If you discontinue the therapies, the hair will fall out again, the providers warn. This is how the clinics gain loyal regular customers, despite uncertain chances of success.
Conflicting Studies
“The study situation on these two therapies is thin and unsatisfactory,” says Thomas Kündig, director of the dermatological clinic at the University Hospital in Zurich. A study shows that the injection of blood plasma actually strengthens the hair root. However, another study shows that hair growth after PRP therapy is worse than before.
Legend:
Finasteride inhibits the conversion of testosterone. This keeps hair longer.
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In fact, for decades there have only been two remedies that help against hereditary hair loss: Minoxidil and finasteride.
- «Minoxidil is not a miracle cure, but on average you have ten percent more hair with regular use,” says dermatologist Thomas Kündig: “80 percent of people who used Minoxidil report more volume.” The patient has to apply minoxidil every day, as soon as you stop it, it’s no longer of any use, says Thomas Kündig.
- finasteride is the only drug for which one knows what it does in the hair roots of men, explains Thomas Kündig: “The hormone testosterone is responsible for the growth of body and head hair. From a certain age, an enzyme called 5-alpha-reductase converts the testosterone at the hair roots into a new hormone. The new attacks the cells of the hair root, making the hair weaker and thinner. Finasteride inhibits the enzyme. So if the 5-alpha-reductase is disabled, the hair is preserved.”
The effect of these two remedies has been proven, but there are also side effects:
- finasteride got a bad reputation because two percent of men complained of erectile dysfunction and depression after taking it. Even after stopping the drug, the side effects persisted. Today this is known as “post-finasteride syndrome”. However, the drug manufacturer denies the syndrome, which has not been scientifically proven.
- Minoxidil can cause low blood pressure, palpitations, dizziness and headaches in some people.
If you decide to use finasteride or minoxidil despite these side effects, you have to take the medication for the rest of your life.
As long as the effectiveness has not been clearly proven, he personally would not invest any money in the therapies, says Kündig. Desperate patients who have spent hundreds of francs on drugs that aroused hope – but didn’t achieve anything – regularly come to his office hours.
“Cosmetic products often cost ten times as much as medical products. Unfortunately I notice a kind of usury. The cosmetics industry has discovered the hair business and is making promises that it cannot keep,” says Kündig.
Reconciliation with hair loss
Christos Stavrou knows these stories of woe. For years he invested a lot of money in remedies and shampoos. Although they promised a lot, they were of no use: His hairstyle continued to resemble a convertible, the way he jokes today.
Legend:
Christos Stavrou wants to encourage men with hair loss to dare to go bald.
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But Stavrou also says: “We live in a culture in which advertisers create uncertainty.” The cosmetics industry says: “You have hair loss, that’s a problem. We have the solution, you can’t do it without us.” After all, he gives the company his money so that it takes away his insecurity.
Stavrou is convinced that instead of turning to the cosmetics companies with his insecurities, you have to accept them: “Only the men who deal with the hair loss and reconcile with it become self-confident bald people.”
Christos Stavrou speaks from experience: His shoulder-length, curly hair started falling out when he was 20. For a long time, what was left of his head was cemented into a kind of hairstyle with gel and hairspray. He found the pressure of having to cover up the bald head at all costs to be degrading. But for a long time he lacked the courage to clear cut. Only when he did did he feel free.
Hairlessly happy
His positive experience became a mission for Stavrou. He founded the platform “wenighair.de” – a website with a YouTube channel, blog and podcast. His message: “Stand by your bald head!” Stavrou wants to encourage men and women with hair loss to have a total shave.
Stavrou says, for example, that he spoke to 60-year-olds who have spent their lives trying to preserve their hair. They lacked the courage to shave: “When they finally took the step to clear-cutting, they felt relieved of an enormous burden.”
The need for practical and psychological tips on everything to do with going bald is so great that Christos Stavrou has been dedicated to his community full-time for two years: “The biggest concern for many is the uncertainty as to whether they are going to be bald. Whether they are still attractive enough without hair – and whether the bald head will be a disadvantage in their professional life. »
What is happening on the head, what is in it?
Christos Stavrou remembers his own experiences from professional life. In his work as a designer, he always had the feeling that customers thought his hair had fallen out because of stress: “I was convinced that those around me thought I was not up to the task. However, it was all in my head and had nothing to do with what was on my head.”
A 2012 study showed that bald men actually look different than men with a head of hair Study by the University of Pennsylvania: According to her, bald people are not only perceived as taller (about an inch makes up for shaving), but also as more masculine, more dominant, stronger and a better leader.
Legend:
No hair, lots of success: Hollywood stars like Dwayne Johnson (left) and Bruce Willis prove that bald men look tall and strong.
IMAGO / Mary Evans / AF Archives / Paramount Pictures
Christos Stavrou says he has had a different effect on those around him since the total shave: people judged him to be more courageous and a completely different type of woman flirts with him.
He owes that not only to the bald head, but to the fact that he wears it with pride. Stavrou proudly says that he has become a different person with his bald head, someone who tries out things that he would otherwise never have tackled.
Hair loss can be a problem, but being bald offers the chance to develop a new, strong personality. Many in Christo’s Stavrous community would have had this experience.
“The transplant was worth it”
Rodney Möckli, on the other hand, is convinced: a bald head doesn’t suit him. A month has passed since his hair transplant, now it’s a follow-up check. Möckli had hardly any pain, but some areas on her head have felt numb since the operation and many of the newly transplanted hairs have fallen out again.
Legend:
Rodney Möckli at the follow-up check: doctor and patient are satisfied with the result of the transplant.
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Doctor Florian Scheppan reassures the patient: “It is normal for some of the hair to fall out again after the operation. They grow back all the faster. The overall result is good, the hairline is natural.”
The eight-hour operation was not enough to make the light spot on the back of the head disappear. This would require a second operation. Möckli considers the offer and sums it up: “The transplantation was worth it. Now when I look in the mirror I have a smile on my face.” Being bald was never an option for Rodney Möckli. He wanted hair – at all costs.