Joe Rogan Hair Transplant Failure! Here’s what went wrong!

Leave a Comment / Hair Transplant / By mattdominance

Joe Rogan Hair Transplant Failure! Here's what went wrong!

written by Matt Dominance

In this post you will find out about Joe Rogan and:

His hair loss story which made him get a hair transplant in his 20’s!
The secrets behind his FUT hair transplant and why it didn’t go as expected!?
Why did he end up totally bald despite having a hair transplant done and using Minoxidil in the past!?

Joe Rogan Hair Loss Story

Joe Rogan started losing his hair already in his early 20’s.

From this picture, you still can’t see any visible signs of hair loss because he already learned how to camouflage the receding corners.

His hairline started to recede irregularly – more on the right side and less on the left side.

By the time of 27 years old we can already see an obvious hairline recession.

Joe Rogan's experience with Minoxidil (Rogaine)

“I saved my hair with Minoxidil and then Minoxidil was hanging in there. After a while the hair was still falling out!”

Back in 1995 Minoxidil (Rogaine) was the only FDA approved treatment for male pattern baldness.

It is known that Joe had used Rogaine for slowing down his androgenetic alopecia progression but unfortunately it didn’t seem to benefit him very well as he admitted in one of his clips on YouTube.

Unfortunately Finasteride (Propecia) hasn’t been FDA approved for hair loss until 1997.

Had Joe started using Finasteride earlier on, he could have potentially slowed down his hair loss more effectively than with using Minoxidil (Rogaine).

Relying on Minoxidil as a monotherapy for treating hair loss hasn’t been shown as the best strategy as there is an increasing number of studies which prove the limitation of Minoxidil treatment for hair loss

2 Minoxidil (Rogaine) Limitations

LIMITATION 1 – lack of dht blocking properties

It only stimulates new hair growth by prolonging the anagen (growing) phase of the hair follicle but does nothing to stop further hair loss. Minoxidil doesn’t target the underlying cause of hair loss – androgen sensitivity of the hair follicles to DHT and TESTOSTERONE.

If the hair follicle sensitivity to androgens is greater than stimulation effects of Minoxidil, the follicle will miniaturize regardless.

Limitation 2 – suboptimal response rates to the treatment

For Minoxidil to be effective in stimulating new hair growth, it has to be first metabolized onto Minoxidil Sulfate. This process happens in the liver and on the scalp (by topical Minoxidil 5% application).

Thus, the effectiveness of Minoxidil relies predominantly on the individual ability of each patient to metabolize Minoxidil active ingredient into Minoxidil Sulfate on the scalp.

Recent studies have shown that only 40% of patients treated with Minoxidil in fact respond favorably to this treatment.

In this article on Minoxidil vs Minoxidil Shampoo I also talked about 3 scientifically proven ways on how to Boost Minoxidil Effectiveness for Non-Responders!

Joe Rogan gets his 1st Hair Transplant at 26/28 years old

Although we don’t have much information about his 1st, 2nd or 3rd hair transplant, we know, they were all FUT (follicular unit transplantation). This type of hair transplantation requires excision of the skin tissue from the back of the scalp (occipital region).

This skin tissue further contains the hair follicles which will be later dissected from the excised skin tissue and transplanted on the bald scalp.

In one of his clips, Joe admitted he had his hair transplant done when he was 28 years old while in the video below, he said his 1st hair transplant was at the age of 26.

Despite him having 2 hair transplant done in his mid-late 20’s, it never seemed like his hairline ever recovered or improved. In fact, It seems as if his hairline kept on receding further despite having 3 hair transplants done. He likely had 2 minor and 1 major one done.

Where is the big hairline comeback!?

If you look at any videos and photos of Joe Rogan between 1995 and 2005, it is very hard to spot any “boost” in his hairline. It just seems as if nothing really happened! So what went wrong with his hair transplants then?

On the photo above we can see that the scar on the back of his head. The length of the scar suggests that it wasn’t just a little procedure. Scars of similar length can easily yield from 2500-3000 hair follicles as it was the case with Machine Gun Kelly.

Such a high number of follicles would be very hard to overlook on the transplanted area unless the follicles didn’t grow back!!!

In the red rectangle you can see the rest of Joe’s thinning hair. Some of that hair is very likely transplanted, but there is not a lot of it after all.

After Joe decided to buzz his hair short and own the shaved head look, we could almost count every single wispy hair on his scalp. It’s quite odd, when his scar suggests at least 2500 hair follicles transplanted…

If the hair on the top is the transplanted hair only, it had been transplanted in a very low density initially.

Although it is also quite usual that not 100% of the transplanted hair grows back, but it always should be at 90% and higher. Unfortunately in Joe’s case, it seems like less than 10% of the transplanted hair grew back.

In on of his YouTube clips from 2018 he explained that his hair transplant didn’t work because his hair was way too thing and thus the end result didn’t look so good. But even then, we would at least be able to see way more hair follicles sprouting on top of his head.

This brings us to the following conclusion:

1. The hair after Joe’s hair transplants didn’t grow back as expected (likely less than 10% of the hair grew back)

2. The hair grew back initially but after some time it started to miniaturize as a result of Joe not taking Finasteride. On top of that he might have been also experimenting with anabolic steroids, Testosterone, etc.

With continuous use of performance enhancing drugs and no anti-hair loss treatments even the transplanted hair can miniaturize.

Surprisingly low FUT scar positioning could also explain why Joe’s transplanted hair thinned out over time.

In the ideal scenario the FUT scar would be positioned at least 1 cm higher compared to where Joe has it.

The positioning of his scar is risky because the hair which such excision yields has higher thinning potential as opposed to the hair from the “safe donor area.”

Why Shaving the head was the best decision for Joe Rogan?

After one unsuccessful hair transplant, it is normally common to get a repair surgery to correct what the 1st hair transplant didn’t provide and thus meet the patient’s expectations, in Joe Rogan’s case it wasn’t possible.

Joe Rogan was destined to become a NW6 – NW7 on the Hamilton-Norwood scale. In such case, even hair transplants come short. Trying to pursue another hair transplant in his case would have been twice as hard, because he already had his donor area depleted once with the first FUT.

And no matter if the hair transplant turns successful or not at the end, once the hair has been extracted from the donor area via FUT or FUE, this region becomes temporarily depleted.

The depletion level then depends on how many hair follicles have been extracted in total.

It’s great that he decided to just shave it, because any additional hair restoration attempts would have just delay the inevitable.

Even if his 1st major hair transplant turned successful (the one which resulted in the long scar), he still wouldn’t likely be able to cover up future baldness with his donor hair follicles which were left untouched.

In order to avoid causing more and more damage to the donor area with future hair transplants in exchange for a very little cosmetic improvement, he rather decided to shave his head.

It is always important to have a realistic outlook as a hair transplant patient. One should be aware of his limited donor hair supply and the future hair loss progression.

Because sooner or later, there will be a time when the donor area isn’t able to “keep up” with the patterned baldness and patients are then going to be left with partial hair coverage and depleted donor areas.

How Joe Biden got his hair transplant and failed to keep up with his future hair loss!

Joe Biden had his hair transplant done despite being destined for a NW6 – NW7 later on. Had Joe Rogan’s 1st hair transplant succeeded, his hair would have likely ended up like Joe Biden’s.

In Joe Biden’s case the transplanted hair actually grew back on his hairline but unfortunately he wasn’t able to save his native hair from falling out and thus ended up with only partial hair coverage on the front. This appearance is also known as the “Island of hairs” among hair transplant patients.

You can read my whole Hair Transplant Breakdown of Joe Biden here!

That’s why it is crucial to take hair loss prevention seriously and start with an effective treatment as soon as possible.

Maintaining as much of one’s native hair as possible can drastically diminish the demands for transplanted hair follicles. This allows you to utilize hair restoration as a long term hair preservation method without running out of the donor hair supply.

You can check out my article on “The Big 3 of Hair Loss Prevention” which shows you how to avoid future hair loss the most effective and science-based way!

Remember: The transplanted hair can only look great as long as the hair round it looks great!

Check out the Celebrity Hair Transplant Section on this site for more hair transplant breakdowns!

Considering a Hair Transplant?

Joe Biden Hair Plugs

Leave a Comment / Hair Transplant / By mattdominance

Joe Biden Hair Plugs

written by Matt Dominance

In this post you will find out about Joe Biden and:

The secrets behind his old hair plugs and hairline transformation!
Norwood stage before his hair transplant!
Whether he is or isn’t likely to be using Finasteride(Propecia) to prevent future hair loss?
Why did he end up half bald despite having hair transplant done in the past!?

Joe Biden before getting Hair Plugs

Joe Biden didn’t seem to exhibit any signs of male pattern baldness until his late 20’s.

In his early 30’s we can already see him with receding hairline.

Unfortunately back in the 1970’s – 1980’s there was no effective treatment for male pattern baldness like Minoxidil or Finasteride (Propecia). These treatments hadn’t been approved by the FDA until 1990’s.

If he started using Finasteride back in the early stages of his hair loss, the progression of his hairline recession would had likely progressed much slower.

How Joe Biden got his Hair Plugs

Although the exact year of his hair transplant procedure is not clear, it is very likely that he had done hair plugs in his late 30’s – probably by the age of 38-39.

In the video interview on CNN from 1981 we can already spot him with the transplanted hair.

By the time he decided to get his hair transplant, his hair loss already progressed to a NW 6 on the Hamilton-Norwood scale.

Thus, the hair plugs had to be implanted strategically on the frontal third of his scalp to make him look like he wasn’t losing hair on the front.

Unfortunately the density wasn’t very high and that’s why he had to comb the newly implanted hair over his scalp to achieve a better coverage.

His hairline seemed to match his hair loss progression at that time, but as the years went by and his hair loss on the mid-scalp and crown kept on progressing, he was eventually unable to keep up with the male pattern baldness progression.

This unfortunately led to the “island of hairs” which many hair transplant patients can experience with time.

What does “Island of hairs” mean?

Island of hairs can occur, when transplanted hair looks almost as if it would be separated from the rest of the scalp hair.

This happens due to the ongoing androgenic alopecia progression and further hair miniaturization on the mid-scalp and crown area.

Key thing to understand before undergoing a hair transplant!

The transplanted hair can only look great as long as the hair round it looks great!

In case your native hair loses its thickness or reaches advanced stages of shaft miniaturization, you risk a very unnatural appearance!

This unnaturalness is created as a result of an obvious contrast between the robust-looking transplanted hair vs thinned out native hair.

For some reason Joe Biden decided not to have another hair transplant or he was advised not to have it because of his potential donor area limitations.

How did Joe Biden's Transplanted Hairline change over time?

Even transplanted hair can change its thickness, color and texture over time. The same has also happened to Joe Biden’s transplanted hairline.

At first, the implanted hair used to look more pluggy and robust, but over time it turned out more and more natural? How is it possible?

Lower skin-hair contrast

As people age, the number of pigment-containing cells (melanocytes) in the skin may decrease. Simultaneously hair medulla produces less and less pigment which causes the hair shafts turn white.

Eventually, a very low contrast environment between the skin shade and hair shade is created, which makes the hairline look that much softer.

Transplanted hair thinning

Transplanted hair can also miniaturize with time – especially if no anti-hair loss treatment is being utilized. The implanted hair follicles usually don’t fall out entirely, even if patients are not on any treatment e.g. Minoxidil and Finasteride.

Even though transplanted hair miniaturization is considered a bad thing. In case the miniaturization is only minor though, it can actually make the previously robust-looking hairline more softer and more natural-looking.

Since it doesn’t seem like Joe Biden has been using Finasteride, it is likely that his transplanted hair has suffered from some degree of miniaturization.

Additional hair transplant (hairline correction surgery)

It’s also likely, that Joe Biden might have done additional hair transplant correction surgery over the years to soften his hairline, and add some more density to it. This could explain why his hairline looks softer and more natural today.

Consequences of Ongoing Hair Loss + Juvenile Transplanted Hairline

Patients who are predisposed for becoming a NW6 – NW7 on the Hamilton-Norwood scale in the future, should think twice before deciding how to have their transplanted hairline positioned.

Although there is nothing wrong with getting a hair transplant as somebody with further hair loss potential in the future, it is important to minimize the future hair loss progression with treatments first, and then consider a hair transplant.

In such case, a more conservative approach towards hairline design should be prioritized.

Check out the Celebrity Hair Transplant Section on this site for more hair transplant breakdowns!

Considering a Hair Transplant?

Tory Lanez New Hairline

1 Comment / Hair Transplant / By mattdominance

Tory Lanez Hair Transplant Analysis

written by Matt Dominance

In this post you will find out about Tory Lanez and:

The secrets behind his hairline transformation!
His hair doctor, price for his FUE hair transplant!
Norwood stage before his hair transplant!
Whether he is or isn’t likely to be using Finasteride(Propecia) or not?
Why is he still losing more hair!?
FUE vs FUT for Afro-textured hair – which one is better!?

Tory Lanez Hair Loss before his Hair Transplant

His hair loss started at a relatively young age (as it was the case with Xherdan Shaqiri). On the photo below we can see how Tory’s corners are vividly thinning. He was about 23-24 years old in this photo.

Tory’s mistake was not taking anti-hair loss medication seriously and thus letting his hair loss progress.

You can check out my article on “The Big 3 of Hair Loss Prevention”

Most of the men who develop advanced hair loss (Norwood 6 or Norwood 7) over the course of their lifetime, are usually also the men who start also experiencing hair loss early on.

In order to minimize the chance of becoming completely bald later on, one should start exploring the proven ways of combating hair loss as soon as first signs of male pattern hair loss appear.

Tory Lanez Hairline after his FUE Hair Transplant

After his FUE hair transplant with Dr. Ziering in LA, Tory ended up with roughly 2000 hair follicles transplanted. The follicles come from the back of his head (donor area).

The removal of the hair follicles also leaves tiny circle-like scars which should never be concentrated way too close to one another. Otherwise the hair on the donor area will grow in patches after the hair transplant.

The price he paid for his hair transplant was abut 15$ per graft (hair follicle). You can also check out my whole video, where he was discussing the details about his hair doctor, price and overall hair transplant experience.

He also admitted in one of his interviews about hair, that Tyga has recommended him Dr. Ziering and his clinic for the transplantation.

Although Tyga and Tory both have gotten awesome results from the FUE hair transplant despite having curly Afro-textured hair, there are is a little warning for all the patients with curly hair interested in FUE.

Transplanted area

Below you can see the approximation for the transplanted area. The final number of hair follicles transplanted in this case is somewhere around 2000. Tory also mentioned in this video he paid around 30.000$ in total for his procedure. We already know that the price per extracted hair follicle is 15$.

Hair transplant naturalness

This screenshot has been taken from the interview, where Tory mentioned having his FUE hair transplant done 8 months ago.

You can still spot slight difference in color between the transplanted hair on the temple vs the hair on his sides. The transplanted hair on his hairline, however, already blends pretty well with the rest of his hair.

FUE Hair Transplant with Afro/Curly Hair - WARNING!

Hair follicle transection

Transection of the hair follicle causes irreversible damage to the hair in many cases. Depending on the location of where the transection occurred, the hair may or may not grow again.

If the transection occurs above the hair bulge area (hair stem-cell producing area), the hair may in fact grow again. Transections lower than that usually cause irreversible damage to the hair.

This results in total disruption of the communication between the stem cells and dermal papilla.

Why the graft transection is especially high with Afro hair?

On the picture below you can see why straight hair is the easiest to extract with a punching device used during FUE hair transplants and why Afro hair is the most challenging to extract without damaging it.

How can be graft transection avoided?

Whether an Afro-textured–haired patient is a good candidate for FUE is never 100% sure. That’s why some FUE hair doctors conduct a small initial test in which the surgeon takes out about 100 hair follicles from the donor area and then evaluates how many of them were accidentally transected.

If the transection rate is less than 10%, the patient may consider getting FUE hair transplant with good results.

Best punching tool for minimizing the transection rate by Afro haired patients

The most ideal punching tool based on this study on 17 patients with Afro hair is a curved nonrotary punch. Furthermore, it has been shown that dull rotary punches were safer to use in patients with Afro-textured hair compared to sharp rotary punches.

Why FUT Hair Transplant might be more suitable for Afro-textured hair?

FUT hair transplant used to be the nr. 1 choice for transplanting large number of hair follicles of any texture. With the latest improvements in the FUE as well as FUE physicians sharpening their skills more and more, it is now possible to achieve very low transection rates with follicular unit extraction also.

Why the transection rate with FUT is still lower than with FUE by patients with Afro hair?

Every hair transplant doctor knows, that Afro hair is very unpredictable in terms of the curl underneath the skin. This makes it especially challenging to properly encompass the hair follicle with a punching tool.

On top of that, the hair follicles tend to have different angles of growth based on a particular region of the scalp. For example on the temples, the hair grows at a very acute (sharp) angles while on the crown area, the angles are less acute.

Similar differences in the angle of hair growth has been observed on the donor area.

FUT hair transplant successfully bypasses both of these challenges.

Excision of a strip of skin tissue from the back of the head with hair follicles in it allows the hair transplant doctor to minimize the hair follicle transection.

By looking at the excised strip under a stereo microscope, it is possible to see the curl of the hair follicle underneath the skin. This will make it easier to successfully dissect the hair follicles with least possible transection rate.

Tory Lanez used PRP treatment for hair loss! Was it a good idea?

Tory admitted he has done “PRP shots” in conjunction with his recent hair transplant. Although many doctors like to include PRP after the hair transplant to promote faster hair regrowth and healing post-op, the efficacy of PRP for long term androgenetic alopecia management is still not as rock solid as we might hope.

Since PRP (platelet rich plasma) does not suppress the hormonal component of androgenetic alopecia, many doctors started to doubt its efficacy.

Another disadvantage of PRP is no standardized protocol of preparing platelet derived plasma as well as optimal frequency of the treatment.

Studies on PRP deliver mixed results and although most of them yield positive results, they often times don’t have large enough sample size for better statistical significance.

Why is Tory Lanez losing more hair despite his hair plugs!?

Yes, hair transplant can get you some of your hair back, but it can’t make the rest of your native hair resistant to further hair loss.

This is unfortunately what many guys (who are not on any anti hair loss treatments) experience after their hair transplant.

Further hair loss on Tory’s mid-scalp and vertex

On the photo below you can see how his hair loss keeps on progressing on the rest of his head. This is a clear indication of not being on any potent anti hair loss treatment. In cases like this, PRP only can never suffice as a monotherapy.

During the interview on the “Breakfast Club” I immediately noticed that Tory Lanez is not on the FDA approved treatments like Minoxidil or Finasteride.

Otherwise his hair loss on the mid-scalp and crown area wouldn’t have been so severe.

If we look at his older photos from 2015 or 2016, his hair loss in these regions wasn’t that bad.

However, if he decides to keep going without any proven treatment, he will have to rely on more hair transplants in the future, scalp micro-pigmentation or hair fibers.

This may of course result in depleting his donor area or inability to successfully cover his future baldness with the limited number of hair follicles still available on the back and sides of his scalp.

2021 Update: Tory Lanez no Finasteride - Conesquences!

The whole internet seemed to roast Tory Lanez about his sudden hair loss behind his previously transplanted area.

Well, was it really that sudden?

Likely not. He just kept his hair fairly short on the scalp so the diffuse thinning on the mid-scalp and vertex area didn’t attract much attention. However, once he decided to grew his hair out, the contrast between transplanted hair density vs native hair density is mind-boggling.

Some people thing his hair transplant fail, but did it really?

No. In this post we have already seen that his transplanted hair on the hairline and temples grew in just fine. The problem was his careless approach towards his existing hair. Although it seems he did some PRP (platelet rich plasma) injections in the past to preserve his native hair, it wasn’t enough. It certainly wasn’t the best he could have done!

Month: February 2021

Joe Rogan Hair Transplant Failure! Here's what went wrong!

written by Matt Dominance

In this post you will find out about Joe Rogan and:

Joe Rogan Hair Loss Story

Joe Rogan's experience with Minoxidil (Rogaine)

2 Minoxidil (Rogaine) Limitations

LIMITATION 1 – lack of dht blocking properties

Limitation 2 – suboptimal response rates to the treatment

Joe Rogan gets his 1st Hair Transplant at 26/28 years old

Why Shaving the head was the best decision for Joe Rogan?

How Joe Biden got his hair transplant and failed to keep up with his future hair loss!

Check out the Celebrity Hair Transplant Section on this site for more hair transplant breakdowns!

Considering a Hair Transplant?

Joe Biden Hair Plugs

written by Matt Dominance

In this post you will find out about Joe Biden and:

Joe Biden before getting Hair Plugs

How Joe Biden got his Hair Plugs

Key thing to understand before undergoing a hair transplant!

How did Joe Biden's Transplanted Hairline change over time?

Consequences of Ongoing Hair Loss + Juvenile Transplanted Hairline

Check out the Celebrity Hair Transplant Section on this site for more hair transplant breakdowns!

Considering a Hair Transplant?

Tory Lanez Hair Transplant Analysis

written by Matt Dominance

In this post you will find out about Tory Lanez and:

Tory Lanez Hair Loss before his Hair Transplant

Tory Lanez Hairline after his FUE Hair Transplant

FUE Hair Transplant with Afro/Curly Hair - WARNING!

Why FUT Hair Transplant might be more suitable for Afro-textured hair?

Tory Lanez used PRP treatment for hair loss! Was it a good idea?

Why is Tory Lanez losing more hair despite his hair plugs!?

2021 Update: Tory Lanez no Finasteride - Conesquences!

Check out the Celebrity Hair Transplant Section on this site for more hair transplant breakdowns!

Considering a Hair Transplant?