Model Calum Best has followed Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney in having a second hair transplant to stem his hair loss.
The son of soccer legend George Best bolstered his hairline with the £6,000 operation at the Crown Clinic in Manchester.
It is the second time in the last two years that hunky Calum, 32, has had a transplant.
Pictures show how Calum’s hairline has been transformed by having 1,257 grafts (amounting to 2,228 individual hairs) moved from the side of his scalp to the front.
He was pictured before and after the procedure which was carried out by top surgeon Asim Shahmalak.
Calum – declared bankrupt last year – could have avoided going under the knife again if had taken Propecia, a clinically-proven drug which prevents balding.
But it hits the sex drive of 2% of men who take it – and Calum didn’t want to take the risk!
Calum said: “It is fact of life that hair loss is a continuous process. While the hair transplanted in my previous operation is permanent, I am continuing to lose my natural hair.
“I had the second procedure because I was so pleased with the first one and how it helped to boost my confidence and work opportunities.
“Once again, I have a much fuller hairline and the whole front of my scalp looks so much better.
“The operation has given me a lot more flexibility with my hair. I can continue to wear it spiked up.”
Calum, who has been losing his hair since he was 23, said there was no longer a stigma attached to men seeking hair transplants.
He said: “Stars like Rooney and James Nesbitt have made a big difference. They’ve been very open about what they have had done and most men just say: ‘Good on them.’ And most women say: ‘Don’t they look better.”
Calum admitted that he had been wary of taking hair loss treatments such as Propecia.
He explained: “Obviously I’ve read a few stories about how Propecia can affect patients. I know only a tiny percentage suffer side effects, but I didn’t fancy taking the risk.
“Drugs like Propecia can halt future hair loss but it won’t help to grow new hair. The only way to keep my hair as I want it is through having hair transplants.”
Calum once earned £20,000 a day working as a model for top fashion brands like Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein.
More recently he has turned to acting and he is working on two new movies as well as fronting his own fragrance range.
He admitted losing his hair had hit his confidence.
Calum said: “You worry when you go to auditions that directors are looking at your receding hairline. It’s a distraction you don’t need and, thankfully, one that can be remedied by a transplant.”
Calum had his second transplant two weeks ago. It will take between six months and a year for the new hair to fully grow back.
Surgeon Shahmalak said that Calum had the same Follicular Unit Extraction technique as Rooney where individual follicles are taken from the back or the side of the scalp and replanted at the front.
Dr Shahmalak said: “What we’ve noticed in the last five years is that the age of our patients is coming down all the time.
“The fact is a third of men suffer hair loss by the time they are 30.
“More of them are deciding to have transplants immediately rather than waiting until middle age. Why suffer 20 years of loss of confidence if you can sort your problem now?”
Dr Shahmalak specialises in treating celebrities and has performed transplants on Christian Jessen from Channel 4’s Embarrassing Bodies and Martin Roberts, presenter of BBC1’s Homes Under The Hammer.
Dr Shahmalak said: “For people in the public eye, their image is their career. You don’t see a lot of bald models or TV presenters.
“A simple procedure such a hair transplant can make an enormous difference to a man’s life. We have seen a lot of men ‘doing a Rooney’ and coming in for one or two hair transplants.
“Bookings have gone up 25% since Wayne went public.”
England striker Rooney, 28, had his procedures two years apart Dr Shahmalak said there was a chance that the footballer would need a THIRD operation.
He said: “Wayne looks fantastic now but he is a still a young man and who is to say he won’t need a third operation.
“Hair loss is a continual process and sportsmen like Wayne will be reluctant to take a drug like Propecia. It is not banned by the sporting authorities but there would be concern that it might make him less aggressive on the pitch.
“Without help, there is every likelihood that Wayne will continue to lose his hair.”
Image courtesy of RTE via YouTube, with thanks
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