The Bald Truth about Hair Loss

You have to hand it to Wayne Rooney. You write him off as yet another stone-skulled, macho footballer and in one fell tweet he turns your preconceptions on their head.

When the Manchester United and England star striker revealed that he had undergone a hair transplant last week he confessed that his hair loss had left him feeling sensitive.

At the weekend he tweeted, “Just to confirm to all my followers I have had a hair transplant. I was going bald at 25, why not. I’m delighted with the result.”

He is not alone. Rooney is the latest in a list of celebrities, reportedly including actor Jude Law and restaurant owner Gordon Ramsay (who deny it), and Dancing on Ice judge Jason Gardiner, actor James Nesbitt and the Standard’s Dr Christian Jessen (who don’t), who have launched a strike against their shedding scalps.

Now experts agree that baldness, once an inevitability for most men, is becoming a choice.

“Over the past decade, there has been massive advancement in our technology and science,” explains hair restoration surgeon Dr Raghu Reddy, who works out of The Private Clinic on Harley Street. “There are now so many options available, it really is a decision based on lifestyle and your personality.”

Dr Reddy practises an advanced version of the FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction) technique, the one that Rooney opted for.

Unlike more traditional strip method – where skin from the dense hair area at the back of the head is cut away before being placed onto balding sections – FUE uses tiny needles to transfer individual follicles to where they are needed, without scarring. Reddy, who charges £2.50 per hair follicle transferred, says demand for this treatment is “humongous”.