Hair Transplant - Aesthetic Augmentation Or Tribal Modification

Body modification and enhancement is a feature of many cultures and gives a sense of identity as well as helping a person conform with what is regarded as beautiful within that culture. Some enhancement can seem shocking, such as lip plates and facial tattoos, but is this really any more shocking than collagen lip injections, a hair transplant or breast augmentation? We take a look at a few of the reasons behind the history of body modification to see if the western procedures fit the cultural paradigm of traditional enhancement.

According to body modification experts, there are four reasons why people choose to alter their appearance: cultural, spiritual, sexual and for fashion. Some procedures are far more extreme than others, involving procedures that would be classed as mutilation outside a particular social group. When westerners think of tribal modification, they are likely to conjure up images of tribes that live in the rainforest, adorned with tattoos and piercings made of thorns, or even Ethiopian tribes that wear lip plates and neck bracelets. Rarely will they think of Beverly Hills beauties with facelifts, breast implants and tummy tucks.

These women seem just as modified to the uninitiated voyeur, with features distorted to the point of what some would considered grotesque. What one culture finds beautiful, another may well find repulsive, whether that is an elongated neck or collagen pumped lips. Of all the western procedures that are popular for image enhancement, the hair transplant is probably one of the most innocuous. This could be because a hair transplant doesn't modify a person's appearance disproportionately, and is most commonly used to achieve what would be considered a 'normal' look.

It cannot be argued that in western culture, a head full of hair is regarded as attractive. Just take a look at the multi million pound hair care industry. Television adverts bombard us with beautiful people that have thick and shiny hair and sell us products so our hair can be more like theirs. Men should have designer stubble and use a top brand beard trimmer, women should tame frizz with serums and straighteners. Oddly enough hair removal is an essential part of this pruning. Men need to be manly enough to have too much hair and then pay to get it removed, and women should only be sporting thick and healthy hair on their heads.

It is because such an emphasis is placed on the amount and quality of hair that is both present and absent that the hair transplant industry is flourishing. The reason it is flourishing quietly is because having perfect hair is considered perfectly normal. People that are suffering from hair loss often report that their confidence and self esteem is lowered, and as such, hair loss is often viewed as an illness. Through hair transplant surgery, a person can have the scalp treated, eyebrows and eyelashes replaced, even construct a beard or chest hair.

The sufferer who undergoes this type of treatment is making themselves more attractive but within acceptable parameters and as such, the treatments often go unnoticed and therefore receive a lesser degree of attention. It is in fact the hair removal industry that is far more prominent. Breast augmentation was originally for corrective surgery, and then it became a sexual enhancement. Beyond this it is morphing into a procedure that is fashionable, and will undoubtedly over time become a cultural enhancement peculiar to certain sectors of western society.

Hair transplant surgery on the other hand helps a person fit in rather than stand out. Head hair is regarded as a normal part of our culture and as such, for a person to feel included within that, hair transplants provide a solution.

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