Dr. Bhasha Mukherjee, the former Miss England who has long been admired for her beauty and intelligence, has recently opened up about a personal struggle that many women face but few speak about: female pattern baldness. The NHS doctor and media personality, who has been battling hair thinning since her teenage years, decided to undergo a hair transplant at the age of 28. Her decision, while driven by years of self-consciousness, came with unexpected challenges.
Mukherjee, who moved from India to Derby at the age of nine, recalls her teenage years as a time when she began feeling increasingly aware of her thinning hair. Despite excelling academically, the pressure to meet beauty standards in the modeling world led her to seek “validation” for her looks. As she began modeling and performing Bollywood and belly dances, her thin hair became a noticeable source of discomfort. In the beauty industry, where full, voluminous hair is often prized, she found herself turning to extensions and other products, only to see her hair thinning even further.
As a result, she worked diligently to conceal the thinning areas using various styling techniques. However, despite her efforts, her hair continued to thin, and it wasn’t until the pandemic began that her hair loss became more severe. During her time on the Covid frontlines, Bhasha’s stress levels skyrocketed. “I felt like I aged five years during the pandemic,” she admits. By late 2020, her hairline and scalp had visibly thinned, making her feel self-conscious.
Female pattern baldness, or androgenetic alopecia, is the most common cause of hair loss in women. It typically begins after puberty and is most prevalent among postmenopausal women, linked to changes in hormone levels. However, stress can also exacerbate hair loss, contributing to conditions like telogen effluvium, where hair sheds rapidly, but usually regrows within a few months. Despite the pandemic easing, Bhasha’s hair did not recover. Over the next two years, the emotional and physical toll of buying a new house in London and training to become a GP left her struggling with her hair.
“I tried everything,” she says. “I spent so much money on various treatments, from topical products to PRP injections and LED therapy, but nothing worked.” After careful consideration, Bhasha opted for a hair transplant, believing that early intervention would yield the best results. “I thought, ‘If I have 10 years of good hair, that’s okay,'” she explains.
In January, with the support of her partner, she traveled to Istanbul for the transplant procedure at the Visit & Medcare clinic. Hair transplants are becoming more common among women, though they still represent a small fraction of the total procedures performed. In 2022, women accounted for just 12.7% of global hair transplant surgeries, according to the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery.
However, the process itself was anything but easy. “I had to shave the back of my head completely,” Bhasha recalls. The surgery involved extracting individual hair follicles from the back of her head and implanting them into her thinning hairline. The procedure, which took five hours, left her with swelling and severe pain due to the local anesthetic used during the surgery. Afterward, she experienced vomiting and intense discomfort as the anesthetic wore off.
For the first few weeks following the surgery, Bhasha faced a difficult recovery process. Her scalp developed scabs that had to be carefully removed, and she had to sleep at a 45-degree angle to avoid disturbing the transplanted follicles. Her partner had to wash her hair for her since showerheads were too forceful on the delicate area. Despite the discomfort, Bhasha returned to work after just one week, with visible scabs and raw areas at the back of her head.
Though the transplant offered hope, the recovery process has been challenging. “There’s so much itching as the scalp heals, and a lot of hair falls out from the shock of the procedure,” Bhasha explains. The regrowth process has been slower than she anticipated. “For men, the hair grows back faster,” she says. “But for women, it’s a much slower process. It’s hard to be patient when you’re still self-conscious about your hairline.”
Even now, Bhasha finds herself hiding patchy areas, especially along the front of her hairline, where the hair is growing unevenly. “Nothing is the same as natural hair,” she admits. “Even the best doctors can’t make it exactly natural.” Despite the challenges, she remains determined to open up a conversation about women’s hair loss. “There should be less shame around it, and about wearing wigs or weaves,” she says.
For Bhasha, the experience has also shaped her perspective as a doctor. “I now have a real empathy for my patients dealing with hair loss. I can truly advise them on the options available to them,” she says. Her journey, from struggling with self-image to understanding the emotional toll of hair loss, has added a new layer of insight to her role as a medical professional. Through it all, she continues to advocate for open discussions around women’s hair loss and the stigma often associated with it.
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