Losing his hair to genetic baldness, one man couldn’t shake the sinking feeling every time he looked into the mirror: he was starting to look just like his absentee father. Reluctant to be photographed and rarely seen without a hat, he finally decided it was time for a change and booked a hair transplant.
Dean Simmonds, 35, a project manager from London, struggled with a rapidly receding hairline in his adulthood. Though he’d “never imagined going bald” growing up, he felt his hair thinning after having children, along with “coping with the stresses of life.”
Dean says he “didn’t think anything of it then,” but something changed the day he looked into the mirror and saw his dad staring back. “It’s a personal thing. My dad isn’t there for me. And one of my first thoughts when I started to go bald was just how much I’d started to look like my father. It was all I could think about, and it made me incredibly sad.”
At that time, the Londoner had “never considered getting a hair transplant” and had accepted his fate, but it affected his life in many ways.
“Just seeing people with a good hairline and hair made me feel down about myself. I wore a hat all the time, and I really didn’t like having my photo taken. Even if someone did take a photo of me, I’d see it before they posted it online. I was just really conscious about it, and it ate away at my confidence.”
Describing himself as an “anxious” person, Dean said that he’d “looked into trying minoxidil and finasteride” but was turned off by their side effects. “I also knew people who were using those spray-on hair fibres, but if it were to rain, I was worried about them washing off. That’s why I ended up settling on a hat ‘cause no one will ever see you with that on.”
The day Dean decided to undergo a hair transplant was a vivid memory for him. “I was out with my partner, she took a photo of me, and when I looked at it, all the hair at the front was completely gone. I was bald, and it really hit me then.
So, while I was at work, I showed the same picture to a friend of mine who was also losing his hair. He turned around and said to me that if I get my hair done, he’ll get it done with me. Turns out, having someone alongside me was all the confidence and support I needed to take the next step.”
Still, the decision wasn’t exactly an easy one for Dean, who had read several “hair transplant gone wrong” stories, and thought to himself, “yup, that’s going to happen to me.” However, having done his research, he decided on getting his hair transplant in Turkey arranged by Longevita Hair Transplant.
In talking about his surgery, Dean said, “You will experience a certain level of pain, but it’s not unbearable.” He also documented his experience on TikTok in a video that has now garnered over 21,000 views. Since then, he says, he’s had “loads of people message him.”
While recovering from his own procedure and 8 months post-op, Dean advises people to be patient as final results can take up to 12 months.
“The recovery, I will say, is probably the longest part of it. You can’t do certain things right after, like you even have to sleep at an angle, and I had some itchy and sleepless nights. But the biggest thing I say to everyone is ‘You’ve got to be patient.’”
Even though he hasn’t fully recovered yet, Dean says he “couldn’t be happier” with the results and feels like a “completely different person.
@d_ant_66 8 months post hair transplant. Would you say it works? @longevita #transplant #hairtransformation #hairtransplant #turkey #trendin #trendingvideo #fyp #f #foru #letsgo #prp #8months #transformation #hair #viralvideos #longevita ♬ Beat Automotivo Tan Tan Tan Viral – WZ Beat “I went out with my mates for my birthday recently, and every single one said, ‘That can’t be your hair. You’ve got some fibres or products in there or something.’ They were in complete disbelief. One of the best birthdays I’ve had!”
