Tag Archives: celebrity hair loss

Elon Musk’s Incredible Hair Transplant

elon musk hair transplantHuman hair has incredible aesthetic power. And as one of the most powerful innovators on the planet, Elon Musk wanted his image to be equally as strong and powerful.

Musk is one of many world renowned celebrities who have undergone hair restoration work. In our last post we covered Joe Rogan’s problematic hair transplant experience.

For Rogan, he was neither adequately consulted nor appropriately diagnosed. The hair restoration strategies put in place for him must have been highly disreputable and not coming from a decorated and experience clinic.

Musk’s hair restoration experience, on the other hand, is the opposite of Joe Rogan’s. It’s very clear that he almost certainly underwent multiple procedures and followed a highly tailored and personal medical therapy plan.

It is likely Musk started with FDA approved therapies such as Rogaine and Finasteride – as early as the 1990s – before doing his first FUT procedure. In the pictures below you can see his hair growth timeline was steady but slow. 

elon musk hair lossAlthough his hair would continue to thin, his dense hair transplants (likely 4,000+ grafts in total) combined with strategic hair therapies led to one of the most handsome hair transformations for a celebrity in history!

Now at 51 years old, Musk looks incredibly youthful. 

Was Musk a good candidate for hair transplantation?

A good candidate for a hair transplant is someone with a sufficient supply of donor hair. It must be enough to cover the balding areas as well as any other areas that might lose hair in the future. Individuals past the age of thirty, with non-aggressive hair loss, are generally good candidates for hair transplants. 

By this age, their hair loss patterns are well-established compared to younger patients. Due to his age and hair loss patterns, Elon was nearing the ideal candidacy he so much desired.

looking at pictures of Musk from the past 20 years, it’s quite apparent that his hair has become far thicker and denser since he earned his fortune. Musk’s hair was noticeably thinning when he launched PayPal back in 1999, since then, though, he has miraculously recovered a full, thick head of hair.

Musk’s hair loss was a textbook case of male pattern hair loss (receding hairline and a balding area on the top of his head). This is a genetic condition that does not reverse course on its own. The only permanent solution to this type of hair loss is hair transplant surgery.

Joe Rogan Hair Transplant. What Went Wrong?

Perhaps the most famous podcast host in America (and the world), Joe Rogan is a UFC commentator, comedian and talk show personality.

You may have heard or seen him talk about his past experiences with hair transplantation, and how they famously did little to help him with his hair loss.

joe rogan hair transplant

At first blush, one might simply assume that for some people hair transplants work, while for others they don’t. That it’s simply up to nature and to fate.

Wrong! In fact, hair transplants always ‘work’, regardless of the patient – they are surgically implanted hairs, so will almost never fall out. 

  • Over 90% of transplanted follicles survive in hair transplants if done properly 
  • Personal satisfaction nearly doubles in men who have recently had a hair transplant   
  • Hair Transplants are permanent unlike other hair stimulation therapies/treatments 

But the question is not whether new hairs can be successfully planted into your thinning hairline, but whether those hairs will recreate a youthful and aesthetically pleasing hairline.

This is where the art and science of hair transplantation begins. It’s not a simple matter of plug and play.

joe rogan hair loss

The operating doctor must study your hair loss patterns, age, genetic history, vitamin cycles and more to determine what the best hair restoration strategy for you will be.

In the video below, Joe directly speaks on his poor experience with hair restoration techniques (keep in mind this is more than 20 years ago) for the very correct reason that the it did not anticipate his increasing hair loss in the future.

Joe Rogan had his first hair transplant in his late 20s, and would be moving rapidly along the Norwood scale over the 10 to 20 years. The hair transplant doctor he used should have explained to him in no uncertain terms that 1) Given his thin, wispy hair and 2) Advancement on the Norwood scale, a different course of treatment would have suited him much better.

But that is not how so many hair restoration consultations are conducted, to the great detriment of many patients.

Many transplant doctors will knowingly fast track a patient into the operating room on the hope and promise of a new hairline, without cautioning them about future hair loss.