David Beckham’s Beard: Could You Have A Beard Transplant?
David Beckham has been credited with a beard transplant for years, in print and all over social media, usually on the strength of before and after photographs. It is worth saying plainly at the top: he has never confirmed one, and we have no inside knowledge. What is not in doubt is that his beard did a great deal to make facial hair fashionable, and that a lot of men have looked at it and wondered why theirs will not do the same.
Usually the answer is genetics, and usually it is nothing you have done wrong.
Why some men cannot grow a full beard
Beard density is inherited, in much the same way as the pattern of hair loss on your head. Some men have thick, even coverage in their early twenties. Others have permanent gaps along the jawline or on the cheeks, a sparse patch under the chin, or a moustache that never quite meets the beard.
Waiting rarely helps. Beard growth does fill in somewhat through the twenties, but if you are past your mid twenties and the gaps are still there, that is broadly what you have. There is no supplement, oil or roller that adds follicles you were not born with.
Beards can also be patchy for reasons that have nothing to do with genetics:
- Scarring from acne, an injury, an operation or a burn, where the follicles have been destroyed
- Alopecia areata, which can affect the beard on its own
- Laser hair removal or electrolysis carried out previously
- Gaps left after facial surgery
What a beard transplant actually involves
The principle is the same as a hair transplant. Follicles are taken from the back of your scalp, where the hair is closest in character to beard hair, and placed into the beard one at a time.
Beard work is almost always done with Follicular Unit Extraction, which removes each follicular unit individually and leaves no linear scar. Some older articles describe beard transplants as taking a strip of scalp, which is the FUT method. That can yield more grafts in a single session, but it leaves a fine linear scar at the donor site, so it is rarely the right trade for the relatively small numbers a beard needs.
A beard is harder work than a scalp. The face has far more sensory nerves, the skin is softer and more mobile, and beard hair grows at a shallow angle that changes direction constantly across the jaw, chin and cheek. Every graft has to follow that direction or the result looks planted. It is a full day in the chair, under local anaesthetic, and you go home the same evening.
What happens afterwards
Small scabs form and drop away over the first week or so. The transplanted hairs then shed, which is normal and expected, and the follicles sit dormant for a couple of months before new growth begins. The beard fills in over roughly six to twelve months.
After that it is simply your beard. It grows, so you shave it, trim it and shape it exactly as you would if it had always been there.
What it costs
It depends entirely on how many grafts you need, and filling a small patch on one cheek is a very different job from building a full beard from thin coverage. We give you a firm price in writing at your assessment, once we have looked at both the beard and your donor area. Finance plans start from £70 a month.
Be wary of any clinic quoting you a fixed price before it has seen your face.
Is it worth doing?
If you have spent a decade growing a beard out, looking at the gaps and shaving it off again, then probably yes. If you are chasing a particular celebrity look, be realistic: a transplant works with the hair you have and the face you have, and no surgeon can give you someone else’s jaw.
You can see the results our surgeons achieve in our before and after gallery, and read more on our beard transplant page. To find out whether you are suitable and what it would cost, book a free video assessment.
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