Ryan Giggs has undergone a transplant following hair loss which he believes was a by-product of the stress caused for playing for Manchester United.
The Wales boss made his United debut with curly locks way back in 1991 and spent two trophy-laden decades playing at Old Trafford.
He ended up cutting his hair much shorter when he became aware of his hair thinning but his pals weren't afraid to remind him - notably bringing him right back down after he helped United beat Liverpool at Anfield in 2003.
"We'd won and I was buzzing," Giggs told staff at MHR Clinic, as per The Mirror.
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"I walked into the pub later and was expecting to hear 'Well done' from my mates and all I got was 'Flippin' heck, your barnet's going'.
"It was a bit of a shock. It was like, 'cheers lads'. It was one of those. I got a little bit paranoid, especially when I was going to be playing on TV or it was going to rain.
"I was almost 30 then. At the end of my teens and in my early 20s I had really thick hair, long hair, curls.
"That's why I started to cut it a bit shorter. I felt the shorter it was, the thicker it looked. It had a big bearing, over the years, on my hair getting shorter and shorter."
Giggs ended up playing 963 games for United and won 13 Premier League titles prior to his retirement in 2014. With so many eyes on footballers, the constant pressure to be on top form took a strain on him.
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"Football is stressful," Giggs added. "You put yourself under pressure. You're aware of the consequences if you lose a game or don't play well.
"You are under the spotlight and if you have a bad game you're aware of the criticism.
"Then it becomes a little bit more stressful. And stress is related to hair loss."
To begin with, Giggs used lasers, lotions and special shampoos in order to try and combat his thinning problem but eventually visited MHR Clinic in Knutsford, where former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg has since had his procedure done.
He did not tell his teammates and sought about wearing a baseball cap to hide the 1500 follicle treatment he'd had.
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But he was so pleased with the results that he ended up stepping up his involvement with the company by purchasing a share in January 2015 and now part-owns the clinic alongside former England cricketer Michael Vaughan and Craig Henton, a expert in restoring hair.
Explaining the treatment: "It was straightforward and lasted more or less half a day. You can have a rest during it, if you want.
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"They numb the areas where you're going to feel it but you can't really feel anything.
"The recovery period doesn't take long. You've got, not scarring, but a few cuts in the back of your head.
"There's a bit of blood on your pillow for a couple of days and then that goes. That's it. You go back to the consultant. They take a picture of the area the work was done every month and then you can see real progress."
Years before Giggs had laser treatment on his hair, Wayne Rooney had the first of two transplants and his former teammate feels he helped change the stigma.
"Wayne was very brave in being so open about it," Giggs stated.
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"You'll still have the men's men who'll never get anything done and want to say, 'you're not a real man'. Of course you'll still have that bit of society.
"But there is also a growing interest out there among men to make themselves feel better and look better.
"I'm really happy with it. The only negative I have is I didn't do it earlier."
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