Transplanting beard hair into the back of the scalp?

[user61]

Hi all,

 

I had a 1600 FUE procedure about two years ago at age 24, long story short it was a totally unnecessary hairline lowering which made my hair harder to style because my donor hair is quite course and curly. I regret it and will soon start electrolysis to have most of them removed permanently.

 

However, I am experiencing a lot of extreme anxiety over this regret because my donor is now 1600 follicles thinner than what it was. As a result, I am considering moving about 1000 beard grafts into the back-centre of my scalp (my previous donor area) just below the crown to regain density. Does anyone have any experience with such a procedure? Also if I went through with this would it negatively affect/damage the health of the surrounding hair in the region?

 

After the electrolysis for my hairline, and potentially re-adding density to the back of my head via beard grafts, I want to be done with any further cosmetic surgery.

 

Thanks

Edited January 12, 2015 by user61

[FUE2014]

I note this was your previous procedure

 

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/167409-1600-fue-dr-keser.html

 

Can you put some pics up of your donor?

[user61]

I note this was your previous procedure

 

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/167409-1600-fue-dr-keser.html

 

Can you put some pics up of your donor?

 

 

I'll put some up soon, but for now just think of it this way.. My donor scalp doesn't show after taking a shower and drying off but the back of my head definitely feels "flat" in the mornings after waking up, relative to before. If I wake up after shifting around in bed a lot that night and the hair gets parted the fact it's more thin than before does become apparent to me. I used to struggle getting a comb or brush through the back of my hair without tugging at it though so that's my relative perception again.

 

My donor was fine after the surgery with short hair, no signs of anything done and looking at it now I can't find anything on my scalp that stands out scarring-wise. My doc's specialty was making sure the donor is left unharmed aesthetically. It's just that 1600 grafts is a big number and I know the region is thinner, I've never even counted to 1000 before in my life. There is a psychological element here for me in restoring the density of the back of my head so I can grow my hair long again without worrying that it might look thinned or shifted around too much after I lay down or wear a hat.

 

I'm pretty sure good FUE surgeons can also use a microscope or special goggles or whatever to see the spacing of follicles on the back of my head to know where the 1600 original grafts were taken from and where to place the beard grafts at what density (my beard hair is thick, very closely resembles my back-scalp hair since that's already coarse/curly, and grows long pretty quickly). It'd also be important for the beard grafts to be placed and face in a natural way on the back.

 

Still I'm really curious if anyone has experience with placing beard hairs on the back of their scalp, if anyone has experience filling in their strip scars with beard grafts I think that'd be relevant as well.

[Spanker]

Is your beard curly? I think beard hair may work for short hair, but not growing it long, meaning, I think it could end up a negative experience. I agree that you are having psychological issues with this. I don't think surgery is what you need. Also, I would be very careful about the electrolysis. What are your plans with that. It can take several treatments and you still won't lose 100 percent on the hairs, so I would proceed with caution.

[user61]

Is your beard curly? I think beard hair may work for short hair, but not growing it long, meaning, I think it could end up a negative experience. I agree that you are having psychological issues with this. I don't think surgery is what you need. Also, I would be very careful about the electrolysis. What are your plans with that. It can take several treatments and you still won't lose 100 percent on the hairs, so I would proceed with caution.

 

I'm definitely having anxiety and stress problems over the regret I feel. I will admit that my donor region "feeling thinner" might just be in my mind. I mean the recipient area (my hairline) is small and the back of my head didn't feel or look weird post-op, but I still know 1600 grafts is quite a lot. It's a big number.

 

My beard hair is somewhat coarse and wavy, same texture as the back of my hair. If I do eventually try a beard hair graft to the scalp donor region I might do a test of 20 or so first.

With the electrolysis, I'm going to buzz the transplanted part of my hairline down so that only those follicles are targeted and not my original hairline (the hairs on which will be kept long and out of the way in the process).

Edited January 11, 2015 by user61

[user61]

Alright guys, as promised here are the donor photos, three pre-op. Please excuse my zitty scalp skin. Also in the pre-op pic with hair, I was wearing a hat that was way to small for my head most the day and that's why it looks weird/extremely messy there..

 

I'm extremely depressed as my insecure vanity ruined my formerly strong head of hair at 24.. I'm at a loss as to how to repair this situation if possible.

 

pre-op

 

post-op after recent haircut with flash

 

 

photo after using a brush to brush back of the hair down

[Pauthowoj]

I think this is all in your head. It looks fine back there and I would save the money. I would kill to have thick hair like yours

[scar5]

User,

I know it is so cool to tell another person to 'just chill out' or something like, 'Hey, dude, you are being way too sensitive" - it is such a power trip.

 

That said, I've got two things to say;

 

1) 1800 grafts will not weaken the visual impact of the back of your head. Nor will 3800! Who gives a damn if your comb doesn't get caught? I know you are probably saying, 'tip of iceberg' or some thing like that, but no! Your donor is fine and your donor will be fine even if you repeated the same operation three times IMO

 

2) in people like me with fine hair, beard hair are like parking a Cadillac in a parking lot full of VW Beetles, but in your case - you seem to be a steel brush - they may not be as obvious. They are usually worth 2-4 normal hairs in density but they can stand out. Plus you may like your beard.

 

In short, I know you want a solution, but don't pull out beard hairs at this stage. The misplaced hairs can be extracted and placed elsewhere. They can also be shaven off or bleached. Pity to zap them with laser no?

[Spanker]

I agree with the above. Care to show your results?

 

The risk vs reward in beard hair to the back of your head just isn't there.

[fisher4man]

User,

I know it is so cool to tell another person to 'just chill out' or something like, 'Hey, dude, you are being way too sensitive" - it is such a power trip.

 

That said, I've got two things to say;

 

1) 1800 grafts will not weaken the visual impact of the back of your head. Nor will 3800! Who gives a damn if your comb doesn't get caught? I know you are probably saying, 'tip of iceberg' or some thing like that, but no! Your donor is fine and your donor will be fine even if you repeated the same operation three times IMO

 

2) in people like me with fine hair, beard hair are like parking a Cadillac in a parking lot full of VW Beetles, but in your case - you seem to be a steel brush - they may not be as obvious. They are usually worth 2-4 normal hairs in density but they can stand out. Plus you may like your beard.

 

In short, I know you want a solution, but don't pull out beard hairs at this stage. The misplaced hairs can be extracted and placed elsewhere. They can also be shaven off or bleached. Pity to zap them with laser no?

 

 

Originally Posted by Spanker: I agree with the above. Care to show your results?

 

The risk vs reward in beard hair to the back of your head just isn't there.

 

 

Just to reiterate and emphasize, with my all respect to the real seniors of the forum.

[Spanker]

Also, have you done any good research on laser hair removal? How sure are you that this can meet you goals and in how many applications?

[user61]

First of all, thank you everyone for your kind words and also honest opinions about how to proceed. I wish I had consulted friends, family, and this forum before I rushed into a needless procedure due to a week or two of insecurity.

 

I'm having trouble uploading photos at the moment for some reason but will upload a very recent pic of my recipient area buzzed short with my original, longer-length hairline/hair very soon.

 

Electrolysis is slightly different from laser in that it's permanent and removes hair follicle by follicle. It might take a few passes to get rid of each one permanently however.

 

I have considered eventually visiting HASCI in Europe so they could re-transplant the hairs back to the donor area since they seem to use the smallest manual punch. However the idea of scarring at my hairline is something I don't want to even consider, that's why I prefer electrolysis. I do have some folliculitis irritation around the recipient area but I've recently been using a combination of anti-bacterial cream and emu oil to alleviate it and it's been improving.

 

My hair from the back donor is just way too coarse for the hairline, and despite that many two-hair follicles were used. I guess I'm somewhat "lucky" in that this makes it even more clear where my natural hairline starts/ends, it'll make clipping them short and directing the electrolysis tech that much easier. I do feel like I've cut part of me off though after losing 1600 follicles, many of which seem to have come from high up in the donor region and it's difficult suppressing the utter regret I feel every day over this. Maybe some of you are right in saying that grafting beard or sideburn hair etc. back in the donor area will only complicate things further. I've had a difficult time finding similar cases for review..

 

By the way today I tweezed out a few beard and sideburn hairs.. They are just as thick as my donor hair from the back, probably why those hairs did not make for a natural hairline!

Edited January 13, 2015 by user61