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Are you back in the office with colleagues that used to have hairlines like The Rock but are now tossing around their hair like Jason Momoa with no explanation? A lot of men (and women) took advantage of their time away from the office during COVID to sneak in an FUE (SmartGraft) hair transplant procedure.

Nonstop Zoom meetings made balding avoidance all but impossible, and many took advantage of the WFH orders and lack of socializing to recuperate at home – quietly –  without using sick days or paid time off. Hair transplant surgeons, such as Haute Beauty expert Dr. Melissa Toyos, have seen a boom in DL transplants in the last two years. Smartgraft FUE technology, the DL procedure of choice, was invented in the 1930s and re-introduced in the 2000s and has changed the game of hair transplants. Gone are the days of the large, ugly back of the head scars and doll-like clumps of transplants hair. Today’s ultra-precise extractor pens and the ability to take and replace one follicle at a time means that within a matter of weeks, even your hairstylist (who, let’s face it, knows all your secrets) will not be able to tell the difference, although final results can take up to a year to see.

It definitely helps that more celebrities like Cheyenne Jackson, Machine Gun Kelly, Jamie Foxx, and Marc Jacobs have spoken out about their own hair transplants. Just like with other aesthetic procedures, the stigma around reinvigorating receding hairlines has decreased as the newer generations feel more comfortable acknowledging their struggles and solutions. Although there are still plenty of A-listers (and maybe co-workers) that have shed their unconvincing comb-overs for near-miraculous hair growth with no explanation…Elon Musk, LeBron.

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Does it hurt?

The procedure itself is comfortable. A local anesthetic is used to numb the areas, and oral medications help you relax or even sleep through the process. You should expect a few ‘ugly” days where swelling can creep down your forehead, and you will have some tenderness around the surgical sites. Sleeping propped up and an anti-inflammatory steroid pack can definitely take the edge off the first few days of healing.

Is it worth it?

With over a 95% success rate in moving the grafted follicles, SmartGraft users say they “would do it all again.” So if COVID, stress, or even returning to work has your follicles stressed, it’s a perfect time to investigate your options and get your hair in order. For a free SmartGraft consultation via telehealth and in New York City, Nashville, and Memphis, call Toyos Clinic Hair Restoration today at 901.800.6638.