Did you know that your hair grows just like a plant? And that hair can be transplanted from elsewhere on your head to the bald spots here in Kenya? It can even be transplanted onto your brows for fuller brows and if you’ve always wanted to be a part of No-shave November but only had a few stragglers on your chin, you can now have a full Viking beard if you want thanks to technology.
Growing up in Githurai 45, Michael Macharia looked like he had a receding hairline, but in reality he didn’t, he always had a receding hairline that started further back than most. “It’s been like this since I was born,” he tells Sunday.
It wasn’t bad enough for him to get bullied or anything, but the older he got, the more he noticed it. He always loved music and in high school, inspired by other DJs, he began to dream of becoming one himself and achieved his dream. But the hairline continued to be a small thorn in his flesh.
“I just felt uncomfortable, I didn’t really feel like myself,” she says. It didn’t help that some friends sometimes talked about it during friendly banter.
“My friends used to say, ‘Hey Michael, your hairline starts at a distance!’ I used to make fun of them too, but it kind of affected me,” he says.
And yet, he explains that as a DJ you have to look good and have total confidence. It was, but not as much as it could be, so he started looking for a solution. He first tried a hairline tattoo, not complete but only on the sides of his head.
“There are people who get tattoos that look like hair, but it didn’t work for me. I love hair so I always wanted to have hair. With the tattoo, you need to shave often and always be clean shaven so that the tattoo doesn’t look different. I wanted something natural,” she says.
So he started researching on the Internet, and along the way, he and his cousin found the hair transplant option and where he could get it done in Kenya. After visiting the clinic and looking at the previous work they had done, he saved up and went in for the procedure.
“I was a bit scared, wondering what would happen to my head, what the result would be, would it be painful – but they explained how simple it was, that maybe I’d feel a bit of pain with the first injection, but after that, I’d be fine,” she says .
He had dreadlocks, so they had to be shaved. The doctors then gave several injections around his head to numb it, which Michael explains was the only part that was slightly painful. After that, he felt nothing.
“They then removed the hair from the back of my head by the roots and put it in a safe place. After that, they come to the front of the head where they create the holes where they want to plant the hair. They made the channels where the hair would be planted and planted the hair one strand at a time,” he says.
All the while, he wondered how long the process would take (it took about six hours) and how long it would take to see his hair grow.
Right after the transplant she could see the hair, but she says that in the first seven days it starts to wither and you end up shaved again.
“It is like planting a plant in the ground, as the leaves wither but the roots remain in the channels they created. Then you go back to looking like you have no hair, but the roots are still intact,” she says.
Two days after the procedure you come back for a check-up where they wash you with a certain medicine that prevents you from feeling itchy and they also give you a certain soap that you use to wash your head so you don’t scratch it because if you do you will damage the still fine roots.
“They also give you some precautions – for example, you must not bend your head in a certain way for the first seven days. You can’t sleep on your side, you have to sleep on your back. Even when you’re looking at your phone, you have to pick it up. And you have to be in. For these seven days, your head must be upright all the time to prevent inflammation. After seven days, it will be fine, but you have to avoid touching the hair,” she says.
He explains that after the first seven days, you go for a follow-up and they check how your hair is growing and give you something to keep it growing. You keep going for several tests every now and then to make sure everything is going well.
After the hair was withered, Michael began to see his new hair grow in about a month. At the time of the interview, his hair is six months of growth and he has even been to the barber several times. He leans over to show me the new hair and unless he tells you it’s transplanted hair or you knew him before, there’s no way you’d know it wasn’t always there. Not even a barber, who has to deal with hair up close, can say that.
Berkay Kargi, a hair transplant specialist at Leader Hair Clinic in Kenya, says there is a high demand for hair transplants in Kenya. In their clinic, their patients are roughly 65 percent male and 35 percent female. The clinic does hair, eyebrow and beard transplants.
They use several techniques to do this, including Sapphire, FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction) and DHI (Direct Hair Implantation) methods. For the front areas where there is no hair at all, they use Sapphire. But in between, maybe someone has gaps in their hair, DHI is used. They can also use the hybrid method where the methods are combined. Also, all the latest hair transplant technologies are available here in Kenya.
“But not everyone who does hair transplants can do afro hair removal because it’s not like Caucasian hair which is straight for example. Afro hair curls inwards, so it’s a different kind of skill and it takes expertise to remove the follicle,” she says.
Additionally, not all afro hairs work for eyebrow transplants because some of them are too tightly coiled. Hair from the head grows in the same way as eyebrows grow. So, before the transplant is done, they have to have a consultation where they take a look at what type of hair they are.
If the transplant is done, the person must regularly shave the new eyebrow hair because it can grow back to the same length it was when it was on your head.
For most people who get it, that’s a small price to pay. Michael says it cost him about Sh150,000 to finish, which he says is a very fair price for the benefits he gets.
Berkay says it restores patients’ self-esteem and gives them a lot of confidence and pride. “It really changes their lives. Everyone wears a hat when they enter, but when they leave and when they return to watch, they are hatless. Even for me, if I was bald maybe I’d be a little more shy. I might not even have done this interview!” he says laughing.
This was Michael’s experience. She had no complications at all and I wish she had had a follow up.
“I feel great, I think more women want me now, but I’m avoiding them! (laughs). I can’t wait to grow my locks out again. By December my hair will have grown back and I can do the blankets again. My confidence is 100 percent,” he says.
“In my everyday life, I feel free, I feel like I’m a human being as I can face anyone. You know sometimes you go places and you know you have a weakness so you try to hide it. I used to wonder what hat I would wear that day but now I don’t worry too much about them, I’m all set. It also improved my career as a DJ because now I have a lot more confidence.”
WHY MORE WOMEN ARE GETTING HAIR TRANSPLANTATIONS
In a salon, a group of middle-aged women engage in a heated discussion about hair. The topic revolves around why people dye their hair, why some women wear wigs, why others go for hair transplant surgery, and why others choose to hide their bald heads. It’s about middle-aged men and women who really want to look old when they have options to stay beautiful. We know that older women wear wigs because their hair can no longer grow, while others simply want to maintain a youthful appearance by keeping their white hair out of the public eye,’ says one.
“I wouldn’t mind my man getting a hair transplant if he has hair loss. I mean, doesn’t it affect your self-esteem if you’re creepy or date a bald man whose hair is thinning because he’s old?” says another before the rest burst into animated laughter.
Research says that up to 50 percent of women will experience hair loss at some point in their lives. 40 percent of women will experience visible hair loss by the time they turn 40. Many may seek hair restoration treatments. Men hardly know options for replacing lost hair as much as the percentage. However, unlike men who typically experience receding hairlines, percent experience more thinning throughout the scalp. For that matter, female pattern baldness is often stigmatized more than male pattern baldness.
According to Ziering Madical, an online medical journal, the approach to hair transplantation in women differs significantly from that in men due to different hair loss patterns and aesthetic goals. In the website’s article titled “Female Hair Transplants: Everything You Need to Know,” they argue that women usually aim for a subtle enhancement, focusing on increasing density rather than drastically changing the hairline.
Hair transplantation has been applied by famous female stars, some of whom have often shared their experiences.
American singer Ann Ferguson, also known as Fergie Duhamel, underwent a hair transplant after her alopecia areata condition worsened. The term is given to hair loss caused by repeated hair pulling. Her case widened the opening of her hair thus causing a bald spot in the center of her scalp.
Then there’s the famous supermodel Naomi Campbell who made a career out of requiring her to use hair extensions and other hair styling products. Her hairstyling routine eventually led to alopecia areata which left her suffering from bald patches around her temples and a receding hairline. She finally got a hair transplant.
We know Oprah Winfrey not only for The Oprah Winfrey Show but also for her good looks. According to aventusclinic.com, Oprah arranged for a hair transplant after constant combing, as well as frequent use of hair extensions, tongs, and other hair-damaging products and tools during her many years hosting her show. She is still famous for her thick, shiny and full hair despite being almost 70 years old.
Tyra Banks is also on this list. She had her hair transplant after suffering from alopecia areata, a condition that occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks hair follicles on the scalp, causing inflammation, thereby preventing them from producing thick and healthy hair.
https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/evewoman/living/article/2001499238/hairy-business-why-men-are-doing-hair-transplant
