Hipster beard transplant, the fashionable hair micrograft

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Hair transplants, which began to be used as a treatment to correct different types of alopecia, have extended their use to other areas of the body and are in demand, for example, to repopulate eyebrows, beards, and even the genital area. This aesthetic intervention has improved significantly, and while before implants made up of groups of hairs were performed, nowadays follicle to follicle is transplanted, which allows the final result to be more natural.

Precisely this very natural appearance is what has contributed the most to the increase in demand for beard transplants which, according to the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery, has gone from being 1.5% of all hair transplants that are carried out in the world in 2012, reaching 3.7% in 2014. And it is that while at the beginning the technique was used in patients who had suffered burns, acne or scars, which prevented the normal growth of facial hair, since Three years ago, more and more hipsters between the ages of 20 and 30 went to the specialist's office to get the fashionable beard.

How to perform a hipster beard transplant

The technique for performing a hair micrograft is the same regardless of the area to be treated. To perform the hipster beard transplant, the necessary follicular units are first extracted (around 1,500 follicles are required for the entire beard), which are generally obtained from the nape of the neck, because in this way the scar is practically imperceptible, and because the hair that grows in this area is strong and of good quality, and even in men with alopecia, the hair on the nape of the neck is not usually lost, because it is genetically resistant to baldness.

Once the hair follicles are selected, micro-holes of less than 0.5 millimeters are made in the patient's skin to implant them. The procedure is laborious and can last several hours, depending on the number of follicles that need to be implanted. For this reason, the price varies from five to six thousand euros that a full beard can cost, to between 1,500 and 2,200 euros if you only need a filler to show off a fuller beard, or hide a scar or a small area where the hair grow less.

Although the hair on the nape of the neck isn't the same gauge as the hair on the face, experts say that when it's placed in the right direction and angle—parallel to the face—it looks great. After the implant, the beard falls out, to reappear after three months following the natural cycle of hair growth. From this moment on, it can be shaved or trimmed to suit the client.