Hair clinics in our country are seeing more men asking for a beard transplant. Thibault (38) opted for one himself last year, even though he flew to Turkey. "The first few months afterward, I looked terrible. But that 'upgrade' for life was worth the money." Don't go to the first one you see, warns hair surgeon Bijan Ferudini: "It remains a challenging procedure." He shares how much you pay for a beard transplant, which men cannot have it done and what the risks are.
Thibault paid 2,600 euros for a beard transplant: “I got more than 100 injections in my face, I was shaking”
“I was shocked by the pain. As soon as they injected the anesthetic, my face started to burn. I counted how many injections I got on one side, but gave up at injection fifty-five. I estimate I got over a hundred injections. (green smile) My body was shaking. But the beard I have now was worth those twenty minutes of pain.” Thibault (38) likes to talk about his beard transplant. He is clearly still just as happy with his choice. After all, the pain he felt for a while is only a small part of his story. “I would recommend it to any man,” he says.
For five years, he had been feeling disappointed about his beard. It wasn't full and consisted of a few 'islands' around his moustache and goatee. If you naturally have a baby face, in Thibault's words, that quickly becomes a bit irritating. "People always thought I was way too young. Even when I was over 30, they still thought I was 24 or 25." Thibault wasn't really insecure, but he does remember how he started noticing men with full beards on TV. "They radiated so much masculinity. So when a friend of mine had a hair transplant and told me that a beard transplant was also an option, I was immediately interested."
 |
 |
His transplant would take place in a clinic in Istanbul, Turkey, one that Thibault’s friend had left satisfied. “I had heard that men sometimes returned from Turkey with complications, but I had the impression that this was often the result of choosing the cheapest treatment. My procedure would cost 2,200 euros and for 400 euros I would get a hair transplant. A steep, but fair price for Istanbul, I believe.”
“For the procedure itself, I spent one day at the clinic. I met the doctor, we discussed my wishes and then they took care of me for about eight hours. The hair follicles that they transplanted to my face came from the region on the back of my head. I thought it was intense when I first felt the pain, but after that it was quite bearable.”
Of course, recovery followed, and that was no laughing matter, says Thibault. He had to grit his teeth for four months. “First I had blisters on my face, then scabs and wounds. My beard still looked just as sad and the hair on my head was shaved short. I was also not allowed to wear a cap and had to sleep on my back for seven weeks: very unpleasant.”
The fear of complications lurked, because of the realization that the Turkish clinic was not nearby. “But today I have the beard I wanted,” says Thibault. “People now estimate me to be around 30 at least. I am attracted to older women and no one has ever noticed that my beard is not natural. The funny thing is that I am often asked what nationality I have: apparently I look more Turkish or Albanian with a full beard.”
Every two weeks Thibault plans a visit to the barber, because if he lets everything grow, his beard is a bit too wild now. “2,600 euros for an ‘upgrade’ that lasts for life, I would do it again in a heartbeat.”
Hair surgeon on the difficulties of beard transplants: “We have to place the hairs very precisely”
“We don’t do the procedure every day yet, but compared to the past few years, the demand for beard transplants has increased significantly,” says Dr. Bijan Feriduni, a hair surgeon from Hasselt and a European authority on hair transplants. “Of course, social media has something to do with it. But many cultures have long associated a beard with masculinity and maturity.”
Feriduni offers the procedure at his Feriduni Hair Clinic: most of the men he sees there are insecure because their beard is thin or uneven, or doesn’t grow. “The fact that you as a man have a less full beard is usually due to your genes. In other cases, scars, a skin condition or an autoimmune disease cause more bald areas or the hormone dihydrotestosterone is the culprit, which is linked to baldness in many men later in life.”
It’s handy that beard transplants are possible, but the procedure is challenging, says the expert. “The skin on the face is more sensitive than that on the head and we have to place the hairs with extreme precision. This has to be at a very sharp angle of 10 to 20 degrees or sometimes even 5 to 10 degrees relative to the skin, because beard hairs grow almost flat along the face.”
Of course, such a transplant comes with risks. “Certainly in clinics where the focus is on quantity instead of quality. The hairs can be placed incorrectly, the beard line can look unnatural or asymmetrical, you can be left with scars or permanent subcutaneous bumps. There are also fine nerves in your face: they can be damaged.”
With a surgeon like Feriduni, you pay between 3,500 and 9,000 euros for a beard transplant, depending on how many hairs are transplanted. “We usually harvest them from the back of the head, where the hair is strongest and thickest. We prefer to use the area under the chin and in the neck as donor areas. Such a beard-to-beard transplant gives the most natural effect.”
Not possible for everyone
If a man does not have a beard, the surgeon will first perform a test on the cheeks. “This way, we can determine whether there is a risk of visible micro-scars afterwards.” In rare cases, a transplant is not a good idea. “For example, if a man does not have high-quality hair in the donor area due to a hair condition. Even with very fine or very curly hair, we must first determine whether it can blend nicely with the beard hair.”
At the end of last year, French Mathieu Latour (24) committed suicide after a beard transplant in Turkey, partly because he no longer recognized his face. "A beard can indeed have a major impact on facial contours," says Feriduni. "The impact on appearance is often greater than men expect." That is why every beard transplant must be personalized, says the surgeon. "We take into account the shape and proportions of the face, the facial features and the existing hair growth. But what the man finds attractive is of course just as important. A beard must look natural, but also really suit the man." You will only see the end result after about 9 to 12 months. "After some redness and scabs, the transplanted hair will first fall out temporarily. It will really start to grow after 3 to 4 months."
Stéphanie Verzelen 24-04-25, 11:00 for HLN
