Superstar Harry Styles is known for his luscious locks.
So when he debuted a buzzcut last year, it shocked many of his fans. One X (formerly Twitter) user said it ‘hurt me emotionally, mentally and physically.’
Now, a top plastic surgeon claims the hair change wasn’t a style choice. Dr Gary Linkov thinks Styles, 30, had a hair transplant which required him to shave his head.
Dr Linkov said the fashion icon had noticeably thinning hair in the corners of his hairline leading up to his dramatic haircut in November 2023, which had become less extreme as his hair grew back this year.
The procedure Dr Linkov speculates Harry had involves extracting hairs from one part of the head and inserting them into tiny incisions where balding is occurring to encourage the growth of new hair.
Sources close to Harry say he did not have the transplant.
Dr Gary Linkov, based in New York City, pointed to these photos from 2021 and 2024 as possible signs Harry Styles had undergone a minor hair transplant
The above shot from Dr Linkov’s YouTube video shows Harry at age 16 in 2010. The plastic surgeon said the singer was showing no signs of balding
Analyzing photos of Harry throughout the years in one of his latest YouTube videos, Dr Linkov, who has carried out hundreds of hair transplants, said Harry stepped into the spotlight with a full head of hair in 2010 at the age of 16.
Rating him based on the Norwood scale, a scale used to measure male pattern baldness, Dr Linkov said the singer was in stage 1 – meaning he showed no signs of hair loss or recession of the hairline.
But two years later, his hair was stage 2 – the slight recession of the hairline around the temples – and he appeared to have a widow’s peak in the front center of his hairline. The star also showed some recession at the corners of his hairline.
Dr Linkov also pointed out Harry’s temples had begun receding around this time and the corners of his hairline began moving further away from his eyebrows.
He said: ‘You can see that Harry’s temples have started to recede laterally. His temples are now further away and pulled away from the eyebrows than they were just a few years prior.’
In 2012 at the age of 18, Harry’s hairline was beginning to slightly recede, putting him at stage 2 on the Norwood scale
Dr Linkov said in 2012, Harry appeared to have a widow’s peak
Dr Linkov said in 2012, Harry’s hair was also beginning to recede in the corners of his hairline
The plastic surgeon continued, saying he did not see a difference in Harry’s hairline again until 2019 when the singer was 25 years old. Now, he had progressed to stage 3 on the Norwood scale, which is the first sign of clinically significant balding.
In this stage, the hairline recedes more deeply at the temples forming an M, U or V shape.
Dr Linkov said the recession was more prominent on Harry’s left side, which put him in the minority, as most people who experience baldness have more recession on their right side.
The doctor added that Harry still had quite dense hair throughout.
However, in November 2023, at the age of 29, Harry debuted his shaved head. And while some suggested the buzzcut was in response to a song by his ex-girlfriend Taylor Swift, Dr Linkov said he believes this was when Harry underwent his hair transplant.
But a few months later Dr Linkov points out what appears to be a regrowth of the left corner of Harry’s hairline.
He said: ‘It looks like angular. It looks less receded and it looks more rounded and more symmetrical with his right side. However, his temples and his central hairline are unchanged.
‘So my hypothesis is that Harry’s shaving one year prior was actually related to a potential hair transplant to balance out the contour of his hairline.’
Compared to just two years earlier, in 2012, Harry’s hairline was pulling away from his eyebrows
In 2019, Dr Linkov said Harry’s hairline recession had progressed to stage 3 on the Norwood hair loss scale
He added: ‘It was a subtle hair transplant… likely involving the extraction [of hair] from the back of the head.’
Dr Raja Mohan, a plastic surgeon in Texas, agreed, saying: ‘Yes, it is quite possible.
‘Harry had a receding hairline and thinning temples. He may have done PRP injections or a hair transplant just to address the early signs of alopecia (hair loss).’
PRP, or platelet-rich plasma, is when a patient is injected with their own platelets, or substances from the blood that help with clotting, which studies suggest can stimulate healing and growth. For hair loss patients, they may be injected into areas with thinning hair to stimulate new hair growth.
Dr Linkov explained Harry had likely undergone a follicular unit extraction, or FUE, which involves moving individual hair follicles from the back of the head to places where the hair is thinning.
With an FUE, the area where hair follicles – tube-like structures that facilitate hair growth – are transplanted from is shaved to more easily allow for the extraction of anywhere from hundreds to thousands of follicles.
However, Dr Linkov suggested Harry’s procedure was likely more minor, with just 200 to 500 follicles transplanted.
Then, those follicles are transplanted to the balding area.
A FUE is often done in multiple two- to four-hour sessions over the course of several days. It is considered a minor procedure and patients may return home and carry on normally after each session.
During the procedure, doctors use a micro-punch tool to remove the follicles and make tiny incisions with a needle where the follicles are to be placed. Then the transplanted follicles are inserted into those incisions.
Harry is famous for having luscious hair, with it even mentioned in a song by ex girlfriend Taylor Swift (both pictured above in 2012)
The area where hair was extracted from can bleed for about a week after the procedure and may scab over.
FUE transplants may also leave tiny scars in areas where hair follicles were extracted, though these are normally not noticeable.
The goal of a FUE transplant is to have the transplanted follicles grow new hair in the previously bald area. After the procedure, the follicles will be nourished by blood vessels, which will encourage new hair growth.
A FUE transplant can cost anywhere from $4,000 to $15,000 depending on how much hair is transplanted.
Harry isn’t alone in his early-onset hair loss.
By the age of 35, two-thirds of American men experience baldness, estimates from the American Hair Loss Association suggest.
And it is estimated that 230,000 people will undergo a hair transplant in the US every year by 2027, with most patients being men.
By the age of 50, this rises to approximately 85 percent of men who experience significant thinning.