Dr. Kashmal Kalan explains the emotional impact of hair loss and how restoration can transform your life

eading expert in hair restoration, Dr. Kashmal Kalan opens up about the emotional and psychological toll of hair loss. From its impact on self-esteem in high-profile industries like media and sports to the unique pressures faced by women, Dr. Kalan sheds light on how this issue affects both men and women

Glamour: How does hair loss affect a person’s self-esteem and mental well-being, especially in image-driven industries like media and sports?

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Dr. Kashmal Kalan: You know, even moving away from those particular industries, I think hair loss is something that is a very unifying factor in the fact that no matter who experiences it, if it does bother you, it significantly impacts your self-confidence, your self-esteem, and more importantly, you do not feel like yourself anymore when you look at the mirror. Hair loss can make you feel older than you are, it can make you feel like you've lost your mojo because you might feel super young and youthful on the inside, but your image on the outside presents differently. So, hair loss will affect the mental well-being, self-confidence, and self-esteem of anyone, but especially in image-driven industries like media and sports.

These personalities are constantly in front of cameras, constantly being recorded, followed, and ridiculed if something goes wrong with them as well. So, for them, it becomes even more pertinent to uphold their image. This is not for vanity reasons, this is for confidence reasons. So instead of looking at it as just an aesthetic procedure, especially for people in these industries, we look at it more as a psychological procedure to help give them that confidence, to help with their self-esteem, so that when they are out in the public stage, when they are on TV, on radio, on social media, they can look and feel as good as they should without having to be sort of concerned or bothered by an insecurity that they may have had.

Glamour: Do you find that women experience a different kind of pressure or stigma around hair loss compared to men?

Dr. Kashmal Kalan: Unfortunately, yes. You know, it's almost seen as quite a common process for a male to be losing his hair, but when females tend to start thinning or losing their hair, it's almost always related to illness. So, when females start losing their hair, it's a general normal stigma to think that they're sick or that they're having an issue or that they've done something to themselves to get their hair to the state. However, male and female patients will experience androgenetic alopecia, which is male or female pattern hair loss, females can't do much about it because it's rooted in your genetics, it's rooted in hormones, if you don't take measures early on, that hair loss can progress into areas of balding as well. When females lose their hair, it's like losing their crown. So not only does it affect their self-esteem and self-confidence, but it does also affect their social standings as well because again, people often view them as being sickly or being ill, rather than male that loses his hair, it's a common and normal process.

Glamour: Many people associate hair with identity. What changes do you see in your patients’ confidence post-restoration?

Dr. Kashmal Kalan: I mean, here is definitely the crowning jewel on the top of our head. And when we lose our hair, we don't just lose hair, you lose your entire facial structure and facial features. I think it's important that it's linked closely with identity. I think the most important change and the main reason why we do what we do, why we do what we do is because of that wholesale change in improvement, we see in one's confidence post the procedure. People often tell me they feel like themselves again, it's given them a new lease on life. And not only do they get their hair back, but they’ve also now started hitting the gym, they've gone on weight loss. It's almost seen as a complete transformation into getting yourself back to being your best version again. It starts with something simple, like when looking in the mirror and not having to see the hairline disappear and actually seeing yourself having a good head of hair again, that just gives you the confidence to take on the world with greater minds. So, it's very important that patients that are affected by this process seek the correct care and help so that they can ensure that they get the mojo or identity back.

Glamour: You work with high-profile figures—how do they open up about hair insecurities despite being in the spotlight?

Dr. Kashmal Kalan: When it comes to high-profile figures, I would say you almost get two types. One, that is super personal and doesn't want to share their journey because this is purely for them and they don't want others to know that they've had an insecurity. They'll kind of just have the procedure done and that's that. However, a large variety of these high profile figures are now understanding that by sharing their journeys and sharing their stories and being open about their insecurities, you're actually helping a lot more people because when you are in the spotlight and when you are sharing something as emotional as traumatising as hair loss, you are reaching the masses because about 67% almost two thirds of the human population will experience hair loss at some point. But having seen someone that you admire or seeing someone like an influencer that you follow going through the journey, being open about it and talking about it and showing people what can be done in terms of the results that can be achieved often allows others to see two things:

One, that it is okay to talk about hair loss. It's okay to have insecurities about hair loss. But secondly and importantly, there's actually real-world solutions to fix it as well. So, we thank our high profile figures that are very open about the procedures because not only are you helping yourself, but you are also helping the vast majority of the people that follow you understand that you're human as well and that if you're a human and you have an issue, it's in your discretion to make the right choices to actually sort your problems out.

Glamour: How important is it for patients to feel emotionally supported throughout their hair restoration journey?

Dr. Kashmal Kalan: Incredibly important, you know, support from family and friends is important in part of the journey as well because a lot of men and women generally suffer in silence. They don't often talk about their insecurities; they don't talk about the impact of hair loss or that hair loss has had on themselves. But you know, when they go through these journeys, I often find patients that have great support from their wives if it's a male or their kids or their family or if it's a younger, gent or female where their parents are involved, they often heal better, they often see better results because the entire mindset has been of a supportive one. Whereas we get the other end of the spectrum on the day of surgery, patients haven't even told their wives that they're getting the procedure done. We often find them to have a much more troublesome sort of post-op experience because they often feel alone in the entire journey.We pride ourselves by ensuring we are there to support our patients before, during and after the procedures. We want to hold their hand until they get to the point where they are super happy with their results again. But it's to give that emotional support, it's to guide them throughout the journey. And when this comes from within the home, it just becomes a much easier process for the patient.

Glamour: Have you noticed a shift in societal attitudes—are people becoming more open about hair loss and treatments?

Dr. Kashmal Kalan: 100%, and thanks to the high-profile figures, socialites and influencers that have opened up about their problems and how to get it fixed. It allowed even the general-public to be a little bit more open about their problems. When we started the clinic in 2019, a lot of the patients were super confidential about their procedures. They didn't want anyone to know they would often hide away while they were healing because there was often a stigma attached to it. But having seen so many people do it now and having seen so many people be open about it, it's allowed them to actually be open about their procedures. So where we often talk about socialites and celebrities sharing their journey, the average Joe on the street that is having these procedures is also sharing their journeys and helping the people within their circles. So simply asked, there’s definitely been a shift in societal attitudes. The stigma around these procedures have started to drop and people that are getting them done are often seen as pioneers in their groups because you are taking that first step to help a lot of people around you as well.

Glamour: What role do hairlines, brows, and beards play in shaping confidence and facial aesthetics today?

Dr. Kashmal Kalan: I think that's a very simple answer. When one loses eyebrows, you use your facial expression, when one loses the hairline, you use your facial framing and if you never had a beard or you have a very patchy beard, you often lose that sense of having that masculine sort of facial approach. So having been or having tools and technologies to be able to do eyebrow beard and hairline restoration procedures has greatly impacted and influenced facial aesthetics because by bringing the hairline back, you are getting your face back. By putting the brows back on, you're getting your expressions back and by giving that beard to a male that wants it, you're getting that masculinity back again. So definitely has shaped the confidence of your facial aesthetics.

Glamour How do you approach cases where patients feel emotionally defeated by their hair loss?Dr.

Kashmal Kalan: Most patients feel emotionally defeated by hair loss. Hair loss has always been a very sensitive topic. I think by dedicating my life to doing hair only in terms of hair restoration and hair loss preventative care treatments and procedures, I've understood the psyche of a patient. No one sits in front of me that is not bothered or concerned by the hair loss. People will come in here saying they're not vain, but they need this because it's affecting them psychologically or affecting their social standing. So, I think it's a very sensitive topic, the important thing is to always listen to your patients and understand how this has impacted them and then being very honest in terms of what are the expected outcomes of the procedures. If you have this mindset that we are completely magical miracle workers and can just give every single person a full head of hair, you will even be more disappointed at the end of the journey. It's about sitting down with these sensitive patients, understanding their fears, dealing with the hair loss problems and then guiding them best so they understand exactly what they can expect from the journey that they have with us.

Glamour: Is there a ‘perfect’ age to begin addressing hair loss for the best emotional and cosmetic outcomes?

Dr. Kashmal Kalan: I wouldn't call it a perfect age because hair loss affects everyone differently. It all depends on the aggressiveness of your hair loss pattern. It also depends on how emotionally traumatised you are with your hair loss. As time goes by, patients present much earlier rather than later because they are realising that if you get on top of the problem earlier rather than later, the ability to get back to your old hair or get back to what you were used to, is much easier. So, there is no perfect age. The perfect age is when it affects you and the earlier the better. So, the sooner rather than later earlier intervention always helps us give our patients better outcomes than later, sort of intervention.

Glamour: For those afraid of judgment or stigma, what message would you give about seeking treatment for hair loss?

Dr. Kashmal Kalan: First and foremost, you are entitled to do as you please. If this is something that you want to deal with very confidentially, that's exactly how we will deal with the NDA in the clinic. A lot of people come through and think that you know if they have this procedure done it's going to be widely publicised, but we follow strict ethical guidelines in terms of patient confidentiality. People coming through should really rest assured that the cases will be dealt with a very high level of confidence and confidentiality.

For those afraid of judgment or stigma, all I would tell them is why let others or the fear of others govern how you live your life, and this is not just for hair loss this is what every aspect of our life. If you are going to be concerned about the thoughts and fears of other people or what other people are going to think you are just going to continuously wallow in the sorrows that you have created for yourself. If hair loss is something that affects you and every time you look in the mirror or see a selfie of yourself and you are bothered by what your hair looks like it is up to you to take that measure to sort it out rather than wonder or worry about what others have to say. Other people's judgments and stigmas are purely based on their own notions and again if something is bothering you, you are in the driver's seat to take a full cue in terms of sorting it out.