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Final results: Here’s what Seiji’s balding head looks like one year after hair transplant surgery

Dale Roll Oct 9, 2019
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Now you can finally find out if his hair transplant surgery worked!

One year ago, our Japanese language reporter Seiji Nakazawa got sick and tired of his balding hairline and decided to try out hair transplant surgery. He’d hoped the movement of hair from the back of his head to the front would help cover his ever-expanding forehead, but six weeks after the operation, he didn’t have high hopes.

▼ Seiji’s hairline before the surgery

Months have passed and there haven’t been any updates about the state of his non-luscious locks, so you’ve probably been wondering, dear SoraReaders, how our poor Seiji was doing. It’s been almost a year since the last update…Did you fear the worst? Well don’t worry, because we’ve got news!

Firstly, to review, the type of hair transplant surgery that Seiji underwent is the type that transfers hair follicles from a healthy part of the scalp to a balding area. For this particular type of surgery, the actual quantity of hair follicles on the head doesn’t change, so it’s the same thickness as it was before, just moved around a bit.

In other words, the hairs on his head migrated, like people have migrated across continents. Seiji likes to think of the group of hair that was transplanted to his forehead as the Germanic Hairs. Now, a history pop quiz: After the Germanic people migrated to their new lands, what did they do?

That’s right, they established a kingdom! They put down roots and grew into a thriving society. And it’s the same idea for a hair transplant.

So that’s Seiji’s weirdly roundabout, yet oddly magnificent way of explaining hair transplant surgery. But one difference between the two is that the Germanic people took 200 to 300 years to migrate, whereas Seiji’s hair follicles only took a single day! Isn’t that amazing?

Of course, the next day his forehead had lots of little wounds on it, and for a week he wasn’t allowed to wash the affected area, but if you compare that time to the time it took the Germanic people to settle, it’s nothing.

According to the clinic where Seiji got his surgery, once the hair is transplanted it takes about one year to fully come in. Seiji initially posted about the hair transplant surgery on September 3, 2018, so…

It’s been about a year since the surgery!

Look at that progress! The “M” shape of his previously balding head has almost disappeared, and the hair is growing in so naturally that one might never know that Seiji had been struggling with baldness. Since Seiji himself hadn’t really taken the time to analyze the progress of his hair growth, the results were even a surprise to him. To think that once he had been afraid of his receding hairline, and now had come to forget that it was a problem at all…

Reflecting back, Seiji realized that it had taken about half a year for the transplanted hair to grow out enough to not stand out, and it had only taken about a month for the back section of his hair, which had been shaved off, to look normal again.

Currently, the hair that has grown in is a little wavy, which the doctor says is normal. “That sometimes happens,” he said. “It’ll grow out of the waviness in about two years.”

Compared to the migration of the Germanic people, it’s a fast progression, but for Seiji, it was a pretty long year. From the very beginning, he was pretty scared of the process. He trusted the doctor, but he could not erase the doubts he had that it would not work. And those doubts changed form as time passed.

“Will the hair grow out easily and nicely without any problems?” And then, “What will I do if one part doesn’t take and it grows out lopsided?”

These kinds of worries, Seiji mused, are probably common for all kinds of surgeries that affect a person’s physical appearance, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t trouble him. In the end, however, it turned out all right, and the hair grew in nicely.

But what Seiji learned from sharing his experience in an article online is that a lot of people have negative opinions about the surgery.

He learned that these negative opinions about changing one’s physical appearance, the belief that doing so is shameful, are deeply rooted.

In truth, Seiji understands the idea that only a real diamond is worth admiring. There are probably lots of people who would call the sparkle of a man-made diamond fake, and assign it a low value. But Seiji respects and supports people who take steps to overcome the wall of fear and prejudice that they experience in this world, where judgments are made based on appearance.

Besides, this surgery has made Seiji happy–and it’s been a good year for him. He found a new, hip way to drink beverages, met an alien, became an international rock sensation, and even got married! Is it all thanks to a newfound confidence granted by his now luscious locks? Perhaps, or perhaps not. But we can’t deny that feeling happier with himself has been a major milestone for him.

So for those who might be thinking of doing something like Seiji did to change their appearance, do what makes you happy! Haters are gonna hate either way, so keep doing you. Just know that Seiji has your back if you choose to take the leap.

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[ Read in Japanese ]