COVID-19 had many unexpected consequences. Long lockdowns and working from home resulted in men who had more time to look at their receding hairline in the mirror and on screen during Zoom meetings – and decided they didn’t like what they saw. The resulting phenomenon in men seeking hair transplants and cosmetic surgical (and non-surgical) procedures has been dubbed the “Zoom boom.” While the surge in demand for cosmetic procedures of all types includes almost equal numbers of men and women, we will look specifically at male hair restoration.
Even before the pandemic, however, the trend was already definitely upward. According to results of a member survey conducted by the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS), the number of people seeking proven medical and surgical treatments for hair loss grew 13 percent from 2016 to 2019. Specifically, 681,964 surgical patients sought treatment in 2019 (a 14 percent increase from 2016), with 1,401,589 nonsurgical patients treated in 2019 (a 13 percent increase from 2016).
This increase represents a continuous trend over the last decade of more men and women of all ages turning to hair restoration, as the ISHRS reported a 157 percent increase in hair restoration patients from 2008 to 2019.
Patients are Honest About Their Reason for Getting a Hair Transplant
In the not-so-distant past, many candidates for a hair transplant cited somewhat general reasons for seeking the procedure – such as a desire to look younger, or be better able to compete in the job market or dating scene. Today, prospective hair transplant patients specifically name Zoom as the motivation that brings them to the surgeon’s office.
According to a report in Esquire magazine, the need to look “Zoom ready” has led to a surge in demand for procedures. It is not helped by the fact that 11% of men feel as if they look five years older as a result of the stress brought about by lockdown, according to a report from the Uvence clinic from September 2020.
This demand is also occurring “across the pond.” Amid recent news that English comic Jimmy Carr had a hair transplant and extensive cosmetic dentistry, British plastic surgeons have reported a 70% rise in requests for video consultations over 2020.
Why Zoom is So Unforgiving to Faces
Just as with every other type of camera – be it still or video – your desktop computer’s camera is interpreting a three-dimensional object (your face) on a flat surface. Distortions are inevitable, which means that without special lighting or camera angles – or filters – the image others see of you won’t tend to be flattering. Add hair loss to the equation, and the picture that looks back at you in that little square can have a very unsettling effect on your self-image and self-confidence.
Of course, there will always be those who believe we should simply accept the hand we’ve been dealt. There may be well-meaning people in your life who say you can’t compare yourself to celebrities. But it ultimately isn’t about comparing yourself to others, or a matter of vanity – it’s all about living up to the image you have of yourself. If that image is youthful, healthy and successful, that’s what you want to see represented in Zoom calls as well as in person!
Just Looking Into Your Hair Restoration Options? Here’s What You Should Know!
Assuming you had been somewhat concerned about your hair loss before video conferencing became part of your life but did not have a sense of urgency in reversing it until now, researching hair restoration procedures and options can be challenging. While you want to restore your hairline or eliminate that bald spot as soon as possible, do your homework carefully. Rushing into a procedure without researching the reputation of the hair restoration practice – and surgeon – you’re considering could have serious consequences.
However, most people have no experience in how to evaluate the practices and clinics with which they’re about to schedule a consultation. How do you know what to look for, or what questions to ask? Our blog post – “The Importance of Consultation Before Hair Restoration Treatment” – covers this critical step in detail.
Dr. Marco Barusco – founder and Chief Medical Officer of Tempus Hair Restoration – is a tireless advocate of consumer education in his field. People seeking treatment who have little to no knowledge of best practices are vulnerable to poorly qualified, unethical practitioners who misdiagnose patients and/or perform an unnecessary procedure – or even the wrong type of procedure. For this reason, Dr. Barusco emphasizes the importance of consultation. Knowing how the surgeon should conduct the consultation – and knowing what questions to ask – are essential to finding the right surgeon to trust with your procedure.
Dr. Barusco’s informative YouTube video – “The Importance of Consultation” – is a comprehensive discussion of what you should expect during your hair loss consultation. Running at just over 24 minutes, this video covers every aspect in detail – complete with Dr. Barusco’s candid observations about how less-than-conscientious practitioners fail their patients. The video includes a link to a Hair Loss Consultation Checklist to print out and take with you to your consultation appointment.
But first comes the matter of deciding upon a hair restoration practice to contact for a consultation. Because national franchise hair clinics do a great amount of advertising and have high name recognition, they’re more likely to get your attention. Keep in mind that such clinics operate on volume, and may offer a very limited number of procedures. One in particular offers only the Follicular Unit Excision (FUE) and Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) procedures.
If you visited the home page of our website before visiting this blog post, you would have seen that Tempus Hair Restoration offers every surgical procedure – including those you may not have known about, such as the No-Shave FUE developed by Dr. Barusco. This advanced technique allows hair to be harvested from the donor site without having to shave your existing hair – thus greatly reducing postoperative downtime.
In addition, if your hair loss was caused by scarring due to head trauma – or if your hair loss is exposing such scars – a high-volume franchise hair clinic isn’t likely to help, as their surgeons typically lack the experience to conceal scars and/or the facility itself isn’t equipped to provide the sterile environment required. Treating special circumstances hair loss is among Dr. Barusco’s specialties. We invite you to read the story of one such patient, for whom Dr. Barusco concealed extensive scarring from head trauma after a near-fatal motorcycle accident.
In the interest of consumer education, there are far worse pitfalls than choosing a clinic with only two options for transplant procedures. Clinics in which non-medical technicians perform surgeries assisted by robotic devices and foreign clinics engaging in “medical tourism” present serious risks to patients – including scarring, infection, destruction of the donor site (which means that no hair remains to perform a corrective procedure) and poor, unaesthetic “pluggy” results.
Knowledge is Power – Choose Your Surgeon Wisely
Ultimately, choose your surgeon based on experience, results and integrity. Dr. Barusco’s long list of accomplishments, his notable artistic ability and his successful surgical team make Tempus Hair Restoration a renowned practice worldwide.
Knowing what you know now, we hope that you are ready to make one more video conference call – one that can put you on the road to feeling much more confident about your appearance on future calls! Contact us to schedule your free virtual consultation. Dr. Barusco conducts every consultation himself, giving you the opportunity to learn your options in the comfort of your home – or any location, on any internet-enabled device.
Dr. Barusco conducts consultations in English, Spanish and Portuguese. For your greater convenience, Tempus Hair Restoration offers a two-night complimentary hotel stay to out-of-town clients who travel 100 miles or more to our Port Orange, Florida, surgical center. No matter how far the distance, we welcome the opportunity to help you on your hair restoration journey!