Beard/chest donor hair

[sidbtz]

Hi guys,

 

I am considering an HT but the doctors I've seen have said my head donor is quite weak, and some have suggested using heard and chest hair. I did a search of the forum and couldn't find a whole lot about the viability of this.

 

Is beard and chest hair as effective for a hair transplant? Does it grow out as well? Is the risk of failure greater? I would think beard and chest hair may not be able to grow as long as head hair, I feel this is the case with my beard/chest hair?

 

Any thoughts?

 

Thanks,

 

Sid

[Schiller]

There is a lot to consider, but my current thinking has been about how my body hair has diminished over the years. I'm almost 62. I remember vibrant patches of nice hair in various places on my body that are now nude. This is something to consider. Is the body a zone that is safe from future loss?

[California]

Hi Sidbtz and Schiller,

 

Since you guys are discussing the very interesting topic of BHT, wanted to share with you a write up by Dr. Bhatti on this topic. I hope this helps to clarify some of the questions that you might have regarding BHT.

 

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My ABC of BHT- Essentials of my Body Hair Transplant Practice

 

BHT is presently my favorite field!

 

FUE rose in popularity mostly due to the fact that it has opened the horizons to a limitless supply of grafts by expanding the traditional donor availability. The other advantages may be debateable but this has no opposition even from die-hard FUT surgeons. Thanks to FUE the patient base has markedly increased in size. Repair cases and cases with extensive balding which were shunned earlier, can again think of getting back a “head full of hair.”

 

I have a very different approach to a client with balding which I feel shall be progressive in the long term. I goad all patients with a long term plan for their progressive balding to allow me to harvest beard grafts (besides scalp grafts of course) for a better hairline definition and mid-scalp fill and keep their remaining scalp grafts as a rain check for future requirements especially in the crown.

 

For example, for a 25 year old with type 3 vertex pattern, I would plant scalp hair 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 I would encourage him to accept a low density preferably with chest grafts or chest grafts with a sprinkling of scalp grafts. I never use beard hair for the crown area. It is only to be used for the mid-scalp and just behind the hairline.

 

For me and my patients “only ABC is GOOD!” : I am not fond of using any hair other than beard, chest and axilla (in this order of preference) since leg, arm, belly hair, in my experience, take a long time to grow if at all. (A- Axilla, B- Beard, C-Chest). In darker racial group I do 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, 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 you read my thoughts on BHT, 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 my clinic for the following indications-

1. Hair transplant cripples

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

3. Camouflaging wide FUT scars.

 

You can see some of my cases later where almost exclusive BHT was done for want of healthy scalp grafts. This is slowly becoming my core competence area.

With a surgical background I am more comfortable working with motorized systems than manual instrumentation. I use the manual punch only for areas like legs, arms etc.- areas I am not very fond of doing since this hair in my experience does not grow to the full satisfaction of my clients and myself. I use the following punches for BHT- 0.7 mm customized sharp punch for beard grafts harvest when there are mostly singles and if 2-3 I may use a 0.8 mm punch.

 

If there be any questions you may have for me, I would be pleased to answer to the best of my ability.

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Best regards,

California

[sidbtz]

Good point Schiller, that's my fear, if the hair doesn't grow.

 

Thanks for the info California. It seems like BHT is fairly new, and experimental. Do you know how BHT hair grows/looks 5-10 years post transplant? Does it last?

[California]

Good point Schiller, that's my fear, if the hair doesn't grow.

 

Thanks for the info California. It seems like BHT is fairly new, and experimental. Do you know how BHT hair grows/looks 5-10 years post transplant? Does it last?

 

Hi Sidbtz,

 

BHT is not that new and also not in the experimental stage. Many HT Surgeons all over the world have been showing consistent success with BHT. Yes, of course it lasts......same as the scalp grafts harvested from the safe zones.

 

If you run a search on this Forum by typing in BHT in the search field and then restricting the search to "title only", you will see dozens of Patient cases that underwent BHT.

 

Thank you,

California

[Schiller]

I don't discount the usefulness of body hair. That it can be used now is a great step forward, or at least a good bridge to other and better future improvements.

 

But I am the recipient of body hair transplants and I can say, after 11 years, that one must choose carefully. I think beard hair, which I have not tried as a donor, is probably the most reliable body hair donor.

[Bald36]

Eleven years ago? I take it that you're not entirely happy with the results. Who did the work? How bald were you?

[Schiller]

I had a hair flap surgery done to replace my hairline in 1985. When I went to India in 2005, I might have been a NW5 except for the dense hairline from the flap. In India, a doctor used body hair to rebuild temple points, make my hairline more natural, and fill in behind the flap. Some of that body hair grew and is still growing. But I believe some has disappeared with age, like it has from the donor areas.

 

I have quite a lot of documentation, and just realized that it might be useful for this board if I took good, new pictures of these transplanted areas and had a trained specialist post the lot with comment. I will try to get that done sometime this spring.

 

My point is that body hair, for some, might disappear with age. If you want to use body hair on your scalp, your future plan should include the possibility that it might not be permanent.

[Al - Moderator]

My point is that body hair, for some, might disappear with age. If you want to use body hair on your scalp, your future plan should include the possibility that it might not be permanent.

 

I will be 50 this year and my body hair is still increasing. I keep getting more hair on my chest, back, shoulders, and arms every year. I even have some new hairs growing on my biceps over the past 2 or 3 years. Even if it does start to disappear in years to come, the head hair went away mostly before I was even 21, so how can you compare body hair decreasing as you age to head hair that is already gone?

[Schiller]

Not everyone experiences the same things. I did not say that body hair would absolutely diminish with age. I only cautioned that it can. It is wise to plan for this, in my opinion.

[AB2000]

Good point Schiller, that's my fear, if the hair doesn't grow.

 

Thanks for the info California. It seems like BHT is fairly new, and experimental. Do you know how BHT hair grows/looks 5-10 years post transplant? Does it last?

 

 

Here's a case where the patient had body hair transplanted to the hairline close to 10 years ago:

 

https://www.dermhairclinic.com/leg-hair-grafts-longevity-nine-year-update/