Beard transplants are a “growing” Middle East trend

Are beards hipster? A coveted symbol of male virility? Might explain the “growing” trend of beard transplants. And if that pun doesn’t make you bristle, the name of the medical group that tracks transplants surely will.

The International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) reports that the number of facial hair transplants increased globally by 9.5% from 2010 to 2012.

Men around the world are turning to transplants to join ranks with the fashionably furry. More of a whisker “enhancement”, beard transplants have become the third most popular hair transplantation worldwide, behind scalp and eyebrow work, according to the ISHRS.

Middle East beard transplants increased 263% between 2010 and 2012, according to the ISHRS’s most recent census. Their data showed that the procedure was most common in Asia, with the U.S. and Middle East closely trailing.

“There’s no question that it’s a sign of masculinity,” said Dr. Jamil Asaria, a plastic surgeon in Toronto specializing in this procedure,”I’ll get patients coming in from the Middle East who already have a full beard but just want more beard.”