Wayne Rooney in 2009 by Jacoplane
Wayne Rooney has added his name to the ever-growing list of celebrity men having hair transplants. The impressive hairdo, said to have set him back £32,000, has been a long time coming, with Rooney’s bald patch increasing dramatically over the past few years. The football star seems over the moon with the result: “I’m delighted with the result,” he said, adding that ‘It’s still a bit bruised and swollen.’
No surprise there then! A hair transplant is a complex procedure, with upwards of 4500 hair follicles being transplanted individually into the scalp.
Gordon Ramsay’s treatment is also said to have set him back £30,000 – the effects of which are extremely impressive. His long blonde hair is the talk of many housewives all over the UK.
So how does it work?
Well, little strips of skin are taken from the back of your head, which is immune to the balding process, and they’re then dissected into each individual hair follicle and these are then transplanted onto the balding skin. Typically, a team of 18 people work on this for up to eight hours, with everyone ensuring that the hair is kept alive when deprived of oxygen outside of the body. Getting it back into the body as quickly as possible is the key to a successful hair transplant.
It’s not said to hurt, with doctors insisting that patients feel a sting when the local anesthetic is injected into the scalp and that they sit watching DVDs and enjoying themselves whilst the transplant is taking place.
Professor Messenger said, ‘If the procedure has been carried out by a decent surgeon, I would probably not be able to tell without a close examination.’
Rooney’s surgeon at the Harley Street Hair Clinic performed the newest form of transplant on his scalp: follicular unit extraction (FUE), which leaves no scars, allowing the Manchester United and England star to show off his new hair within seven days.
