Hair Loss ‘Epidemic’ in China Fuels Surge in Millennial Hair Transplants

October 1, 2019

Hair loss treatment clinics have been flourishing in China in the last couple of years as more adult Chinese men face hair loss earlier than ever before.

Last year a survey conducted by the China Association of Health Promotion and Education revealed that one in every four males between the ages of 20 and 40 suffer from some degree of hair loss. Meanwhile, men who are in their 30s are losing their hair at a faster rate than any other age group.

A separate study conducted by Tsinghua University in Beijing the year before found that 60% of the 4,000 surveyed from its student population had experienced some degree of hair loss.

According to the South China Morning Post, millennial patients have cited stress, lack of sleep and an unhealthy lifestyle as possible culprits of early cases of male pattern baldness.

Experts have blamed the same factors for the condition, noting that insomnia, irregular life patterns and high volumes of stress significantly contribute to the increase of young people suffering from early-onset hair loss.

“The overall social competition makes you desperately need a good appearance,” lamented 28-year-old Yin Dongyi. “If you start losing hair in your 20s and see it get pretty bad, you will lack confidence.”

In an interview with CGTN, Peking University First Hospital dermatologist Yang Shuxia noted that “Excessive anxiety can, in a way, interrupt the normal growth cycle of hair.” Such a scalp disorder, called “telogen effluvium,” can be managed by changes to behavior.

She explained, however, that not all types of hair loss are the same. Pattern hair loss, for instance, can be inherited, while alopecia is caused by problems with the immune system.

Local news platforms report that the phenomenon has spread across the country and products that promise a solution for baldness have been flying off the shelves.

Based on data released by e-commerce giant Alibaba last year, nearly four in 10 consumers of anti-hair-loss products in China were born after 1980.

JD.com, among China’s biggest online platforms, revealed that sales of “hair growth” shampoos increased by 136% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2018.

Predictions from China’s National Health Department don’t look promising either as the trend is expected to continue in the next 10 years. The agency even noted that it will be a golden decade for China’s hair treatment industry, which predicts that purchases of hair care goods by urban residents will continue to increase by 30% annually.

Featured image via Pixabay/kalhh

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