HOUSTON – Facial hair transplants used to be done after something like a skin graft or other medical reason, but now the procedure is gaining popularity for cosmetic purposes.
Dallas Keuchel, James Harden, ZZ Top -- many Houston icons are known for their beards and now other men are willing to pay thousands of dollars to duplicate the look.
"The past couple of years we've had patients calling in to fill in the gaps," Dr. Alfonso Barrera said. "They want uniformity of the growth."
Barrera showed before and after pictures of his clients who want to camouflage scars, fill in patches or strictly want the face of a champion, and undergo beard transplants to achieve their desired look.
"I'm not surprised that's a thing, but I would not have guessed that they're on the rise," Adam Mielnicki said.
But some Houstonians are shocked by the idea.
"This has got to be a joke, right?" Chance Russo said.
But it's not a joke. Just like a scalp transplant, Barrera takes hair follicles from one area and moves them to men's faces. He said the transplanted facial hair requires the same type of maintenance as a regular beard or mustache.
"It grows just like normal hair. I mean, you shave it, you grow again, you can let it grow as long as you want it to grow," Barrera said.
Russo won't even discuss cutting his beard. He said it's for the Astros.
"I'm not going to shave until the Astros win the World Series," he said. "I'm going to stick to it. We won the other night, so it's working!"
Whether you're superstitious or willing to undergo the four- to six-hour surgery, beards are a serious business.
The out-of-pocket cost can be $5,000-$15,000, depending on how many hair follicles are needed. Barrera said he regularly transplants 1,500-2,000 hair follicles.