There’s nothing wrong with getting cosmetic procedures done, but men still tend to be rather hush-hush about it. This is particularly true when it comes to hair — despite wigs and extensions being perfectly commonplace, hair transplants have yet to receive the same cultural normalization. That, however, seems to be changing on TikTok and Twitter, where men are sharing every detail of their experience with the procedure and, for the most part, getting hyped up for it.
Over the last few weeks, there have been dozens of viral videos and tweets from guys who have gotten hair transplants. Typically, they share photos from before the surgery, the healing stages and their final results around a year later.
“Best money I ever spent,” said @MACraw_ on Twitter last week, including pictures of his formerly patchy head of hair, the gory scabbing stage and his basically perfect hairline now. You’d never know he had implants if it weren’t for his honesty. Following the tweet, which received nearly 120,000 likes, he offered up all the information about how much he paid ($7,000), the pain (not much) and how long it took for him to experience full results (about 10 months). Among the most common responses were people saying how good he looked and how we should mainstream men getting cosmetic surgeries that help them feel more confident.
On TikTok, many other men are sharing similar content, with some even providing clips from during the procedure to show that they were awake and relatively comfortable the whole time.
Many discuss traveling overseas to Turkey or Colombia for the procedure, where costs are much lower. In the U.S., the price can be upwards of $15,000, but people who’ve left the country for hair implants report paying around $4,000, including many of their travel costs.
Honestly, the gnarliest thing about the whole procedure seems to be the healing process. After the surgery is first completed, each individual hair follicle forms into a bloody scab, which can be painful and itchy for days afterward. Based on the TikToks, it also looks like many people experience major facial swelling. Not to mention, it takes months for their hair to begin to grow in normally. But again, the sentiment appears to be that it’s well worth it.
Beyond the goriness, the risks involved with hair transplants are relatively minor. Bleeding and infection can occur, considering that every hair follicle is an open wound, and it’s possible that the new growth won’t be as full as you’d like. But that’s about it.
All of this is to say, much unlike the virality of the Brazilian Butt Lift on TikTok previously, it isn’t necessarily dangerous for guys to be promoting their hair implants online. Many of them could probably continue on with their lives never revealing that they’d had the procedure done, but they’re choosing to share their experience for other men who might be interested. With the success of all these TikToks, maybe getting hair transplants will become as shame-free as Botox.
I mean, there’s nothing wrong with being bald, and there’s nothing wrong with getting hair transplants, either. At the very least, it’s better than the comb-over.
Magdalene Taylor
Magdalene Taylor is a staff writer at MEL. She covers internet culture, sex and the online adult industry. She lives in Brooklyn but is from God's Country, Western Massachusetts.
