Plastic surgeons try to solve Trump's hair mystery

Plastic surgeons try to solve Trump's hair mystery



Photographs showing President Donald Trump's hair blowing in the wind have led plastic surgeons to speculate on whether he has had scalp reduction treatment or a hair transplant.



A video released last week shows the commander-in-chief hopping up the steps to Air Force One at Joint Air Base Andrews before flying to Mar-a-Lago on February 2.



But as he bounded up the carpeted stairs, his wispy orange locks were whipped by the stern breeze.





One flap of hair flipped over on the side of his head to expose an apparent bald spot - and what could be a scar.



In 1990, Trump's ex-wife Ivana claimed in a divorce deposition that the property mogul had been given scalp reduction surgery in 1989.



She said he had been worked on by plastic surgeon Steven Hoefflin, who former clients included Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor.



But Trump denied the claim in 1993 - and has repeatedly insisted his hair is entirely his own.





Michael Wolff, in his book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, also claimed the president has had scalp reduction surgery.



Now the Daily Beast has spoken to two plastic surgeons about whether the president has undergone scalp reduction treatment.



The procedure involves cutting away pieces of bald scalp from the crown to push hairier parts of the scalp close together.



Johns Hopkins University professor of otolaryngology Dr Lisa Ishii told the Daily Beast the operation is difficult and dangerous.



She said: 'Scalp skin is very stiff skin. It's very hard to pull together the skin edges and get them to close to each other if you cut out anything beyond a half dollar size piece of skin.





'If you had a large bald area, you'd have to have several procedures in a row before you actually achieved your goal to cut out the bald spot,' she said. 'You can't do it in one fell swoop.'



Dr Ishii added that scalp reduction surgery was replaced by the safer and more effective hair transplant procedure in the 1990s.





Ishii said she doubts Trump had scalp reduction surgery - 'an outdated procedure' - but said he may have had a hair transplant.



Dr Samuel Lam, owner of the Lam Institute for Hair Restoration, does not agree.



He said: 'If you see a vertical incision on the back of the scalp on the crown, that's very typical of a scalp reduction.'



Trump 'most likely' had the treatment, Dr Lam added.