body hair transplantation

[homer]

For those of us with little donor hair HT is not really a viable option. So i was wondering whether there had been any developments regarding body hair transplantation?? thanks for any input

[homer]

For those of us with little donor hair HT is not really a viable option. So i was wondering whether there had been any developments regarding body hair transplantation?? thanks for any input

[homer]

i was hoping to have recieved some input on this by now people. oh well

[arfy]

I've had some body hair transplanted via FUE (a few doctors might remove a "body donor hair strip" do NOT do this). FUE removes each graft individually. It seems like it works however it is too soon to say how well.

 

Basically it is a very new technology with only a couple of doctors who are able to do it. It's only good for repair cases where rthe patient has ZERO other options. In the future, once it is obvious how well it works and what the long-term implications are, then it may become mainstream.

 

In the meantime, if you are not a repair patient I recommend you take a wait and see attitude. I've heard of a few non-repair guys who have gotten body hair transplanted recently, as a result of "hair greed". In my opinion these guys are gambling and gambling with hair transplants is not smart!!!

[GuitarPlayer]

Arfy,

 

How many grafts of body hair did you have and where was it taken from? What do you think your yield was? How long has the hair grown? Sorry about all the questions, I'd just be very interested to hear how your experience went. You don't seem to be one to sugar-coat things.

 

Thanks,

GuitarPlayer

[arfy]

I had some FUE grafts taken from the chest and stomach, and some taken from the thighs and shins. It's all mixed in with other grafts and it's impossible for me to tell what is what.

 

The hope is that the body hair will double in length, once it is placed on the head.

 

So far it seems like the donor sites have healed up well. If you get up close and look for them and know what you should look for, you can sorta see them. They do not look like "scars" they look like very subtle (and tiny) variation in the skin tone. And the remaining body hair distracts and covers the donor sites too. In general the donor sites are a total non-issue so far (your mileage may vary. It may depend on your complexion, how hairy you are etc).

 

Body hair FUs have less density than scalp FUs... I believe the average scalp FU has 2.2 hairs, while the average body FU has something like 1.2 hairs. (That's what I mean by density). So it takes a lot more body hair grafts, to accomplish the same amount of coverage as you would get from scalp hairs. You are moving less follicles with a body hair grafting session.

 

Body hair grafts seem to grow in slower than scalp hair grafts. I'm not sure but they just seem to grow slower in general.

 

Body hair grafts are more expensive than scalp hair grafts. Only a small handful of doctors can do them, and like a regular transplant you have to pick your doctor carefully.

 

For all those reasons, I think of body hair grafts as being a "second class" resource of donor hair... not as good as scalp hair. However for the guys who have depleted their donor supply of scalp hair, they may be a possible benefit.

 

If you are donor-depleted and need more grafts to get a normal appearance, then you should look into it.

 

If you are a regular hair transplant patient and just have "hair greed" then you should take a wait and see attitude. Let somebody else go first, and report back. Wait until there are more real-world results, and the procedure is tried and true. I would not recommend using body hair grafts unless absolutely necessary, at this point in time.

 

However it's an exciting development and may be a life-saver in cases of severe scarring, extreme repair cases, previously botched patients etc.

[GuitarPlayer]

Thanks for the reply Arfy. The fact that you cannot distinguish the difference between the body hair and other transplanted hair on your head is definitely a positive. I hope more body hair cases come out of the woodwork and that eventually this becomes more commonplace.

[GuitarPlayer]

One last thing Arfy. Who was your doctor for the body hair?