Hairline Comeback - Matthew McConaughey

 

Matthew McConaughey at Interstellar Premiere (Photo by PR Photos)

 
Is Matthew McConaughey's hair getting better with age? 

His new film, "Interstellar," hits theaters this Friday, but what's really inspiring to me is the return of the 44-year old's hairline, which began to show signs of serious recession many years ago (check out #4 on BuzzFeed's list of male celebs who are less bald than they used to be). 

While McConaughey has never admitted to undergoing a hair transplant, he has discussed using topical treatments before. A regular routine of pharmaceutical-grade minoxidil could potentially achieve this level of results, but it's best to use a multi-therapy approach that combines topicals with finasteride, low level laser therapy, nutritional supplements or platelet-rich plasma therapy. There's no way to regain hair that's dead and gone without undergoing hair transplantation surgery, and McConaughey's frontal and temporal hairline does appear to be fuller in several areas.

McConaughey in 2005 (Photo by PR Photos)

Whatever he's doing, it's clearly working, but I strongly doubt it's all due to one all-natural topical treatment as McConaughey has claimed.

Will Oscars Cost Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto Their Hair?

Photo by PR Photos

Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto received Oscar nominations for their roles in The Dallas Buyers Club this week. Both stars went through a physical transformation during filming, McConaughey lost nearly 50 lbs. and Leto reportedly dropped 30 lbs. for their respective roles. 

Their dedication to their characters may earn them both Oscars next month, but the extreme diets that helped them lose the weight can have damaging, and sometimes long-lasting effects on our health, including the health of our hair. What many men and women don’t realize is, these “crash” diets can cause major shedding due to the steep drop in nutrients in the body. Which is why each year starting in February, we tend to see an influx of new patients concerned about sudden hair loss resulting from New Year-inspired crash diets. 

About Crash Diets & Hair Loss: 

• ‘Crash dieting’ isn’t just bad for the body, it can also lead to temporary hair loss.
• Four to six weeks after the start of a crash diet, major shedding occurs throughout the crown of the head. 
• Steep drop in nutrients to the body forces some hair follicles to shed their hair strands and go into a prolonged resting phase during which time no new hairs are grown. 
• When your body thinks it’s starving, it doesn't make 'luxury' items like hair.
• Condition is usually temporary, but it can still take six to 10 months for the hair to return back to normal.
• Caloric, iron and protein deficiencies are among the most common nutritional triggers for unhealthy hair. 
• Vitamins, especially B, are important to the overall health of your hair and preventing hair loss and thinning.

Is Having Chest Hair a Style Faux Pas?

 

Photo by PR Photos

Are hairless bodies the new aesthetic for today's men? 

The Daily Mail recently wrote about the growing shaving/waxing/primping trend among men in search of the perfect hairless chest. The new 'hairless chic' has been underway for some time, and is inspired by a growing number of bare-chested male celebrities - from Matthew McConaughey to David Beckham. Long gone are the days when a full chest of hair - a la Sean Connery, Tom Selleck or Burt Reynolds - was the ideal to live up to.

Not everyone feels this way, of course. A number of hair restoration surgeons, including myself, occasionally perform body hair transplants - in most cases, this procedure takes hair from the chest, arms or wherever and transplants it into the scalp because the patient doesn't have enough donor hair at the back of the head. However, sometimes the procedure is reversed - and the transplant is for the chest, or beard or pubic region, to create hair. 

Slate previously wrote about the history of body hair removal and there's also a discussion on HowStuffWorks about why we have body hair to begin with. Meanwhile, the global dairy company Arla apparently didn't get the memo about body hair - it's British subsidiary recently created an actual coat made from the chest hair of 300 male donors, as a publicity stunt to promote a new protein beverage.