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Is Beard/Chest FUE now standard operating procedure?


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  • Senior Member

I had FUT about a year a half ago. I have been waiting for my second procedure, so have not kept up to date in the since.

 

Back then, no one was talking about beard/chest donors.

 

I asked one doctor about it, and he said that it causes ugly scars, so people don't use it unless they have no scalp donors.

 

Now a year and a half later I am reading up again, and am seeing a lot of posts on it.

 

Is beard/chest the new FUE norm? Is the scar small?

Edited by olmert
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  • Senior Member

In my opinion, beard and/or chest hair should be the last resort in looking for donor hair. The only time beard hair might be a first choice would be in the instance of transplanting a mustache in someone missing an area from burns or heredity.

Scalp hair, however you can get it, is always the first choice for transplanting the scalp, simply because its texture, diameter, curl, etc are all exactly the same as what was there before.

We have done over 30 cases of harvesting beard or chest hair (in 6 cases we harvested both). Beard hair has the advantage of growing fairly long with a longer anagen (growth) phase. Chest hair only grows to around 1 1/2-2 inches at most in length. Neither one can be used at the hairline or at the rear border, as they are likely to "stick out" like a "pig in the poke." They should only be placed centrally for "fill,"

The beard is the best non-scalp place to obtain donor hair, but in the typical man who shaves every day, there is a limited area for harvesting confined to the underside of his chin and upper neck. I find that the scars are fairly undetectable. There was one case in which there was a slight depression to the sites and I performed a small dermabrasiion procedure which made this difference disappear.

One of the advantages of having FUE available as a tool is that we can harvest some grafts down low and high in the donor area which a strip couldn't reach before without a visible scar being seen.

Mike Beehner, M.D.

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  • Senior Member
In my opinion, beard and/or chest hair should be the last resort in looking for donor hair.

 

I've also heard this in interviews with Jotronic who has seen many cases of the use of body hair as donor.. Joe's perspective was that it still looks like body hair on the head... use it as a last resort for sure..!

Paulygon is a former patient of Dr. Parsa Mohebi

 

My regimen includes:

HT #1 2710 grafts at Parsa Mohebi Hair Restoration in Los Angeles in 2012

Rogaine foam 2x daily, since 2012 (stopped ~10/2015)

Finasteride 1.25mg daily, since 2012 (stopped ~12/2015)

 

HT #2 3238 grafts at Parsa Mohebi Hair Restoration in Los Angeles in Jun. 2016

Started Rogaine and Propecia in July. 2016 after being off of them for about a year.

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I wouldn't say it is particularly standard procedure. If the patient only has minimal loss and/or plentiful scalp donor supply, beard and body hair does not(or should not, depending on the surgeon's philosophy) be used.

 

My opinion on the matter is that unless the patient has a depleted donor zone, body hair should be used rather in moderation. Body/beard hair in conjunction with scalp hair can give great results with a very inconspicuous appearance. Obviously the less scalp hair/more body/beard hair used, the naturalness tends to diminish. That choice is up to the patient. Some individuals who are high norwood and/or have depleted donor zones will accept the use of beard/body hair in order to rectify donor scarring and thin recipients. They do have to be made aware of the discrepancies of body hair before hand though. Beard hair is approximately 3 times thicker than scalp hair and body hair varies in texture, curl and cannot grow nearly as long as scalp hair.

 

Body and beard hair has been a savior to thousands of patients who have had their donors depleted. I personally believe ALL clinics should be adept at efficient extraction of beard/body hair in order to offer those patients an avenue for repair. Guys like EJ and Wylie on this forum have been restored after their traumatic ordeals using conventional hair restoration methods. Most clinics around the world could not and would not cater for their needs. That needs to change.

 

For the individuals with enough scalp donor supply, I would recommend they use that before considering beard and body hair. My opinion.

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