Questions on BHT

[dds]

I would like to hear from those who had BHT (Body Hair Transplant) as I have the following questions

 

a. Since the texture of BHT (specifically chest hari) is very different from the hair on the scalp, how would this blend with already existing hair on the scalp?

b. Does BHT on the receipent site grow slower than regular (hair from the scalp) transplant?

c. Is the BHT extraction more painful than extraction from the scalp?

d. Does the donor site (for BHT) heal slowly compared to the donor site from scalp?

e. Since body hair is generally thicker than scalp hair, do we need lesser grafts compared to the grafts from the scalp?

[wylie]

I would like to hear from those who had BHT (Body Hair Transplant) as I have the following questions

 

a. Since the texture of BHT (specifically chest hari) is very different from the hair on the scalp, how would this blend with already existing hair on the scalp?

 

b. Does BHT on the receipent site grow slower than regular (hair from the scalp) transplant?

 

c. Is the BHT extraction more painful than extraction from the scalp?

 

d. Does the donor site (for BHT) heal slowly compared to the donor site from scalp?

 

e. Since body hair is generally thicker than scalp hair, do we need lesser grafts compared to the grafts from the scalp?

 

A. Well, it depends on how it is utilized, how different your hair is from your scalp hair (for example, if you have thick and curly scalp hair, it might not differ much from beard hair) How it is utilized is determined by the doctor of choice, how much and where he uses it with your scalp hair.

 

B. Well, this is debatable and I'm not sure you can validate the answer one way or the other. Results vary. I think growing cycles are not that different in the beard hair I have added.

 

C. Not any difference.

 

D. Actually, beard extractions heal faster. In less than a week it will look like a minor case of shaving rash. My neck was slightly red and showed no real signs of extraction after 4 days.

 

E. My answer here is you need more hair. The reason for that is you cannot place these grafts as close as you can scalp, and usually require follow up sessions. If you want to gain the same level of density (which you cannot, in my opinion) you would need more grafts over multiple sessions. That is my experience.

 

And that is why everyone says scalp and beard should be used together, with scalp being ones first choice. Hope this helps.

[BUSA]

body hair will take on some of the characteristics of head hair once it matures.

 

if the body hair is takn from an area other then the beard then YES it will absolutely grow slower. much slower cause its in the telegon phase much longer.

 

won't heal any different but if done incorrectly it can leave u with bad scaring on ur face so make sure u go to an EXPERIENCED BHT surgeon and NOT someone who dabbles with it....

[California]

Here is an example of an extensive us of Body Hair to compensate for the lack of scalp donor.

 

This 29 year old patient is another case which exemplifies the good results after a body hair procedure. With a bare donor area, Dr. Bhatti could harvest only 976 grafts from the scalp and the remaining grafts from the body (beard, chest). Total grafts transplanted: 3187.

 

Results are after 18 months. You can see the beard donor area follow up picture after 18 months. There is absolutely no scarring.

 

In regards to the "pain" issue, graft extractions from the beard area would definitely be more painful than the scalp extractions just because an anesthesia shot on the scalp stings less than the same shot on the chin. Depends upon the pain tolerance of each individual......but it really is not too bad.

 

Best regards,

California

[dds]

Here is an example of an extensive us of Body Hair to compensate for the lack of scalp donor.

 

This 29 year old patient is another case which exemplifies the good results after a body hair procedure. With a bare donor area, Dr. Bhatti could harvest only 976 grafts from the scalp and the remaining grafts from the body (beard, chest). Total grafts transplanted: 3187.

 

Results are after 18 months. You can see the beard donor area follow up picture after 18 months. There is absolutely no scarring.

 

In regards to the "pain" issue, graft extractions from the beard area would definitely be more painful than the scalp extractions just because an anesthesia shot on the scalp stings less than the same shot on the chin. Depends upon the pain tolerance of each individual......but it really is not too bad.

 

Best regards,

California

 

Thanks for the pictures. Look great.

How about hair extraction from the chest? Would it heal slower than scalp?

I would like to avoid going for beard extraction as I don't want to have scars on my face, in case something goes wrong.

[California]

Thanks for the pictures. Look great.

How about hair extraction from the chest? Would it heal slower than scalp?

I would like to avoid going for beard extraction as I don't want to have scars on my face, in case something goes wrong.

 

Hi dds,

 

Chest donor area also heals up pretty fast as does the bear donor area. Attaching a picture of the chest donor area, shortly post-op and also a picture of the beard donor area about 3 months post-op. This is from a 300 graft beard donor extraction. As you can see, there are no scars. Patients usually are able to shave 2 weeks after the procedure without any issues.

 

Best regards,

California

[dds]

Hi dds,

 

Chest donor area also heals up pretty fast as does the bear donor area. Attaching a picture of the chest donor area, shortly post-op and also a picture of the beard donor area about 3 months post-op. This is from a 300 graft beard donor extraction. As you can see, there are no scars. Patients usually are able to shave 2 weeks after the procedure without any issues.

 

Best regards,

California

Do you know how many grafts were harvested from the chest donor area?

[California]

Do you know how many grafts were harvested from the chest donor area?

 

I do not know exactly how many grafts were extracted by Dr. Bhatti from this Patients chest area. I will try to get that information and get back to you.

 

Best regards,

[California]

Hi dds,

 

In this particular case, 983 grafts were harvested from the chest donor area.

 

Thank you,

California

[dds]

Thanks for the info

[HairJo]

How is the body hair extracted ? Is it done like an FUE ?

[California]

How is the body hair extracted ? Is it done like an FUE ?

 

Hi HairJo,

 

Yes it is.

 

Best regards,

California

[HairJo]

Thanks for the info

[hopingforhair]

Hey California,

 

Do you know why the patient wasn't able to use the hair on his stomach? Does it have to be from the chest? What other sources have doctors had success with except bearch and chest (both of which I have little of).

 

Thanks

 

Ben

[California]

Hey California,

 

Do you know why the patient wasn't able to use the hair on his stomach? Does it have to be from the chest? What other sources have doctors had success with except bearch and chest (both of which I have little of).

 

Thanks

 

Ben

 

Hi hopinforhair,

 

Dr. Bhatti believes that when it comes to BHT, “only ABC is GOOD!”. He is not fond of using any hair other than beard, chest and axilla (in this order of preference) since leg, arm, belly hair, in his experience, take a long time to grow if at all. (A- Axillary, B- Beard, C-Chest)

 

In darker racial group he does not venture outside the ‘shadow area’ of the beard which lies on and behind the jawline and above the Adam’s apple due to the possible risk of visible scarring.

 

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

 

I wish you all the best.

 

California

[hopingforhair]

Thanks California that was very helpful- I'd be more than happy to sacrifice axillary hair for use on my head. I'm slightly worried about the scarring from using a donor area on my head as I wear my hair very short (clipper grade 1 or lower) and so using axillary from my armpit would be ideal.

 

Does Dr Bhatti offer smaller surgeries? I'd like to see how it heals on a smaller scale before commiting to a bigger surgery.

 

Thanks

[California]

Thanks California that was very helpful- I'd be more than happy to sacrifice axillary hair for use on my head. I'm slightly worried about the scarring from using a donor area on my head as I wear my hair very short (clipper grade 1 or lower) and so using axillary from my armpit would be ideal.

 

Does Dr Bhatti offer smaller surgeries? I'd like to see how it heals on a smaller scale before commiting to a bigger surgery.

 

Thanks

 

Hi hopingforhair,

 

You are very welcome. Dr. Bhatti pays a lot of attention to the comfort level of all his Patients. If you would like to start with a smaller procedure, that should be fine.

 

Thank you,

California

[HairJo]

good luck to you . I would love to see pictures when you have it done very curios to see before and afters

[Melvin- Admin]

body hair is better utilized in the donor area in my opinion, its better to deplete your donor zone and then transplant body hair to the depleted donor zone, the reason is that you can keep your hair short on the sides, but bodyhair does not change its characteristics when you implant them in to the scalp. You'll still have more hair in the donor zone than your scalp so it'll be better disguised.

[Dr Blake Bloxham]

HTsoon,

 

Agreed. Patients will always get more "bang for their buck" with scalp grafts. BHT tends to yield much lower growth rates and retains its native characteristics -- IE: beard hair grows like beards hair in the scalp, chest hair like chest hair, et cetera. It also leaves scarring in the extracted regions, but that's another discussion altogether.

 

I don't advocate for purposeful donor thinning either, but it's generally advised to use up everything you have on the scalp -- safely -- before considering other potential donor sources. It would also likely be better to cover up in the donor region opposed to implanting these grafts into the recipient scalp too (as you said previously).

[Melvin- Admin]

HTsoon,

 

Agreed. Patients will always get more "bang for their buck" with scalp grafts. BHT tends to yield much lower growth rates and retains its native characteristics -- IE: beard hair grows like beards hair in the scalp, chest hair like chest hair, et cetera. It also leaves scarring in the extracted regions, but that's another discussion altogether.

 

I don't advocate for purposeful donor thinning either, but it's generally advised to use up everything you have on the scalp -- safely -- before considering other potential donor sources. It would also likely be better to cover up in the donor region opposed to implanting these grafts into the recipient scalp too (as you said previously).

 

I see what your saying in regards to not advocating purposefully thinning the donor zone, but if a patient is full aware of the consequences of donor depletion, and fully aware that another surgery will be necessary in order to cover up the depletion, I dont see anything ethically wrong with this scenario, so long as the patient knows the time, the money, and the possibilities that may come from it. One thing though, if your like me and you hate body hair, you'd be at the very least ridding yourself of the body hair, even if the growth rate is low. I haven't seen horrible scarring with BHT but again ive only seen cherry picked cases that make it to before and after threads and videos. Can you please PM me about the scarring so the thread is not de-railed, id really appreciate it doc.

[dds]

HTsoon,

 

Agreed. Patients will always get more "bang for their buck" with scalp grafts. BHT tends to yield much lower growth rates and retains its native characteristics -- IE: beard hair grows like beards hair in the scalp, chest hair like chest hair, et cetera. It also leaves scarring in the extracted regions, but that's another discussion altogether.

 

I don't advocate for purposeful donor thinning either, but it's generally advised to use up everything you have on the scalp -- safely -- before considering other potential donor sources. It would also likely be better to cover up in the donor region opposed to implanting these grafts into the recipient scalp too (as you said previously).

 

I was told that BHT grafts have same characteristics as that of the recipient areas.

Is this not true?

[Melvin- Admin]

I was told that BHT grafts have same characteristics as that of the recipient areas.

Is this not true?

 

Thats not true, the follicular diameter, coarseness, growth rate etc. will be the same as it was prior to transplantation. So its imperative that you critically plan where you will transplant bodyhair. That's why its my belief that bodyhair is better suited to be transplanted in the donor zone, because you can wear your hair relatively short and it will blend in with the other hair. Also, in my opinion you should never transplant bodyhair anywhere on the scalp where there isn't existing scalp hair, the result is not good. Your head will end up looking like a hairy knee cap which is worse that being bald in my opinion. Look at it this way, bodyhair is like a grenade as opposed to scalp hair which is like a bomb, in this war against hairloss, you don't want to start throwing grenades until you've dropped all of your bombs first.

[California]

Interesting discussion so far. Wanted to chime in with what our Clinic (Darling Buds India/Dr. Tejinder Bhatti) believes, advocates and practices as far as body hair transplant (BHT) is concerned. Please note that our Clinic performs FUE HT's exclusively and has been doing so for the last so many years.

 

Dr. Bhatti has a very different approach to a client with a balding issue, which he feel shall be progressive in the long term. He encourages all his Patients with a long term plan for their progressive balding to allow him to harvest beard grafts (besides scalp grafts of course) for a better hairline definition and mid-scalp fill and to keep their remaining scalp grafts as a rain check for future requirements especially in the crown.

 

For example, for a 25 year old Patient, with a type 3 pattern baldness, Dr. Bhatti would plant scalp grafts within the first 1.5 cm along the hairline, mix scalp grafts with beard grafts in a laid down optimal ratio till the highest point of the head. For the crown area he would encourage the Patient to accept a low density preferably with chest grafts or chest grafts with a sprinkling of scalp grafts. He never uses beard hair for the crown area. It is only to be used for the mid-scalp and just behind the hairline.

 

For Dr. Bhatti, “only ABC is GOOD”. (A- Axilla, B- Beard, C-Chest). He is not fond of using any hair other than beard, chest and axilla (in this order of preference) since leg, arm, belly hair, in his experience, take a long time to grow if at all.

In darker racial group he does not venture outside the ‘shadow area’ of the beard which lies on and behind the jawline and above the Adam’s apple due to the possible risk of visible scarring.

 

Given the fact that in a second session (FUE), you can harvest usually half the number of grafts again after a gap of 6 months, realization shall dawn upon you that an average patient (except East Asian) has a large donor area just waiting to be harvested. This realization is fast becoming the game changer today in the field of surgical hair restoration. As a result of this, more and more clinics the world over are busy honing their skills to harvest more and more body grafts with lesser and lesser transection rates. Time is also of the essence and therefore the growing demand for motorized systems, especially the Safe Scribe which is simple, safe and efficient.

 

Body hair, mostly alone, has been routinely used at our clinic for the following indications:

 

1. Extensive baldness with a poor donor area of the scalp and,

2. Camouflaging wide FUT scars.

 

You can see some of our cases (please see pictures) where a large amount of BHT was done to compensate for the lack of healthy scalp grafts.

 

Dr. Bhatti has been using the Harris Safe Scribe System since 2010. It works very well for him, even for BHT. With his surgical background he is more comfortable working with motorized systems than manual instrumentation. He uses the manual punch only for areas like legs, arms etc.- areas that he is not very fond of doing since this hair in his experience does not grow to the full satisfaction of his clients and himself. He uses the following punches for BHT- 0.7 mm customized sharp punch for beard grafts harvest when there are mostly singles and if 2-3 he may use a 0.8 mm punch.

 

As you can see clearly from these Patient cases, BHT does blend in with the scalp hair and does not stand out. Also, the donor area scarring in the chin and chest area are totally acceptable (and not that noticeable) in our Patients. Again, results/pictures speak for themselves.

 

Patient case #1:

This Patient received a total of 2466 scalp,675 beard and 566 chest grafts.

The "after" pictures of the donor and recipient areas are from 12 months post-op.

 

Patient case #2:

4500 FUE grafts

3512 from the scalp and remaining from the beard.

Result shown is after one year of the procedure. Note the dense hairline close up picture due to 1:3 mi of beard:scalp hair for the frontal tuft area.

 

Patient case #3:

This 29 year old patient is another case which exemplifies the good results after a body hair procedure. With a bare donor area, Dr. Bhatt could harvest 976 grafts from the scalp and the remaining grafts came from the body (beard, chest, legs)- 3187.

Results are after 18 months. You can see the beard donor area follow up picture after 18 months.

 

Patient case #4:

The patient received around 1200 grafts from scalp, 1218 from the beard, 983 from the chest. Results are seen after 8 months of the procedure.

This patient belies the oft repeated statement that body hair does not give good results.

 

 

At the end of the day, if we take BHT out of the HT equation, the question begs to be asked "what about the hair loss suffers who just do not have adequate scalp donor supply?"...........If BHT is a viable option for accomplishing the hair restoration goals of these Patient....then why not do it? Food for thought!

 

Best regards,

California

[Al - Moderator]

I had 610 chest hair grafts last September. After 10 months I can't really tell the difference between the head hair and the chest hair grafts. It doesn't seem to grow any slower than the rest of my hair. Keep in mind that what you will experience depends on the type of chest hair you have to begin with. My chest hair generally grows several inches long, so it grows several inches long when on my head as well.

 

As for healing, this did not go as fast as I hear others say it does. It took over 6 months for the red spots from all of the FUE grafts to really start to disappear. After 10 months they are pretty much gone in normal conditions, but if I work up a sweat such as after a good workout, then the pinkness starts to show up again. I'm hoping this continues to subside as time goes by.

 

I'm scheduled for a session of about 700 beard hair grafts coming up in a few months. Hopefully the beard area heals much faster. I heard it does. I will let you know.