How far would you go for a full head of luscious locks?
Alex Finken shelled out a whopping $17,500 for a hair transplant, hoping the pricey procedure would restore his hair — and his confidence. But when he woke up the next day, a startling side effect had him looking more like Humpty Dumpty than a heartthrob.
“Some people look OK with it, it goes around their eyes and just looks like they got in a boxing match,” Finken explained in a now-viral TikTok. “I literally just look like an egg.”
Alex Finken has been documenting his hair transplant journey on TikTok — but he wasn’t prepared for the swelling that followed.
The 27-year-old Denver resident is far from alone in his follicular frustration. An estimated 35 million American men experience noticeable hair loss, and while the likelihood increases with age, up to 30% begin shedding before they turn 30.
“I’d been dealing with thinning and male pattern baldness since my early 20s,” Finken told The Post. “By 24, I was basically living in hats and felt uncomfortable in social situations without one.”
Though hair loss is extremely common, its emotional impact can run deep. Research has linked it to anxiety, depression and low self-esteem, with some men experiencing embarrassment and withdrawing from social situations as a result.
Finken had joked about getting a hair transplant for years. Eventually, he decided it was time to stop talking about it and take the plunge, booking the procedure he hoped would restore both his hairline and his confidence.
For Finken, going under the knife wasn’t simply about looking better.
“For me, it wasn’t about vanity — it was about confidence and feeling like myself again,” he said.
The 27-year-old flew to Salt Lake City for the procedure, where doctors harvested 3,536 hair follicles from the back of his head before transplanting them to thinning areas across his scalp.
“We completely restored my hairline, my temples and added density into Zones 2 and 3,” Finken explained in a TikTok, pointing to the areas toward the middle and back of his scalp that had been thinning.
But while Finken was prepared for the lengthy procedure and recovery, he wasn’t expecting what happened next: dramatic swelling that temporarily left him looking almost unrecognizable.
Finken decided to document his hair transplant journey publicly in hopes of chipping away at the stigma surrounding both balding and the surgery itself.
He knew some post-op swelling was part of the deal. What he didn’t expect was to wake up looking like a rejected Pixar character.
“At first, I was shocked. I looked like a cartoon version of myself,” he said. “The worst of it lasted about three days, and it’s been improving drastically every day since.”
The transformation happened fast. On Day 1, his temples began to puff up. By Day 2, bruising had appeared beneath one eye and the swelling was beginning to obstruct his vision. By Day 3, it had migrated all the way down to his neck.
Despite his alarming appearance, Finken assured worried TikTok followers that he was OK.
“My brain is not in danger at all. All of my airways are perfectly fine,” he said. “It’s just swelling underneath the skin.”
As viewers flooded the comments with questions and concern, Finken explained what he believed was behind his ballooning appearance.
“The main thing that’s going to cause that swelling is the saline and anesthesia solution that they inject into your head,” he said. “Everyone’s lymphatic system works differently, also because of genetics, so some are going to puff up more and some it’s going to drain a lot quicker.”
His pre-op weekend antics may not have helped matters, either.
Finken admitted he drank alcohol on both Friday and Saturday ahead of his Wednesday procedure — something he now warns others against doing.
“You should not do this because it causes vascular dilation and also it makes local anesthesia less effective,” he stressed.
Cartoon-like swelling and all, Finken said he has zero regrets about going under the knife.
Here’s a polished version with a stronger ending and smoother flow:
Within a matter of days, Finken’s swelling had largely subsided — and despite his temporarily egg-shaped appearance, he said the recovery was surprisingly smooth.
“The recovery itself has actually been way easier than I expected — it just takes patience and a good sense of humor,” Finken said. “I was also shocked by how little pain I’ve had overall. The first night was rough, but as of Day 5 the pain is almost nonexistent.”
Now, as his newly transplanted hairline begins to take root, Finken said the procedure was “one of the best decisions I’ve ever made for myself.”
“If it’s something that can improve your confidence or quality of life, there’s nothing wrong with doing it,” he said.
And if looking a little cartoonish is part of the price of admission, Finken is taking it in stride.
“And yeah, sometimes you just have to embrace looking like an egg for a few days.”
