After 90, he was bald and did not dare to transplant his hair

Image source @ Visual China

Text | Shenrancaijing, author | Wanqi, editor | Li Qiuhan

Zhou Yang, 31 years old this year, works as a programmer in a large Internet factory, with a good annual income, but last year he went on a blind date more than a dozen times, and the process was not smooth. He told Shen Yan that in terms of appearance, he felt "disliked".

Because of the pressure of work, often staying up late and working overtime, Zhou Yang's hairline has receded seriously, the sideburns have been bald, there is a clear "M type", and the top is sparse. "Most of the girls start caring about my hair as soon as they see me." He said he was also helpless.

Hair loss plagues contemporary life. According to the Survey of Hair Loss Populations released by the National Health Commission in 2019, there are more than 250 million people with hair loss in China, of which 163 million are men and 88 million are women. In other words, one in 6 people on average loses their hair.

This has supported a large hair transplant market. According to the Frost & Sullivan report, the domestic hair transplantation medical service market reached 13.4 billion yuan in 2020, and predicts that the hair transplantation market will grow at a rate of 18.9% in the future, and by 2030, the market size will reach 75.6 billion yuan.

A hair loss person said to Shen Yan that he began to understand hair transplantation as early as three years ago, and finally did not make up his mind, many people suggested to him, "Go to the top three hospitals to consult a professional doctor, first take the drug regularly for a year, if there is no improvement and then hair transplantation." The reason behind this is that hair transplantation needs to take the few hair follicles he has left, "the hair follicles can't grow again", he does not dare to try and make mistakes.

At present, whether to go to hair transplantation or not is troubling the "bald" youth. This huge market is still facing the problem of difficulty in obtaining customers.

How big is the demand for hair transplantation?

Zhou Yang is not unaware of the problem of "hair loss". When there were signs of hair loss four or five years ago, he had bought the hot anti-fallout and hair growth shampoos on the market, and he had also bought hair growth agents specially produced by the hospital, but none of them had any effect. He even considered wearing a wig on a blind date, but the actual operation was troublesome, and even the best wig cover would still be seen if you looked closely. He said, "If you don't wear it well and don't pay attention, it's even more embarrassing if you fall off." ”

According to the "2021 Young People's Hair Report" released by the Houlang Institute, 68% of women cannot accept the baldness of the other half, while the disapproval of boys is as high as 78%.

Hair transplantation has become the last strategy for People with Zhou Yang's type of hair loss and anxious appearance.

This is obviously a big consumer market. In a report released in September 2021, Guohai Securities mentioned that hair loss has a tendency to become younger and younger, and predicted that with the increase of work pressure and rhythm, the phenomenon of hair loss will become more and more serious in the future. It is mentioned that in recent years, 69.8% of people under 30 years of age have lost their hair. According to a 2019 survey by the National Health Commission, this generation is 20 years ahead of the age of hair loss of the previous generation.

Wang Qing, a doctor at a hair transplantation institution, told Deep Burning that in theory, a single hair loss of more than 100 hair is hair loss, and pulling a bunch of hair with your fingers and dropping more than 6 hairs indicates that there is a risk of hair loss.

Regarding the causes of hair loss, he introduced that family inheritance and acquired formation are the two main factors. Among them, the acquired hair loss is called "seborrheic alopecia", modern people work under pressure, eat irregularly, often stay up late, sleep badly at night, resulting in excessive male hormones in the body, hair gradually produce oil conditions, stimulate hair follicle atrophy, closure, and even necrosis.

"People with hair loss will always be there. Because modern people are greatly affected by work pressure, the demand will only increase. Dr. Wang Qing judged.

Coupled with the fact that in recent years, young people have paid more and more attention to "appearance", hair transplantation not only meets the needs of bald people, but also becomes a "face value consumption". Some bloggers shared in detail their experience of hair transplantation and beauty in the video, and her fan Ellie told Deep Burning that she had always wanted a full and rounded hairline and had plans to try hair transplantation.

The market demand is large, and the revenue of hair transplantation does not look low.

According to a doctor at a hair transplant hospital, the lowest price they can prescribe for a surgery is 8,000 yuan, which is suitable for small local burns, scars and other small pieces of planting. Generally speaking, hair transplantation requires more than 1,000 hair follicles, and the basic cost of extracting a hair follicle is about 13 yuan. Hair transplant surgery is a one-time consumption, and the cost at a time generally ranges from thousands to hundreds of thousands.

According to the prospectus of Yonghe Medical, the "first share of hair transplantation", its customer unit price in the first half of 2021 was 26,800 yuan, which means that the average customer spends more than 20,000 yuan. From 2018 to 2020, its gross profit margin was 75.1%, 72.6% and 74.6%, respectively.

This seems to be a profiteering business, which has spawned the outbreak of domestic hair transplant institutions. According to the data of Tianyancha, as of December 2021, there are 36,378 hair transplantation enterprises in operation, opening and operating in China, and 4,477 within one year of establishment.

A securities analyst said that although the current track has been occupied by the four major institutions of Yonghe Medical, Biliansheng, Damai and Xinsheng, the market demand is still growing.

The demand is large, but the market penetration is low

Zhou Yang moved the idea of hair transplantation. Last year, he collected hair transplantation related information on major platforms such as Weibo, Xiaohongshu, Zhihu, Baidu, etc., and even went to hair transplantation institutions to do hair follicle testing. Despite the urgency of "hair growth", he is still wavering.

The market demand looks large, but the market penetration rate of hair transplantation is not high.

According to the yonghe medical prospectus, the number of hair transplant surgeries in mainland China in 2020 is about 516,000, and the market penetration rate is only 0.21%. In the "2021 Young People's Hair Report", it is also mentioned that young people have begun to spend money to buy comfort in order to save their hair. Among them, 62.39% chose to buy hair care products, 48.4% changed their living habits, 14.72% chose to seek medical treatment and take medicine, and only 1.6% would choose hair transplantation.

The reasons behind this are complex. First of all, not all hair loss problems need to be solved by hair transplantation. Hua Hua, who is usually busy with work, cuts her hair at the barber shop she often visits, and the barber tells her that her hairline and forehead have a tendency to become bald, and recommends a hair follicle test. From the testing doctor, she learned that she is currently at the second risk level of the hair follicle and needs to do four courses of hair care. "If it's just hair follicles that atrophy, it only takes a wash to achieve a restorative effect." Wang Qing also said.

Secondly, the price of hair transplantation of tens of thousands of dollars has also dissuaded some young people. More importantly, Zhou Yang said that when he knew that there was currently "no authority to guarantee the effect of hair transplantation, and hair follicles are non-renewable resources", the idea of hair transplantation was half dispelled. Liu Tao, who has already done hair transplant surgery, does not recommend others to do hair transplant surgery, also for this reason, "spending money is on the one hand, hair follicle resources are wasted, and it is not worth the loss." She said.

Taking hair follicles during hair transplantation is understood by some industry insiders as "demolishing the east wall to make up for the west wall".

Wang Qing told Shen Yan that hair transplantation is to transplant a living hair follicle into a completely lifeless hair follicle. The actual operation is to transplant the hair follicles of the back of the brain to the area that needs to be added, "the doctor will use a small blade, draw a small incision from the back of the head, take the hair follicle out, and use small forceps like an eyebrow to pinch the hair follicle to operate."

At present, the most common technology on the market is tweezers technology and microneedle technology, an industry insider revealed to the deep combustion, both of which are less dangerous than before, can not touch the nerves and blood vessels of the scalp, and do not have much impact on the body. However, hair transplantation is not necessarily guaranteed to be effective, and the number of hair follicles that can be provided for hair transplantation per person is limited, which makes many consumers unable to make up their minds.

Liu Tao had a hairline implant half a year ago, and she told Shen Yan that before going to a large private hair transplantation institution for testing, when the doctor tested her hair follicle, he clearly told her that her body would not have a rejection reaction to hair transplantation, nor would she lose her hair because of oil on her head, staying up late, stressing and other reasons, and there would be no second shedding.

"Now that only half a year has passed, my survival rate for hair transplantation is only about 70%." Liu Tao said that the effect was not as good as the hospital promised, and the other party said that she could go to the transplant again, but she wanted to use her hair follicles, and she still chose to give up.

Because of hair transplantation, Xie Sing after 90 embarked on the road of rights protection. He told Shen Yan that he hoped to go to a large hair transplant institution to do 3860 hair follicle units, and the hospital continued to bargain, before cutting the price to 29,000 yuan. Unexpectedly, now for nearly two years, the survival rate of hair follicles is only 50%, and the sideburns of the hair transplant have been exposed.

After a year of surgery, Xie Sing's hair was constantly falling off, and the hair follicle only had a survival rate of about 60%. He approached the attending doctor and questioned the claim that he had "promised a survival rate of more than 90%," and the doctor began to relax, saying that 96% was the highest survival rate, generally only 80% survival rate, and constantly suggested that he could spend money on hair follicle repair care.

"A hair follicle costs about $10 and doesn't look expensive. But with the cost of hairdressing and follow-up treatment, a patient costs more than 100,000 yuan. At the same time, it also faces the risk that the shelf life is only three years. A consumer who has been implanted said that the hair transplantation ensured by the hospital is "permanently not shed", which is not the case, but often because of the long transition time in the middle, although it does not meet expectations, many consumers will also be counted.

"Hair transplantation is a type of surgery that requires a very high degree of precision, and although it is safe, it is irreversible." Several industry insiders mentioned the risks of hair transplantation. This is also one of the reasons for the low penetration rate of hair transplantation.

Is hair transplantation really a good business?

Huge profits, but the industry penetration rate is low, which does not affect the entrants to follow.

At present, there are four categories of hair transplantation institutions on the market, including hair transplantation departments of public hospitals, hair transplant departments of private beauty and plastic surgery hospitals, chain hair transplantation institutions, and non-chain hair transplantation institutions, of which private institutions occupy 90% of the market share.

This is not a new industry, there has been a process of slow development. Ruilishi, the first domestic hair transplant medical brand, was established in 1997. It was not until around 2005 that the hair transplant industry developed, and typical hair transplantation institutions represented by Yonghe Medical and Biliansheng appeared. Since 2016, the outbreak of hair transplant institutions has also mixed the hair transplant market.

According to an industry insider, it is not difficult to copy a hair transplant agency. Hair transplantation belongs to the medical beauty industry, and it is only necessary to provide the "medical institution practice license" certified by the local health bureau and the "enterprise business license" issued by the local industry and commerce bureau. The entry threshold for these two is not high, "which allows hair transplantation institutions to quickly replicate to second- and third-tier cities to a certain extent." An industry insider said.

The on-the-job doctor is the core resource of the hair transplant institution, and under the rapid expansion, there is a phenomenon of unevenness in the industry.

According to the information provided by debon Research Institute, hair transplant doctors are mostly dermatologists and surgeons, with an average training cycle of 4-6 months. Dr. Liu of a professional hair transplantation institution told Shen Yan that a hair transplant surgery generally requires 4-6 people, the operation time is 3-5 hours, and the surgical team needs to have a doctor qualification certificate, and the standard is an attending doctor, two hair transplant doctors, and two nurses.

Wang Qing said that although hair transplantation is a minimally invasive small skin surgery, the effects made by different doctors are different. The thickness and depth of the hair follicles taken are related to the doctor's skills and experience. The density of planting is not good, the east and west are crooked, and the small white dots appear in the hair extraction area of the back of the brain, all of which are related to the lack of experience of doctors.

On the recruitment website, some hair transplant institutions publish the recruitment of hair transplant doctor stickers, requiring practicing physicians to have more than 1 year of experience in hair transplantation, and 1-3 months of pre-employment training can be. In an interview with Xinhua News Agency, some industry insiders revealed that there is a serious shortage of professional hair transplantation personnel at present. Some hair transplant institutions have licensed doctors who are only in name, and a large number of surgeries are performed by unqualified personnel; some beauty salons cooperate with unqualified personnel to recommend consumer hair transplants, and then share them from them.

In order to attract customers, some institutions also use words such as "do the same day to return, do not need to be hospitalized", "no bleeding, no scabs, 24 hours to wash your hair" when describing the operation to consumers, emphasizing fast and easy to attract consumers.

At the same time, some hair transplantation institutions will also make unrealistic commitments. When consumers go to institutions for consultation, the doctor's response is often, "the success rate of surgery is 100%, and the survival rate of hair follicles is more than 96%," and promises that if the standard is not met, it will be invalid refunded or replanted. A number of hair transplantation institutions of Deep Burn Consulting said that doctors will clearly inform and sign a "survival rate guarantee" contract with consumers.

But in fact, behind the promised high success rate, it is achieved by relying on invalid refunds and secondary resizing. Xie Sing, as a hair transplanter, found in the process of rights protection that in fact, the "invalid refund" is only a small part of the refund, and the "secondary replanting" also needs to be re-paid.

Moreover, although signing the "survival rate guarantee" and invalid refund seems to be a guarantee to consumers, for hair transplanters, the transplanted hair follicles cannot be returned, the effect is not good, and it cannot be remedied by getting a refund.

In addition, if the first hair transplant is not successful, the second repair is much more difficult than the first hair transplant. Due to the lack of quantitative identification of hair follicle survival rate, the hair transplant market also lacks industry standards, and consumer dissatisfaction is also facing the problem of difficulty in safeguarding rights.

In order to gain customers, hair transplant agencies have spent a lot of effort on marketing. Hair transplantation is more like a one-time consumption, if successful, do not need to come again, if it fails, consumers will not come again, there is almost no repurchase situation, so hair transplantation agencies need a large number of marketing advertisements to obtain customers.

According to the financial report, from 2018 to 2020 and the first half of 2021, the net profit of Yonghe Medical was 53.5 million yuan, 35.624 million yuan, 163 million yuan and 40.441 million yuan, and the net profit margin was 5.7%, 2.9%, 9.97% and 3.84% respectively, which is far from the gross profit margin of up to 70%. The money was mainly spent on marketing, and the sales and marketing expenses of Yonghe Medical in the same period were 464 million yuan, 650 million yuan, 780 million yuan and 578 million yuan respectively, accounting for 49.6%, 53.1%, 47.6% and 54.9% of the revenue respectively.

Zhang Tong, chairman of Xinsheng Hair Transplantation, once revealed to the media that the comprehensive customer acquisition cost of the hair transplant industry has reached 5,000 yuan per capita, accounting for about 40% of the overall cost.

Although the hair transplant market is still facing the problem of customer acquisition, Wang Qing said that consumers have detected hair follicle atrophy and also need targeted drug maintenance, "there is no demand for hair transplantation, there is also a need for care." In his view, there is no shortage of customers in the current hair transplant market.

Frost & Sullivan's report also mentioned that the size of the hair transplant medical service market and the medical maintenance service market in 2020 was 13.4 billion yuan and 5 billion yuan respectively. Yonghe Medical, the "first stock of hair transplantation", has predicted that the compound annual growth rate of China's hair maintenance and consolidation service market in 2020-2030 will reach 29.8%, and the compound annual growth rate of 2025-2030 will reach 27.6%.

In this high-growth market, people who want to share a piece of the pie are still coming forward. But in the face of unpredictable hair transplantation results, Zhou Yang is still hesitating.

*At the request of the interviewees, Zhou Yang, Wang Qing, Xie Sing, Ai Li, Hua Hua, and Liu Tao are pseudonyms.