RSVP Magazine Showbiz Editor Mikie O'Loughlin joined Ryan Tubridy on RTÉ Radio 1 to discuss his recent hair transplant. Listen back above.
As Showbiz Editor at RSVP Magazine, Ennis man Mikie O'Loughlin has spent many a press day with Ryan Tubridy - usually trying to pry hints of the year's Toy Show theme or chasing rumours of his Late Late departure.
Speaking on air, the two discussed one particular run-in at The Late Late Show's Eurosong press day, when Ryan noted that Mikie was uncharacteristically quiet and wearing a cap.
When Ryan referenced the accessory, Mikie admitted that he was four weeks post-op from his hair transplant, but that he hadn't told many people at that stage.
"It was still a small bit of a secret while I was dealing with the early stages of recovery and processing what had happened for myself as well."
Bringing listeners back to the beginning, Mikie explained that he started to notice his hair thinning at the young age of 23, leading him to become self-conscious about his appearance and being "caught" in photos.
"I started to see a huge gap," he says. "Something that started as maybe a small hole on the back right-hand side of my head was now running across the back of my head. The hole was becoming bigger and bigger and I was noticing more and more."
Four years ago he began to research the process of pursuing a hair transplant but, like so many things, COVID put things on hold.
In the meantime, Mikie reached out to a number of trichologists (a hair and scalp specialist) for advice on treating thinning hair. Unfortunately, each expert gave a different opinion, with some saying that a hair transplant wouldn't work or would only work short-term and would have to be repeated.
"The hair that is transplanted, that's great," he explained, "but the rest of my hair would continue to fall out in different stages, so I had to weigh up what I was going to do and I was happy to do that. If I have to get two or three more in the rest of my life, let that be that."
I'm going to speaking to Ryan Tubridy about my hair transplant after 9am @RyanTubridyShow pic.twitter.com/QeDtrFyCHe
— Mikie O'Loughlin (@Mikie_Ol) April 12, 2023
Mikie explained to Ryan that the procedures would be worth it to him because hair loss was knocking his confidence "day by day".
"It does get to you and comments do get made. You do have to laugh them off, but what annoyed me most about my own self was that I started to make jokes at my own expense to make other people feel comfortable. I was getting the joke in before other people made it just to get ahead of the game."
Having made up his mind to get the hair transplant, he decided to shop around and ultimately landed on flying to Turkey for the procedure. Having spoken to experts and weighing up the various pros and cons, Mikie found that going outside of Ireland would save him the guts of two thousand euros without losing the quality of care.
All in all, he was there for about three days and says the process involved signing a pile of paperwork before having his head shaved, followed by approximately 4,200 hairs being extracted and implanted.
"I felt every single graft going in," he says, explaining that the long process left him feeling very shaky.
"I was on the table and I felt so lonely, I felt so vulnerable, I just felt so exposed. I was in this foreign country in my first hospital experience, by myself, and panicked. There was nobody to help, there was nobody to hold my hand, there was no nobody to say you'll be ok - and I think I really needed that."
In the end, Mikie was delighted with the results of the hair transplant and says that he would "recommend it to anybody", but insists that it was a big undertaking and research is imperative.
"You'll see your first results after six months. I'm three months into it now, so the back and sides - which is my own hair - is matched to the top. So, front-facing, I think it all looks normal. I don't think anyone would notice I had a hair transplant."
To listen to Mikie's full chat with Ryan, click above.
