Elon Musk has been in the public eye for near on two decades. Being celebrity known for his peculiar charisma and Silicon Valley startup (PayPal), you may not be aware about Elon Musk’s hair transplant. Moving on from his antics with Space X or appearances on Joe Rogan podcasts, it has been publicly revealed that Elon Musk has had a very successful hair transplant!
Like so many men, early pictures of Elon Musk show him to have clearly suffered from hair loss as early as his adolescent years. Despite being on the more severe end of male pattern baldness, Musk is a fantastic example of what hair restoration surgery can achieve for the millions of men and women across the UK.
On this page, you’ll be able to find out his hair loss, likely hair restoration process, and the results gained from his hair transplant.
Elon Musk’s Male Pattern Baldness
In his early years, it is fairly clear that Elon Musk was born with a naturally thin hair hair type. as can be seen in pictures of him as a teenager, Musk’s hair on his forehead is noticeably thin and can be seen to have matured at an unusually early age. Despite the fact he had a full head of hair, the early signs of male pattern baldness would certainly have made him a future candidate for a hair transplant.
In a picture of Elon Musk age 16, he already shows signs that he is on Stage 2 of the Norwood Hamilton Hair Loss Scale. Mr Musk’s forelock (in other words, the tuft of hair on the front of his head) and crown (hair on the top of the head) is very much present. However, his temples have shown signs of maturation and there would be no hair follicles can be seen.
Had Elon Musk been aware of his balding area at this age, and considered how quickly he would suffer with baldness (looking at hairlines of family members, he could have slowed the balding with a chemical hair loss treatment like Minoxidil or Finasteride. However, being one of the younger patients of hair loss, he wouldn’t have been eligible for surgical treatments such as FUT or FUE method. This is because a hair transplant at such a young age would be pointless as further hair loss would still have occurred.
In one of his most famous photos, celebrating the startup of his PayPal business, Musk’s hair can be categorise as a Stage 3 on the Norwood scale. As can be seen, his receding hairline has continued up the head, with a deepening temporal recession, a thinning of the hair on his forelock and (if we could see beyond the picture) some thinning on his crown, or vertex. This is a very common hair loss pattern and a point that could definitely be treated with a hair transplant.
From a number of pictures, it is likely that Elon Musk found a permanent solution (a hair transplant) to his hair loss when he was around the Stage 4 of the Norwood Hamilton Scale. Had he not have had a hair transplant, Musk’s hair on his crown would have continued to thin and his bridge would have begun to bald, separating the forelock from the back of his scalp.
Has Elon Musk had a hair transplant?
So, what did Elon Musk do about his male pattern baldness? Well, it’s highly likely that he would have met up with a hair transplant surgeon and discussed the available hair transplant techniques.
Given that his hair loss was so extensive so quickly, and that he would likely have progressed to the final stages of baldness on the Norwood Scale, he would have been a good candidate for FUT (Follicular unit transplantation). FUT is, generally speaking, reserved for patients suffering with extensive baldness and where the FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction) technique may not totally succeed. FUT takes a long strip of your skin (containing hair follicles) from the back of your scalp, the hair transplant surgeon will separate these follicles (sometimes called donor hairs) under a microscope, and these are then implanted into the affected areas.
If you look closely on some photos, you can even see the remnants of a strip scar on the back of Elon Musk’s head. This is why FUT is only used as a last resort. In comparison to FUE, which only takes individual hairs from your scalp, FUT leaves a scar as a strip of skin is extracted from your head and requires multiple stitches to close up.
Not to mention, Elon Musk had his first hair transplant in 2002. FUE came into notoriety in the 2010s, making it highly unlikely to have had this method. Besides, his hair loss was still so prevalent that he would likely still have required FUT.
Experts have even suggested that Elon Musk has had a second hair transplant in more recent years as his hair looks noticeably fuller and thicker in newer photos. From pictures in the early 2000s, he seems to have regained hair on his temples and forelock, but it sill remains short and relatively thin.
Given that more recent treatments for hair thickening, such as the Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) method, were not popular until very recently, it is likely that Elon Musk would have had a second hair transplant treatment, likely the FUE technique this time. This hair restoration technique is where individual hair follicles are taken from the donor area, usually the scalp, and are implanted directly into the affected areas. With many more hair follicles in his transplant area, this has, in time, given his hair a much thicker and fuller look. In recent years, his front hair seems much longer as a result.
Given that there is only one strip scar on Elon Musk’s scalp (the back of the head), it is suggested that he may well have had an FUE treatment to top up. This is extremely common for patients with extensive balding. As you can see, it has certainly provided plenty more healthy hair growth!
The Results of Elon Musk’s hair transplant
As can be seen from Elon musk hair transplant, much of the implanted hair went directly into his temple area, bringing the hairline forward considerably. Alongside this, hair follicles have been added into his forelock which has not only given him a fuller look but the capacity to grow a longer fringe.
Today, Elon Musk has a haircut that is typical for his current hairline. With a neat short back and sides, the hair on the top of his head switches between a short and short/medium length.
With a new hairline, as a result of a hair transplant, you won’t just combat male pattern hair loss. In the process, you will almost certainly boost your self confidence by being able to style your hair in a number of different ways. Also, with a hairline that is further forward, you may even look a little younger too! That’s certainly the case with Elon Musk.
How Much Did Elon Musk Pay for His Hair Transplant?
Although no one can be sure, it is estimated that Elon Musk may have paid around $20,000 (that’s about £15-16,000 in Britain) for his hair transplant. Given that he is, as the whole world knows, a billionaire Musk is said to have had a top team of US surgeons to perform his hair transplants.
So, what goes into the cost of a hair transplant? The price of a hair transplant is heavily dependent upon how many hairs are needed to be implanted into your affected area. The balder you are, the more hair will need to be transplanted. As a result, the more you will end up paying. In the case of Elon Musk, his balding looked particularly extensive causing the cost of his hair transplant to increase dramatically.
Furthermore, Elon Musk has also had two hair transplants, effectively doubling the costs! Not to mention, FUT (Follicular Unit Transplantation) is an incredibly time consuming surgery. This is because time needs to be taken to incise the strip of skin from your scalp and cut thousands of hair follicles into smaller grafts that can be implanted. Not to mention, extra time would be needed for the surgeon to stick the scalp which, again, causes the cost of the surgery to rise.
