Frank Lampard was pictured last week showing fairly advanced male pattern baldness on the top of his scalp.
You can see from this picture that his hair is thinning appreciably behind his hairline and particularly around the crown.
Former England and Chelsea midfielder Lampard celebrates his 39th birthday later this month – and around 40% of men are experiencing some kind of hair loss by the time they are 40.
Frank also has hair loss in his genes.
His father, Frank Lampard Senior, the former West Ham player, has been receding for years around the temples.
Frank Lampard Junior has been forging a successful career in the media since retiring from the game last year and he will be aware that he needs to look good when he is on TV.
It would be no surprise if he followed other football stars such as Wayne Rooney and Crown Clinic patient Didi Hamann in having a hair transplant.
They both had FUE (follicular unit extraction) transplants– where individual grafts are removed from the back and sides of the scalp and replanted in the balding areas.
Around 80% of patients of our consultant surgeon Asim Shahmalak now chose FUE rather than the more traditional method of hair transplantation, FUT (follicular unit transplantation), also known as strip surgery.
This is where a strip of skin is surgically removed from the back of the scalp and grafts are extracted from the strip using a microscope. Around 20% of Crown Clinic patients opt for FUT including the TV doctor Christian Jessen, who has had two FUT transplants with Dr Shahmalak.
The advantage of FUE over FUT is that there is less scarring. With FUE, patients have a few red pin pricks where the donor grafts are extracted for a few days after surgery but these soon disappear. FUT, on the other hand, will leave a linear scar – noticeable to the eye if you wear your hair short but not so if your hair is longer like Christian Jessen.
Other FUE patients at Crown Clinic include Martin Roberts from TV’s Homes Under The Hammer, the model Calum Best and Chris Steed from Gogglebox.
It will be interesting to see if Frank Lampard joins so many of his friends in football in seeking a hair transplant.
Good luck, Frank, in whatever you decide to do.