Celebrity Plastic Surgery, News, Gossip

Brendan Fraser has long been a sex symbol and his lush, full head of hair has been the focus of many of his roles, from Encino Man to the Mummy series. This Friday marks Brendan’s return to the big screen in the family-friendly remake of Journey to the Center of the Earth and provides a look at his latest hair treatment.

When Brendan was photographed without any false hair a few years back, his severely thinning hair was very much in evidence. Hair restoration expert, Dr. Alan Bauman says, “Obviously with a significant amount of hereditary hair loss going on, he hasn’t been taking his “Vitamin P” (Propecia or Finasteride 1mg), or didn’t start soon enough. (Those ‘in the know’ understand the benefits of early medical therapy with finasteride, which helps 90% of men keep their hair looking the same or better for years.)”

In addition to not warding off his hair loss, Brendan has actually made his hair loss worse by wearing hairpieces for his film roles as well as public appearances. Glue and tape used to attach hair devices weaken hair. Dr. Bauman says, “Hair loss in the frontal hairline can be caused by the progression of hereditary hair loss, and accelerated by the chronic use of tape or glue used to attach the front of hairpieces onto that area, which we know Fraser has used for years both on screen and off.”

Dr. Bauman also notes that, “Coming up on his 40th birthday, he’s reached the average age for hair restoration surgery (39.5) according to the ISHRS (International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery).”

Make Me Heal sympathizes with Brendan’s hair loss trauma, but tends to agree with Dr. Bauman’s comparison of Brendan’s former hairpiece with the one Tom Hanks sported in The Da Vinci Code (See Make Me Heal’s story on Tom Hanks’ hair transplant).

At a recent premiere of his film, Brendan appeared without a hairpiece and with rather obvious plugs instead, which showed an awful lot of forehead. This could be the result of an old transplant done by a plastic surgeon that does not specialize in hair transplants.

Dr. Bauman explains, “Often, actors will use a combination of non-medical techniques to achieve a youthful hairline and adequate scalp coverage under the ‘bright lights.’ Many times, this means front-heavy toupees (like in the case of John Travolta) which simply do not look natural. Unfortunately, too few are under the care of physicians who have specialty training in the field of hair loss and hair restoration—which would enable them to more effectively hang on to their own living and growing hair, and help restore it undetectably with modern methods of transplantation, if need be. Hairpiece ‘transitions’ are never straightforward, presenting many technical and psychological obstacles. Having helped my own father, who had extensive hair loss, transition out of his hairpiece years ago using hair transplantation (three sessions, to be exact) taught me a great deal about the process.”

Although Brendan’s hair is not looking well right now, Dr. Bauman says that it is not too late to correct the situation. A new transplant could result in a more natural appearance.

Dr. Bauman advises, “However, it is not beyond help. A new transplant would ‘touch-up’ the density by adding new follicles into the thinning area, and also the addition of more acutely angulated follicular-unit grafts would help hide the ‘grafty’ appearance of the previously transplanted groupings of hairs, which are easily seen from the side. In stark contrast, today’s microsurgical ‘follicular unit’ transplants are NOT performed using rows of grafts. Modern methods allow the transplanted hairs to be artistically angulated and placed one-by-one into a completely natural direction delivering both naturalness and coverage.

But mostly, in Fraser, it is the shape of the temporal part of the hairline which tends to ‘draw the eye’ and look unnatural from afar. Hair transplantation performed today would utilize the ‘follicluar-unit micrografting’ method, which duplicates how hair follicles naturally grow in the scalp (mostly 1, 2 or 3 hair groups) and a hairline shape could be designed to more closely mimic one that mother nature would normally create herself.”

Make Me Heal urges Brendan to follow Dr. Bauman’s advice so that at his next premiere, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor later this summer, his hair doesn’t steal the spotlight.

Read the complete celebrity plastic surgery profile of Brendan Fraser on Plasticopedia, the largest celebrity plastic surgery encyclopedia.