Dr Zafer Cetinkaya, a Turkish hair transplant surgeon from Estenove, spoke to the Mirror about the recent speculation about Justin Bieber’s hair transplant and how “obvious” it is.
Dr Zafer Cetinkaya, a Turkish hair transplant surgeon from Estenove, spoke to the Mirror about the recent speculation surrounding Justin Bieber’s hair transplant.
There’s been a whole lot of speculation about Justin Bieber’s hair.
Many are convinced that the pop star has had a hair transplant procedure. Recently, in a Tik Tok post on May 2, Dr. Gary Rinkoff, a New York-based plastic surgeon, voiced his opinion on the matter. Dr. Rinkoff analyzed and compared two photos of Justin: one from 2024 that the 30-year-old Canadian singer posted last week, and the other from 2022, where they appear together at the Super Bowl. By analyzing and comparing the two photos, taken two years apart, he deduced that Justin specifically underwent a follicular unit extraction (FUE) procedure to correct and plump up his hairline.
The Mirror spoke to hair transplant surgeon Dr Zafer Cetinkaya for his expertise on the issue amid a host of theories fuelled by Rinkov’s video.
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Read more: Justin Bieber shows off fuller hairline, sparks secret hair transplant rumours
Surgeons said Justin has started wearing hats more frequently to hide his receding hairline (AFP, via Getty Images).
Dr. Zafer Cetinkaya, a hair transplant surgeon at Estenove, one of the world’s leading clinics in Turkey, also compared the same photos and came to a similar conclusion to Dr. Linkov: When comparing Justin’s previous appearances, such as 2021 and 2022, to his current appearance in 2024, the difference is “clear.”
“In 2021 and 2022, Justin Bieber’s thinning hair was seen in many of the hatless photos shared on social media. In fact, many fans commented on the matter and shared photos of his hair loss,” Dr. Cetinkaya said.
“Prior to his alopecia, Justin had very thick and dense hair at his hairline. This type of male pattern baldness is very difficult to prevent. He was careful not to publish any photographs of him without a hat for about two years,” the surgeon continued.
“At the time of his surgery, he had strategically concealed his receding hairline by combing his long hair forward. In 2022, he had noticeable receding hair at his temples, known as Norwood stage 2 alopecia,” the surgeon added. “A wet hair photograph taken in 2024 suggests that he had repaired his receding hairline with a hair transplant.”
Justin had his hair cut last year (GC Images)
Norwood stage 2 alopecia is part of a classification system that details the different stages of hair loss. As Dr. Cetinkaya mentioned, Norwood stage 2 alopecia is a condition in which hair recedes from the temples, creating an M-shaped hairline. According to Treatment Room London, Norwood stage 2 is the early stage of hair loss, and there are two techniques to remedy this stage: follicular unit transplantation (FUT) and follicular unit excision (FUE).
“If you look closely, it seems like the lines between his eyebrows have disappeared. It’s really difficult to tell if a hair transplant is good or bad, but Justin Bieber’s hairline doesn’t have the natural curve it had before and looks straighter, so the quality of the transplant is obvious,” Dr. Cetinkaya said, describing the changes to Justin’s hairline.
“When the hair is wet, it appears to have been transplanted with high density, with 50-60 grafts per square centimetre, resulting in a near-imitation of natural hair,” he concluded.
The cost of a hair transplant depends on the extent of hair loss and the procedure: at Estenove (according to their website) the cost is around $3,500, in Turkey it ranges from $2,500 to $5,000, and in the UK it ranges from £1,000 to £30,000 (as reported by the NHS).
In its 2022 practice survey report, the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) estimates that 82.5% of men have undergone hair restoration surgery.
