Known for his impressive goal-scoring abilities, Danny Ings has been a part of the English football scene for quite a few years now.
While these days, he’s been making headlines for going through a goal drought, just a few months ago, the media was abuzz with the news of his hair transplant.
Like many other footballers (Wayne Rooney and Rob Holding), he didn’t shy away from admitting to the surgery, even having a picture of him taken post-transplant with bandages on the back of the scalp.
However, if you’re like anybody else, you might’ve also been taken back by the reportedly £17,000 price tag on it.
But was there anything that special about Danny Ings’ hair transplant, and why did he even need one in the first place? Let’s look into it!
Who Is Danny Ings?
As you know already, Danny Ings is an English footballer, more specifically a forward (goal scorer and assister), currently playing for the West Ham United Football Club.
While things have been a little lacklustre for him more recently – not having scored a goal in almost half a year – the striker has a very good track record.
In 2014, he made his Premier League debut after helping Burnley get promoted to the football league system in the first place. With 22 goals that season from Ings, Burnley came in second.
Following that, he made notable contributions to the team with his performances against Southampton, Hull City and Aston Villa, among others. In 2015, he also joined Liverpool and played three seasons with them before leaving for Southampton.
He joined Aston Villa after that and is with West Ham now following a £15 million signing deal.
How Old Is Danny Ings?
Danny Ings is 31 years old at the moment and was born on 23rd July 1992 in Winchester, Hampshire.
Has Danny Ings Had A Hair Transplant?
Danny Ings definitely had a hair transplant in at the end of the 2022/23 season, as he was pictured in a clinic with bandages at the back of his head – it’s the donor area and the place from where hair grafts are originally extracted for transplantation into the bald spots.
While the news of his surgery broke out in July this year, the very next month, he was in Premier League’s pre-season games. Now, that’s not how things are normally done.
If you’ve had a hair transplant, it takes about 2 weeks for the grafts to take root. But patients are generally advised against strenuous activities (like exercise) for at least a month due to the risk of bleeding, infection or even workout injuries. And that’s just for exercise.
Since in contact sports, there’s a higher risk of getting injured and harming the grafts on the scalp, surgeons may even advise the patient to wait as long as 2-3 months. It definitely doesn’t look like Ings had a similar recovery timeline.
Of course, the aftercare instructions can vary depending on the doctor. You must make sure to follow what’s been told to you by your surgeon. And if you have any questions, you must ask them directly.
Did Danny Ings Get Another Secret Hair Transplant?
Sometime between his transition from Burnley to Liverpool, which happened in 2015, it’s likely that Danny Ings had his first hair transplant.
During his time in Burnley, his hairline was visibly uneven, there was a bald spot at the centre of the hairline, and the temple peaks also seemed receded (although his hairstyle hid those a little).
However, by the time he’d joined the Reds, his hairline had become much straighter, which it’s very likely that he’d gotten fixed through a hair restoration surgery. The footballer has remained quiet about that alleged surgery though.
Why Did Danny Ings Get A Second Hair Transplant?
Danny Ings probably had a second hair transplant in 2023 to improve the overall density of his hair.
Assuming Danny had a hair transplant sometime between 2014-2015, he would’ve been about 22-23 years old.
That age is considered a little too young by some surgeons for hair transplants. And the reason behind it is that the pattern of hair loss might not be stable then. Even if you have the surgery, the hair loss will likely progress, leaving the surrounding areas bald.
It could be that because Danny Ings’ hair loss started earlier and he had a hair transplant at a young age, the results didn’t last for too long because the rest of his scalp started to thin out.
Although Danny’s hairline had stayed intact (transplanted hair taken from a safe donor area stays there permanently), in some of his pictures, the top of his head did look a bit thinned out. So, he might have had the surgery to fill those areas out.
Why Did Danny Ings Have A Hair Transplant?
Danny Ings most likely got a hair transplant because he was experiencing hair loss due to androgenetic alopecia, also known as pattern baldness.
It occurs due to a combination of genetics and hormones where dihydrotestosterone (DHT) – a byproduct of testosterone – shrinks the hair follicles, eventually leading to baldness.
This kind of hair loss is permanent and develops gradually. The hairline recedes, as could be seen in Danny Ing’s hair loss, and you lose hair on the top and crown area of the scalp. There are medications to help with it, like minoxidil and finasteride, but they don’t give permanent results.
What Type Of Hair Transplant Did Danny Ings Have?
From the looks of it, it’s quite likely that Danny had a Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) hair transplant, where individual hair grafts are directly extracted from the scalp using a punch tool. These grafts are then placed into the balding areas through small incisions.
This is as opposed to a Follicular Unit Transplant (FUT) surgery in which first a strip of skin is removed from the scalp, and from that, individual grafts are cut out.
Problem with this technique is that it can leave a prominent linear scar at the back of the head. It can’t be seen on Ings’ scalp, which makes us think that he had an FUE.
How Many Hair Grafts Did Danny Ings Need?
It’s hard to say the number of grafts that Danny Ings needed for his hair transplant. However, since his hair loss didn’t seem too extensive, he might have needed about 2,000 to 2,500 grafts, according to a graft calculator.
Keep in mind that the number of grafts you need can depend on the area of baldness, the health of the donor area, hair type and your desired density. Only a surgeon can give you an exact estimate.
Conclusion
Danny Ings’ hair transplant is another addition to the list of many other hair transplants of celebrities. While he has been very open about his recent surgery, we think he probably had another transplant back when (or before) he joined Liverpool.
Second hair transplants aren’t anything new. People get them for different reasons, such as to improve the density or to fill out the bald spots where hair loss has progressed. Though what is surprising is the £17,000 that Ings reportedly paid for his surgery.
The average in the UK is around £5,000, which is still expensive when you compare it to the £1,500 in Turkey. The latter’s cheaper owing to its economy and currency difference. So, you can consider getting a hair transplant in Turkey if you’re looking for a more affordable option. In any case, consult a medical professional about your hair loss first.
