How Technology and Culture Are Fueling a Hair Restoration Revolution
Hair loss is one of the oldest human problems, but the solutions are only now entering a brave new world. Where before, desperate measures were taken to stave off public embarrassment – poorly attached plugs, shamefully obvious wigs – today’s hair restoration industry is high-tech, medicalized, and has become the fastest-growing medical specialty in the world. The Global Hair Transplant market is growing worldwide, driven by an irresistible synergy between technology, culture, and rising disposable income. The Global Hair Transplant Market Size was $5.61 Billion in 2018, and is expected to reach a staggering $18.81 Billion by 2028. At the center of this extraordinary market shift is one market in particular, and one country in particular: The United States.
The Global Market: A Mixture of Macro Trends
The rise in the global hair restoration market is not a monolith; while the worldwide desire for a solution to hair loss remains the same, patients in different countries access treatment through different means, creating a complex, intricate patchwork.
One major factor is technological advances in surgical techniques. Gone are the days of Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT), which requires a single strip of skin to be harvested from the back of the head, creating a linear scar, often referred to as the “shopping cart scar”. That technique has been largely replaced by Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE), where single follicular units are harvested by hand using small punches or knives. FUE requires no such linear scar and leaves much smaller round scars, blending much better with normal scalp patterns, and has no recovery time compared to FUT, resulting in less social stigma and more rapid normalization post-op. While FUE surgery has long been performed by hand, its use has been increased dramatically by the introduction of robotic assistance. Artificial intelligence-based systems like ARTAS® can now be used by doctors to digitally map a patients scalp and hair, isolate individual follicular units, and match each to a corresponding density and angle, improving graft survival, and allowing surgeons to work with greater precision than they could by hand. This has rapidly advanced the field of hair transplants by increasing graft survival and surgeon productivity, while allowing for more natural looking results. This has had the important effect of normalizing the procedure – removing the fear of socially debilitating scars or prolonged time off work.
An additional factor is the rise of medical tourism for cosmetic procedures. Countries like Turkey, Mexico, India, and Thailand have established themselves as international centers for FUE surgery, due in part to a lower cost of living and procedure than in North America or Western Europe. The price difference between having a procedure in the United States, or Mexico, say, can be as much as 80%. The result is a market tenfold the size of the US, expanding at an annual growth rate of over 20% for the last 5 years. Additionally, low procedural cost encourages a consumer base more focused on cost rather than perceived value or quality of care, expanding the market well beyond a higher-end demographic. The upshot is explosive growth in these markets, creating its own category of cross-border medical tourism economy.
This is all set against a backdrop of cultural change. Unlike in previous decades, cosmetic procedures for men are now being discussed and promoted openly and unashamedly by celebrities, athletes, and social media influencers. These widely accepted and more normal discussions have made hair restoration a more common goal for patients, and one which is not considered an act of vanity or weakness, but of self-care and personal improvement, on par with exercising or eating right.
The American Market: The Largest of All
The US market is, in many ways, the largest of all. There is a constellation of characteristics that both cause and fuel the American market’s growth. These drivers have led to the US market being the most advanced, innovative, and influential in the global context.
The first driver of the US market is the fact that the US is both a testing ground for and an early adopter of new technologies, by necessity. American doctors are some of the first to have access to state-of-the-art robotic FUE systems, and to incorporate laser therapy or regenerative medicine into their clinics. This has led to a laser-focus on high-tech treatments, with procedures focused on creating the most natural, undetectable results at all costs, and surgeons able to command premium prices for their work. The result is a hair transplant industry that exists not as cosmetic surgery, but as a high-end medical luxury service, with an affluent customer base.
This high-end, premium approach is itself a byproduct of the second key driver of the market: disposable income, and cultural attitudes towards appearance. The US boasts some of the highest disposable incomes in the world, and, more importantly, an inextricable association between physical appearance and self-confidence, success, youthfulness, and vitality in the eyes of the public. That combination creates the will to spend large sums of money to keep that association alive, in a way that is not true in all markets. Finally, the market in the US has been expanding into new demographics, in addition to its traditional client base of middle-aged and older baby boomers. Younger patients, from Millenials to Gen Z, are increasingly seeking treatment. While some look for early intervention for advanced loss, many of them use finasteride or minoxidil, even combine both, to halt loss and prevent the genetic default, before moving on to surgery, a much more long-term, but also nuanced, approach to hair care.
Marketing plays a large role in the US, also, given that direct-to-consumer advertising is possible in a way that it is not in most other countries. Using more sophisticated digital marketing techniques, from search engine optimization to aggressive social media campaigns, US clinics have popularized the before-and-after photo gallery on Instagram and YouTube, creating an immediately visible, powerful form of social proof for potential patients.
Key Issues and The Future
The hair transplant industry is not without its challenges, either in the US or the world, despite a rosy financial forecast. Costs of procedures are the most significant factor keeping potential patients from entering the market in the US, which remains a luxury for the majority of the population. The industry also faces the challenge of maintaining a consistent level of service to its patient, while expanding its reach. Marketers can promise seemingly miraculous results before surgery, but different degrees of donor supply and types of hair loss will have an important impact on the longevity of a patients results, requiring the industry to invest time and money into creating reasonable patient expectations.
The future of the industry, both in the US and globally, promises to become even more integrated with technology and personalized medicine. The direction of the industry is moving away from transplantation, as such, to a focus on hair regeneration. Combining FUE transplants with Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) and stem cell therapies is becoming more common, using the goal not just to transplant hair, but to alter the scalp environment and support weaker follicles. Research is also beginning to be done into cloning hair follicles, the holy grail of hair loss treatment, where supply of donor hair is unlimited, and hair restoration is only a matter of time.
Hair Transplantation, as a global and local industry, is a fascinating study of the way in which a human need can be addressed and met by technology and access. It is reflective of the way in which we are changing as a species, more comfortable with the use of technology to control or alter our biology in the service of personal goals, whether it is physical appearance, fitness, or nutrition. In this changing landscape, the US has emerged as the de facto center, acting as the world’s largest, most advanced and influential hair transplant market. As medical robotics advances and biological treatments for hair loss become more widespread, this industry will only continue to expand and grow more effective and natural, moving ever closer to a truly seamless transition from hair loss to hair restoration.
