What is Wrong with Joe Biden’s Hair Transplant?

Joe Biden Before And After Hair Transplant
Originally Posted November 4, Updated July 23, 2020
Joe Biden is no stranger to the public or to our blog. In November 2013, we discussed the issues with his famous “hair plugs” (see below). Now that Biden will be running against Donald Trump in the fall, his hair transplant (along with additional plastic surgery procedures) is often a topic of discussion and the subject deserves an update for fans of politics and celebrities.
Supply and Demand Mismatch of Hair
Several years ago, I had a conversation with a 31-year-old patient of mine that was insisting on having a hairline that was low and broad. During a close evaluation of his hair loss and hair transplant pattern, as well as a microscopic evaluation of his scalp, I noticed he had significant miniaturization throughout the top and crown area of his scalp. This was clearly a sign that he was heading towards Class VI or VII of hair loss which means he will eventually only have a rim of hair around the scalp.
I informed the patient that, when I design a hairline, I have to take the progress of hair loss over time into consideration. A good hairline is one that looks good now and will also continue to have a natural look when the person is in his 60s or 70s (unlike both Joe Biden and Donald Trump).
Hair Line Positioning
The hairline of Mr. Biden is an example I use when I have to plan for a higher hairline for younger adults. Many of these younger patients have hopes of achieving a lower hairline which is possible when there is no evidence of advanced hair loss.
When I see microscopic evidence of a future class of hair loss or a patient has a significant family history of high-grade baldness, I have to be more conservative in my approach in order to avoid any issues that can be seen in people with hair loss like Joe Biden.

Joe Biden Hair Transplant Problem Areas
- Poor design and poor long-term planning
- Hairline that is too low for someone with advanced hair loss
- Hairline that is too broad for this stage of hair loss
- Lack of sufficient hair to restore the crown
- Large balding area that needs more coverage
- Not enough donor grafts to cover the crown
By keeping the hairline higher as well as creating the appearance of some corner recessions, a natural look is created for the hairline. This is helpful in the long run because, even if the patient loses the crown and has no intention of restoring it, a higher hairline usually goes hand in hand with a balding crown so there is not an unnatural look to the hairline.
What’s So Funny about Going Bald?
In an extreme case of the pot calling the kettle black, comedian Larry David has stated that professional golfer Jordan Spieth is going to be “wildly bald”. Spieth is 22 years old and has already won two major tournaments this year (the Masters and the U.S. Open). David is the co-creator of “Seinfeld” and the creator and star of “Curb Your Enthusiasm”. The two men have a few things in common.
Spieth is a professional golfer. David is not only an avid golfer but he is also a big fan of professional golf. Spieth has a rapidly receding hairline. David has already lost a good portion of his hair.
While David is a big fan of Spieth’s ability to handle himself on the golf course, he can’t wait to see how the young golf pro handles a different kind of pressure. In the latest issue of Golf Digest, David says he is very interested in seeing how Spieth handles seeing all of his hair in the bathtub. David then makes a prediction that Jordan Spieth has only three or four years left before he is “wildly bald”. How he reacts to the pressure of going bald is of great interest to Larry David. In fact, it sounds like Larry David can’t wait for the day Jordan Spieth loses all of his hair.
How did Spieth react to the comments of Larry David? The young golfer seems to have a good attitude and took it all in stride. In fact, he remarked that David’s comments were funny and there is nothing he can do about his impending hair loss.
We’d like to point out to Jordan Spieth that there is plenty he can do about his hair loss. He made $1.8 million dollars for winning the Masters and the same amount for winning the U.S. Open. With that amount of money, Spieth can afford any hair transplant procedure he wants in the future.
Just remember Jordan…Your friends at Parsa Mohebi Hair Restoration are here for you. Give us a call to set up your consultation appointment!
A Look at The Psychology Of Hair Loss And Hair Transplants
One of the things men and women learn while growing up is a full head of hair is a symbol of power and strength. The loss of that symbol of youth can have a devastating psychological impact on the identity and self-worth of a person. Hair loss has and its consequences have been studied extensively and some of the reported psychological effects on male patients include:
- Detrimental impact on their sex life
- Affected career choices in men
- Inability to stay competitive in the work place
- Increased anxiety levels among younger men
- A higher rate of depression in men with male patterned baldness (1)
While there have been published reports on the psychological impact of hair loss in both men and women, the corrective effect of hair restoration has not been studied until the last few years. We have conducted a study to evaluate this. Our motivation for this study came from our observations of the changes in patient’s behavior as well as their overall satisfaction after their hair transplant.
A Unique Study on the Psychological Effects of Hair Loss
In 2008, Drs. Parsa Mohebi and William Rassman conducted a study (2) to quantify the psycho-social impact of hair loss in men with typical male-patterned baldness. The study criteria were based on a combination of prior studies as well as clinical observations that could be modified by a hair restoration procedure.
A group of patients were picked who have had a hair transplant in the past and they were surveyed the changes they experienced through a questionnaire. The questionnaires featured queries about these eight criteria:
- Level of happiness
- Energy level
- Youthful feeling
- Feelings of anxiety
- Self-Confidence
- Feelings about the future
- Impact of the procedure on their career
- Impact of the procedure on their sex life.
The patients chosen for the study (200 men with male patterned baldness) had their first hair transplant between 1-3 years prior to the study. Their participation was voluntary and their responses were permitted to be anonymous.
The Results of the Study
We discovered the patients had significant improvements in each of the criteria regardless of their age or their stage of baldness. In fact, most patients showed a greater sense of well-being in their youthfulness, career, energy level, sex life and overall happiness. They also felt improvement in their anxiety levels, self-confidence and outlook on their future. These studies confirm the significance of hair to people’s self-esteem
Hair Transplant = A Better Self Image
Natural looking results from today’s advanced hair transplant procedures can help prevent, and in some cases even reverse, many psychological problems associated with hair loss. The more a person suffers from the effects of hair loss, the greater the positive effect of a transplant on their psychological well-being.
According to the study, patients with an active social life who experienced hair loss at an early age were more likely to suffer from anxiety and other negative effects. Therefore we can easily assume that hair loss can lead to a negative impact of the future outlook and positive attitude of a person. These negative feelings seem to reverse after a hair restoration procedure.
Although the response rate was not 100%, the results support the observations of hair restoration physicians and anecdotal evidence from patients.
Final Thoughts on the Psychology of Hair Restoration
Those experiencing hair loss, but not feeling any negative effects from the loss, are less likely to have a hair transplant procedure. However, most men and women suffering from hair loss find hair restoration to make a significant improvement in many aspects of their lives. Whether they’re looking to improve their chances in the job market, seeking a more youthful appearance or simply searching for some greater measure of self-worth, hair restoration is an option that helps broaden both personal and professional horizons.
Since you’re looking at our website, you might already be inclined to have a procedure. We would be happy to meet with you for a professional consultation appointment.
(1) Alfonso, Mariola., et al. The psychosocial impact of hair loss among men: A multinational European study. Curr. Med. Res. Opin. 2005; 21:1829-36.
(2) Mohebi, Parsa and Rassman, William R., Psychology of Hair Transplants, Hair Transplant Forum International, March/April 2008 (Vol. 18, Number 2, Pages 41 and 47), Los Angeles, California.
George Clooney’s Hair Transplant
Q:
Hi Dr. Mohebi,
As you can see in this picture, the front of George Clooney’s hairline looks “see through”. Could his famous strong hairline actually be the result of a hair transplant?
A:
Thank you for the interesting question!
After viewing the photo, there are two possibilities about why George Clooney’s hairline may have some sort of “see through” effect:
- A hair transplant was performed with less than an adequate number of hair grafts
- George Clooney is suffering from the early stages of male pattern hair loss
Looking at younger pictures of George Clooney, you can see that he has always had a widow’s peak (George Clooney’s Hair Evolution). The more recent pictures of his hair show the gradual loss of that widow’s peak and the thinning of his more juvenile, solid hairline.
George’s salt and pepper hair color has definitely worked to his advantage and helped him maintain the look of a full head of hair until now. If his hair color was actually a darker color, his thinning on the scalp would be much more obvious to the public.
In my professional opinion, I think Mr. Clooney is going to need a hair transplant sooner (rather than later) if he wants to keep a solid hairline like the one he had before. He would be a great candidate for our Celebrity FUE Hair Transplant™ by Dr. Parsa Mohebi procedure for hairline reinforcement.
– MA
Facial to Scalp Hair Transplant
Using hair from other parts of the body for transplantation into scalp has been used for many years. Unfortunately though, the change in the life cycle of body hair from different areas of the body has caused the body hair to stay as the last option for scalp hair restoration. Body hair has long resting phase and short growth phase which means that most of the transplanted hair will stay in resting phase without having visible hair growth.

Facial hair such as beard and mustache hair on the other hand has a longer growth phase and shorter resting phase. That is why men can grow their facial hair to become really long. Facial hair is also thicker than scalp hair in most people. Thicker hair could be translated as more bulk of hair after hair transplantation. Both longer growth phase and thicker hair shafts make beard hair a better option for scalp hair restoration in comparison to body hair transplant from other areas.
There are two problems with with beard hair restoration. One is that they are very sparse and removing hair only needs to be done through a strip procedure. The other problem with using facial hair for scalp transplant is that the facial follicular units are having fewer number of hair per unit that means less hair per grafts removed with FUE techniques.
Beard transplants are gaining popularity recently with newer techniques for extraction of hair (FUE) and it can be a great alternative to scalp hair for transplanting to the balding area in people who do not have good quality scalp hair.
Ten Days after Eyebrow Hair Transplant
I saw a patient who had an eyebrow transplant 10 days ago. I thought it would be useful for our readers to get an idea of how a transplanted hair ought to appear about 10 days after an eyebrow hair transplantation.
For transplanting to the brow areas, scalp hair is being used. In this particular case, we have used around 600 grafts for both eyebrows (300 for each eyebrow).
After the hair transplant, transplanted hair shafts generally stay in place or may even grow for two weeks, but they almost always fall after the second week. It may take about two to three weeks for the newly transplanted hair to start growing after an eyebrow hair transplant, which is the same length of time as a scalp hair restoration.
After full growth, patients need to keep trimming their transplanted eyebrows because they have the same growth pattern of the scalp hair where they are originally from.
Does Shaving Head Help with Hair Growth?
Q:
Hope you had a great weekend, Just a quick question.
After how long usually I would see the result of prescription medication? Will it grow like baby thin hair and it thickens over time or should I like shave my head to help it? J just wondering‚
Regards,
A:
Be patient,
It is unlikely that you grow new hair from the areas that you lost hair follicles. The medication can help increase the thickness of your miniaturized hairs that normally do not give you any significant cosmetic effects. You should not see the effect of medication before 3-6 months from the time you started it.
Remember, the purpose of medical treatment is not to grow your hair back as it was when you were 17. The goal of medical hair restoration treatment with prescription medication would be to stop or at minimum slow down the progression of hair loss. Shaving your head should not change the progress of hair loss or gain either. When you manipulate your hair whatever you do, you are dealing with external part of the hair, which is not alive. The follicle does not sense what is going on outside at hair shaft level. To restore it more permanently in front and top of your scalp, you would need a hair transplant.
Best,
Dr. Mohebi
Follicular Unit Extraction – FUE
Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) – Advantages or disadvantages
My patients always ask about advantages and disadvantages of Follicular Unit Extraction so I thought this topic makes a good post for the blog. Before going over these points I have to say, although we at Parsa Mohebi Hair Restoration offer the most advanced techniques of FUE nationwide, most of our patients are still being transplanted by strip technique and I don’t recommend FUE to everyone and select my FUE patients very meticulously. Here are the main reasons why we do recommend FUE to some people and not to everyone.
Advantages
- FUE does not leave a linear scar, which is great for those who want to wear their hair very short on the back or the ones who may need to shave their head in the future (like actors).
- FUE has a more comfortable healing process with decreased healing time.
- No restrictions in physical activities for those who want to do strenuous exercise right after FUE procedure.
- FUE is a viable alternative for those who have tight scalp that makes strip surgery risky or impossible.
- Follicular unit extraction makes it possible to harvest hair from body, beard or almost everywhere else.
- FUE is very useful when we need limited number of grafts like for restoration of eyebrow hair.
Disadvantages
- The biggest disadvantage of follicular unit extraction is that the maximum follicular unit graft yield is lower than when it is done with strip technique due to higher rate of follicular transection compared to the strip technique.
- Although linear scar is not present after FUE, small punctuate scars will be there that may make future FUE hair transplant surgeries more difficult or impossible.
- Not everyone is a candidate for FUE and patients need to be tested with FOX before proceeding with the surgery.
- FUE procedure takes much longer to perform compared with strip FUT procedure.
- FUE is more laborious thus it cost more compared with strip technique hair transplants.
- In FUE, we have more chance of burying grafts that increases the risk of having folliculitis (tiny inflamed cysts under the skin) on the donor area.