We could soon be kissing goodbye to paranoid comb-overs and increasingly receding hairlines, as an expert has predicted one day they'll be no bald blokes in Britain.
We all know someone who's a bit touchy about their baldness or growing increasingly stressed about the pending hair loss seemingly coming their way, but apparently that could eventually become a thing of the past.
In 2012, there were an estimated seven million men sporting bald heads or thinning hair. A decade on, the figure has dropped to around 6.4 million, The Sun reports.
While there are plenty of men who have no issue embracing their baldness – think Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Jason Statham, Bruce Willis and Vin Diesel, for instance – lots of others are opting to go under the knife for a hair transplant, with over 500,000 people having had the op in the last 10 years.
According to the NHS, 'a hair transplant is a procedure to move hair to an area that's thin or bald' and is 'suitable for people with permanent baldness'.
There are two types of transplant - the first is a follicular unit transplantation, which involves removing a thin strip of skin with hair from the back of the head. The strip is then divided into pieces – each containing one to four hairs – and placed into small cuts made in the scalp. While the surgery doesn't require the whole head to be shaved, it does leave a scar.
The second option is a follicular unit extraction, where the back of the head is shaved and individual hairs removed one by one and placed into small cuts made in the scalp. While the op does leave lots of little scars, the NHS states they 'will not be very noticeable'.
In the UK, the procedure can set you back anywhere between £1,000 and £30,000 depending on the severity of the hair loss, where you choose to get it done and the type of op you go for.
Hair Transplant surgeon Dr Manish Mittal of Harley Street’s Mittal Hair Clinic explained the procedure has boomed in popularity, especially since more and more big-name celebs have started confessing to having the op and breaking down the sigma surrounding hair loss.
"Wayne Rooney changed the industry overnight when he had his operation," he explained.
"He was open about his hair loss, which broke down barriers.”
As a result, according to Dr Mittal, baldness will become 'thing of the past' by 2138, although it could come even sooner.
So, looks like we've still got a bit of time until we could wave baldness goodbye for good.
But whether you want a transplant or not, there's also nothing wrong with embracing hair loss.
