Other applications of FUE

[drbeck]

Hello,

 

Allow me to clarify that I am not specialized in hair restoration, my specialty is Urology. However. I am posting here for getting an opinion of fellow surgeons with experience in FUE about a request from a patient.

 

A patient who is undergoing Gender Reassignment from male to female has expressed interest in the use of FUE for the permanent eradication of facial hair (beard) through FUE extraction. The situation of the patient is such as cannot undergo electrolysis by an specific health condition, laser has proven unsuccessful and as a last resort the patient is requesting orientation on resourcing to FUE when visiting USA.

 

I would like to hear from some colleague who can bring me an experienced opinion on FUE in facial areas, if it is done and the results. The literature and experience where I am located is scarce and almost non existing so I thought that perhaps this could be a way of getting some experienced insight

 

Thank you

 

Dr Roland Beck

[1978matt]

Hello,

 

Allow me to clarify that I am not specialized in hair restoration, my specialty is Urology. However. I am posting here for getting an opinion of fellow surgeons with experience in FUE about a request from a patient.

 

A patient who is undergoing Gender Reassignment from male to female has expressed interest in the use of FUE for the permanent eradication of facial hair (beard) through FUE extraction. The situation of the patient is such as cannot undergo electrolysis by an specific health condition, laser has proven unsuccessful and as a last resort the patient is requesting orientation on resourcing to FUE when visiting USA.

 

I would like to hear from some colleague who can bring me an experienced opinion on FUE in facial areas, if it is done and the results. The literature and experience where I am located is scarce and almost non existing so I thought that perhaps this could be a way of getting some experienced insight

 

Thank you

 

Dr Roland Beck

 

Just thinking off the top of my head regarding Doctors I've seen posting cases where beard hair has been extracted by FUE. These are:

 

Dr Christian Bisanga (Belgium)

Dr Sanusi Umar (California)

Dr Tejinder Bhatti (India)

Dr Villnow (Germany)

Dr Hakan Doganay (Turkey)

 

I'm sure there are others but there's a start.

[Blake Bloxham]

Hi Dr. Beck,

 

Yes, it can be done. If the patient is unable to undergo more traditional hair removal methods (i.e. electrolysis and laser hair removal), FUE may be a good alternative.

 

Many FUE experts are highly trained in body hair transplantation (extracting hair from non-scalp regions of the body and transplanting it to the areas of balding scalp), and the beard region is one of the most popular extraction sites.

 

However, I think the patient needs to be aware of the potential for scarring; especially in the facial region. While very small punch tools (around 0.7-0.8mm) can be used for extraction, the potential for small, punctuate scarring (especially hypopigmented scarring in darker skin patients) is quite high.

 

I'm not sure of the density of the patient's beard region (especially after the hormone therapy), but complete removal of a fairly thick beard could result in aesthetically unacceptable scarring. When a hair transplant surgeon extracts a variety of grafts from the beard region, a sufficient amount of facial hair is still left behind to camouflage the potential scarring. However, this would not be the case with full removal.

 

Like you said, I'm not certain you will find much published literature on the subject. I think it would be best to have the patient see a physician experienced in body hair transplantation; particularly in the beard region.

 

Feel free to ask any additional questions here or by private message.