It’s no secret that Tory Lanez’s hair loss has attracted media attention for many years. The rapper himself hasn’t shied away from discussions about it, either. He has admitted to getting a type of non-surgical hair loss solution for his alopecia. And even though it looked like his hair had grown back for a while, he again experienced significant hair loss not long after the treatment.
He made headlines for that yet again, with many people saying that he should get a refund on his hair transplant – only Tory Lanez’s hair transplant possibly never happened in the first place. So, what did he do to grow his hair temporarily?
Who Is Tory Lanez?
Daystar Shemuel Shua Peterson, who goes by the stage name “Tory Lanez,” is a Canadian-born rapper and songwriter, who’s currently sentenced to 10 years in prison for shooting the American rapper Megan Thee Stallion.
Born on July 27, 1992, Tory released his first mixtape “T.L 2 T.O.” when he was around 17 years old. While he continued to release mixtapes and singles, it wasn’t until his single “Say It” from his debut album “I Told You” that he got his big break. It was the first time his work hit the Billboard charts.
In 2016, he achieved the pinnacle of success, with Forbes calling him “The Toronto Rapper With Universal Appeal.” The same year, he also got a Grammy nomination for the “Best R&B Song” for another song from his debut album “Luv.”
Over the following years, he released many other albums, including Chixtape (4 and 5), Love Me Now?, Memories Don’t Lie, and Daystar, among others. He’s known for blending different styles of music into his work such as hip hop and R&B.
Did Tory Lanez Get A Hair Transplant?
Despite admitting to getting hair loss treatment, Lanez made clear that he did not get a procedure in which “they cut the back of the head.”
That doesn’t completely remove hair transplant from the equation because there’s a lot to unpack here, especially since the singer also mentioned “stem cell research” in the same podcast with BigBoyTV (we’ll get to that in a short while).
The cutting of the back of the head happens in a kind of hair transplant known as Follicular Unit Transplant (FUT). It’s a rather dated hair transplant technique and not as popular these days because it involves removing a strip of skin from the back of the head.
From that, hair grafts are cut out and transplanted into the scalp. But one of the biggest drawbacks of this procedure is that it can leave a noticeable linear scar at the back of the head.
While Lanez might not have had this procedure, it’s possible that he had a relatively less invasive FUE hair transplant in which hair grafts are scored out directly from the scalp and then placed into the bald spots. However, to our knowledge, he hasn’t made any references to this procedure.
What Does Tory Lanez Use For His Hair?
Lanez mentioned that the clinic where he got his procedure done, they did “stem cell research” (although he didn’t clarify if that’s what he got – he just mentioned this specifically).
Stem cell hair therapy has no standard procedure, but as the name suggests, it uses stem cells to regenerate hair follicles in bald spots. However, sufficient research on this treatment is lacking, and there’s no guarantee of long-term results.
But some also say that it’s actually platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections that Lanez got for his baldness as that’s also considered a more “natural” way of regrowing hair. Some clinics do offer PRP under the name of “stem cell therapy,” and some even combine PRP with the latter.
The clinic where Lanez went to referenced a “stem cell banking” procedure in which cells from hair follicles are frozen to “stop the cells from aging” so that the patient has a bank of “younger cells” for “upcoming treatment.”
Now, they’re rather vague about the exact way in which this procedure can be useful or help the patient grow their hair back. How Lanez might’ve benefitted from this isn’t clear either as Tory was already fairly young (27 years) around the time he got “something” done. So, you should consult a board-certified doctor before investing your money and time into such procedures.
In any case, PRP uses the patient’s own blood to extract “platelet-rich plasma” and then injects it into the bald spots to rejuvenate growth. This is also a fairly new treatment option for hair loss, and it’s been reported to show positive results.
Although PRP might not work for more permanent types of hair loss like androgenetic alopecia or pattern baldness, which is what we believe Lanez has. And that might explain the hair loss he experienced after he’d gotten his treatment.
While it was termed a failure of his hair transplantation, it’s not even clear that he had the procedure in the first place. If it was injectables, their results aren’t believed to be permanent, which can explain why he lost his hair later on.
How Many Hair Grafts Did Tory Lanez Transplant?
Since it’s not clear if Lanez even had a hair transplant, we can’t say the number of hair grafts he’s had. However, the rapper mentioned that his main problem areas were his receding temples. If he was getting treatment for that area alone, he might’ve needed somewhere between 1,000 to 2,500 grafts.
How Much Did Tory Lanez’s Hair Transplant Cost?
High-end celebrity clinics can charge as much as $10 for each graft in the US. Assuming he had the surgery, Tory Lanez’s hair transplant might’ve cost him somewhere around $10,000.
Stem cell therapy can also go up to $8,000, and PRP isn’t cheap either as that can also cost you $5,000, keeping in mind that you might need maintenance injections over time, so the cost will add up.
In contrast, a hair transplant in Turkey with a session of PRP might cost you around $1,900 (£1,500) due to the low cost of living and exchange rates.
What You Need To Do To Get A Hair Transplant Like Tory Lanez?
If it’s a hair transplant that Tory had, you need to be in good health and have sufficient hair at the back and sides of your head to get a hair transplant. The latter is called the donor area and that’s where hair for the transplantation surgery comes from.
If you don’t have enough of it, you are not likely to be considered a suitable candidate for the surgery.
Of course, there are other things as well that your surgeon will look out for. For instance, a hair transplant is not recommended for patients whose hair loss pattern is not stable as the donor area is more difficult to determine. For the best advice, make sure to consult your doctor.
Conclusion
Tory Lanez’s hair transplant is quite curious. From the looks of it, it doesn’t seem like he ever had surgery. He does mention taking the more “natural” route, so it’s possible that he got PRP injections for his hair loss instead. While those injections can work, they’re not exactly considered a permanent solution for pattern baldness.
That could explain why he lost his hair. A hair transplant, on the other hand, is supposed to give permanent results because the transplanted hair is not affected by the hormones that cause hair loss. In any case, talk to a doctor about your hair loss, so they can recommend a treatment plan accordingly.